04/16/24
By Rebecca Herman McBrayer
Wayne and I enjoyed our recent visit at Casey Jones Distillery and especially LOVED sharing their special eclipse bottles with friends April 8th, during the Total Eclipse! Typically when we open new bottles, we like to do a formal “first taste” tasting and write up. Due to the eclipse festivities, we simply enjoyed them with friends, which is really how you should drink the spirits that you love. This past weekend, we decided to take some time with what we purchased recently.
Selected for this Tasting
Casey Jones Total Eclipse Kentucky Straight Bourbon (375 ml), Casey Jones Single Barrel Eclipse Cask (700 ml), and Casey Jones Single Barrel Wheated Kentucky Straight Bourbon Mash Bill 3 – all produced by Casey Jones Distillery. Please be sure to read our approach to Tasting Whiskey if you haven’t already.
Casey Jones Total Eclipse Kentucky Straight Bourbon
Mashbill – 75% Corn, 10% Wheat, 10% Rye, 5% Malted Barley
Age – at least 2 years
Proof – 100
Other – We purchased the eclipse 2-pack with 375ml bottles
Price Paid – $27.49
Color – Honey gold.
Aroma – Corn, a hint of honey, apple, and spices and wood.
Taste – Corn and vanilla lead the way to a crips green apple and a nice cinnamon and black pepper finish.
Tasted with dried cranberry – Sweet but with vanilla versus corn, the apple remains and, pepper is stronger on the finish.
Tasted with a pecan – The vanilla is very sweet and the oak comes through on the finish.
Tasted with dark chocolate – Very different. Toasted vanilla cream with a stronger black pepper finish.
Casey Jones Single Barrel Eclipse Cask
Mashbill – 50% Corn, 50% Sugar Cane
Age – Moonshine aged just under 7 years (barreled after 2017 Eclipse)
Proof – 109
Other – It was aged in a Kelvin Cooperage #4 char, medium toast cask, offered uncut at cask strength, 700ml.
Price Paid – $99.99
Color – Medium to dark amber.
Aroma – Vanilla, molasses, brown sugar, cherries, and a light spice such as white pepper and baking spices.
Taste – Sweet, great mouth feel, brown sugar, molasses, cherries, baking spices and oak .
Tasted with dried cranberry – This turned the sweet cherry to sour cherries – very interesting. Also, now there is cinnamon on the finish.
Tasted with a pecan – The cherry flavor now tastes and feels like brandy soaked cherries – very sweet. The spiciness and wood flavors are rather limited with the pecan.
Tasted with dark chocolate – Interesting, the sweetness has been eliminated but there is and it finishes with a pink peppercorn.
Casey Jones Single Barrel Wheated Kentucky Straight Bourbon Mash Bill 3
Mashbill – 26.5% Bloody Butcher Corn, 26.5% Yellow Corn, 35% Wheat, 12% Malted Barley
Age – 4.5 years
Proof – 113.5
Other – Authentic Square Pot Distilling, Barrel #931, Char 4, Toast M
Price Paid – $99.99
Color – Medium amber.
Aroma – Inviting sweetness of vanilla cream, caramel, crème brûlée, and fruit notes of apple and/or pear. There seem to be hints of cloves and oak as well.
Taste – This has a terrific mouth feel and it is incredibly smooth. There’s caramel, honey, vanilla pie, and the crème brûlée that was on the nose. Very balanced with some sweet tea notes. A nice finish with cinnamon and a malted caramel.
Tasted with dried cranberry – This really brightened it up like fresh berries but it has a strong finish of black pepper.
Tasted with a pecan – The woodiness of the barrel is very prevalent. The pecan itself is present but more like the pecan used in a smoker. Overall, there is also some toasted marshmallow – terrific.
Tasted with dark chocolate – Very creamy and sweet, the cinnamon is more like a cinnamon roll.
Discussion and Final Notes
Casey Jones Total Eclipse Kentucky Straight Bourbon is very good but in this line-up, we might have to rank it third against its older brothers!
Casey Jones Single Barrel Eclipse Cask is phenomenal. It is still hard to believe that it is an aged moonshine. It has a wonderful sweetness yet very complex. It’s a beast – and we mean that in the best possible way. The primary “negative” is that it is likely sold out since it was quite limited when we visited April 6th. It is one of those times we really wish that we had purchased a back-up bottle!
Casey Jones Single Barrel Wheated Kentucky Straight Bourbon Mash Bill 3 is fantastic! We are huge fans of good four-grain bourbons and this one ranks way up there on our list. In addition to the single barrel that we purchased, they also offer it in a small batch at 95 proof for $59.99. Since it has regular availability, we encourage you to make a visit and give it a try.
Honestly – we thoroughly enjoyed each one. AJ is making some terrific spirits at Casey Jones. Give them a try!
Cheers,
Rebecca
Photos by Rebecca Herman McBrayer
Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey:
Such whiskeys have all the requirements of bourbon: Made in the U.S, distilled at <= 160 proof, barreled at <= 125 proof, aged in new, charred oak containers, bottled at >= 80 proof.
Straight bourbon means it is aged at least 2 years (and must have an age statement if less than 4).
In addition, to be Kentucky Straight Bourbon, it has the additional requirement that it must be produced and aged at least 1 year in the state of Kentucky.
For additional information on bourbon requirements, please read this post – Bourbon Whiskey.
NOTE: The spirits in this review were purchased by us. We were not compensated by the spirit producers for this review. This is simply our opinion based on what we tasted on this day. Please drink responsibly.
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