May 5, 2024
By Rebecca Herman McBrayer
In honor of the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby, Saturday May 4, 2024, Wayne and I tasted a THEME of bourbon inspired by this iconic event. In addition to the annual Woodford Reserve release, we also opened and tasted two special bottles.
Selected for this Tasting
Woodford Reserve Kentucky Derby 150; 1974 James B. Beam 100th Kentucky Derby Decanter; and Evan Williams Kentucky Derby Festival 2023.
Please be sure to read our approach to Tasting Whiskey if you haven’t already.
Woodford Reserve Kentucky Derby 150
Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Mashbill – 72% corn, 18% rye, and 10% malt
Age – NAS; KSBW is at least 4 years
Proof – 90.4
Other – The whiskey is also triple distilled and has a low proof when it enters the barrel to mature for at least six years.
Price Paid – $37.59
Color – Light to Medium Amber
Aroma – Surprised by the amount of ethanol at first as this is pretty low proof. Once we go past that notes of honey, vanilla, light baking spices, hints of oak.
Tasted Neat – Very light and with limited viscosity. Similar to the nose, there is vanilla, honey, orange zest, and a woodiness. The finish is dry with pepper and oak.
Tasted with dried cranberry – The cranberry brought the orange zest very forward, less sweetness, and the finish is also lighter.
Tasted with a pecan – Tobacco leads the way but there is also strong wood notes and a light hint of cocoa powder.
Tasted with dark chocolate – Very similar to when it was tasted neat except that the chocolate has added a creaminess.
We both liked it best with the cranberry as it had a very nice brightness; however, due to the tobacco notes, we might want to taste it with a cigar as well.
1974 James B. Beam 100th Kentucky Derby Decanter
Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Mashbill – 75% corn, 13% rye, and 12% malt (estimated based on today’s Jim Beam white label)
Age – 100 months (8.33 years) when bottled in 1974
Proof – 86
Price Paid – Gifted from Family Collection
Other – From “A Guide To Jim Beam Bottles” by Cembura & Avery: The 100th anniversary of the famed Kentucky Derby Classic is honored with a bottle bearing cameos of the first winner Aristides in 1875 and Cannonade in 1974. Red roses fill the numerals. The back list the names and dates of previous winners. Height 7.5 inches. Originally sold for $10.00.
Color – Dark Amber
Aroma – Lovely nose … sweet and rich at the same time. There is a nice wood note with caramel, buttered popcorn, and baking spices and perhaps a hint of fruit.
Tasted Neat – Caramel and oak with a vanilla custard and cinnamon. The fruit from the aroma seems to be dried apricot and there is a hint of citrus as well. The finish lingers nicely with cinnamon and oak. It has a lot more character and complexity than we typically see today in an 86 proof bourbon.
Tasted with dried cranberry – This took away the sweetness and brought the baking spices forward with more woodiness.
Tasted with a pecan – Very rich as the caramel turns darker and the wood became quite dominant. The finish is black pepper and oak.
Tasted with dark chocolate – The caramel returned and there is cinnamon more mid-palate. Finishes with a strong woodiness and cinnamon.
Neat would be preferred but with the pecan was very nice.
Evan Williams Kentucky Derby Festival 2023
Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Mashbill – 78% corn, 12% malted barley, and 10% rye
Barreled 10/27/15; Bottled 01/20/23; Barrel #5
Age – 7.24 years
Proof – 119
Other – Dipped in iridescent teal wax. The bottle also features a special face label with the Kentucky Derby Festival logo in teal and gold, and each bottle comes with a 2023 Pegasus Pin in an envelope. Only 800 bottles were released.
Price Paid – $84.79
Color – Medium Amber
Aroma – Vanilla, cherry, floral, and perhaps tea.
Tasted Neat – Caramel, honey, vanilla custard, and a hint of cherry. The finish has nutmeg and a light mint.
Tasted with dried cranberry – This really brightened it up. Now there is citrus coming forward such as orange or lemon zest, still with a hint of cherry and the finish is very nice and with a pleasant cinnamon.
Tasted with a pecan – Now there is chocolate covered cherries with nutmeg and an additional woodiness. Very nice.
Tasted with dark chocolate – The cherry got really bold in the middle with a hint of chocolate but there wasn’t much of a finish.
This is a great bottle and we liked it neat but some of the other options were also very interesting.
Discussion and Final Notes
For a nose preference, it was clearly Jim Beam, Evan Williams, then Woodford.
From a taste perspective, it is hard to compare something that was distilled and barreled in 1966 to today’s products. Based on the older products that we have been able to taste, they tend to have a bit more character than today’s exact counterpart.
The 1974 bottle of Jim Beam was fantastic. If you can get your hands on an unopened decanter of this vintage, we highly recommend giving it a try. And, if ever in Northern Kentucky, just south of Cincinnati you will find Covington, KY and the home of Revival Vintage Bottle Shop where each day you might have an opportunity to taste from a dusty bottle! From a current Jim Beam offering, we would recommend the Jim Beam Black 7 Year as a good substitute.
The 2023 Derby Festival bottle by Evan Williams is truly terrific. We have also had several of their single barrels and since finding this specific bottle might be a challenge, give their single barrel a try.
Woodford Reserve, at least for us, is not preferred for drinking neat. However, it is fantastic in cocktails as its taste holds up very even though it is a lower proof. If you love the Kentucky Derby, you will want to collect their beautiful commemorative bottles.
Everyone has a different palate and different taste preferences. We are confident that at least one of these would be great for most people.
Cheers,
Rebecca & Wayne
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 bourbons 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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