Our tasting today comes from Heaven Hill Distillery, Henry McKenna Single Barrel, 10 year, Bottled in Bond Bourbon. From their website,” Named for Henry McKenna, the Irish immigrant who adapted his family’s whiskey recipe to work with the grains he found in Kentucky.” There was a time when this was pretty easy to find, but after winning some major awards in 2019, it slowly started to get harder to spot. This sample was given to us by our friend Kevin, who was supposed to be here to help taste but had something come up and couldn’t make it.
Henry McKenna Single Barrel satisfies all the requirements to be labeled a Bottled in Bond Bourbon. We have talked about those requirements in the past and won’t get back into them today. It sells for around $70, is 10 years old, 100 proof, and comes in an ordinary-looking corked bottle. The mash bill is 75% corn, 13% rye, and 12% malted barley. As stated, it can sometimes be a little hard to find.
We have not had this Bourbon before; in fact, we are not sure if we ever heard someone say they like this stuff. Having said that, we are big fans of Heaven Hill. We have seen McKenna on the shelf many times but never thought about buying a bottle. So, let’s see if we have another winner from Heaven Hill. Cheers, Kevin, and thanks.
NOSE
Frank: Nothing out of the ordinary, just the traditional Bourbon nose of caramel, oak, and vanilla. Has a slight grainy scent as well.
Matt: Sitting by a campfire is not the very conducive to picking up subtle scents. Here are the less subtle ones. A nutty wood aroma with grain and vanilla.
Todd: A grainy, oaky, nutty nose with touches of vanilla, caramel, and a bit of corn. Picking up a slight fruit scent that I can’t quite pin down.
TASTE
Frank: Tasting the same things I got on the nose with a touch of green apple skin. Ice added some more sweetness.
Matt: Going to echo Frank, I am tasting all I got on the nose with some added black pepper. Ice lightened up a bit but not much change.
Todd: Smooth neat despite the proof. Wood, grain, corn, caramel, and vanilla are the tastes that jump out. Behind that some chocolate and that same fruitiness that I still cannot identify.
FINISH
Frank: Short to medium with a little taste of ethanol. It sounds worse than it is.
Matt: Medium with a slight bit of spice.
Todd: Medium with some spice and that fruit again that I now think might be cherry.
OVERALL
Frank: Was just okay, not a lot going on for me.
Matt: I would compare to Buffalo Trace except for the price.
Todd: Decent stuff, a good deal at $35, probably not as much at $70.
Nose 3.5 out of 5
Taste 6.5 out of 10
Finish 3 out of 5
Total score 13 out of 20 barrels.
Seems like our first encounter with Henry McKenna did not go great. Not a bad Bourbon, but not much going on, especially in regard to the taste. We would have thought a 10-year-old Bourbon would have a great deal more complexity. $70 puts it that super premium prices and at that price it just needs to deliver more.
We want to reiterate that we liked this drink, just not the price. It made a decent Old Fashioned but again, that is a lot to pay for a mixer. In the end, the main case for buying a bottle of McKenna Single Barrel is the fact that it is becoming hard to find, and that is not necessarily a bad reason to buy a bottle.