Ah, another beautiful afternoon in Indianapolis, and another day to sip some Bourbon. This day we are sipping Jefferson’s Very Small Batch. This is not to be confused with Very Old, Collaboration, Ocean or Presidential, seeing as how they all come in the same shaped corked bottle. JVSB is their least expensive, even though it is not necessarily cheap. Normally around the $35 range, we have seen it on sale for as low as $25.
Pretty accessible, most liquor stores that we frequent stock it. It is bottled at 82.3 proof with no age statement on the bottle.
NOSE
Ron: I got the normal nose of caramel and oak along with a little citrus. I also got a little bit of ethanol, reminding me somewhat of tasting White Dog.
Todd: I also got the caramel on the nose along with a woody/fruity aroma. With ice the nose had some oak. All of these were very faint. I did not get the ethanol.
Ron: I agree with the faint statement, really had to concentrate to get these aromas.
TASTE
Ron: On tasting, there was some caramel and spice up front, followed by some malt. A little hot for being only 82 proof. Better with some ice.
Todd: I agree with Ron on the heat, and that it is better with some melted ice. I really didn’t get a lot of flavors from this. A touch of chocolate when drank neat that I lost with the ice. The ice really smoothed it out though and I would prefer drinking it that way.
FINISH
Ron: Had a medium finish with a touch of the chocolate that Todd mentioned.
Todd: I agree, medium finish with not much change for me, maybe a little sweetness on the tongue.
OVERALL
Ron: Overall I found JVSB a balanced Bourbon that I would prefer over ice. Okay juice on sale, would pass at the normal price.
Very smooth with ice but just not a lot of flavor going on. Reminds me of Canadian whiskey, very smooth, but not a lot of taste. Having said that, I would, and have bought a bottle at the sale price.
Nose: 2.5 out of 5
Taste 6.5 out of 10
Finish 3 out of 5
Total 12 out of 20 barrels.
The score does not accurately tell how we feel about this Bourbon. At the sale price of $25, and with ice, it really is a nice sipping drink. Lends itself good to a summer afternoon on the porch with cigars. At $35 there are just too many other bottles with more going on.