Up for tasting today is Johnny Drum Private Stock. This comes in a nondescript screw top bottle with a light yellow/white label and goes for around $28 to $35. This is not to be confused with their black label which is a lower quality and about 10 bucks less. Or the green which is even lower. We have found it to be available at most stores and is bottled at 101 proof. We could not find an age statement on the bottle but we found a couple of sites online that said it was 15 years old.
You might have noticed that we have a lot of guest tasters. Anybody who is interested in helping us taste and rate Bourbon and lives in the Indpls area is welcome to reach out to us. Having said that today’s guest is Nate. Nate, by his own admission, is more of a beer and wine person who is just getting into Bourbon.
NOSE
Nate: I got vanilla and oak up front with some cinnamon and lemon(?) in the back. Also kind of reminded me of a humidor.
Ron: Lemon? That is a first. I did get the oak, along with some honey, citrus and what seemed like sorghum.
Todd: Sounds like you two are tasting a pastry, lemon and sorghum? I’m not sure I even know what sorghum smells like. Anyway, I also got the honey along with some leather and orange. I detected a cedar smell, almost like an unlit cigar. That would tie into Nate’s humidor reference.
TASTE
Nate: A little rough and hot up front when drank neat. A lot better with some ice. Once the ice had melted somewhat, I got a taste that reminded me of cinnamon red hot candy.
Ron: The ice definitely helps tame the heat even though I thought it subdued some of the flavors. I tasted caramel, anise, citrus and tobacco along with a slight woody flavor.
Todd: I consider this to be what I call the classic Bourbon taste. That is something that has some heat up front to remind you that it is an adult drink followed by some caramel, vanilla and fruit. I also got a little of the anise that Ron got.
FINISH
Nate: Med-long with a touch of clove.
Ron: More of the anise with a very slight band aid taste at the back of the throat.
Todd: Talk about crazy, before I heard what Ron said about the finish I wrote down anise and medicine, which is very similar to band aid.
OVERALL
Nate: Not the smoothest Bourbon, but hey, I can’t complain it was free.
Ron: Cool guest tasters bring a bottle with them! I have liked this Bourbon for years, but like we said at the top, don’t mistake this for the black label, which I think is Crap!
Todd: I found JD Private Stock to be pretty complex on all fronts. On a side note, the first time I saw this stuff, 4 years or so ago, I was in a small town in SW Indiana. I remembered that a friend had told me that if I was ever there stop into their liquor store, he said they have a great Bourbon selection. He was right, I saw JD, had never seen it before so I texted Ron a picture. He said he really liked it and I should buy it. I have liked it ever since. It has since become a lot more available.
Nose 4.5 out of 5
Taste 9 out of 10
Finish 4.5 out of 5
Total 18 out of 20 Barrels
Johnny Drum Private Stock is really good! If it is really 15 years old, it is one of the least expensive bottles for that many years in the barrel. Nice complex nose, taste and finish. You can’t go wrong. Really the only thing holding back the score, even though it was high, was free loading Nate complaining that it was too rough and hot.
Talking Bourbon’s recommendation, Buy! It should be a mainstay in your Bourbon cabinet.
P.S. On researching the age we came across 2 black labels. One is 12 years old, we have never had that. The other is 4 to 12 years old, that is the one we were not impressed with. In Ron’s words…..Crap!