Today, we are sampling Ezra Brooks 99 Bourbon from Lux Row Distillery. Oddly enough, it is not named after anyone; Frank Silverman created the brand without having a distillery, sourcing Bourbon from multiple distilleries. If there is a reason he called it this, we could not find it. Ezra 99 is a sour mash and is also charcoal filtered, which we usually associate with Tennessee whiskey.
Ezra Brooks 99 is, wait for it, 99 proof. The bottle is pretty easy to find, sells for $25, and comes in a standard-looking corked bottle. The mash bill is high corn with 78% along with 10% rye and 12% malted barley. We could not find any type of age statement.
We are old enough to have memories of Old Ezra 7-year 101, which was discontinued 6 or 7 years ago. Though while we remember the bottle, we can’t really remember if we liked it or not. And while it is only $25, we would like to see an age statement. Oh well, can’t have everything.
NOSE
No real main aroma, just lots of subtle ones, including wood, caramel, pepper, brown sugar, and vanilla. Also has a slight nutty scent. Ice killed the nose, probably due to none of the scents being really strong.
TASTE
A smooth, sweet sip with a bit of cake, milk chocolate, caramel, and brown sugar. Get a little rye, wood, and nuttiness as well. Ice made it even sweeter.
FINISH
Medium with a little touch of pepper and oak.
OVERALL
Not super complex but definitely budget-friendly.
Nose 3 out of 5
Taste 6 out of 10
Finish 3.25 out of 5
Total score 12.25 out of 20 barrels.
A decent Bourbon for $25. We found it a little strange that we got rye and pepper with only 10% rye and so much corn. We also found it somewhat odd that none of us got the charcoal filtering. Usually, you can pick that right up front on the nose and taste, think Jack Daniels or George Dickel. We have a hard time finding something unique about this Bourbon, putting it in the dreaded category of “just another whiskey”. And the score somewhat reflects that.
Having said that, it is only $25. At that price, we recommend buying a bottle and deciding for yourself what you think of Ezra Brooks 99 Bourbon.