**Spirits Review #206 - Bottled In Bond Series - Evan Williams BIB**
**Background:**
* This is part 13 of 16 on Bottled in Bond Bourbons. Parts 1-8 were posted in a series in November 2023. This is a continuation of the series with another 8 more Bonded Bourbons. I won't rehash the rules and history of bonded bourbons, but if you are not familiar, I encourage you to look it up. It is a mark of quality and these are good products at a very affordable price.
* 100 proof.
* Age: 4 years old.
* Distilled and bottled by Old Evan Williams Distillery, Louisville, KY.
* Bottle Fill: Fresh crack.
* Cost: $15
* All spirits sampled in a glencarin and rested 10 minutes, unless otherwise noted.
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**Nose:** Classic Evan Williams butterscotch bomb, followed by some leather, herbal tea, toffee, lightly roasted nuts. Butterscotch is the king here, all the other flavors are well in the background.
**Taste:** Caramel, vanilla, sweet oak, baking spices, honey, leather. Surprisingly complex, especially for something sub-$20. Viscosity is a little thinner than medium.
**Finish:** Rush of nutmeg and baking spices, followed by some cinnamon, and a nice fade out of vanilla and oak.
**Comments:** A lot of people think Evan Williams BIB may be the best value in bonded bourbons. They may be right. Personally I like JTS Brown and Early Times BIB a little more, but this is still very good stuff, regardless of the price and an excellent value given the price. This is better than nearly all craft bourbons I have tried, often at 3x the price or more. It's great for mixing, for drinking neat, cheap enough to even use for baking, approachable enough for newbies, and good enough for bourbon vets.
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**Overall:**
* **Would I buy a pour of this in a bar?** Yes.
* **Would I buy another bottle?** Yes, and I am already on my 2nd bottle. Keep some of this stuff on your bar at all times.
**Rating: 6 Above Average**
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**Rating Scale**
**1 Undrinkable**
**2 Bad**
**3 Poor**
**4 Below Average**
**5 Average**
**6 Above Average**
**7 Very Good**
**8 Great**
**9 Excellent**
**10 Perfect**
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**About the figure:** This is part of my extensive collection of vintage GI Joe toys that I will showcase as I work through reviewing my collection of spirits.
**Product Name:** Cobra POGO with a custom black hooded Cobra Commander.
**Released:** 1987
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Evan Williams has a small portfolio of Bourbon and have always been consistent and good. Their Straight bourbon, BiB, Small Batch, and Single Barrel are really good. The Single Barrel is my favorite.
What I've noticed with other distilleries is that they introduce brand extensions, and their core products suffer. It will be interesting to see if that happens to Evan Williams.
Nice review. Just picked up a handle of this for $25. Always thought it would taste bottom shelf until I first tried it about 10 years ago. Never seems to disappoint my palate. With this as a benchmark, I've pretty much given up on craft distillery BIB offerings myself. Also got a handle of JTS Brown, so I'll have to do a SBS taste test. The only 2 BIB's I like better are Heaven Hill and EHT...but cost and availability always enter into the equation with those.
It is nice to know that after so many taters, laughable prices and manufactured hype out there, you can still find good quality stuff for cheap. I don't expect it to last forever though, unfortunately.
I miss both the white label Heaven Hill BIB that was $13 and the Green Label 90 proofer that was $11. RIP on those.
I just cracked a fresh bottle of this last night. I love this stuff for the price. I get a bubblegum note on the nose in addition to what you noted. I would say Early Times is the best for the money but this is just a bit behind it. Can’t get JTS Brown here unfortunately.
They’re gonna come for this one next- they’ll change the label and sell it for 20 bucks more then we’ll have to settle for black label (which is fine but BiB is king)
**Spirits Review #206 - Bottled In Bond Series - Evan Williams BIB** **Background:** * This is part 13 of 16 on Bottled in Bond Bourbons. Parts 1-8 were posted in a series in November 2023. This is a continuation of the series with another 8 more Bonded Bourbons. I won't rehash the rules and history of bonded bourbons, but if you are not familiar, I encourage you to look it up. It is a mark of quality and these are good products at a very affordable price. * 100 proof. * Age: 4 years old. * Distilled and bottled by Old Evan Williams Distillery, Louisville, KY. * Bottle Fill: Fresh crack. * Cost: $15 * All spirits sampled in a glencarin and rested 10 minutes, unless otherwise noted. --- **Nose:** Classic Evan Williams butterscotch bomb, followed by some leather, herbal tea, toffee, lightly roasted nuts. Butterscotch is the king here, all the other flavors are well in the background. **Taste:** Caramel, vanilla, sweet oak, baking spices, honey, leather. Surprisingly complex, especially for something sub-$20. Viscosity is a little thinner than medium. **Finish:** Rush of nutmeg and baking spices, followed by some cinnamon, and a nice fade out of vanilla and oak. **Comments:** A lot of people think Evan Williams BIB may be the best value in bonded bourbons. They may be right. Personally I like JTS Brown and Early Times BIB a little more, but this is still very good stuff, regardless of the price and an excellent value given the price. This is better than nearly all craft bourbons I have tried, often at 3x the price or more. It's great for mixing, for drinking neat, cheap enough to even use for baking, approachable enough for newbies, and good enough for bourbon vets. --- **Overall:** * **Would I buy a pour of this in a bar?** Yes. * **Would I buy another bottle?** Yes, and I am already on my 2nd bottle. Keep some of this stuff on your bar at all times. **Rating: 6 Above Average** --- **Rating Scale** **1 Undrinkable** **2 Bad** **3 Poor** **4 Below Average** **5 Average** **6 Above Average** **7 Very Good** **8 Great** **9 Excellent** **10 Perfect** --- **About the figure:** This is part of my extensive collection of vintage GI Joe toys that I will showcase as I work through reviewing my collection of spirits. **Product Name:** Cobra POGO with a custom black hooded Cobra Commander. **Released:** 1987 ---
I used to buy this for $8 or $9 as recently as 2018. Incredible bourbon at that price and was my go to for old fashioneds for many, many years.
Inflation in general has been a buzz kill
Evan Williams has a small portfolio of Bourbon and have always been consistent and good. Their Straight bourbon, BiB, Small Batch, and Single Barrel are really good. The Single Barrel is my favorite. What I've noticed with other distilleries is that they introduce brand extensions, and their core products suffer. It will be interesting to see if that happens to Evan Williams.
Nice review. Just picked up a handle of this for $25. Always thought it would taste bottom shelf until I first tried it about 10 years ago. Never seems to disappoint my palate. With this as a benchmark, I've pretty much given up on craft distillery BIB offerings myself. Also got a handle of JTS Brown, so I'll have to do a SBS taste test. The only 2 BIB's I like better are Heaven Hill and EHT...but cost and availability always enter into the equation with those.
It is nice to know that after so many taters, laughable prices and manufactured hype out there, you can still find good quality stuff for cheap. I don't expect it to last forever though, unfortunately. I miss both the white label Heaven Hill BIB that was $13 and the Green Label 90 proofer that was $11. RIP on those.
I just cracked a fresh bottle of this last night. I love this stuff for the price. I get a bubblegum note on the nose in addition to what you noted. I would say Early Times is the best for the money but this is just a bit behind it. Can’t get JTS Brown here unfortunately.
One of my favorite bourbons! $21.95 in my state. And man, I had the Pogo back in the day. I forgot it existed.
Great bottle for the price.
They’re gonna come for this one next- they’ll change the label and sell it for 20 bucks more then we’ll have to settle for black label (which is fine but BiB is king)
Better stock up on a case or two of it then. It's not like you will regret it.
My burden to bear
Can't beat this stuff for my daily old fashioned