James E. Pepper is a new name to a lot of people, but they've been making a splash in the whiskey world for quite some time. Placing #27 on Fred Minnick's Top 100 American Whiskeys of 2023, their Barrel Proof Decanter has been getting lots of recent attention. Several years ago, their Old Pepper line featured some well-aged sourced bourbons that were highly sought after along brands such as O.K.I., Belle Meade, Blaum Brothers, Boone County, and Smooth Ambler. In our opinion, James E. Pepper has been one of the most enjoyable brands both on the sourced side, and now with their own distillate. What we've been most surprised by is the flavor for the cost in their small batch and single barrel bourbons & ryes alike. Compared to a lot of other products on the market, these are an incredible value.
Back in March I visited the Pepper Distillery to select our next round of single barrels, and to our fortune had the chance to taste through some of their oldest whiskey made available in single barrel. We tasted through an array of 6-yr 80/8/12 Kelvin 3 bourbons and 7-yr 100% Kelvin 4 ryes. The flavors coming from these barrels for the age was wild, and only made the selection process even harder. The ryes were the most difficult, as I was continually drawn to barrel 3, a cask strength barrel coming in around 98 proof. In the end, it lost out to barrel 2, still coming in cask strength just a hair above 100 proof.
This bourbon has one of "those profiles" that makes for a fun curveball to folks in a blind. Not only does it carry that cherry pop flavor I love, but it has tells of several different heritage distillers as well.
In a lot of ways, the rye reminds me of Pursuit Episode 62, the 89 proof Pursuit Series Rye we had a few years back, just a bit more intense in the flavor.
Old Pepper Single Barrel Bourbon #19-198 106.4 Proof
The nose is nuanced with wafts of smoke and leather. It reminds me a bit of Beam with its grassy, earthy, melted milk chocolate before moving into toffee and thick caramel, blanketing with raisin and a touch of apricot.
The palate is spiced and viscous. Vibrant dark fruits present - heavy cherry, funky berry compote, like Dr. Pepper or cherry coke slushy on steroids lingering with green apple and tons of oak.
The finish is chewy and plump, not quite medicinal but sort of leans that way with a fruity, leather, oaky, citrus amalgamation that reminds me most closely of Wild Turkey.
Old Pepper Single Barrel Rye #18-32 101.4 Proof
Lime candy, oatmeal raisin cookies, brown sugar simple syrup, vanilla cream, rounded fruit notes with an elegant, oaky presence.
The palate is soft and custardy - citrus kissed vanilla moving into souring grapes and vintage inspired oaky baking spices.
The finish continues with citrus and graham cracker, before turning into vanilla dipped thin mint cookies and seasoned oak.
