Michter's Small Batch Bourbon

Volume: 0.7 litres | Alcohol content: 45.7% | Chill filtration: Yes | Colouring: No

Special Features:

At Michter's, Small Batch means a strictly limited selection of barrels: for US★1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon, whiskeys are brought together in a tank that can hold no more than the contents of 20 full barrels. This makes the quality of each selected whiskey particularly important. American corn is a substantial component of the grain recipe. The bourbon is distilled and bottled in Kentucky and matured in new, charred American white oak barrels.

Michter's includes an additional step in barrel preparation: the barrels are toasted before being charred. The heat changes the wood's constituents and makes aromatic compounds available during maturation. The spirit enters the barrel at 51.5% alcohol; this bourbon's bottling strength is 45.7%. Its character combines caramel sweetness, vanilla and stone fruit with earthy and smoky impressions. Oak adds a distinct accent to the finish. The bottle contains 0.7 litres and is offered without gift packaging.

Tasting Notes:

• Nose: On the nose, pronounced caramel aromas meet vanilla and stone fruit. Smoky notes add depth.
• Palate: The palate reveals sweet corn, honey and vanilla.
• Finish: The light finish lingers, leaving hints of oak and white pepper.

Distillery/Bottler:

The story behind Michter's begins not in Kentucky, but in Pennsylvania. There, Swiss Mennonite John Shenk founded a distillery in Schaefferstown in 1753, initially producing rye whiskey. It later became known as Bomberger's. Lou Forman coined the name Michter's in the 1950s from parts of his sons' names, Michael and Peter. After the company's bankruptcy in 1989, Joseph J. Magliocco and Richard “Dick” Newman revived the brand in the 1990s and shifted its focus to Kentucky. Today, Michter's includes a distillery in Louisville's Shively neighbourhood, Fort Nelson Distillery in downtown Louisville and a farm property in Springfield.

Its current practices include using air-seasoned barrel wood that spends at least 18 months outdoors before being worked. This seasoning reduces certain astringent constituents in the wood. In winter, the warehouses are heated periodically and then allowed to cool naturally. The additional temperature changes encourage interaction between the whiskey and the barrel wood. Michter's also avoids a single filtration process across its range, instead selecting filter media and methods for each bottling. Master Distiller Dan McKee and the tasting team decide when US★1 whiskeys are ready for release.

Facts: