Eagle Rare 17 Years Review

Country: USA

Brand: Eagle Rare

Type: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 

Age: 17 Years. This is mentioned on the bottles. But in fact the spirit matured for 19 years.

ABV: 45 %

Sample Provided By: Derek, USA. Thanks!  

Date: 09/11/2013

Colour: Light Amber

Nose: After having nosed and tasted the Georg T Stagg 2012 with the staggering ABV of 71.4% earlier, the Nose of the Eagle Rare is relatively light in comparison. It's quite Pleasant, Creamy and Waxy though with Sweet Corn, Buttered Toast, Syrup, Vanilla, Honey, Caramel, Berries, Banana, Charred Oak, Nuts, Cocoa Powder, Acetone and hints of Lemon, Leather and Sour-Dough.

Palate: The Delivery would have benefited from an ABV of around 50%.  It's a bit Thin as it is. On the Palate, the Eagle Rare is Dry, Spicy, Herbal and Bitter-Sweet with Caramel, Sweet Corn, Vanilla, Honey, Cocoa Powder, Rye, Dark Chocolate, Mint, Nuts, Stewed Cherries, Pepper, Ginger and a hint of Tobacco.

Finish: Middle-Long, Bitter-Sweet at first but quite Dry towards the end with Toffee, Vanilla, Cherries, Oak, Rye-Bread, Acetone, Pepper and Cinnamon.

With a bit of Water the Nose gets Sweeter with lots of Corn, Syrup, Vanilla and Banana. But Palate and Finish don't take the added Water well. When Nosing you could certainly add a few drops. For tasting however I advise you to sip it neat.

Rating: 85.5

Nose: 21.5 - Taste: 21.5 - Finish: 21 - Overall: 21.5

Derek's Bottle that produced the Sample!

General Remarks: More than a decade ago the Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky launched the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection. Each year five special Bourbons are released in very limited quantities. For 2012 they were the George T. Stagg 2012, Eagle Rare 17 Years, The Sazerac Rye 18 Years, the Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Rye 18 Years, the William Larue Weller Bourbon and the Eagle Rare 17 Years (bottled in the Spring of 2012) we are tasting today. It is sold at prices that vary a lot depending on where you live. I saw prices of around 70 US Dollars in the USA and of up to 200 US Dollars in Europe. So I was very pleased with the sample provided by Derek! 

Drinking Experience Neat: Good

Conclusion: A Well-Crafted, Solid and " Easy" Bourbon, considering its age. But it's not exceptional and as such pales clearly when compared to the George T Stagg for instance. One of the reasons is the relatively low ABV of 45%. The Palate could do with a higher ABV of around 50%. Still, a very nice Bourbon that would probably sell a lot more if lower priced. Because it's quite expensive for what it offers.

Jan van den Ende                                                       November 2013