Over the course of this week I got to try two new bourbons, both distilled at Heaven Hill: Heaven Hill Bottled in Bond and Lux Row’s Ezra Brooks Cask Strength. I decided to compare the two since they are both about the same price but the Heaven Hill BiB is less in proof (100) but three years older. The Ezra Brooks Cask Strength is 124 proof and four years old.

The Ezra Brooks is a light amber, almost straw-like, with a thin film and legs on the swirl despite the high proof. The nose is traditional bourbon with an emphasis on caramel, along with some nuttiness. On the palate, caramel, hints of vanilla, some butteriness, but along with some youthful bitterness due to a lack of maturation. The finish is mostly ethanol that turns into light cloves and cinnamon. This bourbon is not bad, but I find it a bit lacking. It’s good, but not great, and really needs some more age.

I had been looking to get a bottle of Heaven Hill Bottled in Bond for some time now. It is easily found in Kentucky but I haven’t seen it much in Louisiana, but a friend of mine found some at Kerry’s in Marksville and grabbed me a bottle. A seven year aged stated bottled in bond whiskey is bound to be pretty good. The color is a nice rich amber; darker than the Ezra Brooks despite being proofed down. Thin film but thick legs on the swirl. The nose is traditional bourbon as well but with the vanilla being very present along with some nice oak. Really nice. On the palate, lovely vanilla and candied cherries are up front, followed by tons of clove and a little oak tannin. Really nice mouthfeel as well. On the finish the cherries become more like cherry altoids, along with clove and oak, with the finish lingering for much longer than the Old Ezra.

The big takeaway is an obvious one – maturation matters when it comes to bourbon, and a seven year old bottled in bond whiskey is way better than a four year old cask strength bourbon from the same distiller. I can see Heaven Hill Bottled in Bond being a regular on my bar if it remains available.