PMP: Evan Williams 1783 Small Batch

Small batch, big flavor...

By Not Masters of Malt

February 21^st, 2022

Poor Man's Pour #1: The Introduction

Cheers to the beginning of something new, coming to you with our first installment of the "Pour Man's Pour" series! Our mission, to find sub $30.00 bottles of bourbon that can deliver on quality all the while being widely available to the public. After our 12 bottles have been thoroughly reviewed, we will be doing a special blind flight crowning a champion and become the "pourest" of them all!

Now without further ado, here is our review for Evan Williams 1783 Small Batch.

FROM THE DISTILLER...

Heaven Hill Distillery Notes:

Evan Williams 1783 Small Batch honors the year that Evan Williams founded Kentucky’s First Distillery. Pulled from fewer than 300 barrels, this extra-aged small Batch Bourbon won the 2019 Consumers’ 2019 SIP Award.

AGE: 6-8 Years

PROOF: 90

MASH BILL: 78% corn, 12% malted barley, 10% rye

PRICE POINT: $19.99 for a 750ml bottle

REVIEW:

Nose:

Hints of caramel, sweet corn and some leather. There’s also a twinge of lemon scented cleaning product, but not enough to be off putting.

Palate:

In your face sweetness, corn forward which then turns into a pleasant honey roasted peanut flavor. After the initial burst of sweetness, the flavor drops off fast. This is very enjoyable, if just a bit thin.

Finish:

This is where this bourbon really shines! Even though the flavor dropped off in the mid palate, it roars back in the finish. The leather, caramel and corn flavors come in waves that last longer than you would expect from a $20 bourbon. Once the initial taste of the finish wears off, you get hints of peanut shells and an almost nougat flavor while the bourbon slowly fades.

Overall: 4/5 - Highly Recommend

Final Verdict:

Evan Williams 1783 Small Batch is a pretty good bourbon on its own, but when you factor in the availability and the price, it is a fantastic drink! I think this could stand up to other bourbons double the price and I also thing this might have become my new house bourbon. It’s a perfect drink to serve up to people that are looking to get into bourbon and long-time bourbon fans that maybe have looked over 1783 while chasing other hard to find bottles.

Our sub $30 reviews have started off with a bang and I hope we are as pleasantly surprised with the other bottles in this series as we have been with Evan Williams 1783!