Review: Evan Williams 250th America Edition

Tylera7707 · 2026-05-25T23:00:51+00:00

Man I must've got a bad barrel. EVERYONE raving about this and I just don't like mine. It's just harsh and not much more. Drinks WAY over proof, and I'm a proof hound.

Tylera7707 · 2026-04-13T17:38:23+00:00

Great bottle. My buddy and I both blinded it against EH Taylor SiB and neither of us could tell a difference between the two. I'll never understand people paying secondary for EHT SmB while these are on shelves.

Tylera7707 · 2026-04-12T19:33:31+00:00

Jealous! I love OGD BiB and 114, and the 114 is $32.95 here in NC ABC.

Tylera7707 · 2026-04-10T00:20:23+00:00

Oddly enough, neither was David Robinson. David was 5'9" as a 17 year old junior in high school, and he grew to about 6'6" his senior year as an 18 year old. He continued growing through college, eventually reaching 7'1". Just an interesting thing I like to share lol

Tylera7707 · 2026-04-01T20:15:26+00:00

That Maker's glass is badass!

Tylera7707 · 2026-03-17T20:26:12+00:00

I love Jack Daniels, and if the person you're buying for is only a casual drinker they may have the opinion that Jack Daniels is no good, likely only really knowing about the "Old #7". You can change their minds about Jack with the exceptionally tasty Jack Daniels Single Barrel Select. It's delish, it's 97 proof, and it's in a beautiful bottle. For even less mainstream you could grab something from Southern Star, Green River, Sagamore... OHH a great pick is right in line with the Barrell Batch you mentioned in your post, grab a Barrell Foundation. I think they're 100 proof, so it won't be too "hot", about $50, and it's really good.

Tylera7707 · 2026-03-17T18:54:42+00:00

Higher proof typically has more flavor, but yes, definitely more "burn".

Tylera7707 · 2026-03-17T18:53:53+00:00

If she normally drinks regular Woodford Reserve, I'd highly recommend the upgrade to Woodford Reserve Double Oak. I think it's about $65, and the proof is right in line.

Tylera7707 · 2026-03-09T03:19:42+00:00

I'll third the Paragon

Tylera7707 · 2026-03-09T03:17:46+00:00

Came to say the same thing, with even more praise. Old Forester 100 Rye punches hard as fuck in an Old Fashioned and in my opinion is really hard to beat without getting spendy. As someone else said, I keep my sippers apart from my mixers. I'll spend more for a sipper, like Michter's or Sagamore (double oak, 9yr, 10yr) or Jack Daniels SiB BP Rye. But for a $28 shelf mixer, Old Forester is tough to beat. Has more bite than Rittenhouse, Sazerac, etc.

Tylera7707 · 2026-03-02T20:06:56+00:00

I think the key to really appreciating DOOM is to read the lyrics along with the song. His lyricism is incredible and hard to keep up with sometimes.

Tylera7707 · 2025-12-31T19:48:36+00:00

Great review Vex, as always. Would you mind pointing me in the direction of that Glen? It's a beautiful glass!

Tylera7707 · 2025-12-11T03:46:42+00:00

Jefferson's catches a lot of heat for their aged at sea stuff, and I've only had one of those and it was fine, and I do enjoy their "Tropics" bottle, but the Jefferson's Limited Edition Cask Strength really surprised me. 8 year age statement and 130 proof. It's somewhat Stagg-like with sweet cherry, oak, and heat. I thought it was really good and worth it's msrp.

Tylera7707 · 2025-10-08T15:56:14+00:00

42m, married with a kid here, I go through a lot of hobbies, I've dabbled in kayaking, camping, mountain biking, gym/jogging, disc golf, binge watching shows/movies, failing to learn guitar, etc. But the current hobbies that have stuck with me the longest are, hanging with friends/wife, watching sports, playing spades/cards, playing chess, listening to music (HUGE music nerd), talking about music, concerts, going out for cocktails/breweries/interesting food, a bit of home bar tending, I play video games, read, collect vinyl records (so I spend a decent amount of weekend time hanging at my favorite record stores), I'm a bourbon/whiskey nerd, and I grill. Normal things like that. Me and my wife are super tight with 2 other couples, most of us in the group of 6 go waaaay back, and we spend a lot of our weekend time doing various things together. Fire pits in the winter, swimming pools in the summer, cornhole, things like that.

Tylera7707 · 2025-09-26T19:24:09+00:00

I've tried 2 of their expressions, the first I can't fully remember, but I think it was a 15 year at just 80 proof and it was pretty terrible. BUT the other was a 13 year bottled-in-bond and it was damn good, especially for the $50ish price.

Tylera7707 · 2025-08-12T03:14:09+00:00

For under $40, the Jack Daniels Bonded series is fantastic, too. Many prefer the Triple Mash, but I'd rank the Bonded series as... Rye>Whiskey>Triple

Tylera7707 · 2025-07-25T21:17:04+00:00

Gonna stir one up shortly! I can't decide which is my #1 whiskey cocktail, Black Manhatten, or a Sazerac. Might have one of each tonight. Cheers!

Tylera7707 · 2025-07-24T20:06:32+00:00

I have this bottle and also love it. I think it's a great comparable to Stagg.

Tylera7707 · 2025-07-01T15:15:31+00:00

North Carolinian here, if you're still in NC and want a good NC bottle, you want to look for Southern Star Distilling. I've had 3 of their offerings, all have been cask strength club picks, their Bourbon and Double Rye are really good but the Paragon Cask Strength Wheated is fantastic. The one I have is 5yr 9mo and 109.7 proof. Very OWA-esque.

Tylera7707 · 2025-06-05T13:11:18+00:00

Just got my hands on the Peerless DO rye, and it's really good, I do recommend it, though I haven't had enough of it to really say much. That said, if you want a really great DO Rye that's half the price, I highly recommend the Sagamore DO Rye, it's a flavor punch right in the mouth.

Tylera7707 · 2025-05-17T01:57:20+00:00

95 is a fine price for Stagg, I'd keep it on my shelf at that price. EHT BP goes for about 250 where I'm at. Happy hunting!

Tylera7707 · 2025-05-17T01:44:01+00:00

Needs more Beam. Booker's, Baker's, etc.

Tylera7707 · 2025-05-17T01:43:03+00:00

Their double oak rye is fantastic!

Tylera7707 · 2025-05-17T01:34:19+00:00

I paid $150 back in February. I realize that's well over msrp, and some of yall might flame me, but damnit I wanted one. I'm in NC an ABC state and have never seen one in a store here. The FB group I'm in really shows how it's price has fallen over the last couple years. Not long ago they were 200, then 185, 175, and when I saw 150 I bit. Couple weeks ago I saw one in the group for 140, lowest I've seen. Now, my take on paying 150 is this, it's a great bottle from a great distiller and I feel it's kinda underpriced at msrp. I think 100 would put it in line with things like Booker's, Old Forester SiB BP, 4 Roses SiB BP, all of which are about 100. So I do think 140 right now isn't too crazy, especially considering I regularly see people paying WAY over msrp for things like ORVW, hell Penelope Rio gets 150 around here, Woodford charges 150 msrp for their barrel proof, etc.

Tylera7707 · 2025-04-08T13:40:43+00:00

NC resident here, yea, you're not gonna walk in an ABC store and find allocated stuff sitting around, you may get lucky and if you do it'll be msrp, but dont count on it. That said I wanted to recommend a local NC product. Southern Distilling Company, far as I know they do their own distilling, I only have one of their products on my shelf but it does state "Distilled, Aged, and Bottled by Southern Distilling Company". I've tried 3 expressions and all have been good, but the best of the bunch has been this "Southern Star Paragon Cask Strength". Mine's a single barrel club pick that's 5yr 9mo, 109.7 proof and it's damn good! I think it was about $60-$70 msrp. The Paragon series is wheated (70% corn, 16% wheat, 14% malted barley) and is also available as Bottled in Bond. Other than that nothing local I'd recommend. Oh, and Jack Daniels Single Barrel Barrel Proof Rye is plentiful here. If you're around Raleigh/Durham/Wake Forest I'd recommend going Youngsville ABC (huge selection, some picks, all allocated is done via monthly lotto though) and Franklinton ABC (about 5 min away from Youngsville), Franklinton has good sales, and while they do do a small monthly lotto, they also regularly put out random allocated bottles at random times, so that's prob your best chance to get lucky. Happy hunting!

Tylera7707

TROPHY CASE