Distillery: Undisclosed
Proof: 117
Age: 7 Years Old
Mashbill: 78% Corn, 12% Rye, and 10% Barley
BACKGROUND: In 1957, an entrepreneur named Frank Silverman sensed an opportunity based on the shortage of Jack Daniels and decided to source bourbon from the Hoffman Distilling Co. Hoffman Distilling Co. was operated by Ezra Ripy, whose family would play a fundamental role in the creation of Wild Turkey, so his unique first name was used in the title for the newly-created brand - Ezra Brooks. Over the decades, the Ezra Brooks brand passed through several companies, including Jim Beam. Today, The Old Ezra brand is owned by the company Luxco. Luxco also built their own distillery, Low Row Distillers, in Bardstown, KY in 2018. Luxco is on record as being a non-distiller producer and the rumor is that they have their bourbon sourced from Heaven Hill. Lux Row Distillers has six barrel warehouses and a 43-foot custom copper still. Luxco and Lux Row Distillers have stated that they will produce the bourbon for the company's own brands and will replace their sourced products when their bourbon comes of age.
NOSE: Old Ezra 7 has a nose that is filled with sweet notes of cinnamon, sweet vanilla, peanut butter and creamy butter. There are also some classic scents of caramel and oak. This nose is well balanced and withholding of any burn. Just by smelling this whiskey you wouldn't know that it is at cask strength. (22/25)
PALATE: The palate of Old Ezra is reminiscent of a caramel apple. As the whiskey touched it our lips we were greeted with notes of rich caramel, red apple, and a tickle of spice. It's not a sharp spice that one can attribute to rye but more of an oaky spice. The longer we let Old Ezra sit on our tongue the more we were able to pick up some notes peanuts, milk chocolate, and barrel char. It was quite a full mouthfeel leaving you with a sweet and spicy tingle. (34/40)
FINISH: As the oaky spice from the palate faded away the finish opened up with tons of tangy citrus fruit, barrel, and cracked pepper. The finish lived at the back of our tongues but it was medium in length and on the hotter side which we didn't particularly care for. (23/25)
VALUE: Old Ezra 7 has an excellent SRP of $40 which we think is a steal for a barrel proof bourbon! It's not the best cask strength bourbon but it certainly is enjoyable and a good buy. We would pay up to $50. (8/10)
Overall: 86/100
FINAL THOUGHTS: Old Ezra 7 is a really tasty cask strength whiskey that boasts some bold flavors and a great price. There is nothing overly extraordinary about Old Ezra 7 but it is a great classic tasting cask strength bourbon. If you are a fan of an easy drinking, classic tasting, high proofed bourbon then Old Ezra 7 is for you!
Similar & Slightly Better Whiskey: Elijah Craig Batch Proof C919
Similar & Equal Whiskey: Booker's 2020-01 Granny's Batch
Similar & Slightly Worse Whiskey: 1792 Full Proof
Tell us what you think and give us some feedback!
Scoring Legend:
96-100: The perfect dram, juice of the gods
90-95: Bear perfect, truly incredible whiskey
85-89: Amazing whiskey, will always try to keep a backup bottle of this
80-84: Very good, some minor flaws here or there
75-79: Good, quite enjoyable to drink, Will try and keep a bottle on the shelf
70-74: Solid, wouldn’t go out of my way to get this
60-69: Decent, would offer this up to non whiskey drinkers
50-59: Not my cup of tea
