Review #156 - Eagle Rare 10 Year
Another popular brand out of the Buffalo Trace distillery, and another bottle that is somewhat difficult to find. Actually, we've never seen a bottle of Eagle Rare on the shelf in our city, at least in the last five years of searching. Luckily, we have a few friends with a bottle who were willing to share, and we were able to taste it at a couple of local bars, as well.
This is one of the reasonably priced 10 year old bourbons on the market, at least if you can find it around the MSRP, which is supposedly around $40 now. We've seen it around $45 (plus shipping) on a couple of websites that will ship to us, so we can get close, but not quite there. Like many bourbons around this price point, it comes in at 45% ABV, or 90 proof.
Eagle Rare 10 Year
USA - Bourbon
Current Locally Available Price: USD 45 (2023)
Age Statement: 10 Years
Strength: 45% ABV
Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times over 18 months; bottles at 80%, 40%, and 70% fill levels at times of review. Tasted in a Glencairn glass each time, rested 10-15 minutes
Nose: Pleasant, a little bit fruity and nutty - there's dark fruit of maraschino cherry and raspberry, even blackberry jam, and then some hints of tobacco smoke and wood sugars. Baking notes come in the form of light caramel; overall, it's a sweeter bourbon.
Palate: The mouthfeel is medium, and we get more fruits to start: cherries again, and now strawberries, which add sweetness. More oak is present, and it adds some subtle astringency and nice spice like anise and nutmeg; caramel comes back later on. Nice and sippable, still sweet, but more balanced than the nose.
Finish: Medium length, with more red fruits: cranberry juice and cherry are the most dominant, but now the oak is starting to add more sharpness, even a hint of acidity - there are some puckering feelings on the cheeks and tongue. Dark sweetness from molasses and caramel, and at the end, a light aftertaste of corn grain.
Final Note: Nicely refined, very easy and pleasant to sip on, but not the most complex in the world. To be fair, it isn't really supposed to be - this is a bourbon that's had a MSRP in the $30 to $40 range over the last several years, just a step above 'entry level.' It has the classically sweet Buffalo Trace profile with nicely integrated oak and some great red fruit flavors. A decent value if you can find it around the $40 suggested price, but we wouldn't go chasing this one at a price much higher than that.
Our Average Rating: 6.2 / 10
In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.
Value Rating: 6.75
