Bomberger’s Declaration Bourbon (2021)
Specs
ABV: 54%
Age: NAS – Minimum 4 years
Recipe: Undisclosed
Distiller: Michter’s Distillery
Country/Region: USA/Kentucky
Price Paid (MSRP): $80 ($85)
Tasting Notes
Nose: Deep charred wood, cinnamon candies, baking spices, orange zest, chocolate, vanilla.
Palate: Thick mouth feel, intense heat and cinnamon spice, cherries, clove, cardamom, brown sugar, tannic with leather and oak.
Finish: Medium length, drying oak, more cinnamon, clove, and some black pepper.
Rating: 79/100 – Great | Well above average
This was a really great pour but I can’t shake the feeling that Bomberger’s is a younger bourbon pretending to be something much older. The tannins are excellent bringing an oaky intensity but it’s coupled with a surprising amount of heat and once the initial flavor explosion concludes there’s a lack of depth and complexity that you would find in an older whiskey. It’s a similar phenomenon to what I’ve experienced with a lot of Brown Forman whiskeys, another producer known for heat-cycling its warehouses to speed up bourbon maturation. I’d bet the bourbon in here is actually a lot younger than you would expect but punches well above its age. At an MSRP of around $85, Bomberger’s is on the expensive side of what I’d consider fair, falling just shy of my excellent tier. Maybe next year’s release will surpass it.
