Square 6 Bourbon Review

Square 6
Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
95 Proof
High Rye Bourbon
Review

The new Square 6 Bourbon from Evan Williams is a really cool bourbon. Why? Well, first and foremost, it’s the first bourbon distilled at the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience to be ever released to the public! I was really interested in trying this one, so we drove out to Louisville, waited for a few minutes for our turn, and headed up to the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience gift shop to pick up a bottle.

The bottle side label says: “Square Six pays homage to the plot of land that housed Kentucky’s first commercial distillery, founded by Evan Williams in 1783. The Distillery sat on the exact block as the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience today, where this bourbon was handcrafted on a copper pot still one barrel at a time. Taste bourbon history.” One source states that this bourbon is 5 years old, but I haven’t seen mention of age anywhere else, so I’m not sure if that is correct. This bourbon is available for a limited time only at the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience, in Louisville, Kentucky. Going forward, the plan is to have future releases of different whiskeys, which were also distilled at the onsite artisanal distillery, for sale in the gift shop for visitors to purchase. The price is $89 + tax.

Tasting Notes

Let’s taste it:

🛏 Rested for 15 minutes in a Glencairn

👉🏻Nose: Cornbread, cookie dough, brown sugar, baking spices, raisins, some dry graininess and oak in the background; moderate alcohol burn
👉🏻Taste: Sweet corn bread, light raisin, brown sugar, mild oak
👉🏻Finish: Sweetness lasts into the finish and becomes a bit more like molasses; there’s also a hint of raisin; some char and black pepper grow, but dryness is fairly light throughout, and cookie dough lingers in the background; Mild alcohol burn

So these flavors are not at all typical of Heaven Hill bourbons, but then again, this is no typical Heaven Hill bourbon. This is a product of the very, very small artisanal distillery at the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience, and we’re getting those delicious flavors that only a pot still can produce. The mash bill is also significantly different from the standard Heaven Hill bourbon. It’s 52% corn, 35% rye, & 13% malted barley. Even though this is a very high rye bourbon, the rye is not at all overwhelming as it blends with cornbread, raisins and cookie dough. I suspect the relatively high amount of malted barley is also contributing some of the richness and body.

Summary

If I take a step back a few years, I might not have appreciated this Square 6 Bourbon, because I was accustomed to those classic bourbon flavors of caramel, vanilla and oak, and had not yet learned to appreciate the flavors that can be created with a well made pot-distilled bourbon. But now I do, and I love it! Have you tried this one yet? What did you think? Cheers!🥃

Want to read about another Heaven Hill bourbon? Check out our Heaven Hill 6 Year Old Bourbon Review!

Would you like to learn more about distilleries and bourbon? Are you planning a trip to Kentucky Distilleries? Maybe you would like to live the bourbon life vicariously through us?🙂 If any of these are true, then check out BourbonObsessed.com today!