Henry McKenna 10 - Straight Bourbon - SB - BiB
$59
McKenna 10 Year – Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey – SB – BiB
Barrel: 7456 – Barreled on 5-12-09
Proof: 100
Age: 10 Years
Distillery: Heaven Hill
Type: Kentucky Straight Bourbon
Mash: 78% Corn, 12% Barley, 10% Rye
Website: Heaven Hill
*Disclaimer: A score of 5 is the midpoint for my reviews. Above 5 I like it. Below 5 I didn’t for some reason. Most of my reviews are between 4-7. It takes something really really special to go above 7 or below 4. See the methodologies for rating at the end of the article
Nose: Cinnamon & Mild Black Licorice upfront, then I start to pick up Vanilla and Caramel on the back end.
Taste/Palate: Leather and Oak upfront followed by sweeter notes of Caramel and Vanilla. Midpalate you get Earthy Rye spice.
Finish: On the finish the previous palate notes linger, but then I get a little Cinnamon, Toasted Almond, and Black Licorice come back around to chew on for a bit.
Verdict: Its a very solid pour and worth a sip if you haven’t tried it before. Depending on where you live this might be a “allocated” bourbon only found in lotteries or come across by luck. It’s not a “full unicorn” bottle, but coveted by some. Where I currently reside in MI I can find this on the shelf now on a regular basis. If you catch it for it’s MSRP of under $40. MI has a state minimum of $65 I believe. Totally worth it. Would I pay some marked up prices I’ve seen where it’s going for $100, no. I DID pay $85 for my first bottle of it (explained in the story below), but I wouldn’t pay that price again. This is a solid $65 or less bourbon.
MSRP: BUY Price Ceiling: $65 (The most I’d pay for this bottle)
The Story: When I was touring KY and doing distillery tours a couple years ago I ended one of my nights in a bar in Frankfort, KY. I tried a few bourbons but I had my eye on their bottle of Pappy 23 that was on the shelf. The first night they wanted $200 a pour… Nope, sorry, not going to happen. On the second night and having made friends with the bartender in a short period of time I got a 1.5oz pour for $100 of Pappy 23. Overpaid? Yes. But it was my birthday trip and it was a “treat yo self moment”.
Sooo…. what does this have to do with McKenna 10? I visited another bar and was speaking with the bartender there. Explained the Pappy 23 experience and the selection they had across town. That bartender gave me a “meh” reply to the Pappy 23, but when I said they had McKenna 10, he was like.. “Dang wish we had that here, in my opinion it’s better than Pappy.” Having never had McKenna 10 I was on a mission to find a bottle. A year later I found a bottle and I paid $85 for it. Fast forward to today and I can assure you that it will be found on my bar shelf, but it is NOT better than the Pappy 23 that I had that day.
When I first got into bourbon my first question was what is “BiB”. I was reading in a lot of articles, forums, reviews, etc. BiB stands for “Bottled in Bond”. I won’t go into full detail here, but I give a brief description followed by a link that goes into much more detail. Nearly a century and a half ago it was common to sell bourbon by the barrel. Upon resale many unsavory people would take a perfectly good product and then thin it down with neutral spirits, artificial flavors, glycerin, and even formaldehyde. They did this to stretch the product out. But, people would get a tarnished product or even sick while not getting what they paid for. The Bottled In Bond Act was passed in 1897 protecting the quality of the product. Basically the barrels have to be stored in a Government Bonded Warehouse. Upon bottling that had to be supervised too.
Bottle In Bond – Wine Enthusiast
The Distillery’s Story: Now when I write these sections its not like I have contacted the distillery to get their story. This is just a tid-bit of information or history of the bottle/brand/distillery, etc. For McKenna, it started with an Irish immigrant Henry McKenna came to America in the mid 1800’s and moved to KY. He created a bourbon using old family techniques and made a name for himself. The brand has been sold a few times and finally settled with Heaven Hill where it currently resides.
It’s important to note that this brand won the San Francisco Bourbon of the year in 2019 and that is one of the main reasons it was nearly impossible to find. This is quite common for a bourbon to win an award and then collectors eat up all of the supply to attempt to sell on a secondary market (see George Dickel – Bottled in Bond).
A last bit of information that I’d like to mention is that the McKenna line also has a No Age Statement (NAS) bottle that’s more of a rail bourbon. It is very good for mixed cocktails at a reasonable price (usually under $15).
Methodologies for Rating:
1. Dump it down the drain or regift it to someone you don’t care for.
2. This doesn’t even belong in a mixed drink. Use in case of an emergency.
3. It’s really not for me, but I heard some people like it.
4. Its only good when I’ve had too many and it’s decent in a mixer.
5. Solid. It hit all of what’s expected.
6. Above average. Good to bring to an event and you wouldn’t expect any guff from it.
7. Buy two if you see it to make sure you have one on reserve.
8. Very Very good. Constantly a GREAT POUR.
9. Superb. If I were to drink this and only this from now on I’d be a happy person.
10. Perfection is impossible. But this really comes as close as you can possibly get.
Reviewer: David S
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