For those who don’t remember, Heaven Hill suffered a major fire in November of 1996, losing their distillery, countless warehouses, and nearly 100,000 barrels of whiskey in the process. As a result of that disaster, the company was forced to lower the ABV on some of their brands in order to stretch out the supply. Recently, however, new master distiller Conor O'Driscoll and team began looking at some of those labels and hatched a plan to return them to glory. Focus product one: The Evan Williams 1783, which is an entirely new animal, now "longer and stronger" according to Conor.

In its new iteration, the Evan Williams 1783 is a 6-8 year old marriage of Heaven Hill Bourbons at 90 proof, sporting a flavor profile of sweet baking spices and a richer viscosity than I was expecting. There are more complex whiskies out there to be sure, but not necessarily more satisfying. When I think of all the 4-5 year old whiskies on the market for $40 or more, it’s no small feat to squeeze this much flavor into the $17.99 price point. That’s what a bottle of relatively inexpensive rosé costs in today’s market, let alone a quality Kentucky Bourbon.