Day eight proved to be the one where 90 percent of my head cold symptoms subsided and I actually had a dram of whiskey last night to celebrate! Not only could I taste it, but I could smell it and at a high enough level to post this review! I’m back with a vengeance.
So the other day my wife asked me to pick up some Port wine to make a Holiday treat (Port Wine Balls) Chocolaty goodness with a hint of port, very tasty! Well in Idaho, Port is not sold in the wine aisle in the grocery store. I guess it goes over the alcohol limit for beer and wine sales, so the liquor stores sell port. Well the good news is I had an excuse to go to the liquor store, like I need one, but I took full advantage of the excuse. I went ahead and picked up two lower shelf bourbon offerings and the port of course…almost forgot!
The bourbon I drank last night got its start in the 1830s and is now distilled at Heaven Hill Distilleries in Bardstown, Kentucky. I really like many of Heaven Hill’s bourbons, so how about when they get to the bottom shelf?…
J.W. Dant is a Bottled in Bond bourbon which immediately intrigues me. Bottled in Bond (BIB) is a term that dates back to prohibition and basically means that the whiskey is 100 proof and is aged in a bonded warehouse. That has little meaning today, but you know if a whiskey is Bonded it is 100 proof, or 50% ABV. To find a BIB bourbon for $12 I think is a great find.
This bourbon poured a medium golden color and I suppose it is not aged much longer than the required 4 years. Its nose had a lot of fruit in it, Cherries, plum, and perhaps some ripe pear. It also had tones of old leather, and the alcohol was up front.
This bourbon’s flavor was good. It reflected the nose quite well with cherries and plumb up front then barrel tones with some wood and a caramel flavor, and finished with a spicy burn that tasted like cloves with some heat that lasted about 45 seconds. On the down side it had a strange metallic aftertaste that wasn’t overwhelming but did detract.
Neat
This is a good neat drinker that delivers a kick of spice and some heat. Probably not for the newbie but overall I liked it.
On the Rocks
Cooling this brings out more sweetness and barrel notes. As the Ice melted it got sweeter and the caramel flavor came to the fore.
With a Splash
This extinguishes the burn, but it still has a nice finish and opened up nicely with some floral and more caramel flavors. The metallic aftertaste seemed to diminish quite a lot too.
All in all I’d say this is not a bad pour. There is enough alcohol to keep things interesting, and for $12 you can’t beat the price. I think this would be a great mixing bourbon for old fashioneds or just a basic bourbon and coke.
Beer & Whiskey Brothers 
A friend of mine gave me a bottle of J. W. Dant for Christmas present, it was made in 1958 and bottled in 1963, the seal has never been broken, and it has a Fla. tax stamp, it is a one pint bottle, distilled by The Dant Distillery Company, Gethsemane, Nelson County, Kentucky… I was wondering if you had any words of whiskey wisdom on this bottle
That is a true treasure! As far as the bottle, bourbon whiskey doesn’t seem to appreciate like scotch does. It might be worth a couple hundred bucks, but the pure pleasure you would get from drinking that bit of history is far more valuable in my opinion. I reviewed a current bottle of Dant a few months back, and it has probably lost a lot from the time your bottle was made. My understanding is that current agricultural practices have affected the grains in the mash bill, and thus affected the flavor. I have talked to a lot of people who have drank a lot of vintage whiskeys and to a person they all say they were bigger flavors and fuller bodied. I would encourage you to sip it sparingly and enjoy it immensely. You are a lucky Man Buckley. Oh and by the way, welcome to our site. Thanks for stopping by, and come back and let us know your thoughts on that whiskey when you have a chance to give it a try.
Hi Don,
On a whim I picked up the JW Dant BIB because my store was out of Old Ezra 7 year 101 (also distilled by Heaven Hill). Wow was I surprised! A fantastic bourbon at < $20 for a liter bottle. I immediately picked up on the cherry notes. Great review and I agree 100%!
Glad you liked it HH. I actually wrote this post almost 2 years ago, so I had to go back and read it to see what I said. I did however remember that metallic aftertaste and haven’t touched the bottle since I did the review. I’ll have to give it another try and see if the metallic thing was just an anomaly, or if it is still there. Glad you liked it. and welcome to the blog.