Lux Row Archives - First Pour Cocktails

Ezra Brooks Distiller’s Collection Bourbon – OHLQ Selection #2

Posted on February 15, 2023February 15, 2023 by Nick

Late last year, we covered the first OHLQ pick of Ezra Brooks Distiller’s Collection Bourbon. We gave it high praise for the amazing caramel and vanilla backbone that was layered beautifully with spice, tea, and notes of fruit. At $35 it was nothing short of absolutely stellar. So can Ezra Brooks Distiller’s Collection Bourbon – OHLQ Selection #2 double down on the amazing path blazed by the first pick?

Ezra Brooks Distiller’s Collection Bourbon – OHLQ Selection #2

Ezra Brooks Distiller’s Collection Bourbon – OHLQ Selection #2 has a 53.5% A.B.V. (107 Proof). It’s barrel number was 7390043, and the barrel was filled 5/10/16. I purchased the bottle in October of 2021, shortly after it’s release. OHLQ provided a generic description of Ezra Brook Distiller’s Collection Bourbon, “…expect a taste profile consisting of notes of oak and black pepper, balanced with cinnamon, caramel, and vanilla.” They also provided next to zero information per barrel beyond the following description:

Description: Hints of pepper spice throughout with a long finish.

Sight: Tawny

Smell: Pops of cherry, caramel, and vanilla float out in a healthy burst. There’s a nuttiness between peanut and hazelnut that joins in and gives nice earthiness. Black pepper and spice join in with a hint of heat.

Sip: The start is more middling in it’s weight. The sweetness on the nose quickly dissipates on the palate, leaving caramel and pulling in notes of black tea, nuts, pepper, and spices. There are some elements of dried cherries, dark chocolate, and stone fruit skins. There is a decent pop of heat from time to time. By the end, things are quite dry.

Savor: The finish drives in more black pepper, bitter spicing, hints of oak, and just a touch of fruit. The finish lingers, leaning heavily into spice and

Ezra Brooks Distiller’s Collection – OHLQ Selection #2 is a decently complex bottle, especially for the price. The nose is significantly sweeter than the palate gives way to. The peppery notes are nice, and the oak is very prominent here. The nuttiness is also more in line with their Ezra Brooks 99. Overall, this represents a significant step up as a sipper from their 99 (being passable to good), but falls well short of the first selection.

In Cocktails

This sequel bottle of Ezra Brooks is quite good as a Manhattan. Somehow the caramel and vanilla really win out here, while the body provides a robust base. The cherry notes and a good amount of berry and plum elements manage to come to the forefront. Toward the backend, the pepper, tea, and oak really kick in and drive things forward. The finish is clean, with just a moderate amount of tannin and a hint of dark chocolate. Unlike enjoying it neat, it really shines again in a cocktail.

In Review – Ezra Brooks Distiller’s Collection Bourbon – OHLQ Selection #2

Ezra Brooks Distiller’s Collection Bourbon – OHLQ Selection #2 is not quite it’s predecessor, but it’s a darn good facsimile to it. The neat experience is still lacking, but where this bottle shines is in cocktails. Similar to the first pick, it somehow makes a drink more than the sum of its parts. As a result, these Distiller’s Collection bottles are a reasonable way to make a cocktail special, without paying a huge price.

Having had two Ezra Brooks Distiller’s Collection Bourbons, we recommend trying one of these if you see one for a price in the mid 30’s and enjoy drinking Manhattans or other bourbon based cocktails.

Ezra Brooks 99 Bourbon

Posted on September 20, 2021September 21, 2021 by Nick

As I previously mentioned, my first exposure to Ezra Brooks was the OHLQ store pick Distiller’s Collection bottle. The bottle so wowed me that I felt the need to explore at least one other Ezra Brooks product. While getting to 107 in there line up is no longer possible (without a store pick), they still offer both a 99 proof and barrel proof offering. To make an appropriate evaluation, I chose to take the smaller price different, and compare with the Ezra Brooks 99 Bourbon (retailing for $24 at time of purchase – compared to $35 for the Distiller’s pick).

Ezra Brooks 99 Bourbon

Sight: Deep copper bordering on sherry.

Smell: Notes of vanilla, caramel, and hints of ethanol lead off. The nose is sweet with touches of caramelized pome fruit and a hint of something bright (like pineapple?). Hay and grain notes add some backbone.

Sip: The sip starts off rather middling, neither smooth nor harsh. Notes of charred oak slowly creep in before ceding some space to vanilla and light caramel. Touches of peanuts and sweet pops of light brown sugar come out as well.

Savor: The ending leaves a bit of that sweetness and a lightly tannic charred oak finish.

Ezra Brooks 99 Bourbon is obviously younger just from a sight perspective, and the nose shortly after confirms this with a straightforward enjoyable bourbon characteristic. The sip doesn’t really change this, offering a nice amount of bourbon flavor without getting too complex or interesting. The finish is a bit more of the same, but with a bit more of an oak influence. Overall, it’s an acceptable sip that’s slightly sweet and wouldn’t be unpleasant on ice.

In Cocktails

Making a Manhattan with Ezra Brooks 99 makes a drink forward loaded on sweetness. The result is a Manhattan that naturally emphasizes caramel, brown sugar, brandied cherries, fruity red notes, and vanilla. Even with the use of Angostura bitters, there’s a bit of a turned down spice component here. While the vermouth is usually working over time to help bring out the bourbon’s characteristics, they almost seem to share the space as equals here. With that said, both elements seem to be adding caramel notes, making a very caramelized Manhattan.

Ezra Brooks 99 Bourbon In Review

Ezra Brooks 99 Bourbon is a pleasant bourbon that’s not particularly dominant. It’s sweet and friendly, but almost comes across as gentle. There’s something interesting to be said for making a gentler or sweeter drink with it, but it’s not going to appease drinkers of high rye, bold and brash bourbons. Most regrettable is the gulf between the Ezra Brooks 99 Bourbon and Ezra Brooks Distiller’s Collection Bourbon. At only $10, there’s a massive gulf of flavor. As a result, this is a recommendation to try or sample before committing to a full bottle.

Ezra Brooks Distiller’s Collection Bourbon – OHLQ Selection #1

Posted on September 17, 2021September 21, 2021 by Nick

Allocated bourbon and store picks are exciting. They offer an opportunity to receive a single barrel selection at an equal or better price than the equivalent bottle. Theses picks are typically highly sought after and generally hard to find. They also have a significant amount of bottle to bottle and batch to batch variability. In some cases, it can even be dependent on the selector for the store or liquor authority. For these reasons, I generally don’t purchase these selections since they’re two variable to recommend as liquors for bases for cocktails. I generally follow this rule, but made an exception for Ezra Brooks Distiller’s Collection Bourbon – OHLQ Selection #1.

Ezra Brooks Distiller’s Collection Bourbon – OHLQ Selection #1

Ezra Brooks Distiller’s Collection Bourbon – OHLQ Selection #1 has a 53.5% A.B.V. (107 Proof). It’s barrel number was 7015900, and the barrel was filled 2/23/15. I purchased the bottle in early January of 2021, shortly after it’s release. OHLQ provided the following information on the barrel:

Warehouse: 1
Floor: 5
Rick: 39
Tier: 3
Position: 17
Description: Warm caramel and vanilla, sweet.

Sight: Bordering on tawny.

Smell: The nose undoubtedly starts sweet, and instantly leans into vanilla and caramel. Touches of hay and wheat join in, with black cherries and black tea. A rough splash of clove joins in with touches of clove and tobacco.

Sip: The sip starts smooth and sweet, before opening up into vanilla, caramel, brandied cherries, and oversteeped spice tea. Pops of clove overwhelm the other spices, before allowing oak to come to the forefront. A hint of ethanol comes out too.

Savor: The finish gets tannic, pulling in notes of charred wood, strong clove, and a slight sour cherry.

Ezra Brooks Distiller’s Collection Bourbon – OHLQ Selection #1 is sweet and spicy sip that doesn’t disappoint. The proof isn’t so high as to be difficult to drink, but it comes loaded with flavor. The texture is smooth with just a hint of burn. The complexity is in line with a $35 bottle, and opens up with more sweetness, especially after a sip of water.

In Cocktails

This particular bottle of Ezra Brooks is unbelievably great as a Manhattan. The caramel and vanilla notes come through with touches of black pepper and black tea. The weight feels perfect, just like liquid silk should. The play off the vermouth shows them sharing the space as equals, giving space for the fruity flavors of the vermouth and the sweetness and herbal notes in the bourbon.

Ezra Brooks Distiller’s Collection Bourbon – OHLQ Selection #1 in Review

Ezra Brooks Distiller’s Collection Bourbon is honestly one of the standout bottles I’ve had in 2021. Upon sharing it with my father, he confirmed my bias to enjoy it. At $35, I picked this up as an impulse buy and found it punched well above it’s weight. Which led me to wonder whether or not the rest of Ezra Brook’s selection is anywhere near as good.

In short, I recommend Ezra Brooks Distiller’s Collection, but as a store pick or limited time offering, we won’t be adding it to any of our formal lists.