Heaven Hill Distillery
Evan Williams Single Barrel Vintage Bourbon Review — Score & Tasting Notes
Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey · NAS (estimated 7-8 years, vintage-dated)
Vintage-dated. Single barrel. From one of Kentucky's most storied distilleries. Under $30. Evan Williams Single Barrel is bourbon's best-kept secret—period.
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Rating Breakdown
Flavor Profile
Tasting Journey
Nose
Dark honey, roasted oak, cinnamon, vanilla buttercream, Heaven Hill nuttiness, dried citrus peel, licorice, tobacco
Palate
Charred honey, vanilla, dried nuts, baked apple and peach, oak tannins, orange marmalade, walnuts, cinnamon, nutmeg
Finish
Length: MediumMedium finish with French toast, oak, cherry cordial, dry warming spice, satisfying close
Specs
Price / Value
MSRP: $28
Your Rating
Click to rate
Our Score: 82/100
Pairings
Food
- French toast with maple syrup
- walnut brownies
- smoked ham
- apple cider doughnuts
- mild blue cheese
Cocktails
- Old Fashioned
- Bourbon Coffee
- Whiskey Sour
- neat as an affordable daily sipper
Our Verdict
Evan Williams Single Barrel is bourbon's best-kept secret. Vintage-dated, single barrel, and under $30—it delivers genuine character and transparency that the entire industry should learn from. The most honest bourbon in Kentucky.
Buy NowThree Perspectives
Our editorial panel weighs in.
Marcus Chen
The Explorer
Honey, vanilla, oak, dried fruit. Smells more expensive than it is.
Smooth vanilla and caramel with oak and spice. Single barrel variation shows through.
Medium-long with sweet oak and warmth.
“Bought this on a whim at BevMo for $28 because the vintage date (2013) on the label made it feel special. Brought it to a whiskey club meetup where people were pouring $80+ bottles, and mine got the most compliments. The single barrel program means every bottle tastes slightly different—mine had this amazing honeyed oak character. At 86.6 proof it's lower than I usually like, but the flavor is there. I've bought it four more times and each bottle has been different but always good. Best sub-$30 bourbon nobody talks about.”
William Hayes
The Connoisseur
Honey, vanilla, and light oak with subtle citrus notes. Gentle and approachable with a vintage-dated charm.
Soft vanilla, caramel, and mild spice with a light-to-medium body. The 86.6 proof keeps it mellow, perhaps overly so.
Medium-short finish with gentle warmth and lingering sweetness. Pleasant but not particularly complex.
“Evan Williams Single Barrel is what I call 'the bourbon that punches above its weight class.' I remember being shocked when I first tried this in the late '90s at how much quality Heaven Hill packed into a $25 bottle. Each one is vintage-dated and actually pulled from a single barrel—no small batch blending here—which means variation between bottles, but that's part of the charm. I served a 2009 vintage at a bourbon club meeting in 2018, and it held its own against bottles twice the price. The lower proof keeps it from scoring higher in my book, but for everyday sipping when you don't want to overthink it, this is outstanding value.”
Sophia Laurent
The Host
Gentle vanilla, caramel, and oak with hints of fruit and spice. Understated but pleasant.
Soft and easy-drinking with honey, butterscotch, and subtle spice. The lower proof makes it very approachable.
Short to medium with a gentle fade of sweetness and oak. Nothing demanding.
“Evan Williams Single Barrel is my favorite bourbon for casual weeknight dinners when I want something good but not precious. Last Tuesday I poured it alongside homemade lasagna and garlic bread for a low-key dinner with friends, and it was exactly right—flavorful enough to be interesting but gentle enough that nobody had to think about it. My friend Jessica, who knows nothing about bourbon, asked if it was expensive because it tasted so smooth. At $28 for a vintage-dated single barrel, it's the best value in bourbon for everyday entertaining.”
How We Score
Every spirit is tasted blind in a Glencairn glass across multiple sessions on different days. We score on a 100-point weighted scale, recording notes before the label is revealed to eliminate brand bias.
Rating Criteria
Aroma complexity, intensity, and appeal
Flavor depth, balance, and mouthfeel
Length, evolution, and lingering notes
Quality relative to price point
Layered character and uniqueness
Why Trust This Review
Boozemakers is an independent spirits publication built by passionate enthusiasts. Every bottle is purchased at full retail — never gifted, never sponsored. We use a structured blind-tasting methodology, scoring across five dimensions before revealing the label. We maintain complete editorial independence: no brand has ever paid for coverage, and affiliate links never influence our scores.
Editorial independence notice: Boozemakers maintains full editorial independence. We purchase all products at retail and are never compensated for our reviews. Affiliate links may earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.
Every so often, you encounter a bourbon that makes you question the entire market. Evan Williams Single Barrel is that bourbon. Vintage-dated, single barrel, from the second-largest bourbon producer in the world, and priced under $30. The only explanation for its continued obscurity is that Heaven Hill doesn't want people to realize how good it is.
The vintage dating is the first thing that sets this bourbon apart. While most bottles at this price carry an NAS designation, Evan Williams stamps each release with its barreling date, giving drinkers an unprecedented level of transparency. It's a small gesture that communicates enormous confidence in the consistency of the distillate.
The nose offers dark honey, roasted oak, and cinnamon—pure Heaven Hill house character—along with vanilla buttercream, a distinctive nuttiness, and dried citrus peel. There's licorice and tobacco that add an adult seriousness that most sub-$30 bourbons don't attempt. It smells more expensive than it has any right to.
On the palate, Evan Williams Single Barrel delivers a surprisingly rich experience. Charred honey and vanilla create a sweet foundation, while dried nuts, baked apple and peach, and oak tannins provide complexity. Orange marmalade and walnuts add unique dimension, with cinnamon and nutmeg spice weaving throughout. The mouthfeel is respectably full-bodied for 86.6 proof—the only spec that gives critics ammunition.
The finish is medium-length with French toast, oak, and cherry cordial notes that provide a satisfying, warming close. There's a dry spice that stays just long enough to remind you this is a serious single barrel selection, not a blended afterthought.
At $28, Evan Williams Single Barrel is arguably the most honest bourbon in Kentucky. It doesn't pretend to be something it's not, it doesn't hide behind marketing mystique, and it doesn't charge a premium for the privilege of scarcity. It simply delivers genuine single barrel character at a price that should embarrass the competition. Delicious, affordable, and available—the holy trinity of bourbon.
I keep a bottle of Evan Williams Single Barrel in my office for exactly one reason: to hand to guests who insist good bourbon starts at $50. The look on their face during a blind tasting—when this $28 bottle consistently scores within striking distance of bourbons twice its price—is worth more than any thousand-word review. Heaven Hill has produced an embarrassment of value here, and the vintage dating means each year offers a slightly different conversation.
In the value bourbon hierarchy, Evan Williams Single Barrel sits alongside Wild Turkey 101 ($25) and Elijah Craig Small Batch ($33) as the trinity of bourbons that make expensive bottles nervous. Each brings a different strength: Wild Turkey delivers proof and character, Elijah Craig brings oak-forward depth, and Evan Williams offers vintage-dated single barrel complexity at a price that borders on philanthropic. If your daily pour costs more than $35, you owe it to yourself to test your assumptions blind against this bottle.
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