Tater Review: 1792 Full Proof Cap n’ Cork Barrel #5

Hailing from The Barton 1792 Distillery, 1792 Full Proof is the highest proof entry in the brand’s lineup. This non-chill filtered bourbon is bottled at the barrel entry 125 proof. Barton 1792 Distillery is owned by Sazerac and produces 1792, Very Old Barton, and provides whiskey to hundreds of other brands.

Despite winning awards at festivals and competitions since its release in 2016, 1792 Full Proof didn’t hit peak Tater status until being named ‘2020 World Whisky of the Year’ in Jim Murray’s Whiskey Bible. Since then, the bottle has been tatered up and hard to find. Let’s hear from Murray why he named this the ‘2020 Whisky of the Year’:

“You can only sit, eyes closed, in awe. This is a delivery of perfection: intense, seemingly no prisoners. Yet, actually, you find it has the grace to allow every character to make a speech of great erudition, ultimately a discourse of how so many facets can be singular yet together make for such glorious integration. On this evidence, Buffalo Trace has a threat to its world supremacy – from a rival distillery…they own! This is a whiskey of stand out, almost stand-alone beauty. Finding fault is not easy with something this intense and magnificently rich.”

High praise indeed! Murray had to bust out Thesaurus for that review! The bottle we have today is a ‘Single Barrel Select’ from Cap n’ Cork in Fort Wayne, Indiana. As with any single barrel pick, we expect some variation from standard 1792 Full Proof. Variation is a double edged sword- just because a barrel tastes different, doesn’t mean it necessarily tastes better. Lucky for us, the team at Cap n’ Cork has a reputation for quality selections. Let’s get into it:

AROMA
Black pepper, leather, faint cherry, baking spices

TASTE
Dry oak, subtle banana bread, waxy walnut, rye spicy. The sweeter toasted vanilla notes come forward with a little water

FINISH
Medium long spicy finish with a Kentucky hug

PROOF
125 Proof

AGE
NAS

It is our opinion Cap n’ Cork selected a winner! 1792 Full Proof picks can be a bit of a risk to buy blind. In general, they tend to have a wide range of flavor variation barrel to barrel. As stated before, different doesn’t always mean better or even good. We found this barrel to be on the dryer side of the spectrum and less cherry and banana forward when compared to standard 1792 Full Proof. Instead, we are treated to spicier notes of cinnamon, vanilla, and dry toasted oak. As with most 1792 we’ve tasted, we can absolutely taste all 125 proof points! Smooth and subtle are not words we associate with this bourbon. Overall, a solid pick and well worth the $50 price of entry.

VERDICT: 3.5 Taters

SCALE:

5 Taters: Load that bunker. The kids can pay for their own college.

4 Taters: You’d better have a bottle to keep around.

3 Taters: I’ve been wanting to try it, I guess I’ll snag a bottle.

2 Taters: What’s better than drinking your own whiskey? Drinking your friend’s.

1 Tater: Maybe today is just a beer run.