Bear Creek Distillery 6-Year Bourbon Review & Tasting Notes

 

I lived in Colorado for about twenty years. During that time, the state was known for winemaking and brewing beer. Distilling whiskey wasn’t an unknown entity, but it hadn’t yet become as common as it is today.

 

I head back to Colorado at least annually, and there’s another new-to-me whiskey brand whenever I do. Unfortunately, I rarely have time to do distillery visits when I’m there, so my list of Colorado must-sees grows larger.

 

About two years ago, I learned of Bear Creek Distillery. The name caught my attention because I lived close to the actual Bear Creek for a few years. Founded in Denver a decade ago by Jay Johnson, Jeff Dickensen, and David Baker, they came up with the name from their alma mater, Bear Creek High School. Dickensen is the distiller, Baker is the business manager, and Johnson heads up sales, marketing, and events.

 

“Bear Creek Distillery is an American craft distillery located in the heart of Denver, Colorado, and is the brainchild of a small group of friends focused on producing exceptional hand crafted premium spirits. Each spirit is produced grain to bottle, in our Denver facility and distilled using our German built, state-of-the-art Kothe still. Our commitment to quality and our community goes beyond the four walls of the distillery. Whenever possible, we use local ingredients and materials sourced from Colorado companies. These ingredients, coupled with a keen eye towards detail, help ensure each small batch is of the highest quality, time and time again.” – Bear Creek Distillery

 

The grain-to-glass distillery produces traditional Bourbon, wheated Bourbon, American Rye, Wheat Whiskey, White Whiskey, Silver and Spiced Rums, and three vodkas from wheat, corn, or rye.

 

Today, I’m sipping Bear Creek 6-Year Bourbon, the distillery’s oldest to date. It comes from a mashbill of corn, rye, and malted barley, but the breakdown is undisclosed. The whiskey rested in 53-gallon, new, charred oak barrels. It is bottled at 45% ABV (90°), and a 750ml bottle should cost around $75.00.

 

My Bear Creek 6-Year Bourbon sample is from Batch 1; a friend asked me to review it and provided it to me. Let’s #DrinkCurious and discover what it is all about.

 

Appearance: I sipped this Bourbon neat from my Glencairn glass. Inside, the bronze liquid formed a medium rim. Long, creeping tears eventually worked their way down to the pool.

 

Nose: This was fragrant while I was allowing it to breathe. I smelled peaches, orange peel, maple syrup, corn, and oak. Drawing the aroma into my mouth brought rye spice.

 

Palate: The texture was creamy and slightly warming. I tasted corn, toasted oak, and vanilla upfront. Midway through, I found caramel, peaches, and rye spice. The back offered dry oak, cinnamon, and clove.

 

Finish: Long and lingering, the finish retained corn, cinnamon, dry oak, and clove.

 

Bottle, Bar, or Bust: I enjoyed this Bourbon. It offered some nice flavors that worked well together. I also understand craft distillers' challenges concerning allowing whiskey to age for extended periods while maintaining cash flow. This one earns my Bottle rating. Cheers!

 

My Simple, Easy-to-Understand Rating System

• Bottle = Buy It
• Bar = Try It
• Bust = Leave It

 

Whiskeyfellow encourages you to enjoy your whiskey as you see fit but begs you to do so responsibly.