Present-day bourbon has effectively flipped from where it was 10 or so years ago. Boastful age statements, modest pricing, and high availability once defined the unassuming landscape. Now? The scene has exploded with NDPs, cask finishes, ballooning prices, and limited releases. In many ways, Michter’s portfolio feels like a microcosm of this reality. Much of the enthusiasm directed at the brand involves their limited releases, which are generally difficult to find and priced at a premium. Then there’s the core range, which not only sees less fanfare simply by being available, but sees added scrutiny from enthusiasts for the combination of low proof and NAS status. These products also come at a premium when compared to expressions with identical statistics. Between this and Michter’s vague label branding, there’s seemingly little to incentivize customers who are both curious and cursory.

And yet here I am, ready to talk about their US1 bourbon.

My initial interest in the brand came from their bottle design of all things. It’s simple yet effective; mildly nostalgic without feeling antiquated. My first impressions were pleasant enough, but I was also far more impressionable then. Fast-forward a few years (and a lot more whiskey) and my toe-dipping into Michter’s catalog peaked with a bottle of the barrel strength rye. Being the ever-curious (and possibly obsessed) whiskey fan, I decided to do a little digging, including The Bourbon Culture’s excellent piece, Michter’s Distillery: Past, Present and Future.

Michter’s traces its origins back to the 18^th century in Pennsylvania, where it was first known as Shenk’s before being renamed to Bomberger’s until the distillery officially closed during Prohibition. Then the 1950’s rolled around and Lou Forman, “one of the distillery’s then-owners, created the modern Michter’s brand name by combining portions of his sons’ names – Michael and Peter.” However, by 1989 (the year I was born), Michter’s declared bankruptcy.

Enter Joe Magliocco, President of Chatham Imports, and Richard Newman of the US Marine Corps, who together sought to resurrect the Michter’s brand by opening a distillery in Kentucky. The exact location would be in Louisville at the old Fort Nelson building, which would take 8 years at almost $1 million per year to complete. According to a video on Michter’s site, this distillery uses a pot-to-pot still system with cypress wood fermenters from the original, since-defunct Pennsylvania distillery. I say “this distillery” when referring to Fort Nelson since Michter’s also has a distillery in Shively (also in Louisville), which can house 14,400 barrels. This one uses a proclaimed column-to-pot still system.

All of this brings us to the details on their bourbon. Per the aforementioned video, Michter’s US1 Small Batch Bourbon is distilled to 138 proof and watered down to 103 before entering the barrel, making it one of the lowest barrel entry proof bourbons on the market. Speaking of barrels, they’re air-dried for 18-48 months and toasted prior to charring. Aging takes place in heat-cycled warehouses before being “custom chill filtered” prior to bottling, which Michter’s says they adjust according to a given whiskey.

Michter’s claims that more recent bottles from their core line should be their in-house product, since they started barreling their own distillate around 2015. However, these bottles still say, “bottled by Michter’s” and make no mention of a distilling party. The US1 Small Batch Bourbon is bottled at 45.7% ABV and retails for around $45. 23A0116 is the batch I’m reviewing.

Nose: Lets on with a bright, friendly layer of vanilla atop some light brown sugar, strawberry shortcake, and dusty corn while the musty oak component I often get from Michter’s forms the backbone. Hints of leather or shoe varnish and sassafras soon emerge, bringing the corn more to the forefront, this time with an underlying creaminess. Smells mildly sweet, inviting, and altogether easygoing.

Palate: Silky and a touch warm at first. Caramel corn and brown sugar take center stage while vanilla and tobacco leaf play second fiddle. That sassafras hint from nose appears too, this time with a gently tannic touch.

Finish: On the dry and earthy side. Light, lingering notes of tobacco and brown sugar. Hints of sweet herbs, but they’re indistinct and the experience is somewhat anticlimactic after the quick build of warmth on the palate.

Now we come full circle. During my long-winded intro, I emphasized the improbability of someone turning to Michter’s over options with similar specs. Even the Single Barrel Rye, which I have something of an affinity for, is a product I described as having a lower value proposition. Part of me wants to backpedal that statement a bit, considering the aforementioned air-drying period and lower proofs for distillation and barrel entry. It’d be easy for my inner critic to start pointing fingers at the lavish, aged products in Michter’s portfolio, but those are a much different (and unlikely) talking point.

Michter’s US1 Small Batch Bourbon drinks like a product intended to be pleasant and easygoing above all else, but not at the complete expense of personality. That line is a difficult one to walk; what strikes balance for one person will fail to impress upon others. I happen to land in the former camp with this whiskey. The flavor profile is on-point for casual bourbon fans, right down to the slightly oily and creamy characteristics that I love to get. To that end, Michter’s bourbon feels more developed and rounded off than other sub-100 proof bourbons without age statements. It’s easier to simply enjoy than it is to appreciate through critique and analysis, but that enjoyment is also part of its charm.

Many whiskeys that fall into my “good enough” camp land there by simply being acceptable, like something you settle on. Michter’s lands there because it simply satisfies me. More impressive and value-minded options certainly exist around its price point, but I’d be remiss to claim it doesn’t offer an experience and level of enjoyment that some of its peers simply don’t. Besides, when has the presence of better buys stopped us from exploring?