Whiskey Review: Michter’s Celebration Sour Mash 2016 Whiskey

Dark caramel leads on entry, followed by cocoa, orange, vanilla and hints of tobacco, nearly mirroring its aromas. A bit of heat arrives at mid-palate mingled with slightly assertive grain notes (the 33-year-old rye having a say), pronounced but balanced oak and milk chocolate revisit with grassy rye on the finish. Though highly flavorful, it’s a bit lean bodied, but that’s consistent with the house style of Michter’s whiskeys. Expectedly, the finish is robust with oak and a little grain; short lived, but pleasantly warm. Final Thoughts and Score/Buy a Bottle: Score: 95/100 Truthfully, it’s hard to sip a $5,000 bottle of whiskey without thinking, “I’M SIPPING A $5,000 BOTTLE OF WHISKEY!” and not letting that influence the score. Long story short, this is an exceptional sipper that delivers a complex collage of flavors and aromas that I don’t recall enjoying in any other. Depending on your preference, this is the Cary Grant (my wife’s choice) or the Grace Kelly (my choice) of whiskeys, a pour of indisputable elegance, structure and balance. It’s also a whiskey bearing some history because it’s Pratt’s last pick. En route to retirement, the lifelong whiskey man became master distiller emeritus in September. So, the selection of the next Celebration will be up to Heilmann and Wilson, an endeavor that makes them grin to consider. “Willie really outdid himself on this one, and this is his last release,” Heilmann said with the expected gravitas. “But we’re both looking forward to doing the next one.” So, with all the history and flavor and aromas listed here, why doesn’t Celebration get a perfect score? Because I only got one shot at it, and an understandably small one at that. For me, reviewing a spirit fairly requires multiple, larger tastes, time for the whiskey to linger in the glass, even get some air into the bottle. Sometimes spirits improve over a few weeks’ tasting, other times not. So, to be fair to other whiskeys reviewed here under more extended scrutiny, a fractional deduction is in order. Still, I say it’s Grace Kelly in a glass.