Bourbon

Bib & Tucker Double Char Bourbon

$54.99

OVERALL
RATING

7

Whiskey Review: Bib & Tucker Double Char Bourbon

We review Bib & Tucker Double Char, a Tennessee sourced whiskey finished in a second barrel that was first smoked with sugar maple.
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Tasting Notes:

About:
Mash bill undisclosed, but Bib & Tucker says its sourced from a distillery in Tennessee (Dickel?); 88 proof/44% alcohol by volume; available nationally; MSRP of $54.99.
Appearance:
Coppery colored, like a penny.
Nose:
Smells like a crisp fall day. I get pie spice, sap, and pine cones. It’s less sweet on the nose than many bourbons, but I didn’t find a particular smoky scent, either.
Palate:
This is a mellow whiskey, first and foremost. The relatively low alcohol content probably contributes to that sense, with a general lack of ethanol up front. I taste smoked or cured meat, brown sugar, and savory potato chips. More of the traditional bourbon flavors, like caramel and vanilla, reveal themselves in the relatively long finish. Bib & Tucker drinks fine straight, but opens up nicely with a little bit of water.
Finish:
Comments:
Tennessee whiskey aficionados claim that charcoal filtering leads to mellower whiskeys. I’m not going to take a position the extent to which that might or might not be true. But in the case of Bib & Tucker Double Char, it certainly is. This is a relaxed, easygoing whiskey. And at $54.99, it’s a good value, too.

Editor’s Note: This whiskey was provided to us as a review sample by the party behind it. This in no way, per our editorial policies, influenced the final outcome of this review. It should also be noted that by clicking the buy link in this review our site receives a small referral payment which helps to support, but not influence, our editorial and other costs. 

They’re serious about Tennessee whiskey in the Volunteer State. It’s written into state law that Tennessee whiskey is bourbon that has been filtered through charcoal, a requirement intended to give home-state brands like Jack Daniel’s, George Dickel and Uncle Nearest a distinctiveness from bourbons made in neighboring Kentucky and elsewhere.

Bib & Tucker, which is part of the Deutsch Family Wine and Spirits portfolio along with Redemption Rye and Masterson’s Rye, is a sourced bourbon that leans hard into the Tennessee whiskey ethos. The name refers to 19th Century slang for your fancy clothes, and the bottles resemble amber flask-shaped bottles of the mid- to late-1800s.

Bib & Tucker has a 6-year and a 10-year bourbon already on the market, and in August debuted its 6-year Double Char Bourbon. The brand said the new whiskey is “inspired by the turn of the century, when food was cooked on an open flame.” It’s aged for six years in new American oak, then at least five more months in a second, heavily charred and smoked barrel.

The “Lincoln County process” that Tennessee whiskeys are known for involves filtering through sugar maple charcoal, specifically. In the case of the Double Char, Bib & Tucker smoked the second barrel with sugar maple before adding the 6-year-old bourbon for finishing,

Bib & Tucker Double Char review
We review Bib & Tucker Double Char, a Tennessee sourced whiskey finished in a second barrel that was first smoked with sugar maple. (image via Scott Nelson/The Whiskey Wash)

Tasting Notes: Bib & Tucker Double Char

Vital Stats: Mash bill undisclosed, but Bib & Tucker says its sourced from a distillery in Tennessee (Dickel?); 88 proof/44% alcohol by volume; available nationally; MSRP of $54.99.

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Appearance: Coppery colored, like a penny.

Nose: Smells like a crisp fall day. I get pie spice, sap, and pine cones. It’s less sweet on the nose than many bourbons, but I didn’t find a particular smoky scent, either.

Palate: This is a mellow whiskey, first and foremost. The relatively low alcohol content probably contributes to that sense, with a general lack of ethanol up front. I taste smoked or cured meat, brown sugar, and savory potato chips. More of the traditional bourbon flavors, like caramel and vanilla, reveal themselves in the relatively long finish. Bib & Tucker drinks fine straight, but opens up nicely with a little bit of water.

Scott Bernard Nelson

Scott Bernard Nelson is a writer, actor, and whiskey reviewer based in Portland, Oregon. While currently working in higher education, he previously dedicated 22 years to journalism, covering impactful events such as 9/11 in Manhattan, crossing into Iraq with U.S. Marines, and contributing to The Boston Globe's Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of abuse in the Catholic Church, which inspired the film "Spotlight." Since 2019, Scott has shared his insights as a whiskey reviewer for The Whiskey Wash.  

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