The Clover 10 Year Single Barrel Tennessee Whiskey Review

By Andrew Graham

Grade: A-

Both golf and whiskey — at least, as they are each understood today — originated in Scotland a long time ago, and both have evolved to become far more interesting over the centuries. The professional golfers who today’s fans favor are younger, fitter, and more diverse than those from previous generations, and this is a positive direction for the sport. Whiskey-making, too, is progressing forward, a journey that we chronicle on this website every day.

The Clover is, to simplify it a bit, the first “golf whiskey” I’ve run across. It is a non-distiller producer that came to market in 2018, first available only at country clubs and now being sold at select retailers. The brand pays homage to the first truly dominant player the sport saw, Bobby Jones. In 1930, Jones won all four major golf tournaments in the same calendar year, and he is still the only golfer to accomplish that feat. Jones image appears on the bottle, and “The Clover” is a reference to a four-leaf clover medallion that he reportedly wore while playing.

The 10 year expression from The Clover is a particular type of bourbon: a Tennessee whiskey — and, yes, Tennessee whiskey is bourbon. The technique used to make Tennessee whiskey, known as the Lincoln County Process, has the unaged spirit filtered through sugar maple charcoal before it goes into the barrel. This filtration changes the chemical composition of the spirit, as charcoal removes traces of certain volatile elements, making the whiskey smoother in its unaged state.

The Whiskey
The 10-year, single-barrel expression from The Clover is bottled at 45% ABV. It is a limited release of 12,000 bottles, and the bottle I sampled for this review is from barrel A-056.

I found this bourbon to be excellent. I am aware that a whiskey so closely associated with golf and/or the country club life can be waived away as a gimmick or elitist, but I don’t care. This is a damn fine bourbon, and an exceptional value for anyone who pays attention to age statements.

The Clover 10 Year Single Barrel Tennessee Bourbon has a tawny color in the glass and offers a plush, appealing nose of new wood and cake frosting, with rich vanilla notes lingering. On the palate, flavor notes of burnt sugar and almond scone get balanced by charred sweet pepper and earl grey tea.

A rush of cherry flavor dominates the medium finish, which goes down smooth and with no residual burn from the alcohol. I found it is best consumed neat, and that adding water doesn’t do anything beneficial to the spirit.

The Lincoln County Process is understood to soften or mellow out some of the bold flavor compounds of traditional bourbon, and in this case, the process seems to have done exactly what it is supposed to do.

The Price
The Clover began appearing in retailers this year, and a bottle can be found for around $70.