Square 6 Bourbon Review (Spring 2021)

By Richard Thomas

Rating: B+

It is a hard thing to picture today, but once upon a time there was only one working distiller on Louisville’s Whiskey Row: the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience. It was very much a trailblazer, the first destination, tourist-oriented distillery in downtown Louisville. Many have followed since.

When I made my first visit in Spring 2014, the urban distillery hadn’t been open for even a full year yet. It’s not a full-service distillery; Evan William Experience doesn’t mill grain and they ship their barrels down to the Heaven Hill property in Bardstown for maturation. But what struck me at the time was how much it was like so many of the craft distilleries I had been to. Not aging or milling on-site is a common feature for small distilleries, and moreover they had a pot still producing one barrel of new make per day. I reckoned the future releases coming from the Evan Williams Experience would be a succession of one-shot and experimental limited edition whiskeys, and it seems I was right.

The occasion of that first release, in the first week of May 2021, was also my very first live, in-the-flesh whiskey event since the beginning of the pandemic. I drove over to Louisville and the Evan Williams Experience to see their Master Distiller Charlie Downs proudly launch his shop’s first product, Square 6 Bourbon, Batch 1.  Square 6 is named for the lot owned by Evan Williams, as per the original riverfront plat of Louisville.

Interestingly, Square 6 is not made from the inaugural production run of the Evan Williams Experience, which is presumably still aging quietly in Bardstown. Instead, it was made just 5 years ago, from a 35% rye, 13% malted barley, 52% corn mash bill. This high rye recipe is one of a dozen mash bills that have been tried at the Evan Williams Experience thus far, and Square 6, Batch 1 was bottled at 95 proof from a 15 barrel dump.

The Bourbon
Square 6 has a brown-leaning, middle amber look to it, and a scent that is as much reminiscent of a malted rye whiskey as of a dry, high rye bourbon. The nose leads with barn-dried tobacco and fig newtons, and a sweetness that is at least as honeyed as it is caramelized. Sipping on Square 6, however, pivots back towards high rye bourbon. An earthy foundation spiced with cinnamon and cardamom delivers the kind of dry, almost chalky experience that lovers of high rye bourbon crave. The finish is short, dry, spicy and direct.

Some bourbon-lovers specialize, which is why Basil Hayden/Old Granddad, Bulleit, Four Roses Small Batch Select and others have such a devoted following. That particular slice of bourbonphilia needs to stand up and take notice of Square Six, Batch 1, make the journey to the Evan Williams Experience, and grab a bottle. The reward is a lovely sipper of a high rye bourbon, one that is quite unlike any other in the sector while at the same time marking the start of a new series from an interesting corner of the Heaven Hill empire.

The Price
Square 6 (Batch 1, Spring 2021) Bourbon is priced at $90.