Five Brothers Small Batch Bourbon Whiskey Review

Today on the Bourbon Bites podcast, I'm reviewing Five Brothers Bourbon from Heaven Hill

Is this distillery exclusive worth a trip to the gift shop, or is it just a marketing gimmick

Let's find out. Hello everyone and welcome to the Bourbon Bites podcast

I'm your host Clifton. and before we get started with today's episode i want to give a huge thank you to all of you

for helping us reach 2 000 downloads of the podcast which is a number that i could never

have imagined in less than a year we're still less than 50 episodes in and i just have been

having so much fun with this podcast so i just want to say thank you to everyone that's listened

downloaded followed on your favorite platforms and i do have just one ask of you as of right now

we are sitting at 12 ratings and five reviews of the podcast on Apple Podcast. And I am so

thankful for those of you that have taken the time to do this. But if you have not yet rated

and or reviewed the podcast on the Apple Podcast platform, and you're enjoying the show

believe it or not, it's super helpful when it comes to having people discover the podcast

It helps out when I'm reaching out to brands to have them either on the show or to send samples

for review. Seeing those ratings and reviews are so important for a growing podcast. And even if

you could just take some time to write one or two sentences about what you enjoy about the podcast

I will be forever grateful. Even if you do listen on a different platform, you can leave an Apple

podcast review, I believe, from your web browser or definitely the Apple podcast app. So if you

could take a moment, whether you want to pause and do it now or do it while you're listening to

the podcast i would just really appreciate that and again thank you to everyone that's rated and

reviewed in the past um it has helped my rankings i'm very glad to hopefully be reaching new people

and i just want to say thank you for coming here and thank you to you guys for helping me reach this milestone of 2 000 downloads it means a lot to me so with that let's drink some bourbon

so this is a sample that i got from my friend david at whiskey in my wedding ring it was actually a

distillery only release from heaven hill that came out last year did not have a chance to grab

it because obviously i'm in southern california not kentucky but this is five brothers bourbon

now this is one that i've heard a lot of mixed things on um so i wanted to try it for myself

before i kind of had that judgment on it because people have asked me you know hey what do you

think about distillery exclusives and i've tried some from jim beam i've tried some from some craft

distilleries but with heaven hill the only thing i've tried that's technically a distillery exclusive

are the elijah craig select single barrel grenade bottles that come out they're like the little 200

milliliter bottles i think bottles that are 125 proof definitely worth picking up if they still

sell those i've heard they're harder to get these days but this is a relatively new distillery only

release and it's called five brothers bourbon now thankfully this comes in a full-size bottle a 750

50ml bottle goes for $60. And what you get for that is a 90 proof non-age stated bourbon

Now we do know this is a blend of five different bourbons ranging from five to nine years old

And this came out back in June 2021. I believe it's still available

But if you guys have heard different let me know over on Discord I just haven heard much about this bottle lately So this Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience exclusive bottle pays tribute to the original five Shapira brothers who started the distillery in 1935

So according to Max Shapira, the president of Heaven Hill, he said back in 1935, his father and his four brothers invested in a spectacular venture that today is the largest family owned and operated distillery in America, Heaven Hill

With patience and perseverance, they built the foundation for the nationally acclaimed American whiskey portfolio we enjoy today

and a legacy built on consistent quality and innovation. If you guys want the full history, my friend Jason over at the Mashin Drum did a fantastic video last year diving into the history of the founding of Heaven Hill

Definitely worth a watch. It's actually a review of this whiskey as well. I did watch that just before recording this podcast, and it kind of added to my feelings that I've heard about this whiskey

I will say this is my first time trying it, so this will be a first impression review

But I also want to say that Heaven Hill has always been one of my favorite distilleries

They make some of my favorite bourbon ever. If anyone ever asks me what my favorite bourbon is, I say Elijah Craig Barrel Proof

And not just that, I think most of the products coming out of Heaven Hill are just extremely

solid, well-rounded, incredible values for the price. So now I'm going to be trying a $60 non-HTated bottle that's kind of getting some flack, I guess I should say

So like I said, first impressions, but let's go and get this poured. Now, typically I don't read reviews of bourbons or whiskeys before I review them on the podcast

But I think this one's kind of an exception because it came out last year and it was kind of a controversial release

So I did, you know, hear about it for a year before I had a chance to try it

But I feel like now that the dust has settled, I'm going to give it my full honest review as a Heaven Hill fan

So let's go ahead and give this a nose. Hmm, interesting. So I will say it does nose very sweet

I think I'm getting a bit of a corn sweetness there. There is some nuttiness, which is kind of similar to some Jim Beam products I've had in the past

Jim Beam being my second favorite distillery, so you already know I love that flavor profile

But there is a bit of nuttiness and a sweetness on the nose. I do think that it kind of smells a little young compared to what I'm used to especially from

Heaven Hill now it's been a minute since I've had like Evan Williams bottled and bond which is a

four-year at least product I have had what Evan Williams 1783 relatively recently which I think

it's kind of in a similar age range as this one and proof as well I think Evan Williams 1783 I've

talked about on the channel several times it was kind of my entry into being a bourbon lover I had

Of course, tried Jack Daniels and things before that. But the first bottle I ever bought to try to get into whiskey and pick up flavor notes and tasting notes was Evan Williams 1783

which they've since updated it, and they've added a bit more proof to it

They've given it a nicer bottle, and I really do enjoy the new 1783

That one's still a sub-$20 bottle. So right now, let's go ahead and give this $60 Heaven Hill a taste

Cheers. I will say taste definitely is better than the nose I was a bit worried I when I was smelling

it I was like oh no this smells like really just young distillate but if you're a fan of that like

nutty heaven hill sort of Jim Beamey kind of profile I gotta say that first sip is is very very nice I will say though it is sweet I heard a lot of people comparing this to like a peanut butter kind of flavor and I go a step further

This is, like, honestly, one step above Screwball, and don't get me wrong, I do like my flavored

whiskey when the occasion calls for it. I did a whole flight on YouTube comparing a bunch of

different peanut butter flavored whiskeys. I think that was a couple years back now, but I'm a big

fan of the nutty flavor profile. So this is kind of triggering some of those memories of some of

the flavored whiskeys because how sweet and how peanut buttery this is. Of course, you know, let

me let me clarify. This is nowhere near as sweet as a flavored whiskey. It is a 90 proof, which is

a good step above those. But it is a similar flavor profile. It's less of the roasted peanut

kind of note and more of the the sweet and salty, not natural peanut butter kind of note. I know

That sounds kind of weird, but, you know, like natural peanut butter is typically more nutty and less sweet

and it has a lot more of a natural peanut taste. This is more of like the Jif peanut butter, kind of like the sweet sugar-added peanut butter

And for a 90-proof whiskey, it honestly is a little thin. There's not much body, not much mouthfeel

And for it being, you know, between five to nine years old, I'm a little surprised

because I thought I kind of knew what that age range from Heaven Hill kind of tasted like

Don't get me wrong, the flavor profile is really good. I do like the sweet nuttiness to it

That's definitely my jam. But it is pretty thin. And for a $60 bottle, it's kind of hard to really recommend this

I get it. Like you're going to distilleries, you're doing tours, and you want to buy a special bottle

I will say if you're at Heaven Hill and they do have those like grenade-sized bottles of

Elijah Craig, like Barrel Select, I think those are much better bangs for your buck

if you're looking for an exclusive product. I think those are unique. They're super flavorful

And they're definitely something you can only get at the distillery. honestly this is kind of reminding me of how i reacted to uh jim beam's old tub the original

release not the uh the new release that was nationwide they used to have a distillery only

release that was a 375 milliliter bottle the label looked just like the classic one from the

the og old tub um and i remember liking that but i do think that that was definitely

i don't want to say gimmick gimmick is such a strong word because right like i've worked in

marketing i get like advertising you want to have something exclusive to drive people to your

distillery i totally get that um but i feel like overcharging for that just for the chance to buy

something that you can't get anywhere else is kind of like uh like f you to the consumer that's just

my opinion now it's not like this is a bad whiskey i think i do enjoy drinking it and i think if this

were similarly priced to the 1783 which is their evan williams small batch line similar proof similar

age and a $20 bottle, I think this would be really great

I could even see this being like a $30 bottle. I think it's very balanced

I think it's a really nice, sweet bourbon for people that may not be typical bourbon lovers

It has a really cool story about the history of, you know, founded by five brothers, there's

five different bourbons mixed into this. I like that about it. I like that it has a really cool label and a cool bottle

But when you're talking $60 for a young-ish 90 proof bourbon from Heaven Hill, there's

much better value there. There's, you know, like I said, Evan Williams 7883. There Elijah Craig Small Batch which is a you know bottle proof And you know a lot more balanced dare I say I think this one leads on the sweeter end There not much oak going on Elijah Craig has a bit more oak influence a lot more balanced

He got some of those vanillas and those caramels. This, though, is still the sweet peanut butter note that I've read on a lot of reviews

but trying it myself, I definitely get that. So do I recommend it

Not really. I think, you know, if you're going to the Heaven Hill Distillery, definitely pick up a souvenir

You know, grab your magnets, grab your stickers. Maybe an Elijah Craig aged maple syrup

I saw those when I was there. And like I said, the grenade size bottles. But I would say skip this one

You know, it's not my favorite Heaven Hill product. I think it's a bit overpriced. And unless you want it for the collectability aspect in the story, definitely give this a pass

So out of my rating system of out of eight, I would probably give this a four out of eight

This is right middle of the road. It's nothing, you know, I would seek out

It's nothing I would just turn down at a bar. but I definitely wouldn't be paying the $60 price point of this one

So it's definitely worth, you know, giving a try. I'm really thankful for David for providing the sample

But yeah, I think I would skip this at the distillery if I saw it. So follow-up question that I'm really curious to hear

What would you guys want from a distillery exclusive bottle? Like, let's say there's a bottle that you can only get at the distillery

I know a lot of them do this, but what would you want out of that? Would you want to bottle it yourself, kind of like Mictus does

would you like something that's you know cast or the version of one of your favorite

on the shelf bottles let me know on discord by the way if you guys have not yet joined our discord

server you can find it at bourbonbites.com there's a link to it down at the bottom where

it says the whiskey and gaming lounge discord server everyone's welcome there patrons get

access to our vip lounge as well as some of our hangout rooms but i'm really curious to hear what

you guys think about distillery exclusives do you like them do you hate them let me know why

so while I'd like to keep this podcast going and share some video game and whiskey news I think I'm

going to save that for next week because I'm about to hit the road for Las Vegas we're going to spend

a couple days there I'll most likely do a live stream this week over on YouTube while I'll do

some slot play I've missed doing that it's been a long time since I've done that so if you're

listening to this on Friday obviously that would have already happened or not would have happened

again I'm recording this like literally before I hit the road to Vegas so like I said I'm going to

keep it short this week but I promise next week I'm gonna have some news both in whiskey and video

games it's been a minute since I've done one of those and I always like doing those at the first

of the month so next week will be the first week of August so look forward to some updates about

some exciting whiskeys I already have a list of a few that I'm excited to talk about so definitely

stay tuned hit that follow button and like I said at the beginning if you could leave a rating and

review I would absolutely appreciate it and also I appreciate any feedback if you guys had things

to improve with the podcast things you want to hear things you don't want to hear let me know

I always love incorporating that. And yes, it's a bit, you know, therapeutic for myself to just have a platform to just speak my mind

But I also enjoy being entertaining and exciting and giving you guys reviews to maybe save you some money

Maybe like this one, you know, skip this bottle if you can and tell you about bottles that I'm really excited about

And you should definitely pick up. So until next time, this has been the Bourbon Bites podcast

Cheers. And I'll talk to you next week