David Nicholson Reserve

About the David Nicholson Reserve

David Nicholson Reserve is a Kentucky straight bourbon whisky, bottled at 100 proof. That is 50% ABV, and the strength shows in the first sip. Corn leads the mash bill, with rye and malted barley behind it. Luxco launched this bottling in 2016 next to a repackaged David Nicholson 1843. Extra ageing is part of the pitch. Where the older label leans on wheat, the Reserve leans on rye spice. The story starts in 1843, in the backroom of a St. Louis grocery store. David Nicholson mixed a bourbon recipe there and sold it over his own counter. Fifty years on, Julian 'Pappy' Van Winkle joined W.L. Weller and took up the brand. He had the original '43' recipe distilled and bottled at the A. Ph. Stitzel distillery. The Van Winkle family kept the name until Luxco bought it in 2000. Spice arrives on the nose first: black pepper, cinnamon, allspice and clove. Behind that sit toffee, honey and brown sugar, with charred oak and a little leather. Nuts follow on the palate: peanut, hazelnut and a thread of cocoa. Rye pepper and nutmeg cut across vanilla and caramel, and the texture stays oily and buttery. Maple syrup shows up late. It closes sweet and long, honeyed, with a cola edge. Two bottles carry the name, and the mash bill is what separates them. The 1843 uses wheat and comes across softer and rounder. David Nicholson Reserve swaps that wheat for rye and spends longer in the barrel. The result is a bigger, drier, spicier pour at the same 100 proof. It won a Double Gold at the 2019 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. Choose it when you want the pepper rather than the honey.