Martin Mills 24 Years was a bourbon Heaven Hill created for the Japanese export market and it is fantastic. Distilled in December of 1974 and bottled in February of 1999 this is one of those legendary bourbons I’ve only heard whispers and tales of until I got the chance to experience it at a blind LAWS bourbon tasting. If you’re wondering how it fared in the opinions of everyone else, and didn’t click the link 20 words back, let’s just say this. It didn’t last long in the reserves.
According to Sku’s review, the Japanese had developed a taste for older bourbon about a decade before America did and to satiate that desire Heaven Hill took some of their old bourbon stock and bottled it as Martin Mills 24 years. Sometime after that Americans began getting ahold of the bottles and telling its delicious tale which is how it became a legendary bourbon and why it sits atop so many “Top X Expensive Bourbons You Have To Try Or Else Your Life Is Meaningless” type of posts and I have to say… it deserves the hype.
Martin Mills 24 Years Info
Region: Kentucky, USA
Distiller: Heaven Hill
Mashbill: 75% corn, 13% rye, 12% barley
Age: 24 years (1974 – 1999)
ABV: 53.5%
Price: NA – Auction or private sale
Martin Mills 24 Years Review
EYE
Dark caramel with red highlights.
NOSE
Dense and rich with notes of cherry heavy dark fruit, caramel, candy-like sweetness, leather, wood, a complex rack of baking spices and a bit of vanilla. Everything about it is warm, complex and inviting.
PALATE
Dark fruit, leather, wood, dark honey, cinnamon, butterscotch heavy dark sweets, spice and a touch of candied citrus towards the end. Again, like the nose, the palate is warm, complex and inviting. If we weren’t tasting so many other amazing whiskeys that night I could have easily just sat and enjoyed this one all evening long.
FINISH
Long and winding road of butterscotch heavy dark sweets, dark fruit, wood and spice.
BALANCE, BODY & FEEL
Perfectly balanced, rich full body and a heavy oily texture.
OVERALL
Martin Mills 24 Years is the bourbon I would drink everyday if I were the King of Earth. I would order every bottle in the land be brought to my castle and I would sink into its darkly sweet and fruity oaken arms to easy my kingly burdens. As birth would have it I’m not a king so I have happily settled for getting to enjoy a glass or three of it at the tasting and for this pauper that will do just fine. If you ever get the chance to grab yourself a sip don’t hesitate. It’s magnificent.
SCORE: 93-97/100 (consumed at a tasting, not at home)
