I live in California, and recently was able to purchase a bottle of Evan Williams black label . . . but at 90 proof. It looked as tho this bottle was about 22 years old as I compared the labels to my current bottle of Evan Willams 7 year old. It had a "200 years" label on the neck of the bottle which should place it at about 1983. It also showed a shoulder label of "90proof" That piqued my interest; the Evan Willams 7 year old is now at 86 proof. The label also was crowing about it being distilled in COPPER stills which I know the current Evan Williams black label is not.
The liquor store owner was actually dusting the bottle off as he was bringing it out from the back room. (I went in trying to find a bottle of EWSB). On tasting this timewarp treasure, I found that it had a fruitier nose. The taste was a little smoother!
Now, I don't want to say this was better than Evan Williams of today, but I was wondering if anyone else has had this experience of an earlier bottle of EW. ALSO, when did they go from 90 to 86 proof?
I think I can get a couple of more bottles of this stuff. Am I fooling myself, or is it better than the current Evan Williams 7 year old? I also have a bottle of EWSB 1987, and you know, I think the Evan Willams 90 proof is even better than the '87!
Anyone?