Jack Daniel’s Coy Hill Barrelhouse 8 Review 2024
“Coy Hill”
Jack Daniel’s 2024 Coy Hill release is here! But will it stand-up to its predecessors? This release is known as Coy Hill Barrelhouse 8 and it is the third release of the Coy Hill line (2021, 2022, 2024). This year’s release is just a few weeks shy of 11 years old and it is comprised of 258 single barrel selections chosen from the 5th and 6th floors of barrelhouse 8, ranging in proof from 122 to 137.5. I picked this up at well above MSRP, and have gone back to it multiple times over the course of 2 weeks as I work through a review of the Jack Daniel’s Coy Hill Barrelhouse 8 review 2024.
The first Coy Hill was released in 2021 with the series name “Coy Hill High Proof” and was comprised of less than 300 barrels chosen for this single barrel limited release with proofs ranging from 137.4 to 148.3. It was from barrel house numbers 8 and 13, and was aged a minimum of 9 years on the top floors of the warehouses, which is known as the “Buzzard’s Roost”. This could be called the Coy Hill Single Barrel High Proof release (Whiskey in My Wedding Ring nailed this punctuated description!)
2022 saw the release of the Coy Hill Small Batch High Proof limited release. Apparently there were 55 barrels where the angels share took too much (can we blame them?) resulting in barrels that were too high proof. So they were blended into 5 small batches with proofs of 143.6, 147.3, 149.8, 153.2, and 155.1
Series: Coy Hill Special Release
Classification: Tennessee Whiskey
Age: 10 years, 11 months
Proof: 125.3
Proof Designation: Barrel Proof
Filtered Status: Lincoln County Process
Mash bill: 80% Corn, 8% Rye, 12% Malted Barley
Barrel Char Level: 3
Barrel Entry Proof: Undisclosed
Distillate Source: Jack Daniel’s
Distillery: Jack Daniel’s
Company: Brown-Forman
Bottled By: Jack Daniel’s
Distilled/Aging Location: Lynchburg, Tennessee
Master Distiller: Chris Fletcher
Release Date: August 2024
MSRP: $80
Secondary Market: $250 $450
Availability: Low/Rare
Jack Daniel’s Coy Hill Barrelhouse 8 Review 2024
My tasting reviews are unique in that I include the notes of several well-known whiskey critics. The hope is that this format will help me and others to explore and expand their tasting experience. After you have taken your own tasting notes, read the reviews and see if there is a flavor note that others discerned that now you can detect as well.
For this tasting: Opened Bottle (about 1 week), Glencairn Glass, Neat, Room Temp, Breathe: 5 minutes
Legs
Beads began to form on the crown at 9 seconds, the first legs formed at 15 seconds, and the first legs fell to the bowl at about 39 seconds.
Nose
Caramelized sugar, vanilla, barrel char, roasted peanuts, mild banana, caramel
Other Reviewer’s Perceptions
Breaking Bourton: (134.7 proof) Spiced baked apples | Brown sugar | Caramel | Whiskey-soaked barrel char | Candy apple | Ethanol | Well integrated
Bourbon Culture: (129.7 proof) A robust, well-rounded nose that starts with notes of sweet caramel, pecan pie and banana bread. Spice comes from some cinnamon and sweet oak. There are darker notes like coffee grounds and melted chocolate. I even get a little bit of apple fritter donut throughout. This is incredible to sniff.
Whiskey in My Wedding Ring: (134.7 proof) Powerful, though not flowing out of the glencairn. Spice-studded red fruit fresh off the tree, plenty of proof without being overwhelming. Unicorn toast, tons of cinnamon sugar. No fresh banana – it’s all caramelized and flambeed, decadent and delicious.
Palate
Caramel apple, mild cinnamon, caramelized sugar, mild vanilla extract notes, barrel char, sweet oak, a hint of roasted peanuts, orange zest, hint of banana, leather.
Other Reviewer’s Perceptions
Breaking Bourton: Brown sugar | Cinnamon powder | Rye spice | Vanilla | Cinnamon apple pie | Cinnamon spice | Charred oak | Caramel | Bold
Bourbon Culture: The flavors I find on my tongue are powerful and rich. Sweet notes like caramel sauce and molasses mix with pecan pralines. More banana bread (with chocolate chips) mixes with flat root beer and black cherries to deliver slightly more fruit than other Jack products. Spices lend a hand to upping the flavor and heat – I can pick out black peppercorns and strong cinnamon candies. There’s even a little bit of licorice lurking about. Tannins are mostly tame and include oak, coffee grounds and wood char. Overall every note is surrounded by an oily mouthfeel which is something that is normally rare for me to find in a Jack product.
Score: 8.8/10
Whiskey in My Wedding Ring: Red fruit and fresh ground coffee, plums and apples and cherries with a slight burnt edge from the coffee notes. Proof makes itself known but doesn’t distract from the full-bodied flavors. The dark cherry starts to dominate as astringency builds slowly. Mouthfeel is heavy without becoming syrupy, coating and creamy, pleasant burn on the front half of my tongue. Barrel char is dark and sweet, mulled wine and blossoming spices.
Score: 7.8/10
Finish
Moderately long with vanilla, brown sugar, barrel char, hint of banana, caramel
Other Reviewer’s Perceptions
Breaking Bourton: Cinnamon spice | Rye spice | Light baking spices | Medium oak | Apple pie | Building heat
Bourbon Culture: The end of the sip brings on slightly drier notes of charred wood, cinnamon powder, brownie edges and tobacco leaf. The licorice note (or is it just star anise?) remains. Thankfully, there are some sweet and fruity notes at the end that balance everything out and make this a very satisfying finish. Banana, dates, slightly burnt caramel and heavy vanilla all compliment the ending.
Whiskey in My Wedding Ring: A bitter edge cuts the sweetness of the fruit and, somehow, also elbows into the proof enough to distract the taste buds and allow more flavor to come through. The finish latches on to the front half of my tongue like a lacquer. Stays balanced while letting the spicy and fruity sides last on a long finish.
Mouthfeel
The mouthfeel is pleasant and silken in texture. The heat still punches through and prevents the better mouthfeel of “creamy” of “rich/unctuous”.
Mouthfeel Rating Guide: Thin = Watery | Silken = smooth & slippery, but not mouth coating | Creamy = coats the tongue like heavy cream does. | Rich or Unctuous = coats the entire palate like quality olive oil
The Burn
3.5 out of 5. This means that the burn from the alcohol is about what I would expect it to be. I would guess this to be around 120 proof, not 125.3 proof. Said differently, it burns a little “hot” for a high-quality whiskey. I’ve had higher-proof whiskeys that burn much lower than this, including a 104.2 proof Coy Hill from 2023 (this is where single barrel selections either shine brightly, or simply glow).
Code: 1= Burns my Face Off! – I think it’s Hazmat! | 2= Very hot! Drinks at least 10 points higher than actual proof. | 3= Drinks as I would expect it to for this proof…I would guess it to be this proof. | 4= It drinks a bit below its proof | 5= it drinks quit a bit below its proof
Tasting Summary
I am ambivalent over this particular Coy Hill Barrelhouse 8 bottle…perhaps I got the unlucky “lemon”. It is defiantly good, but not fantastic (is that blasphemy?!). Stuck in my mind/expectations is a friend’s 2021 Coy Hill 140.2 proof that was freaking amazing! This one is certainly good, but no match for it’s brother from 2021. The Barrelhouse 8 is a little more “hot” from the alcohol (even though it is 15 points lower in proof!), it is less balanced, less complex in flavor, and the viscosity is substantially less satisfying.
This could simply be the fact that single barrel releases can be vastly different from each other and this one is on the lower end of the spectrum. Or it could be that the higher proof and/or the higher floors of the barrel house, with more heat and more transitions in and out of the wood, had a more impressive impact upon the juice in the barrels of the 2021 releases. What do you think? The 140.2 proof Coy Hill High Proof from 2021 I rated as a 9.4…the Coy Hill 2024 Barrelhouse 8 125.3 proof I’m rating as an 8.2.
For comparison, I’m now sipping on a Jack Daniel’s Barrel Proof 128.9 proof, and it burns lower than the CH 125.3 proof and is almost as enjoyable, though a little less complex and less on the mouthfeel…but also, significantly easier to find at MSRP.
Buy, Bunker, or Pass
Would I buy this batch of Coy Hill Barrelhouse 8 again at the price I paid for it? No. MSRP is about $80 (good luck!). I paid over $400 (after WA 20% liquor rape tax!)
Would I buy a bunker bottle? For under $200…all day long. For over $200, no.
Pass?? Looking backwards, the most I would pay for the gamble of a fantastic Coy Hill Barrelhouse 8 is $300.
My Rating
The higher the score the better the whiskey is in my opinion. For reference, my best rated bottle so far is the George T. Stagg 2022 (138.7p) with a score of 9.7.
| Score Type | Score | Examples |
| Likability Score | 8.2 | 1.0 – 10.0 |
| Availability Score | 1 | 1-Rare, 2-Hard to Find, 3-A Little Hunting, 4-Easy to Find |
My Tasting Notes
A blank version of this tasting notes wheel is available in both a color and a black & white version in the member’s area.
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