Good Old Times Honey "The Mensch" Jews & Booze Pick

ReviewsBourbonHoney FinishedMGPGood TimesJews&Booze

Jul 3

Good Old Times Honey "The Mensch" Jews & Booze Pick Bottle

Surprise! I know almost nothing about football. I also don’t quite know how I ended up in the Jews & Booze whiskey group (not that I don’t fit in…) but they’ve picked some fun barrels with a lot more to come.

Good Times (and Good Old Times) are MGP brands that have become ubiquitous overnight as group and store picks. They are among the cheapest options - great for newer groups - and they seemingly allow any stickering and/or waxing you might want. Most stickers are meh, with some outliers being fantastic, some being terrible, and some being downright risque. Other distilleries (cough Four Roses cough) recently decided to crack down on stickering and otherwise “mutilating” the bottle.

The inspiration for this bottle’s sticker should be well-known (if you don’t get the reference, search Julian Edelman, Mensch, and J0n Stewart - I’ll wait). But a sticker is just a sticker. What’s in the bottle?

Greatness, that’s what. Right now, Belle Meade holds the monopoly on excellent honey finishing, but I’d be watching my ass if I were them. I’ve tried multiple Belle Meade Honey releases, and they were damn good (as well as the Vanilla Cask Finish). These were also all distillery-only single barrel releases that quickly jumped to $800 or more on secondary markets. The cost for this honey-barrel-aged Good Old Times? around $100 a bottle with shipping, give or take.

The best part: it stood up. It 100% stood up to the Belle Meade releases. I’ve only tried one other similar pick, so I can’t say all of them are as good, but this one was. Again, no idea how I ended up in that group, but happy to be there.

Good Old Times Honey "The Mensch" Jews & Booze Pick Bourbon: Specs

Classification: Bourbon

Origin: MGP

Mashbill: 60% Corn, 36% Rye, 4% Malted Barley

Proof: 118 (59% ABV)

Age: 7 Years, 10 Months

Location: Indiana

Good Old Times Honey "The Mensch" Jews & Booze Pick Bourbon Price: $100

No Official Website

Good Old Times Honey "The Mensch" Jews & Booze Pick Bourbon Review: Tasting Notes

Eye: Hazy, aged maple syrup.

Nose: Dark, fresh honey nose. Gentle bourbon sweetness and a touch of oak. Smells like a cooled Hot Toddy. Apples dipped in honey, with the gala/Fuji apple sweet and tart balance.

Palate: Palate is hotter up front, with honey getting hot and filling out under the tongue. Tip of the tongue also gets dipped in fire for a few seconds. Textured, spiced cinnamon honey, honey butter on roasted coarse cornbread. Mouthfeel is medium-to-full, silky with a bit of oak spice on the tongue. Excellent.

Finish: Leaves a delicate cinnamon honey with heat dissipating almost immediately. A Hot Toddy for sure.

Overall: This is really, really good. Of course it’s honey-forward, but the bourbon doesn’t disappear by any means - a mark of a well-done finish. This could stand up to Belle Meade’s Honey releases. I’d perhaps like the bourbon to be slightly stronger, but I’m pretty happy where it is, too.

Final Rating: 7.9

10 | Insurpassable | Nothing Else Comes Close (Blanton’s Straight from the Barrel)

9 | Incredible | Extraordinary (GTS, Elijah Craig Barrel Proof B518 and B520)

8 | Excellent | Exceptional (12+YO MGP Bourbon, Highland Park Single Barrels)

7 | Great | Well above average (Blanton’s Original, Old Weller Antique, Booker’s)

6 | Very Good | Better than average (Four Roses Small Batch Select, Knob Creek 14+ YO Picks)

5 | Good | Good, solid, ordinary (Elijah Craig Small Batch, Buffalo Trace, Old Grand-Dad Bottled-in-Bond)

4 | Sub-par | Many things I’d rather have (A.D. Laws Four Grain, Compass Box “Oak Cross”)

3 | Bad | Flawed (Iron Smoke Bourbon, Balcones)

2 | Poor | Forced myself to drink it (Buckshee Bourbon and Rye)

1 | Disgusting | Drain pour (Virginia Distilling Co. Cider Cask)