For me, Rebel Bourbon went from an unknown to a bottle I like to have on my shelf regularly in just a few months. The basic expression of Rebel 100 is incredibly cheap and the other expressions just aren’t that expensive, either. Case in point, today’s review subject: Rebel 100 Bottled-In-Bond 6 Year. In looking through the internet, I found several 6 Year expressions of Rebel 100, but the blue label is the Bottled-In-Bond version, for what it’s worth.
Historically, Rebel juice was source from Heaven Hill Distillery, just a little ways away from Lux Row Distillery where it is made now. It uses a mash bill of 68% corn, 20% wheat, and 12% malted barley…which is the same percentages used in the Heaven Hill wheated products like Larcey and Old Fitzgerald. In case you hadn’t guessed from the name and the fact that it’s bottled-in-bond, this whiskey is 100 proof, or 50% ABV.
In the glass, the Rebel 100 Bottled-In-Bond was a medium-dark amber color. On the nose, I got notes of oak char, orange peel, and caramel. It started out softly sweet on the tip of the tongue, with plenty of those caramel notes coming through, along with citrus and baking spices. As it moved across my palate, I got more notes of cinnamon and a faint pepper, making this one of the more spicy wheated bourbons I can remember. Subsequent sips saw more fruitiness up front while that spicy burst later on still kept happening. I found this to be a surprisingly nice wheated bourbon with a ton of character for a bargain price (about $50fre, I think…outstanding for something with a 6 year age statement).
