When I think of Michter's, I tend to think of the [10 year Rye](https://www.reddit.com/r/bourbon/comments/1oe8tg4/review_15_michters_10_year_rye_2024_24g2783/), seemingly one of the best ryes on the market, or even the base rye, a solid bottle for the price. Michter's is also known for some of their other special releases, such as the barrel strength rye, toasted barrel offerings that rotate every year, and their yearly legacy releases of Shenk's and Bomberger's.

Michter's Distillery as we know it today is a relocation of a distillery originally from PA that started back in the 1750s. Shenk's, then Bomberger's (the names used in the legacy series), was a distillery that ran for 200 years in PA, before being bought and rebranded as Michter's. In the 80s or 90s, Michter's shut its doors, then was revived a couple decades later to be the distillery we know and love.

Michter's does a couple things differently, or at least advertises these as different. First, their barrels are toasted much longer than other brands. They claim this helps bring out the flavors/sugars from the wood better than other distilleries. They also barrel their distillate at a lower entry proof than other distilleries. That means that cask strength for them will never get into the 130s and 140s for proof. Usually the barrel proof products they release are barely above 110 proof. They say this helps with the flavor profiles as they don't have to water down their bottles to the ideal proofs for the base products.

Michter's also heat cycles their barrels. I believe Brown Forman products, or at least Old Forester does this. I only note Brown Forman because it is believed that Michter's has sourced some barrels for some of its older age stated products from Brown Forman. I'm not entirely sure on that so if somebody has better information feel free to correct me.

On that note - Bomberger's 2025 is one of three Michter's legacy bottles this year, paired with the Bomberger's PFG and the Shenk's 2025 releases. What makes this different than the normal small batch bourbon whiskey is that Bomberger's is aged in new Chinquapin oak barrels. To be honest, I have no idea and could not find anything discussing the impacts of this type of oak on the whiskey itself. I'd love to hear in the comments what this type of oak does... These barrels were seasoned and air dried for 18 months to 5 years. Apparently the longer the seasoning/aging of the staves, the less tannins will come out in the whiskey. Only one way to find out!

Onto the pour:

Mash bill: Undisclosed, at least 51% corn with it being a bourbon. Not much else is known about the mash from what I could find.

Price: \~$125 MSRP. I paid $132 with tax.

Age Statement: NAS

ABV: 54% (108 proof).

Nose: Immediately I get a lot of oak and roasted nuts. There is a slight caramel note in the background of all this that took me a while to find. I also get a hint of a dark red fruit, maybe cherry.

Palate: The oak hits at first, but that gives way to some strong vanilla and cinnamon notes. As I take more sips, I taste even more vanilla. The pour definitely develops from the beginning to the end of each sip, starting out with oak and cinnamon, and giving way to something sweeter.

Finish: This is much of the same, but definitely dies out quickly, in a weird way. After each sip the flavor goes to about 50% strength and lingers like that for a long time. I do get a little note of chocolate along with the palate notes. Still get oak, vanilla, and some cinnamon.

Overall, I would rate this at a 7, maybe 6.5 on the T8KE scale. I was pretty underwhelmed, especially after seeing so many positive reviews. Nothing really stuck out to me as unique or exceptional. I might just have been overrating this bottle in my head, but it just doesn't quite live up to the hype for me. There is absolutely nothing bad about this bottle, it has no tannins (which I hate), very little 'burn', and has good tasting notes, but I'm left wanting a little more. Especially for the price.

If you've tried this bottle, or an earlier release, I'm interested to hear your thoughts in the comments. Are there previous releases that were better? How does it compare to the 2025 Shenk's?

Also let me know in the comments what Michter's products I should be looking for. I know the Bomberger's PFG is really highly acclaimed and love the 10 year rye, and I would try to find those in the future at a good price. Are there any others I should look for?

1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out.

2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume by choice.

3 | Bad | Multiple flaws.

4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but better exists.

5 | Good | Good, just fine.

6 | Very Good | A cut above.

7 | Great | Well above average

8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional.

9 | Incredible | An all time favorite

10 | Perfect | Perfect

Review #17 - Bomberger's Declaration 2025