🇺🇸 Tortured Bourbon: July 4th Anniversary Special with Evan Williams 1783 American Heroes Edition
Welcome back, tortured souls! This episode is a big one — not only is it Independence Day, it’s also the 1-year anniversary of Tortured Bourbon, with over 100 episodes of bourbon-fueled chaos under our belt. What better way to celebrate America and our questionable life choices than by cracking open the Evan Williams 1783 Small Batch American Heroes Edition?
👉 Watch the full episode on YouTube right here:
🎆 Who Was Evan Williams — and Who Makes This Bourbon?
Evan Williams was a Welsh immigrant who built Kentucky’s first commercial distillery in Louisville back in 1783 — the same year the Treaty of Paris ended the American Revolution. Talk about timing.
He later became Louisville’s first wharf master (basically the guy running the boat parking lot) and was pretty active in early local government.
Today, Evan Williams Bourbon is made by Heaven Hill Distillery in Bardstown, Kentucky. It’s one of America’s top-selling bourbon brands, famous for their Black Label (86 proof) and tons of other expressions.
🦅 What Makes the American Heroes Edition Different?
So what’s up with this American Heroes Edition of Evan Williams 1783 Small Batch?
🥃 Selected by Veterans:
Heaven Hill invited six veterans to personally pick the barrels for this limited release. Each bottle comes with a hang-tag sharing their stories, including:
Ralph Galati (Air Force captain & Vietnam POW)
Chuck Ziegenfuss (Army Major, Iraq vet, Hero Labradors founder)
Son Nguyen (Navy radioman, founder of VETCares Inc.)
April Brown (Army LTC supporting KY veterans)
Alvin King (Army 1SG, Range For Hope Foundation)
Erica Walker (Army Sergeant, Warriors for Freedom leader)
🇺🇸 Supports a Cause:
A portion of sales goes directly to nonprofits helping veterans and first responders. Drinking bourbon that helps vets? Sign us up.
🎯 Still the Same Core Specs, But With Hand-Selected Flair:
Mashbill: ~78% corn, 12% barley, 10% rye
Proof: 90 (45% ABV)
Age: Extra-aged (about 6–8 years), fewer than 200 carefully picked barrels from Bernheim’s 1E & 1J warehouses.
👃 What’s It Supposed to Taste Like?
We pulled from what the internet says to prime our taste buds before we dove in:
Color: Brilliant honey bronze
Nose: Oaky vanilla, sautéed butter, sweet corn, light tobacco
Palate: Semi-sweet caramel, toffee, ripe pear, raisin, creamy spice, cinnamon pepper
Finish: Medium length, regal off-dry oak with mild spice
Most agree it’s a budget-friendly sipper that punches above its price — simple, balanced, never trying too hard.
🍻 Our July 4th Tasting & Reactions
In the episode, we poured hefty glasses to celebrate not just America’s birthday, but also 100+ episodes of sitting behind this barrel, bantering, and making fun of each other’s tasting notes.
Heather:
“Seriously—100+ episodes of talking bourbon, making mistakes, and still somehow showing up sober-ish enough to film.”
B:
“Tonight’s a salute to America, to our milestone, to these heroes—and to us still making it all work after all these shows.”
We both agreed the American Heroes Edition has a little more fruit and creamy spice than the regular 1783 Small Batch. More apple and raisin pop, and it’s got a slightly toasty edge that worked perfectly for a July 4th glass by the grill.
🥂 The Closing Toast
We can’t thank y’all enough for sticking with us. The likes, shares, comments, even your awkward DMs keep us going (and also keep us humble).
“If tonight’s your first sip with us, welcome! Subscribe for more bourbon adventures, shenanigans, and entirely too many ‘MERICA jokes. Happy July 4th—stay tortured, and cheers, y’all!”
📸 More Bourbon, More Stories
👉 Dive into all our bourbon reviews, bloopers, tasting notes, and behind-the-scenes chaos at torturedbourbon.com.
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