Old Dominick 8 Year Reserve Bourbon Review

I didn't know much about Old Dominick going in beyond the name and the fact that they're out of Memphis, which already sets them apart from the wall of Kentucky bottles most of us default to. The distillery draws its water from the Memphis Sand Aquifer, one of the purest natural aquifers in the country, and ages in West Tennessee white oak. There's a real sense of place baked into this bottle before you even pull the cork.

Each barrel is charred to a level 4—the deep "alligator" char that pulls hard caramelization out of the wood—and bottled non-chill filtered, meaning nothing gets stripped out for the sake of shelf appearance. The Reserve expression is built from a minimum of six barrels, hand-selected each year to represent the best of what's aging in the warehouse. Eight years is a real commitment for a distillery this age to sit on, and it shows.

The Bottle

Company: Old Dominick Distillery

Distillery: Old Dominick Distillery

Release: Annual Reserve Selection

Classification: Straight Bourbon

Proof: 100 (50% ABV)

Age: 8 Years

Mash Bill: 75% Corn, 13% Rye, 12% Malted Barley

MSRP: $65

First Impression: Cherry and toffee lead the nose before vanilla rounds things out, with an unexpected Hershey's kiss creaminess underneath.

On the Palate: Custard and cinnamon build first, joined by stone fruit and baking spice across a smooth, medium-bodied sip.

The Last Sip: Chocolate returns on the finish alongside pie crust and caramel, with a last flicker of rye spice reminding you this is still bourbon.

Final Thoughts

Chocolate has never been a flavor I chase in a bourbon—I don't have much of a sweet tooth day to day, and it's usually a note I overlook or write off. But here it does real work. It builds a creaminess on the nose that primes the first sip, then comes back on the finish as richness that actually provides balance rather than just sweetness for sweetness's sake.

That's a harder trick to pull off than people give it credit for, and Old Dominick pulls it off at a price and proof point that make this an easy bottle to recommend, whether you're new to bourbon or you've been at this as long as I have. It's exactly the kind of find that reminds me why media samples are worth opening the second they land on the porch.

🟢 Buy

This bottle was provided to Carbon & Oak as a media sample by Old Dominick Distillery. All tasting notes and opinions are our own.