Tastes

I get the hay and honey nose I associate with Penelope along with some vanilla, flowers, seasoned oak and rye. Tongue is sweet bread, vanilla, apple, caramel and clover honey, with cinnamon and pepper making an appearance at the edges. Smooth peppery oak finish. Nicely balanced and hides the 104 proof well.

Floral orange blossom and honey nose grounded in serious barnyard sawdust. Oily mouthfeel as caramel, honeyed oak, pecans, and leather show up alongside stewed fruit and chalky clay. Leathery pepper and cinnamon finish. The Barrell private releases can be hit or miss. This one is above the grade.

Punchy cherry sawdust nose accurately forecasts the syrupy cherry, vanilla palate with some oak and leather to keep things out of sugar bomb territory. Spicy cinnamon sandalwood finish. Not what I’d call complex but it’s quality.

Rugged nose with dead leaves, burnt sugar, sawdust and peanuts. Palate backs off a step with mellow stewed apple and honey. It’s a little one-note. Cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, herbal finish. Tied for second with Green River Wheated in a blind with Wilderness Trails BiB (1st) and 1792 (last).

Rich woodsy, smoky caramel malt nose with a whiff of cherry. The palate follows through with some additional peach and orange and baking spiciness. Reminds me of a 6yr malted BiB from Rieger at a much lower price point. Looks like this one has more than doubled in price over the last several years. The Rieger similarity was strong enough, i pulled that one off the shelf for a head to head. Both are quite good with plenty of overlaaping smoke and wood. The King’s County is smoother. The Rieger has more oaky backbone. I’d have a hard time explaining why one was $50 better. Enjoyable but i don’t think i’ll buy it again at this this top shelf asking price. This bottle was 6yrs old, batch 11.

Honey, vanilla, orange blossom nose makes me picture bees in clover with a vivid instagram filter. There’s barnyard sawdust too. All very intense. A classic profile. The palate follows through with loads of honey and apple and caramel and orange and vanilla with undertones of caramel and maple syrup. Mildy spicy—you can ID the clove, allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg if you try. Wood and leather, yeah. But it’s really a sweet bourbon lover’s dream. The true and better Four Roses Single Barrel. Raylan Givens would love this. Not especially complicated, just takes all the honeyed notes and whorls them into a glass of sunshine that you find in the hills of Kentucky or at the end of the rainbow. Finish is sweet and spicy with candied orange, cinnamon candy, pepper and brown sugar. Instant classic.

You’d expect an exotic nose and that’s what you get. Brandy comes through with pear, sawdust, cinnamon, chalk, swirling tropical notes, and…ham? If i didn’t know better i might think this was a cognac. Palate has a lot to live up to and manages pulls it off. Once you register the pear and wood char, there’s honeyed pineapple, a dusting of baking spices, milky vanilla, and a slightly metallic copper note. The amaro influences are present as a hovering savory, herbal cloud in the background. The finish is oaky and herbal, pine or sagebrush or mesquite, something from the amari making its presence felt. A unique bourbon suited for dry heat, adobe and adventure.

Bracing nose of barnyard rye spice and bread pudding. Palate takes a further step into cajun dessert territory with custard creaminess and burnt sugar of creme brûlée along with some autumn leaves and leather. Caramel and spices linger on the finish.

Caramel, hay, vanilla and sweetbread on the nose with a hint of orange. Promising start, which i love to see from a 4yr BiB. These are bottles i always root for. Palate follows through with some added cinnamon, clove, sawdusty leather and a tannic, mildly spicy finish with a hint of spearmint and sagebrush. Very nice.

Wood polish, hay, honey, caramel, apple fritter, powdered sugar, vanilla nose. Palate follows through with more apple, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg. Spicier than expected and no complaints. Long spicy apple finish. This would be worth stacking up against other apple pie bourbons like Elijah C barrel proof and Old Ezra 7yr.