Tastes

Nose is similar to the regular release, apple pie spices with some hay and a cool grassy mint note. Tongue punches the vanilla, oak, cinnamon and stewed fruit up a notch but without the darker flavor notes that often come with that profile. Sweet, pleasantly spicy finish.

Apple pie with clove featured and some hay on the nose. Wood and stewed fruit on the tongue, pleasant and nondemanding. Smooth mildly spicy finish.

Custard cinnamon vanilla nose with some oak, cherry and a hint of spicy rye seriousnes. Creme brûlée continues on the tongue with a creamy almost eggy thickness. Maple syrup over waffles with strawberries on the side. The vermouth in the Manhattan barrels kicks in. The spicy, tannic quality disappears for a while… …then shows up on the spicy warming berry finish. This is very good and i keep returning to it. Best comps so far are a Bulleit barrel proof, Barrell Batch 29, and Barrell private selection (D88i). Pretty good company. If i see it again i’ll buy another. Manhattan Barrel finish.

Since Ransom has impressed me at every turn, i took a chance on this. French oak and restrained maple on the nose. Thick on the tongue without being sugary. Mellow with bread notes and spices and herbs that evoke USA not Ireland - at least to this guy. Quiet fruit notes that make me think brandy or cognac or even scotch. Smooth, mildly tannic, stewed apple and pear finish. I’d be interested to compare this to some scotches as well as Ransom’s The Geezer and Old Tom gins. A fascinating American whiskey.

Smoky barnyard nose with a hint of peanuts and honey bbq. Palate follows through with brown sugar, caramel, oak, leather, and a smooth woodsy spicy finish. Beat out Buffalo Trace and Weller Special Reserve in a blind test and it wasn’t close. If you can’t find a bottle of the Buff, buy this and come out ahead.

I’m a fan of Old Ezra 7yr bourbon so decided to pull the trigger on this one despite the price tag. The nose makes me think this will be a roller coaster of a whiskey. Sandalwood, walnut, pepper, brown sugar, molasses, bbq baked beans with ethanol fumes. Taste is thick and sweet and all over the map. Spicy like old time ginger-cinammon candy. Apple pie and pepper and oak swimming around in there with vanilla and honey to lighten the darker char spice flavors. Finish is long and hot and spicy - burnt sugar and molasses and oak conclude a wild ride. This bayou bbq rye is on the crazy side but i loved it and will have to test it against my favorites.

Candied apple and peanuts on the nose with hay and toffee. Smells like a carnival…and a lot like bourbon. Palate carries the sweetness forward with leather and oak and a rush of cinnamon and mild barnyard on the short finish. The nose may be the best part of this one.

Pretty amazing aroma: medicinal herbs, mint, lime, lots to nose out. Palate carries over the herbal notes but makes them drier, rosemary or sagebrush, and adds honey, leather, vanilla, wood. Conjures up a saloon in the old west. Medium finish lets sagebrush and rye spice hang around. Not a heavy rye but quite good. Good comps would be Wheel Horse 101 and Elijah C 94.