Tastes

Complex fruity, spicy barnyard nose with a hint of rye and vanilla and lots of zing from the proof. Apricot and honey lead the way on the tongue, with oats and vanilla and caramel and barrel char. Plenty going on. Long spicy herbal finish.

Nose is apple pie, brown sugar, tangerine, vanilla sprinkled with sawdust and a squirt of lemon. A tickle of pepper. Not sure what the age is but it compares well to Dickel 13 and Knob Creek 12, similar profile. Caramel, oak, pepper, vanilla and more apple pie with some citrus on the palate. Smooth and delicious. For me, this is a buy-it-when-you-see-it bottle. Finish is enjoyably tannic and spicy. Bumping this to a 4.25 after it beat out Baker’s 7yr (3rd) and Nelson Bros Reserve (2nd) in a blind test of 107-108 proof bourbons. Underrated.

Sweet maple caramel pepper oak nose. Cinnamon roll palate with oak, pepper and baking spices. Stewed fruit, especially apple. There is some cocoa, malt and bread, as per the expert review. Blurring the lines between rye and bourbon. Very mild spearmint. Long oak, apple, spearmint finish.

Caramel, menthol, vanilla, powdered sugar nose. Promises a refined sip, which is what you get. Maple syrup, vanilla, pepper, oak. On the sweet side, but herbal notes. Kinda like a Manhattan cocktail with a luxuriant mint sprig…and a couple other herbs tucked in. Long herbal finish.

For the $ this may be my fav rye on the market. Tried alongside Barrell Seagrass & Seagrass Gray Label, Whistlepig 10 and A Midwinter Night’s Dram. Beats Whistlepig at the tough barnyard rye game and has enough nuance to compete with Barrell (and lose fractionally) at 6/10 of the price. Knob Creek is the hero once again.

Tried this alongside Barrell Seagrass, Barrell Seagrass Gray Label, Rare Breed Barrel Proof, Knob Creek Single Barrel and Whistlepig 10. This one comes in last. Maybe my palette isn’t dialed in, but for my money i’d buy Barrell Seagrass, Knob Creek Single Barrel and Whistlepig 10 before this. Spicy but thin in comparison to the orhers.

A thorough-going rye with all the bready, woodsy, farmyard flavors. At this price point Seagrass (a bit more $) and Rare Breed and Knob Creek Single Barrel are my favorites—and I’m not sure you can do much better—but i have a weakness for this one, especially in an OF.