Tastes

Neat it smells very ethanoly, but was surprised by how easy it still went down without overbearing heat. The oak and rye comes through off the bat. Add a little water and the sweetness explodes. It became a very sweet and creamy rye bomb of cherry, oak and rye that went down extremely easy, while also having a lot of complexity to it. This goes near the top of my list and is instantly up as the favorite rye I have for drinking neat in my cabinet. This bottle has gotten me thinking I might be a rye person.

Very smooth up front with vanilla followed by an aftertase of rye spice that lasts. Amazing combination of smooth on the palate with a long lasting spicy finish. Best high rye bourbon I have had and a go to if I’m looking for something more than just a smooth wheat.

Good complex bourbon. After opening the smell was pure maple syrup in the bottle. The proof showed more on the nose in the glass, along with the wine finish. Neat the flavor was somewhat dry and could get the wine coming through some fruit and a bit hot. With a cube the port and fruit come through more. Coming back a few later I’m rerating from 3.75 to 3.5. The wine seems to have a more drying and overpowering presence for my liking.

Mix of butterscotch, cherry and pepper on the nose. Fairly sweet and peppery flavor with a hit of the oaky finish. Wasnt amazed by it. Not bad, but just fine.

very sweet smell. Neat I got some fruitiness followed by the heat and cinnamon. With some ice I got more nutty and oak. Interesting how it goes from sweet initially to the spiciness and long aftertaste. At times get a burnt sugar end as well. Wouldnt call it an easy sipper but I do think it drinks easier than the 116 proof it is and is pretty complex. Worth having around.

Sweet smell. Pleasant sweet start but the higher proof comes through at the finish. Overall I actually get more flavor notes and less bite with the Wheated than this one. Solid bourbon, but not an every day drinker for me.

Not too bad neat with some vanilla and pepper. Overall very light and not much complexity. The flavor profile really broke down quickly after adding ice. Pretty standard/nothing special.

You can definitely get a glimpse of the wine finish when you smell the bourbon. Both neat and with an ice cube you can get a subtle taste of the cab finish but it is more of a normal oaky upfront palate that then finished a bit briny/bitter at the end. Smooth and goes down easy. Can see how it’s good as a change of pace but not a go to for me. Coming back to it this was very good balance of flavor and very easy to drink. Changing from 3.5 to 3.75.

I thkight this was a very good and easy drinker and with some nice variety to the flavor. Starting neat it was smooth with some citrusy/fruit tang to it followed by nutmeg/spice (but notnspicy). With an ice cube it got much sweeter with more of a banana/custard finish to it. Very good first impression.

As far as wheated bourbons go, this is fairly harsh and oaky vs smoother and sweeter. You get some of those elements, but it’s a peg down from others like WSR. I’d put it alongside Woodford/bulleit.