Tastes

The banana - caramel is most notable, the leather is also apparent, as my sniffer is broken from this cold weather I can't be overly confident of a good report on the nose. What comes through is good though and nothing out of place off the top. Much dryer than what I was expecting, perhaps the extra aging is the reason but not as sweet for a higher proof, the burnt toast and banana effect sticks and while its tailing off with some nibs the apple sweetness makes an appearance. Surprisingly accurate notes from Distiller on this one, while some of the sugars may have aged out the extra aging does yield the relative warm cream like finish. One thing I like about Prophet 22 is how well the finish fades out without even a hint of harshness. I guess if you're looking for a 200$ bottle this will suffice, it's sure to beat out some others in that price range but I'm not sure it really beats some of the better Booker releases at half the price. If it's a true orphan barrel the enthusiast who can would likely want to buy on sight. Cheers!

Nose: Warm sweet rich spicy banana bread. At the front it's a small dill rye note, the sweet honey bread kicks in, the nose banana really doesn't take shape. The rye just manages to dry out the sweet middle reaching a nice balance. The entire menagerie all finishes up at the end, nothing bitter or sweet, the array of beautiful notes hold up as it just fades off in a tempting memory. I wanted to take another look at this very special rye from not the distillery you would expect, as the bottle is about gone. Did it hold up? Without a doubt. Will this be one of my "go to" bottles from here? Without a doubt. This mash balance is just exceptional. I can't wait to see where Jeff Arnett goes and what he does next as this is one of the premiere whiskeys produced this century. I don't even know if Jeff was the real mastermind behind this work but whoever did it, Jack Daniels owes a huge debt of gratitude for showing they can do something big outside the bounds of Lincoln Co. Process. Just goes to show if you keep at it long enough, you eventually can catch lighting in a bottle. Cheers!

A great rich bouquet awaits you on the nose with this full proof Willett offering with some ginger raisin spice cake notes, a lot is happening here. A forward ginger rye spice cake with some dark molasses sweetness, and notable dark fruit sugars makes way for what is one of the odder spice arrays in bourbon, almost english leather meets old spice with a touch of high karate(lime version) for effect. Noah's Mill doesn't fail to deliver on some unusual bourbon notes and then some. That rich sweetness in the nose never fully takes shape through the mids as the opening spice bomb shifts into all of those after shave scents, this one will really take the old timers back to the much simpler days of soda commercials and tv cigarette adds. It's hard to say how much the average palate will take to that spectrum of perfumey spices. Willett can at the least take a big bow for not offering up the usual suspect high proofer and making something actually worth while, even if a bit off the center mark of bourbon normal. Cheers!

Lingering just under the thick smokiness there is something like a rich marmalade, along with a warm honey-meade, perhaps there is a non-Blue Label Johnnie worth taking a look through. The nose is bright, full and sweet. I always feel out of place doing these Scotch reviews, as someone who spends 99% of my time sampling Bourbon, American whiskey and Rye, for me Scotch is like feeling my way along in the dark of a house I've never been in before. The full malt-barley flavor was never my thing and I always remember the really awful malt alcohol wine coolers that came into being when I was a kid. So take full warning, this is a bourbon drinkers opinion and nothing more! The smoke and iodine subside a bit after a heavy coating of the tongue, and amazing flavors emerge, some really nice tea and honey nut cereal sweetness, along with the mentioned orange notes. I like the non-Islay factors a good deal, it's just wading through the smokey salty brine to get there that doesn't tempt me much. There is a little dryness on the end with just some lemon zest that I actually find really nice, it kind of reminds me of a party that happens in your mouth but then cleans up after itself. I can safely say this is easily the most complex Johnnie you will find, far more bold of character than the Blue Label that excels at being smoother than butter on a silk plate. And far more interesting than the myriad of Blacks and Golds the brand throws at you, you can accuse Green Label of many things, but being boring isn't one of them. While I won't be giving up on my Booker's anytime soon, I can see pushing the Blue over and making a second spot for a Green JW on my bar. Cheers!

"Slow aged in oak barrels." Is that better than "fast" aged? I really can't say. At least it's not solera, or maybe that would be a good thing? For some reason the world needed another mid-lowish level Barton product. What that reason is probably only Sazarac knows. One thing I can say is this will beat out Tenn High or Kentucky Gentlemen, but maybe not by that much. Very Old Bartons? ehhh probably. The sweet oak nose is very promising, like a real old bourbon made the right way. Through the middle the body is a bit sweet and rough at the same time, both oaky but not as mellow as well aged oak from say Woodford. The promise of the nose just doesn't quite add up. It's almost like a dry oaky whiskey that was somehow sweetened with corn syrup. A lot of the right components are there but like a Frankenstien project it just doesn't seem to have ended up right. At just over 20 I would say you aren't getting ripped off, but at that price you can usually find Larceny which would also edge this Barton product out. Not a bad try though, would be a great bar pour for a bowling alley bar, beware of 5 star hotels proudly displaying this on the premium shelf. cheers!

Product of USA is clearly marked, well it's distilled in INDIANA so yea, no false advertising so far. Noble Oak is reputedly double finished in a second port stave loaded cask, after a period in standard new charred American white oak. What this adds up to is some nice work done on some fairly average MGP rye. As most of you already know, MGP can produce some good stuff from time to time, this really feels like a little more of the middling stuff less cut and extra finished of course. The nose betrays the port red sugars and if any youngish or green characteristics exist, they are well hidden. I'm not gonna come right out and say this is a lot like Basil Haydens Dark Rye but it really is, so I guess I just did. That's actually a good thing in my book, as I'm a fan of the BH wine treated rye. There are just a bit of other nice sugar notes to go with the port, namely some brown sugarish candy, it almost does remind somewhat of "bit o honey". The finish is nice out the door style of just a little dill-rye spice burn, and nothing else, which seems "good enough". If this bottle comes in at around half the price of Basil Hayden Dark, which is admittedly better, it still has something to offer at a nice price. Largely a recommend depending on your penchant for finished rye's and your budget. Cheers!

The classics, 'fiddich and 'livet, these two 12 year old Glens stare each other down in many a liquor store, priced oh so similar and of the same vintage, but which is better? Or is there even an answer to that. No doubt you could google up a boat load of websites that claim to answer this question, just as no doubt there are as many varied answers. Like maybe "it's a 12 year Scotch, drink it and don't worry about it". Both have a nice warm sweet honey meade nose, with just a touch of some fruit sweetness and spices. What I get from the 'fiddich is a bit more of malty tea note and that rings in as just a bit harsher for me, the 'livet in it's present "double oak" guise seems a bit smoother on the back side. However the two are similar to the extent I could easily believe many would see it exactly the opposite. They share the fruit sugars, malt cereal and honey making it a really close call. On further study I would say while the 'livet might seem a bit smoother through to the back end, the tea note of the 'fiddich adds a bit more variation. This may be the classic "Ginger or Mary Ann" dilemma, or "Marilyn or Jane" even. The only real answer is to try them both yourself and see which if either really does it for you. The good news is you are going to wind up with two perfectly drinkable bottles of Scotch! Cheers!

Barrel 38 for the 2020 release Sample: Rested open bottle below neck pour. (double) Nose: Rich brown sugar is the opener, a bit of candy oranges and corn, very burn and ethanol free for 100 proof. Really nothing but the sweet notes and just a hint of tell tale vanilin making it a very rum like nose. It's no surprise at all the front is loaded with the brown sugar, very strong, the vanilla crosses over to the ethanol and certainly a noticeable burn nothing bad nothing harsh again absolutely nothing you wouldnt fully expect at 100 proof in the way of heat. That heat tails into a nice red hots cinnamon finish, fairly pleasant. The trailer also includes a hint of leather and old spice and wood nibs, just enough to remind you this is indeed a mid aged not a well aged product. It would be interesting to see what a 2nd finish adding an additional 2 -4 years of age would bring, I can imagine that being a really special dram. The bottle is certainly a gaudy work of art, not bad looking at all but a bit too "art deco" for my own personal taste, this clearly has nothing to do with the contents and would only really matter for collectors. I like what Old Fourth has done with the barrels they procured from MGP and as Swahillie reminded me not a lot of startups bother to take the time and care to go full Bottle and Bond on their maiden outing. It's easy to see why some folks from Georgia might over value this but all the same it's a nice bottle that isn't terribly unaffordable and useful for a number of occasions,