Tastes

Very pleasant nutty taste with just a hint of scorched wood. Very pleasant honey and sugars (honey and vanilla). I hate to use the word "smooth" but it really fits here. The burn is really nice, and the finish is a little ashy but immediately washed over by caramel and corn syrup. I'm putting this one on the list.

Dark orange/amber color.  Thick legs that stick around. The nose is lacquered wood with a big burn; burnt coal embers. The residue of the burnt barrels have seeped into the juice. A black licorice and fennel spiciness. Corn syrup and barley husk break through; the barley especially is surprisingly "husky" for only being 5% of the mash bill. A bitter cherry and sherry component sneaks in. Toffee, caramel and vanilla poke through if you drop in an ice cube. The taste is sweet corn, cinnamon and rye bread upfront: a combination of sweet and spicy. It's peppery on the lips. Star anise prickle. Lots of barrel char and finished oak; toasted oak and sandalwood. There's an almost mint coolness in the finish, like a chocolate mint candy. The embers of burning ash. More peppery spice and seeded rye bread. A lot of fennel and black licorice. By turns woody and spicy, alternating back and forth in a delicate tango on the palate (or perhaps a Lambada: the Forbidden Dance). It's bitter and sweet, sharp and rounded, and beautiful with a large ice cube or on its own.

Sample with Espinosa: To me it's more bourbon than rye: cinnamon, prickly, fennel, black licorice spices

Sample with Espinosa: maple, sugars, lot of burn, chili peppers, hot hot

Sample with Espinosa: Brown sugar, cherry, "babysick," sherry, almond, cigar tobacco; very sugary but with a touch of smoke

Sample with Espinosa: Red wine, so smooth

Sample with Espinosa: Honey, raisin, plum, vanilla, raisin, licorice. Absolutely dynamite.