Tastes

Neat. Neck pour. My favorite store bought cases of this stuff. I think the final season of Game of Thrones caused so much trauma that anything branded Game of Thrones can’t sell. Original MSRP was $150, I got this for $80. Not bad at all. 15 year finished in ex-bourbon casks. It’s a beautifully crisp single malt wrapped around a salted sea breeze and vanilla and caramel sweetness. Hint of pepper and citrus. It’s just refreshing. There isn’t this stand out quality but it’s relaxing to sit back and sniff. Wow, thick and oily mouth feel. That caught me off guard. Only 92 proof. That is a perfect texture for me. Oh this is so solid. Salty and sweet on the tongue, sweetness coming as a light caramel. The malt takes over mid palate but transitions into a beautiful combo of vanilla and light chocolate. Citrus notes open up on the finish and linger as the final impression. There is a nice oak presence building on the finish. Ah I love this. It’s a refreshing and crisp single malt wrapped around these delicious dessert flavors. Gosh, this is a steal at $80. I may buy another.

Neat. Neck pour. Been awhile since I opened one of these. Only have a few left bunkered... but I had a craving! Been so long since I had this. The nose is so good. For a 90 proof, 12 year bourbon it is just rich, fragrant and dense. The sweet oak in this nose is just about perfect. Fantastic honey and butterscotch. Really buttery. I even get a little cinnamon roll with vanilla frosting. I love this nose. It is a bit too watered down on the tongue. Very watery, and even muted. Honey sweetness and cinnamon spice up front. It does ramp up on the taste and builds up towards that oak. It’s like the honey transitions to vanilla which goes to the butterscotch and ends on the sweet oak. It’s a bit tannic too. That oak really builds and hangs. Though the mouth feel does suffer, it packs a ton of flavor for being low proof. The more I sip it, the rye on the back is really starting to form and magnify. So... this is a great $55-$60 bourbon, which I bought mine for before it was discontinued. This is not a $150-$200 Bourbon I am seeing it go for on secondary. No no way. Nostalgia or FOMO are tricking people on this one. Very enjoyable but only around its original price.

Neat. Neck pour. Lion’s Share pick. 108 proof. Loved the Boone County Wheated MGP picks I have had this far. My two prior barrels were around 120 proof. This pick is 108. Lots of flavor on this nose. Fruit forward. Dried apricots and Granny Smith apples. Dense caramel. Buttery flaky crescent rolls. Hint of cinnamon and pepper. Gosh, reminds me of an apple cobbler baked in a Dutch oven. Hmm it’s viscous but all soft and fluffy on the tongue. Brown sugar, cinnamon and hint of apples on the tongue. Yum. Doesn’t progress in the direction of the nose. Much darker. On the taste, it’s dark charred caramel and dark cherry. Getting chocolate on the finish and a spicy pepper on the legs. Going back to the nose, that is still mostly a light experience as it was on the first pass. Doesn’t really hint how dark the flavors are. Finish is really long and delicious. Another single barrel, another hitter. I can’t wait to try the 7 year bottles I see floating around. When these hit 8 year next year, they will be so amazing.

Neat. Opened about 3 months. Binny’s barrel 7167105. Boy, I was not a fan of this one. The neck pour was just young and overly nutty and nothing else. Probably one of my lowest reviews of the year. But I always give bottles a second chance after some shelf time. If it fails again, it goes to the mixer shelf... Lots of fresh hay still but it is coupled with some nice honey and graham cracker. Lots of peanut shells still. I’m getting more nuance this time though! Vanilla, cinnamon, and butterscotch. Okay, the nose is a lot better than I remember... Nice viscous, syrupy mouth feel. Cinnamon and chocolate on the tongue. Transitions to an even deeper chocolate and then hits the peanut. Chocolate circles back for the finish and the legs transition to the vanilla that lingers for a quite a bit. Redemption! It’s like a peanut butter cup! Simplistic yes, better than the one note peanut only it was before. Ah this is why you never give up on a whiskey until you give it some room to breath. This dud is now a solid enough pour that I will enjoy neat instead of as a mixer.

Neat. Neck pour. I was disappointed with batch IL-01. It’s a fine background bourbon but when you sit with it and break it down, it just wasn’t worth the cost. So many people love it though, so I jumped on the chance to get a different batch. This is TX-03. I’m hoping this lives up to the hype. Nose is great on first impression. Dark, sweet oak. Cherry and vanilla. Fresh leather. Lots of cinnamon and baking spices. There is a disappointing amount of ethanol on this nose. For the proof and age I would not think that would be there. Could go away with time. Velvety mouth feel, milk chocolate sweetness up front. Oh yeah. Oh this is so much better than IL-01. Mmm that milk chocolate stays throughout the entire experience and lingers on the legs. Mid palate there is a hint of cherry and then there is some really nice butterscotch on the finish too. Ah I love this. I was expecting a let down off the inconsistent nose but I think that will subside with some air time. The flavors on the taste and finish are really good. Such a good milk chocolate. Smooth, velvety dessert. That batch on these really matter apparently. I had a feeling I just had a bad batch with so many hyping this bottle this year.

Neat. Sample. Excited to try this! The Fusion Series was a bit off for me but still excited about the Bardstown brand. And this has MGP, so of course I am excited. I am not always a big fan of MGP blends though. I really like the nose. Some nice sweet oak, fresh leather and such a strong caramel. Nice strawberries. Vanilla buttercream. Light banana bread and some walnuts in there too. Something else here, sweet and dark. Like a dark maple. A really strong nose. Mmm, velvety mouth feel. The moment it hit my lips I thought “Yum.” Wow, the maple. So sweet. Over the top sweet. It’s so much lighter up front than I would have expected. Sweet oak, light maple, and that creamy vanilla butter cream. Transitions to a nice white cake and there is more frosting in the finish. The caramel and leathers are coming out too. The legs are delicious and last awhile. Starting to get some citrus and orange peel on the back end of the finish, I was trying to figure out where the rye would pop up. Best MGP blend I have ever had. The Barton compliments the low rye MGP so well. Not sure what the third barrel is. This is a buy next time I see it. At $130 this crushes something like a Sam Houston 14.

Neat. Opened almost 1 year probably. Bought this before I was more into Single Malts. I recall it was pretty unique and I gave it a high score at the time. Let’s see if it holds up now that I have more experience in the category. This is so fragrant. The glass is two feet from my face as I wrote the intro and it’s filling the air. This is still so unique it is a dry plum wine. Makes me think I am in a hibachi restaurant. Plum wine, hint of fig. There is a sweetness but it is not coming from the plum. It is a hint of vanilla frosting, dense frosting. There is a very subtle smoke under it all too. I’m still digging this. The Plum Wine aspect does it for me. Surprisingly creamy texture. Quite oily and velvety. Vanilla frosting and plums up front. Transitions to the dry plum wine and figs mid palate. There is also an unexpected butterscotch on the finish coinciding with a hit of peat. The finish is sweet again too. I still really like this. Maybe I even like it more because I have gotten to drink so many great Single Malts over the last year and this still holds up. Sweet, refreshing, flavorful, interesting. I bet that plum wine note is pretty divisive. Going to go back and read other user reviews now.

Neat. Opened almost 3 months. I have a Texas batch of this on the way to see if there is a big difference between batches. This updated review is for IL-01 I got from Chicago. Some people rave about this juice, some call it overhyped. I have a feeling it’s the different batches. Or maybe it needs to air out a bit. I was a bit underwhelmed in my first review. This is a delightful nose. Some great oak, tobacco, and fresh leather. Vanilla buttercream with cherries and strawberries. Nice honey covered crescent roll. I could hang with this nose for an hour happily. Velvety, oily mouth feel. Buttercream and cherry sweetness up front. Nice sweet oak, honey crescent. The finish is funky. It has a surprising sharpness mid palate and then turns to straight oak and overwhelmingly drying. Funky sharpness on the legs that hangs in the back of the throat. It’s a shame too because there are some great flavors on the verge of hitting right before it turns the wrong way. There is this tease of a caramel apple but the note gets too bright too quick. At 98 proof, sharp and harsh on the finish makes no sense to me. IL-01 just must not be a good batch. I’ll come back once I get the TX batch but this still feels overhyped to me.

Neat. Neck pour. Pinkies Barrel 220. The last BT store pick that I finished off a week ago was epic. 8 to 9 years, delicious sweet oak. A bit off profile. It’s a tough bottle to follow. Unclear on the age of this pick. I would say 6 to 7 years based on the color. On the nose, this is much more stereotypical BT than my last single barrel. Oak has a mild presence but a cherry note just leaps out of the glass on approach. Cherry pie with a crushed graham cracker crust. Actually cherry cheesecake even. There is this dense creaminess to it. This nose makes me miss that last bottle more sadly. Just a hard act to follow. Light texture on the tongue. Cherry sweetness dominating. Cherry cheesecake description still stands. Nice bit of oak on the finish. It’s more drying than I would have expected. A nice honey is now presenting itself up front. Overall, just okay. The more stereotypical BT single barrel I have had yet. No real stand out qualities and the drying finish is a bit annoying. Bummer but that is how it goes when chasing Single Barrels I guess.

Neat. Sample. First time trying a Craigellachie. Initial impression is a standard, crisp single malt. There is a sweetness and tart aspect to the nose. Maybe vanilla and tart dark cherries. There is an interesting pepper here too. Not black pepper. I’m going to go with chili pepper. Light and fluffy texture. Vanilla and sweetness take over upfront. That chili pepper spice hits mid palate but it gives way right back to the vanilla and sweetness. Just nice and crisp. That dark cherry tartness is developing in the back end the more I sip it. Ooo there is a nice saltiness emerging and complimenting the sweetness too. I really like the sweetness on this one. It’s very inviting and relaxing but also a treat. I’m going to keep an eye out for this in the future.