Tastes

Neat. Neck pour. Right off the bat this hit me as something special. Brighter than I was expecting. This super nice French vanilla leads the nose, hint of mint behind it. Berries and cream. Sea salt caramel. Graham crackers and chocolate. Little honey too. Clearly just a wave through all these amazing desert flavors. The oak is less prevalent than other ECBP batches. The alcohol has less presence too considering the near hazmat proof. Syrupy and viscous as hell in the texture, I love that. Intense sweetness on the tongue. Brown sugar. The taste and finish are the verse of the nose. Starts out dark with chocolate and burnt caramel, transitions to the graham cracker and then into the vanilla and mint. There is also a very prevalent black pepper. Very drying and the oak is really showing up on the tail end of the finish. Great ECBP batch. Not overly oaky, dialed up to the max wave of dessert flavors. The high proof doesn’t come with an aggressive or spiky notes. Comparing to B519, B519 has some spiky alcohol notes on the nose. They are very similar. B519 has more spice and cherry. C919 has more caramel and vanilla on the nose. On the taste, B519 has some intense oak that is not on the C919. The turned down oak let’s the C919 shine a bit more. Both are great but the C919 is better.

Neat. Crescent Springs almost 9 year old pick. Neck pour. Oh that is creamy on the nose. Rich caramel and milk chocolate. Nice oak. Ripe cherries. I’ll be honest, this may be the best Buffalo Trace nose I have come across. It’s that milk chocolate creaminess I’m loving now. Oilier than I was expecting. Quite deeper on the tongue than I was expecting. Brown sugar, cinnamon, oak cones through all over the tongue. On the taste it starts out mint and straight into that chocolate again. The caramel and oak come through on the finish and legs. Such a great barrel pick. Off memory, the best Buffalo Trace pick I have had. Such a steal at $26!

Neat. Gallenstein #1. Neck pour. Very similar to Blanton’s on the nose. Vanilla, charred caramel, baking spices, honey graham cracker. Thicker than expected for being 80 proof. It’s rock candy sugar on the tongue. Vanilla frosting with a slight hint of the charred caramel. That honey graham cracker comes through more on subsequent sips. Odd after taste though. There is this musty note that lingers very slightly on the legs that throws me off. All in all, this is what I expected. It’s a solid, light sweet treat. A good intro whiskey. Hard to say it was worth the $50 beyond the novelty of the beautiful stopper.

Neat. Neck pour. The nose is very nice. More subtle than I was expecting but patience opened it up. This experiment with the barrels is so interesting. It feels like I am simultaneously smelling the different staves and the different ages. Deep Oak comes through accompanied by a brightness I associate with younger whiskey. That deep oak comes through as both charred and a hint of the marshmallow note I associated with toasted barrels. Caramels, vanilla, coconut, peanut shells, and berries are coming through hard now. The more time I spend with this the more the volume of all the flavors on the nose are turning up. I could go at this one all day. Super creamy and thick on the tongue. Ah damn, this a top notch way to start a Friday night. On the tongue, I get this whip cream and vanilla pudding sweetness. On the taste it shoots darker immediately. Peanut butter, chocolate, marshmallow. Oak and a hint of cinnamon. It’s like making a s’mores with a peanut butter cup rather than just Hershey chocolate. The flavors last quite a while. The legs don’t bring additional flavors or change. It’s more like a song that tails off slowly turning down the volume. The peanut butter comes through more and more as time goes on. I’d even call it a creamy buckeye now. Such a good pour. I don’t recall a whiskey that I wanted to describe in such conflicting ways simultaneously. I just thought to myself “subtle flavor bomb.” How can a flavor bomb be subtle? Very nice job on this Four Gate.

Neat. Neck pour. Gallenstein #11. Caramelized apples, chocolate and graham crackers. Baking spices. Hint of over roped banana. Berries and cream. A very fragrant, complex, delightful nose. Syrupy texture with brown sugar, maple, and a hint of bitter oak on the tongue. Transforms into those caramelized apples. That caramel apple is such a strong, complete note. Legs are short with a little linger of that chocolate and oak. It is not as complex as I was expecting but the caramelized Apple note is strong and delicious. I can’t think of a bourbon with such a pronounced, complete note like that. 1792 (non-store pick) products typically underwhelm me. I bought this as a last chance for the brand and it survived the experience. If I find a full proof store pick, I will be more open to give it a shot now.

Neat. Neck pour. Immediately greeted with a dark pumpernickel bread and baking spices. Around the edges I get vanilla and caramel and cinnamon. Very light apple and cherry. Really nice and balance, no ethanol or detection of its cheapness. Creamy, light on the tongue. The notes upfront are lighter than I was expecting. Simple syrup sweetness on the tongue, gives way to the vanilla, caramel, and cinnamon. The dark notes on the nose don’t come back on the legs and leaves you with those baking spices. Slight Kentucky hug to remind you of the proof. Dries out the mouth and leaves you with more oak on subsequent sips. What an amazing value. This is good whiskey through and through. It’s creamy and light as air texture is probably my favorite and most surprising quality. The drying and bitterness that I am getting over time is the only fault.

Neat. Bourbon Street pick. I haven’t come back to this bottle in awhile. Caramel and wood chips. Nice raspberry and maple. The nose is subtle but it has some fun depth to explore. Brightens up over time and the vanillas and baking spices come out. Watery on the tongue with some general brown sugar and maple. Just like nose, it starts with Caramel and oak. Finish is raspberry and a simple syrup. Just a sweet, rock candy like after taste. Interestingly, the more time I spend sipping it, a sour and harsh note is emerging on the palate. Now I am starting to get a nutty note on the finish. It’s a basic bourbon with this little extra hit of oak elevating the experience. The harsh sour note tainted subsequent sips. Left the top of my mouth dry. I enjoyed this less and less as I reached the bottom of the glass unfortunately.

Neat. Neck pour. First time with this batch and the nose is more subtle than any prior batch on memory. Blind I might mistake this for a Booker’s. Peanut Butter cookie is the dominate note. I like this nutty note especially because it is wrapped around these other sweet, sugar cookie notes. Vanilla and cherry emerge as it opens up. The oak is starting to come around too. With that oak, this is reminding me of those peanut butter cookies with the Hersey Kiss on top that my mom makes around the holidays. I love when a bourbon triggers memories just through smell. Super creamy mouth feel, and not hot either. This tastes exactly how it smells. Sugar cookie on the tongue followed by the peanut butter and chocolate. Cherry and vanilla come through on the tail end of the experience. I am loving this. Just waves of childhood memories and those peanut butter with Hersey Kiss cookies. It’s so smooth too. Sometimes these Barrel Proof EC will punch you in the face but this one is almost delicate in ways. Great pour!

Neat. DEPs Bespoke blend. 30% Madeira, 50% French, 20% Port. A bit more dill forward on the nose than I remember from the standard Old World. It’s a bit brighter than the standard, less red fruits. Instead I get more pears, apples on the front of the nose. Spending a bit of time with it reveals mid range notes, light oak and baking spices. This is way more port influence than the standard but i can’t find it on the nose. On the tongue I again get the pears and apples. More sour than sweet. Tannic. On the taste more pear and apples held together by vanilla. The finish and legs bring out the other influences. Red fruits, port, burnt caramels and baking spices. Lingers for quite a bit despite the low proof. Tannic and drying. This was fun to explore but I think I like the standard Old World Cask better (off memory.) It leans into these pears, apples, peaches and apricots but the sweetness isn’t there to balance the experience. Sour and tannic. Hopefully this one opens up with some shelf time.

Neat. Batch 12. Time to see what the hype is about. Strong nose. Cola and leather. Oak and burnt caramel. A surprisingly bright vanilla and apple. Brown sugar and cinnamon. More oak. This has a more complex nose than any Stagg Jr I can recall. As you pick it apart you can find almost every note, high notes, low notes, mid notes. All delicious. Viscous on the tongue and man that is a Stagg punch to the face. My mouth is numb. Took a step back for a bit and let myself get acclimated. It’s a flavor bomb every step of the way. Burnt caramels, cherry, vanilla and oak all dialed to 11 and linger forever. Dries the mouth out which leads to legs coming back for another wave as your mouth attempts to fight back. Got some nuttiness on this last sip. Dry roasted peanuts. I understand the hype. This is everything you want Stagg Jr. to be. Classic bourbon flavors dialed up and relentlessly punching you in the face. Reminds me more of a EHT Barrel Proof than prior Stagg Jr. batches (which I also loved.). Sadly this is so good it will just make Stagg Jr. harder to find.