Tastes

Neat. Opened unknown amount of time. Crooked Barrel group pick. Prior to my 20th high school reunion, we visited my friends mom and she pulled out this delicious bottle. When I said how much I liked it, she gave it to me because I was the only person to ever like it. Pretty sure it is just a reaction to the proof because this was great on first impression. Sitting down with it for a more in depth take now. On the nose, this is a fabulous banana nut bread drizzled with a chocolate glaze. I mean it’s just delicious. Perfect balance of cinnamon, walnuts, ripe banana, and bread. Then there is this underlying layer of milk chocolate adding depth and sweetness. The nose is better now than my first impression a few weeks back. So oily and coating on the mouth feel, very nice. All cinnamon and brown sugar up front, transitions into the banana nut bread mid-palate. By the finish, it doesn’t dive down into chocolate though. It actually pulls up and brightens up into this fabulous vanilla and butterscotch. This finish is fantastic. It’s so rich and lasts for a long time. Getting lots of apple to go with the butterscotch on subsequent sips. Wow, what a bottle. I guess the proof was just too high for everyone else that tried this before me because this is the best 1792 product I have had. Full Proof or otherwise. The finish on this is just so so good. I am glad this bottle found a home with someone who will appreciate it.

Neat. Opened two weeks. Mash and Journey Look at the Birdie pick. Warehouse G, 4th floor, 9.5 years. On the nose, I get this blend of caramel, cherry, honey, crescent roll. The oak comes across as leather and tobacco. Underneath the typical Turkey is this very interesting curried lemon grass. It’s a surprising note I have never found in a bourbon before. Very interesting. Great nose overall. Amazing creamy mouthfeel, top notch. Super rich immediately. Honey, cinnamon, brown sugar on the front of the tongue. Mid palate there is this chocolate and vanilla combo, almost like an Oreo. A salted caramel then escalates. The finish has a salted soft pretzel as well. And the finish just keeps going and brings an extra wave of the vanilla back with a hint of cherry. This finish has delicious after shocks. It gets more pronounced and intense on subsequent sips. Always count on Jason for an epic finish. Best finish on any Russel’s I have ever had. Probably the best Russel pick I have had in general. It’s a perfect example of this expression.

Neat. Sample. This pour won a head-to-head blind with a Chattanooga single barrel last night. I capped it and let it sit over night to give the other ounce a proper tasting. So now that I know it’s Dickel, it smells like Dickel. But it is great Dickel! Burnt caramel, medicinal cherry, subtle smokiness. Hints of tobacco and leather. There is some almond too. Blind, I honestly standing doubting myself of this was a whiskey or a rum aged in whiskey barrels. It has these unique elements with the almond, medicinal and smokiness that were throwing me off. It is a nice nose overall. Mouthfeel is honestly thin for the proof. Oily, but thin. It costs just enough and gets out of the way. Mmm, I enjoy this quite a bit on the taste. It’s a cherry cheesecake with a coating of chocolate syrup over the top. The crust is more of a chocolate graham cracker too. Oh, there is some orange zest there too. Oh that orange is taking over on me. Geez. One of the best sources Dickel products I have had, especially for a 9 year single barrel. I wish all Dickel tasted like this. I wonder if it is not charcoal finished. If you know, let me know. I have such a love/hate relationship with Dickel and I don’t understand why yet.

Neat. Sample. I tried this last night in a blind and I was not jiving with it. It could have been my palate or something ate/drank last night, so I capped it to give it a more in depth tasting now. The prospect of a Chattanooga single barrel is weird though. I know they are doing some great blending to create the 111 I adore, but always wondered if the sum was better than the parts. On the nose, there is a note I cannot escape. It’s Grippo’s BBQ chips. That is a regional brand so it may not translate but it’s a sweet BBQ rub with a lot of mesquite. Even though it is so dark, there is a youngness to it too. The combo of this and the high malt made me lean Texas even during the blind. There is a deep forest and earthiness to the nose as well. Lacks any dessert sweetness or fruit. Maybe some apple but it faint. I do like it better than last night so glad I took a break from it. Nice syrupy mouthfeel, quite dark on the tongue. Bit of brown sugar and molasses. Wow, that Grippo note is inescapable. It pops mid palate and then dominates the finish too. I’m trying to explore around it but it’s hard. Mmm I just found a nice toasted oak note and but more of that apple. Apple has some salted caramel on it. The malt is really coming through on subsequent sips. Okay! I am finding some depth here versus last night’s first impression. I would say this pour is redeemed, interesting, but if I owned the bottle I would not be grabbing it often. I would be giving it as samples to those who could get nerdy breaking it down too. The BBQ element is more interesting than delicious. I suspect these Single Barrels are going to have extreme ranges and now I want to try another.

Neat. Opened one week. My Aunt and Uncle gave me this because they know how much I am into whiskey. To be frank, when they told me it was from a new distillery in Troy OH, my anticipation wasn’t exactly high. I was thinking it was going to be 2 year craft. Nope. It’s frickin’ Bardstown and a Fusion like blend of 3, 4 and 13 year old bourbons. Hot damn what a surprise and what a fun gift! Opened it on the Fourth of July and was excited to try it again. The nose is very flavorful. Walnuts and vanilla are the leading flavors for me. There is a buttered cinnamon toast as well. Very breakfast-y if that makes sense. Hint of espresso. There is a salty brine too. There is this hint of fruit too, I want to say mango. Some fun layers to this, honestly a better impression than the last Fusion batch I had. The mouthfeel is surprisingly oil but the flavors feel watered down on first approach. Some faint caramel and oak but not much else initially. Mid palate it is all nuttiness and chocolate, creamy vanilla on the finish. Mango on the finish as well. Got a nice, but subtle salted caramel on subsequent sips. It’s an easy sipper with some good character. The proof limits it a bit for my preference but if it were a hot summer afternoon, this could hit the spot. If you are around Troy OH, grab a bottle of this.

Neat. Sample. Never seen this bottle with my own eyes. A friend provided a sample to me to help take it off the “never had” list. On the nose, it can’t get much more cherry forward than this. Getting a nice honey and a buttered cracker, like those Townhouse dinner crackers. Underlying caramel. It’s a very pleasant nose, especially with the over the top cherry. Surprisingly creamy mouthfeel! Taste matched the nose note for note. Honey sweet initially. Transitions straight into that cherry and the volume on that note is turned way way up. And that buttered cracker comes through with a slight hint of pepper on the finish. Cherry has surprising legs to it too, lingered for longer than I would have expected. This is probably a perfect intro whiskey. Inviting, pleasant, easy sipper, no rough edges. I’d only purchase a bottle at retail and I probably wouldn’t drink it myself. It would just be for guests.

Neat. Sample. Been excited to dive into this sample. The hype on this bottle is dumb. It’s selling more on secondary than Master Keep, makes no sense. With that said, I get to enjoy this sample thanks to good whiskey friends who spoil me. I won’t own this myself without a lot of luck regardless what I think. On the nose, the oak comes across closer to 15 years honestly. It’s deep and musty. Wow, this is definitely coming across as a higher proof younger brother than the MK BTB 17. Deep cherry, little rye slap across the face. Lemon zest. Cinnamon and clove. Maple syrup. It’s very delightful. The cherry is the stand out aspect on the nose. Very viscous, syrupy grit even on the mouthfeel. Immediate, immense and intense flavors on impact. Cinnamon and sugar mixture, hint of chocolate. Clove again. Mid palate that cherry note is perfect. God. It’s a dark cherry and it’s juicy and over the top. The oak rides along next to it and takes over by the finish. The finish is a blend of oak, pepper and rye with an underlying sweetness left over from the cherry. Getting lots of orange on subsequent sips too. Damn it, I am never getting a bottle of this. This is over the top too good and the hype on this will only get worse. I like this more than I was expecting. The balance of oak, sweetness, fruit and spice is just near perfect. One of the best Turkey products I have had.

Neat. Opened two weeks. I am not a big fan of the Boone County Small Batch. I adore Boone County and their MGP but this blend didn’t work for me. The first batch of the Sherry finish (first fill - 10 weeks) was average as well. The finish just couldn’t overcome the base. This is their second attempt - second fill finished for longer period of time (26 weeks). On the nose, it’s delightful. Honey and graham crackers, butterscotch and raspberries. The graham crackers are like a pie crust, extra crispy and there is a lot of cinnamon and spice in the crust too. The raspberries are glazed. It’s all covered with powered sugar. Delightful as I said. Lovely, thick texture. Syrupy. The Sherry up front hits immediately and it comes with that powdered sugar, very strong first note. Mid palate the Sherry keeps coming and is followed by the butterscotch. The butterscotch escalated through to the finish and is delish. Getting this very nice vanilla sweet cream on the finish. The Sherry has this consistent presence all the way through. This is so good. I need to go back to the Boone County Small Batch. This is so much better than Batch 1 of the Sherry finished, maybe the base blend itself is better now and I never gave it a second chance. The extra time in the Sherry barrels really helped this. It’s so well balanced and one of the better finished MGPs. Great job Boone County!

Neat. Sample from the amazing Whisky Central. It must be a peat kind of day because this is delightful on the nose. Burnt ends with a hint of a mustard based BBQ sauce. Getting the different components of a cherry chordal. Sea salt caramel taffy. Slight hint of over riped banana. Buttercream frosting. Delightful. Texture is very oily but a bit thin. This is so sweet. Lots of vanilla cream up front with a hint of that cherry. Even peachy. This is surprising. I’m just breaking apart layers of sweetness. Vanilla, caramel, chocolate surrounding a medley of fruits. The peat coats the mouth but never dominates and never takes center stage during the tasting. It’s a feeling more than a tasting note. Sea salt caramel taffy and banana laffy taffy combo on the finish. This is not what I was expecting! Oh my, I adore this. I haven’t experienced an Islay that is pure dessert, layers and layers of sweetness. I need to purchase a bottle of this now.

Neat. Opened two weeks, already a fourth gone. I love the 6 Year single barrels of this MGP Wheated Bourbon (51% Corn, 45% Wheat, 4% Malted Barley). I haven’t sat down and officially broken this 8 year apart but it’s unbelievably better with the extra age. I have been crushing this bottle and need to buy more at the distillery this summer. On the nose, it is very soft and fluffy. Initially reminds me of a Cool Whip. Then the oak comes in. It’s a dark chocolate. Come fresh cracked pepper. There is this distinct layer of fruit, apple and raspberries. Getting a glazed donut as well. Very very nice. The taste is where it shines. Creamy mouthfeel comes with a lot of flavors immediately. Honey, butterscotch, graham cracker. The honey really takes off mid palate and slams right into the chocolate. There is a nice nougat on the finish. Then the honey and chocolate come back again. That honey is what I love so much. Honey paired with that nice age is just a fantastic combination. The 6 year has the butterscotch but it’s so much brighter and this has more depth and dimensions. Only 19 barrels of this left at Boone County, I need to collect as much as I can from this point on.