Tastes

Am I sniffing Macallan 12 or is this actually bourbon? Toast and port are big up front. More of the same on the palate with a touch of pencil eraser, touch of ash. Finish is short and sweet without surprises. The port cask finish really seems to rob this of character rather than add to it. Will have to revisit this after it’s been open awhile and drink against a Mcallan and Glendroach. Will also say that I chased this with Joseph Magnus thinking “cask finish, great idea!” That was a horrible mistake because the two could not be more different and my ignorance is embarrassing. The JM does make me appreciate how soft and relaxed this is (Vs something that might cut you and take your wallet). ——— Revisit one month later - not much improvement but perhaps a little. Still just so damn young - 5y in Oregon is likely closer to 2-3y in KY based off the climate difference. It’s dry and flat with more cardboard than cocoa. The cherry-grape fruitiness is there but separate rather than balanced. I added a splash of 8y Puerto Rican rum this time - which I would say is an improvement... but no Dovetail.

I’ve done regrettable things a plenty. This seemed like a setup but my spoiler alert is that I am honestly pleased with going for broke and causing my wife to further question my (in)sanity. This is NOT Fred Minnick’s WLW bearing bottle. No, for better or worse this 105 proof bottle is batch 2 (2019/2020) of Barrell 15y blend. There may be some batch 1 still out there and I’ll probably never know if it’s better, worse or the same. With my dad on the back porch for my birthday, cool night and a fire pit. Pandemic. Election year. RBG died today. Nose from a neck pour is flat, oddly flat at first. No nuts, no spice, no sweetness. Then vitamins. Then faint leather and earth. Raisins. Andes mints? A few floral notes. Wet oak and fall leaves. More funk, more vitamins, slight sweet antifreeze. Odd. Sweet tobacco and minerals Batman! The MGP multi-phase plate is there, as are the mineral/Flinstones Dickel flavors. Sweet up front with a clove spice tingle and then a mid-palate earthiness and powdered sugar sweetness with fading heat and a viscous coating like buttered bread that turns into a lasting tobacco varnish. Candy corn, clove and cedar for days... Three pieces of advice my father gave me tonight. 1) Learn to let as much roll as you can, especially with the kids. 2) Enjoy your kids, we all know they grow up too fast. 3) Don’t take anything I say as advice too seriously. Does this qualify as inception?? At some point I’ll shell out for a pour of WLW but in this moment I feel no need to do so. In this moment I am at last satisfied. For now. ————— So, perhaps I was caught up in the moment. This is not a 5.0 pour. But I also don’t think it’s bad by any stretch. Maybe a little overpriced. As I’ve worked this over for the past year it has retained a thicker texture with a nice balance of musty sweetness, dried fruits, minerals and… nuts. The oak, likely thanks to the TN component, doesn’t hit you like hot, dry splinters as one would expect from a KY 15 year. For some the replacement of astringent oak with roasted chestnuts might actually be a win. I feel like it avoids being too edgy to a fault though. Dropping to a 4.5 but could go as low as 4.0 or 4.25 based on the price and the fact that I like ECBP B520 better for 1/4 the cost.

#6 out of 6 in order of tasting one evening... Almost perfect? Everything that the 4 has to offer but deeper, more rich and a longer finish. Tobacco, tea, clover honey, spearmint and sandalwood for days... I recently passed on 7 and 8 year bottles at ~$300 and fully regret that decision.

#5 of 6 for the evening with regard to tasting order. I’ve pined for a taste of this - and it did not disappoint. It immediately reminded me of some very good single barrels but with a bit more dustiness and maturity on the nose. The bubblegum and buttered toast are there in spades. The palate is medium thickness in viscosity but is soft and almost playful. There’s zero heat and a burst of Juicy Fruit, chalked candy necklace and a spice almost resembling sandalwood. I could drink this all damn day. Interestingly, it reminds me in ways of the balance achieved with Cream of Kentucky 13y. Profile is quite different, mind you, but the easy going and balanced palate is there. Now Jim Rutledge left four roses in 2015 and this limited edition would be the craft of Brent Elliott, but I would argue there’s a silver lining that carries over at least to this 2017 blend that has Jim’s touch.

This came in #4 of 6 with regard to order tasted, not by any sort of rank. It immediately followed Remus III and so my palate suffered from some availability bias. That in mind, this was Remus reserve III turned up to 11. There were similar notes to be found on the nose and palate but with more punch and more drying, mineral qualities from the mid palate to finish. It was also borderline punishing in the sinuses and I’m surprised the ~10 point bump in proof would make it so noticeable. I can’t say I prefer one vs the other besides the ridiculous difference in price. I never saw this in the wild for less than ~$200 at can say with certainty it is not $120 more fulfilling than the good Mr Gatsby’s label.

#2 of 6 during an evening of tastings. This is a damn fine whiskey for $18. Out of the glass it’s just a bit different from most. There’s masigascar vanilla, some dusty orange liquor (think bitter orange pulled from an old fashion) and nothing off putting from the inviting nose. It has a light body on the tongue and straightforward new oak and vanilla flavors with just a hint of spice toward the short finish to keep it balanced. Of note, this was probably 8 years old and half full in a glass bottle with gold plastic screw top. On the shelf now are black plastic screw tops and who knows how much drift there’s been. For $18 I’d be happy to investigate again.

An evening of tasting, this was #1 of 6. Right out of the bottle there was a pop of cherry, marshmallow and cream brûlée on the nose. I didn’t spend as much time allowing it to open up as it deserved but there was whiskey to drink... The palate was so velvety soft, almost comforting. The palate was loaded with cotton candy, anise, and a hint of oak but nothing tannic or bitter whatsoever. This all led to a medium vanilla finish, nothing fancy. I live the wax-covered screw top and unassuming label outside of being “VERY SPECIAL.” That said, I assume these are on their way to being dead and gone but it was very special to sit and sip with a friend. Would easily put it against an Eagle Rare if by myself.

This was a birthday buy. Has sat on the shelf for what feels like a year and price dropped to $160 from $175 so I went for it. The label is a bit lacking - KY straight bourbon but no age statement. Rumored to be a blend of KY 12y (18% rye) and KY 5 1/2y (12% rye) bourbons. Distillery not disclosed. Unclear when the blend is married but the whiskeys undergo Franken-barreling using toasted staves and either alternating #2 or #4 staves from Kelvin cooperage. Sounds like the whiskey is blended, aged an additional 5 months in one of the two Franken-barrels and then remarried somehow. Bottle #2598 of 2700 bottles and 57.8 proof (115.5). Non-chilled filtered. Nice medium amber color. Pop -> vanilla bomb. Oak char and spearmint follow. Cherry juice, pink pencil eraser shavings, pound cake all come around. Deep within the glass is a whiff of ethanol. Cool on entry and then a building heat and tingling spice wave toward before a thick, sweet finish sets in. The front is filled with campfire smoke, clove, cardamom and loads of vanilla. There is a thick mouthfeel with a mineral quality earthiness. I can’t quite nail it - something between black tea and blonde coffee. There’s a faint fruitcake note with stewed strawberries after several sips but the wood, earthiness and vanilla predominate. For the price? It hits some very good notes with the mouthfeel, char and mineral earthiness. There’s a satisfying balance between sweetness and char but I would like more. More what I can’t say exactly - perhaps raisin, tobacco and a few lighter fruit or fresh brown sugar flavors that are lost in the heaviness of it all. Admittedly I’m imaging a very good bourbon that may not exist. Expectations are often out of line with reality. If price wasn’t a factor I’d be very, very happy but not ecstatic about this one. Price factored in I’m still happy to pour this again and again but wouldn’t buy another. Perhaps next to an open campfire this would come alive, more data is needed before final verdict. ——————— After further data, I’m gonna nickname this one “Toasted Barton Barrel Strength” because frankly that’s what I believe it is. Second go I picked up that old brown banana ester more on the nose and palate that makes me think Barton, as well as their wealth of old stock and friendly approach toward NDPs. Better than the first pour, hopefully that trend continues.

Bold statements have been made about this mix of 11 and 12 year bourbons. The bottle isn’t without heart and fancy. The price tag is hearty as well, outpacing infamous 12’ish year bottles of ECBP. First pop of the cork I get cranberry juice and tobacco. In the glass I get dusty leather notes, creamy vanilla icing, cinnamon, fruitcake and still just a hint of pipe tobacco. There’s also a noticeable ethanol singe, more pronounced than what I usually get at 100 proof, but without an associated aroma of ethanol. Oh my, this is leather, an interesting mineral note (different from Dickel, more like fertilizer than flinstones), rich dark fruits, cardamom, a touch of anise and then a long, tingly fade into an oily rich vanilla finish with older, slightly tannic and drying oak notes. This is funky stuff. I’m immediately sold because it manages to do something other bourbons don’t with regard to its spice profile and mineral quality. I’m bastardizing (word?) George T Stagg but if you threw a dusty old quilt atop the fire that is GTS to smother the heat I suspect you’d find something like this! Without the heat this is almost easier to dissect but takes time to do so. I’ve never had a Remus Reserve before. This one sat 3-4 deep for at least the past month on a local shelf and was the lone bottle when I caved and brought it home. I’m incredibly glad that I did. The nose, the texture, the slowly evolving palate and finish are all something special. It drinks like something I’d expect to be older and I intend to work on this bottle over years. If IV is anything like III my hunting spirit is (irritatingly) alive again.

Fluted glass in the shade, lakeside at the end of summer. Nose of sweet/sour grain, dusty leather, allspice? There might be some dark fruits there as well but but spice and sweetness predominate. Nose in deep and ethanol shows itself. Smooth as can be and delicately reveals prunes, wet oak and buttered cornbread. All make a quick entry and exit. Medium to thin mouthfeel, zero burn. Pleasant but in no way a WOW pour. This is really, really easy to drink neat - which seems to be BT’s corner of the market. I admittedly like this a bit more than Weller 12 as it provides a more complex palate. As compared to other $40 bottles this is also disappointingly thin, front-palate forward and not stacked with flavor. There is some toasted marshmallow and wet leaves on the back end but only a flicker and then gone. At the end of the glass I hold the sip in my mouth, my nose in the glass and get vanilla, dilute cranberry juice and maybe worschisier sauce. Interesting but not especially memorable. I paid $20 for this pour and feel a bit disappointed. Would I pay $40 for a bottle blindly and without the hype? Likely. Would I shell out $100 or more? Absolute no. I honestly feel like I could mix ER with plain old BT and a splash of a young sweet mash bourbon and have a clone.