Tastes

Color: Medium Copper-Amber. Nose: Oak, sweet (sweeter than any KC I've ever had!), cocoa (think, Coco Puffs cereal). Great nose. Palate (1st Pour neat): Somewhat syrupy mouthfeel. Mild chest hug, slightly sweet on the lips, but then gets spicy on the tongue. Nice dose of oak. Definitely a "Beamy" pour. Yes — lots of oak! Tongue-tingling spiciness. (Adding a drop of water).... Wow! The water actually brought out some real nice things. I got hit with "orange creamsicle" on the first sip with the added water. Some "toastiness", as well... like a marshmallow that you kept over the campfire a little too long. Ever-so-slight "varnish" came at me, as well — but I'm not going to let that distract me. This is really good. (2nd pour with a large ice ball): Not much changes with the addition of the ice, aside from a noticeable tamping-down of the chest hug. With or without ice, it's a very good pour. Lots of Knob Creekiness. I wish I could compare it to the 9 year and the 12 year — the latter being my favorite KC. This has been touted as a "sweeter" Knob Creek. I sort of get what they're talking about. But I still say that it's not as sweet as it is spicy. Finish: Medium with the oak and spices that predominated the palate. Final Thoughts: I can, with a great deal of certainty, say that if you're a fan of KC as I am, you'll dig this. 4.0 solid stars.

Color: Light golden copper Nose: Light nose. Vanilla? Palate: Sweet, approachable. Slight chest hug. I'm not sure what the reviewers here are talking about when they say that it's "hot for the proof". I find this very mild, smooth, and inoffensive. Spicy and slightly astringent with further sips. Finish: Short with mild spice. Final Thoughts: when I first noted the color of this stuff, I was afraid it was going to taste really young, and I was going wince upon initial sip and dump the rest of the very small sample bottle. But much to my surprise — this stuff ain't half bad! Am I going to put it on a list of bourbon that I would take with me into exile? No. But will I buy a bottle? One day, perhaps! 3.0 stars.

Color: Nice deep "rusty" amber. Nose: Tart apples; cinnamon red hots; molasses, and chocolate covered cherries. Wow! A very sweet and promising nose. Please, palate... please live up to this nose.... Palate: First pour (Drank neat) Potent first sip! Knocked my socks off. A full-on assault of heat and tingly spice. The 126.4 proof makes sure you stand and take notice! Ha! Once the heat diminishes, a nice chocolatey quality settles on the tongue. Thick, chewy, syrupy mouth feel. Chest hug lingers long after the initial blast. Second sip.... still very spicy, but with less heat. This stuff is going to require a couple drops of water to tamp things down a bit.... which it does. The water cuts the heat, and helps to reveal some oak... oak char. A syrupy sweetness starts to develop with each sip. But, "spicy and sweet" is too simple. I'm looking for more from this. I KNOW there are some really good things hiding in there, just by going on the nose. I may need to add a large ice ball for pour number two.... This juice definitely benefits from adding ice, as far as mellowing things out. Still not getting a lot more, profile-wise, however. No great revelations or more to report. It's Booker's: proofy, spicy, oaky on the palate but with a much more interesting nose. Finish: Fairly long by ways of a lingering spicy tingle and oak char. Final Thoughts: If you are a fan of Booker's, you will probably like this very much. It's got everything that you would expect from Booker's. But as for me....? I don't mean to be a downer, but I think I am done with Booker's. The last several batches I've had have all sort of been the same to me. It's like Booker's could be a singular bottle in the Beam lineup, and not be a "batch" release. Lately, I've been way more interested in seeking-out different bottles from different distilleries and less interested in to trying to find every new batch release — whether it be Booker's, or Larceny, or Elijah Craig, etc. etc. 3.75 stars for being a solid, consistent addition to a heralded brand. But nothing to write home about, in my humble opinion...and I'm glad I paid about as good a price as I could ever expect to find. I'd have been a little put off, had I spent what I typically have had to spend for each new Booker's release.

Some friends and myself finally made it out to Kentucky and toured some distilleries. One that I insisted on visting was Old Forester. Luckily for us, they were offering this 117 Series Extra Extra Old 1910 in the Gift Shop. We all grabbed a couple bottles each.... Color: Nice deep rich amber. Nose: Molasses, leather, and toasty maple brown sugar. Palate: (1st pour drank neat) Pretty potent with a spicy tingle on the first sip! Comes in a tad hot at first, then smooths out all over the palate with a cooling "menthol" sensation. Second sip is more mellowed with a nice smokiness, and the "menthol" transitions to licorice/anise. There's a lot going on here, but it's all balanced with no one thing overpowering the other. At 93 proof, this stuff drinks slightly hotter than you'd expect — but it's not so much so that it's off-putting. A drop of water brings out some nice smoky barrel char, and sweetness. But the spicy, licorice profile remains untouched. The Kentucky hug returns upon further sipping, but fades quickly. Finish: One of the longest finishes I've encountered. The cooling menthol and licorice/anise sticks around for a long time. "Cherry" also appears on the tail end. Final Thoughts: Alright, so... as most, if not all, of you know, hard to find bottles often come with high expectations. This one is no exception. If you're lucky, the juice lives up to the hype — or, in this instance, the effort to acquire it without needing to take out a personal loan. I am pleased to report that this one is definitely worth the effort in finding. 4.5 stars.

Finally had me some Pappy! Was out with a friend yesterday, and saw Pappy 12 and 15 on their shelf. I opted for the 12 year. It was THE best price per pour I'd ever seen. So it was now or perhaps never. More often than not, the liquid doesn't live up to the hype. But I can confirm that the hype is real on this one. Pappy is the real deal... Some of the notes I quickly took down: Nose: No alcohol whiff to speak of; Butterscotch(!). Palate: Syrupy mouth feel; Almond/Marzipan; slight sweetness; Spice — as in actual spice, and not "tingly spice". I gave my friend a sip, and he got "fruity" — as in "apricot". I don't think I got that. But it just goes to show we all have different palates. Interestingly, I checked the expert review, and indeed "pitted fruit" was mentioned. This is smooth and mellow stuff, while being complex and flavorful at the same time. The finish was medium-long with mellow spices lingering. I've yet to give any bourbon I've tried 5 stars. But this is one of the highest ratings I've ever given here. I'm not going to pay the crazy secondary market prices that I see online and at local liquor stores. But after tasting this for the first time, I'm actually going to make an effort to find this bottle at a relatively "reasonable" price. If not, I'll simply go back to the establishment and have another glass for 25 bucks. LOL. Added 4/11: I just took a closer look at the expert review, and realized that this isn't actually Pappy. This is the, "Didn't Quite Make the Cut" Pappy. But if this is any indication as to how good actual Pappy is, then damn! I've got to find me some Pappy.

Color: Medium Copper-Amber Nose: Oak, slight alcohol Palate: (Drank with an ice cube) Spicy Oak blast from the first sip. Tongue-tingling spice. Mild chest hug. Slightly sweet, but it's "triple" oaked, so yeah... Oak is the main thing here. As the ice dillutes, I got a nice butterscotch whiff as I headed in for a sip. For me, "butterscotch" = bump in rating. This is a very nicely-balanced pour. Just got a hint of "wood" as in burnt wood like in a campfire. There's a bit more going on here than I can accurately articulate. So I'm not going to try. Suffice to say, it must be the different oaks that this juice has been exposed to. Finish: Medium with predominant spicy oak. Final Thoughts: I've had Angel's Envy's "standard" Bourbon, their BiB, and now this. This "new" offering just might take top honors. I like it. A solid 3.75 stars that are dangerously flirting with 4.0.

Color: Medium-Light Honey Nose: Light nose. No harshness or nostril burn. Not surprising at 90 proof. Not sure what I'm getting, to be honest. Let's get to the palate.... Palate: (Drank with an ice cube) Sweet and grainy. More "tingle" than "spice" on the tongue. Fruity and light. I don't want to just make stuff up, but this is like having a bowl of sweet grains cereal, topped with fruit, in liquid form, for breakfast... yes... wheat flakes with not-quite-ripe-yet banana on top. Finish: Medium length with a mellow graham cracker quality. Final Thoughts: I don't typically drink Irish Whiskey, save for on St. Patty's Day. I didn't want to spend too much on some Red Breast (which was my previous bottle for the past few holidays), or Green Spot, etc. So this stuff fit the bill just fine. Coming from a Bourbon drinker, this was a very nice departure for celebrating the wearin' o' the green. But, being that it's aged in Bourbon batrels, there's a nice bridge between the two. The more I sip tonight, the more "Bourbon-y" it gets. A solid 3.25 stars.

Color: Medium Copper-Amber Nose: Sweet, oaky nose. Similar to many bottles that have come before it, yet with an added hint of chocolate covered cherries... or like a cakey chocolate donut. Oh-so-slight astringency. A promising nose. Palate: For pour #1, I opted to take it neat... somewhat syrupy mouthfeel, spicy oak assaults the taste buds from the get-go. I find this to be a common profile with most "Oak Finished" bourbons that I've had. Mild chest hug. Sweetness comes through on subsequent sips, which balances things out. Ahhh... there it is. Black licorice comes through at the back of the palate. Like black licorice cough drops. Pour #2 with an ice cube... the addition of ice definitely opens this one up a bit, and tamps-down the general spiciness and delivers a more focused "baking spice" profile — like nutmeg or cloves. Finish: Medium-short with the baking spices lingering. Final Thoughts: I'd heard about these Old Charter Oak releases by Buffalo Trace, but I could never find them (not that I was looking for them specifically). Just seemed like one of those limited releases that I would never see, and if I did, they would be criminally marked-up. During my daily trip to my grocery store today, I spied a few bottles sitting behind the glass. Upon checking out what this fairly new release is going for online, I went back immediately and grabbed a bottle. This is one of those bottles, as I had suspected, that stores (storefront and online) are up-charging ridiculously. I've seen it going for anywhere from $179.00 to as much as — wait for it — $1499.99! Hahahaha! My point being... I snagged this for under a hundred bucks today. It is very good bourbon, no doubt. But I would not spend more than what I did. It is certainly not worth the outrageous markups I've seen. However, if you can find it for SRP, grab it. But don't pay much more than that. I'm giving this 4.0 stars, all things considered.

Color: Medium Amber Nose: Molasses, maple(?)... sweeter nose than that of the Toasted Barrel that I just reviewed. Palate: (Drank with an ice cube) Hmm. Similar initial spiciness out of the gate as the Toasted Barrel that I just tasted and reviewed... but with a thinner mouthfeel and generally thinner flavor profile. Chest hug is there — and perhaps more pronounced than with the former expression. Not a lot going on with this one. Funny... I liked the nose in this one better than the Toasted Barrel's nose, but the palate did not follow through. Finish: Medium length finish with spice with a slightly drying quality. Final Thoughts: This is the third Bondstone offering that I have tried. My favorite of the three is the Quad Oak, hands down. In second is the Toasted Barrel... and last is this one. This is not by any means "bad" Bourbon. But compared with the other two Bondstones, it gets overshadowed. Like The Toasted Barrel, this was a sample bottle so I can't follow-up with a second pour. I'm going to give this 3.0 stars.

Color: Medium Amber Nose: Honey cough drops, leather, oak. Palate: (Drank with an ice cube) Spicy oak right out of the gate, with an interesting cooling "menthol" kick.... followed by a gradual mild chest hug. Ever-so-slightly syrupy mouthfeel. Spicy oak dominates the palate. Something akin to "pepper" appears upon further sips, as the tongue acclimates to everything going on. Black licorice comes through, and something else... perhaps it's simply the oak tannins that I've tasted many times before with many a bottle that has come before this one. Finish: Medium with a lot of spicy oak, more black licorice from the palate, and tongue tingling. Final Thoughts: This is an interesting one. Not my favorite, not my least favorite. Not amazing, but not mediocre. I don't know what to make of it, other than it's a decent pour and a bit unique. This is the second Bondstone I have had. The first one (The Quad) impressed me. I'm feeling slightly ambiguous towards this one, though. Not sure why. Unfortunately, I'm reviewing a small sample bottle, and thusly can't follow up with a second pour. But suffice to say, this is good bourbon, and I will give it 3.5 stars.