Tastes

Color: Medium Copper-Amber Nose: Maple/brown sugar, leather Palate: (Drank with an ice cube) Spicy tongue tingle with oak tannins right off the bat... a moderate chest hug ensues. I'm getting a good dose of barrel char. As the ice melts into it, holiday spices and licorice starts to come through. Nice. Finish: Medium with lingering spices and more of the licorice from the palate. Final Thoughts: Huh! This is pretty good stuff. As for Bulleit, I've previously had the orange label Bourbon, the 10 Year Bourbon, and the Rye. This is clearly my favorite of the four. Interesting to note... When I went back to my grocery store today, to talk to my liquor guy about the bottles I bought yesterday, he told me that they can't keep this on the shelf. Apparently, it's popular. Indeed, there were none left. Glad I grabbed it. 3.75 stars.

Color: Medium Copper-Amber Nose: Sweet nose of bubble gum, marshmallow, Chocolate milk mix powder, and the faintest whiff of alcohol. Very nice nose on this one! I hope the palate follows through on it.... Palate: (Drank with an ice cube) First impressions from the first sip are "grain-forward". No chest hug whatsoever. Something akin to "graham cracker" follows... there's something coming through loud and clear, but I'll be damned if I can articulate it. Perhaps it's the corn in the mash? This is not very spicy, nor is it very sweet. I expected the latter, going on the nose. But this is just an oaky, tannic pour. It lacks the "smoky" and the "sweet" that I look for in Bourbon. But it's "good". I want to add... I agree, completely, with the expert review here. Finish: Medium with some lingering spice and grains. Final Thoughts: When you've tried as many Bourbons as I have, you get to a point where you know what you like. But the thing is, you really can't know if you will like one until you try it. And so, sometimes we have no choice but to buy bottles and see where they take us. In the spirit of that, I would say this is a, "Try Before You Buy" bottle. But that's not always possible. Not every local watering hole carries every bottle that you could possibly want to try. And so, we have no choice but to buy in order to try. In this case, I bought a "good" bottle in order to try it. But it doesn't check the boxes that I want checked when it comes to my bourbon. 3.0 stars.

Color: Medium Copper-Amber Nose: Cinnamon Red Hots candy; molasses or maple. Palate: (Drank with a large ice ball) Oak tannins are prevalent from the first sip, followed by a pretty big chest hug (for just 100 proof). Spicy and slightly sweet. Very oaky... tingly on the tongue. This reminds me a lot of some Old Foresters that I've had. Strange. It's distilled by Barton 1792 — of which I've also had a handful of... so, maybe it's actually those that this is reminiscent of. Going in for pour #2, to see if anything else comes through... Nope! Second pour, identical to the first. Baking spices and oak are the main attraction here. Finish: Medium, slightly drying, spice and oak. Final Thoughts: This is a decent sipper for the price — I actually paid $10 less than what I have indicated (with a special weekend promotion at my grocery store). I'd place this in the, "Bourbon that gets the job done for a good price" category. Nothing to write home about, but one that I would buy again — drink again, at the very least. 3.25 stars.

Color: Medium-light copper amber Nose: Light nose with oak and something akin to "fruity". Palate: (First pour drank neat) Medium mouth feel. Remember when you were a kid... those little wax bottles that had juice in them? Well, I got that on my first taste. Whoah! Talk about a blast from the distant past! Was not expecting that... Very nice mildly sweet cherry-wood note. Not very spicy — which is totally fine with me. I prefer "sweet" over "spicy" when all's said and done. Warm chest hug came in pretty quickly. For < 90 proof, that surprised me a little. The "spice" does ultimately show up, on the back of the tongue, several sips in. The profile is evolving as I continue drinking. Got a little hint of mint(?) on my final neat sip. Second pour with an ice ball... First sip and I got some "citrus" right off the bat. Rather pronounced "cinnamon", along with "Thanksgiving" spices, come through as the ice slowly melts. Very nice. Finish: I'll call it medium, with a classic tongue tingle and more cinnamon and holiday spices. Final Thoughts: I really like this stuff. There's a lot going on here for such a relatively low proof. Top-notch expression from the folks at Buffalo Trace. I've come to the realization that I may have thrown out ratings of 4.0 and above in the past a little too liberally. I've resolved to dial-back my over zealousness with regard to my ratings. However, that's not happening tonight. LOL. This is really good stuff, and I'm giving it a solid 4.25.

Light copper color. Light nose. Mildly sweet and spicy. Nothing that stood out to me, but it was an enjoyable pour. I added this spirit, but neglected to include the brand name. This is by Tin City Distillery in Paso Robles, CA.

I've had Peerless on my radar for a long time, but it just kept evading me by reason of availability, as well as price. When I saw it on the bourbon list, while out for dinner with the Mrs. tonight, I went for it... The nose was instantly promising, with a very prominent butterscotch note. Reminded me of Henry McKenna 10 Year (which I count amongst my all-time favorites), along with some familiar oak and leather. The palate followed closely on the nose with sweet caramel, oak, and some cinnamon on the finish. I enjoyed this so much, I ordered a second glass. A real solid pour. I think I may have discovered a new favorite, and I'm going to grab me a bottle as soon as I can locate one.

Color: Deep amber. Nose: Ahhh! Such a classic Booker's nose! Molasses and woody sweetness. Surprisingly "soft" (doesn't singe your nostril hairs) for such a high proof. Palate: (drank with a large ice ball) Oh, yeah! There's the proof! Big Kentucky hug on the very first sip, along with a big dose of oaky spice. Sweet like the nose, but a bit more "proofy" than the nose — that is, it definitely drinks per its proof. I've read other reviews here stating that it drinks below the proof. Not sure if I agree. As the ice ball begins to melt, things mellow out a bit, and I get something akin to tobacco. I wish I could pinpoint flavors more specifically (Maybe on subsequent pours?), but on this first pour, I'm getting a general "spicy and oaky" profile. Finish: Short and slightly drying, with malted milk and oak. Final thoughts: I've had several Booker's over the past few years: "Pigskin" 2020-03, "Charlie's" 2023-01, "Storyteller" 2023-04, "Springfield " 2024-01... and now this one. I wish I still had those others on-hand to compare against, but I can definitely say that this "Master Distillers" batch is on par with those. My memory serves me well, and this one is reminiscent of those previous batches. It's very "Booker's", so if you're a fan, you'll dig this one. 4.0 stars, all things considered.

Warehouse P Floor 5 Rickhouse 7 Barreled 9/1/15 Selected 12/13/24 Color: Medium Amber. Nose: Cinnamon red hots; burnt sugar; maple. Palate: (drank with a large ice ball) Sweet and nutty right off the bat (as you'd expect from Beam); mild chest hug appears on the second sip, as does "spicy". Slightly "bitter" on the tongue — but not in a bad way. I get that same "bitterness" from similarly high-proof bottles. At the same time, it doesn't really drink per its proof. At 120, it's surprisingly drinkable. As the ice dilutes it, some subtle smokiness and the oak/barrel char starts to come through. Second pour... I like to see if anything different comes through on the second time around. Same sweetness and nuttiness. I'm also getting some "cherry" and something akin to "buttery", as well. This may have been present on the first pour, but not detected. Finish: Medium with baking spices and bitterness lingering on the sides of the tongue. Final thoughts: This is a solid pour. I happen to live in one of only three states this was made available (California)... the other two being Louisiana and New York. So I figured I'd grab a bottle. Glad I did. I've had one other Knob Creek Single Barrel in the past, and it's been a while since I had it. So I can't really draw any comparisons. I would have to think that this is at least is as good as that one. If you happen to live where it's available, I would definitely recommend you grab a bottle. 4 stars.

Color: Light copper. Nose: Funky. Palate: Funky, musty, astringent flavor. Maaaaybe some slight "apple"(?). Can't put my finger on a precise predominant flavor. I'm guessing it's "peat" — though the description here indicates that it's unpeated. This bottle only serves to underscore why I am not the biggest fan of Scotch, and drink Bourbon primarily. This was a gift from a neighbor at around Christmas time. It was a very sweet gesture, though I had my doubts about it. Still, I wanted to give it a chance. That's all I got. Will probably pour this down the drain.

Color: Deep Amber Nose: Sweet nose — cherry cordial, slightly "musty" — but in the best way possible. No ethanol to speak of, but the nose certainly is telling of the proof. I'm getting more, but I can't pin-point it. Time for the first sip... Palate (drank with an ice cube): Yeah! The palate is like if your tongue was your nose. Both are in perfect alignment. Cinnamon hits the front of the tongue on the first sip and a Big Kentucky hug follows on the first swallow, but at the same time amazingly smooth and flavorful. Spicy and "buttery"(?)... there's a decent amount of "sweet", but the spice (the high rye?) dominates the palate. I'm going out on a limb here.... I recently tasted and reviewed Old Ezra 7 Year. I said it was like every Booker's batch I've ever had. Well, this one is even more Booker's-esque as that (What's up with the "Old" bottles?). Back to the palate... Yes, I am attributing what I am getting mostly to the "high rye" mash bill that this bottle sports. I really — really — like this stuff. I loved Old Grand Dad BiB 100 proof, so I had a feeling I would like this as much, at the very least. I'm getting "tobacco" as the ice dilutes. I'm digging this stuff! Finish: I'd say a medium finish with lingering spice and tobacco. Final thoughts: Ummm... I think I just found a new favorite to add to my "desert island" bottles. Anyone who loves Booker's but can't, or doesn't want to, fork over $100+ dollars for a bottle of bourbon should definitely grab this. Old Grand Dad 114 is living proof that $$$$ doesn't always mean everything in the whiskey realm. 4.5 stars!