Tastes

Nose - corn, butterscotch, vanilla, red fruit (date, plum), black pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, moderate ethanol burn. Taste - corn, rye spice, black pepper, clove, allspice, red fruit, butterscotch, peanut, vanilla, moderate alcohol burn, finish pretty quickly with fading corn, rye and baking spice, red fruit flavors. I’m not doing this one justice, since I’m reviewing it over dinner at a restaurant, but it’s alright. The port finish is present (and welcome), but the bourbon tastes too young to be an outstanding sipper.

Nose - spearmint, maple syrup, cinnamon, sweet vanilla, butterscotch, marshmallow, light oak, subtle thyme, moderate ethanol burn. Taste - maple syrup, salted caramel, vanilla, cinnamon, clove, oak notes, moderate to high alcohol bite, finishing quickly with sweet maple syrup, caramel, and young alcohol flavors. This is better than the one year old bourbon, but not by much. It’s a bit richer and not as cloying as its younger counterpart, but nothing to right home about.

Nose - orange zest, cinnamon, walnut, pear, creamy vanilla, candy corn, powdered sugar, peach, honey, honeysuckle, nougat, floral notes, caramel, lemon, light oak influence, mild ethanol burn. Taste - honey, pear, caramel, powdered sugar, floral notes, grape, sour fruit, cinnamon, nutty nougat, peach, creamy vanilla, lemon, orange, walnut or pecan, mild to moderate alcohol bite, finishing quickly with sour fruit, vanilla cream, and cinnamon flavors. Not bad, other than some sourness going on in the palate and finish. It’s very mild, but there’s a decent amount going on here. I picked up some of the same flavors in Nikka From the Barrel (which could just be in my head, because I know they have very different mash bills), but this is a far inferior expression in my opinion. The flavors seem out of sync here and fall short of the wonderful harmony I enjoy in the other.

Nose - butterscotch hard candy, clove, cardamom, leather tobacco, black pepper, moderate to high ethanol burn. Taste - butterscotch hard candy, rye spice (but not as dominant as in the other expressions), cardamom, caramel, dry vanilla, leather, tobacco, moderate to high alcohol bite, finishing medium length with butterscotch, tobacco, and tannic leather flavors. This is my favorite of the three, but not by much. I think their offerings will be much more enticing once they’re able to consistently release older products.

Nose - strong clove and other rye spice, cardamom, leather, tobacco, honey, lemon zest, moderate ethanol burn. Taste - very spice heavy, leather, tobacco, cardamom, moderate alcohol bite, finishing quickly with young ethanol and clove flavors. Surprisingly, I like this less than the standard 80 proof. It’s much spicier in a way that seems to accentuate the youthfulness.

Nose - butterscotch hard candy, black tea, licorice, eucalyptus, clove, brown butter salted caramel, moderate ethanol burn. Taste - butterscotch hard candy, licorice, eucalyptus, black tea, clove, semisweet oak, moderate alcohol bite, finishing quickly with black tea tannic oak flavor, and young alcohol flavors. I toured (and learned how to pronounce) the Catoctin Creek distillery today. I admire that they’re distilling, aging, and bottling everything they make in-house. They use small casks and Minnesota oak to more quickly impart the characteristics of the wood to the distillate. While this rye does taste young, it’s surprising how full flavored it is for being aged under two years. The flavors are nice, however it still tastes underdeveloped. I’m very interested in trying their Rabble Rouser BiB offering, but it’s an annual release that’s difficult to find, even in Virginia.

Nose - maple syrup, butter, chemically vanilla and caramel, frosting, sawdust, fresh oak, charcoal, nondescript spices, high ethanol burn. Taste - sweet vanilla, caramel, sawdust, charcoal, more nondescript spice, maple syrup, high alcohol bite, finishing fast with sawdust and hot, young alcohol flavors. Not good, although I appreciate the heat on it. Many of the bottom shelf bourbons I’ve tasted are extremely cloying. This borders on cloying but doesn’t quite go all the way. Nonetheless, at $20 a bottle this is more expensive (and at least three years younger) than EW BiB and nowhere near as good.

Nose - banoffee pie, rich banana, toffee, cinnamon, cereal and cereal milk, creamy vanilla, honey, cherry, nutmeg, clove, black pepper, sweet and spicy oak, moderate to high ethanol burn. Taste - sweet, rich banana, caramel, cinnamon, oat, cereal, cherry, apple, spicy, tannic oak, honey, vanilla cream, lemon zest, assorted baking spice, pepper, high alcohol bite, finishing medium length with caramel, banana, and spicy oak flavors. Wow, what a difference from the single barrel expression. This is so much better. It’s has the richness and depth that was missing in the other. I usually don’t like banana flavors in whiskies, because it’s generally very artificial tasting (looking at you, JD #7), but here they are so rich, like eating a bananas foster or banoffee pie. I love the proof and thicker mouthfeel, although it still feels a bit thin compared ECBP and lacks the bass notes I get from those offerings. This is ripe for comparison with my other favorite barrel proof bourbons, ECBP and Booker’s. Of the expressions I’ve reviewed, I think it like it better than Booker’s, but not quite as much as ECBP. Still, this is excellent stuff and I would be happy to pick this up at retail. Again, many thanks to @ContemplativeFox for the sample.

Nose - dusty corn, toffee, vanilla cream, apple, clove, nutmeg, pepper, chocolate covered banana, prickly barrel spice, moderate to high ethanol burn. Taste - corn sweetness, chocolate, caramel, clove, pepper, apple, banana, allspice, cinnamon, vanilla, barrel char, moderate to high alcohol bite, finishing fast and bright with corn sweetness, sour oak, and young alcohol notes. It’s not bad, but I’m not a fan. There are some nice notes, especially the chocolate covered banana I’m picking up on the nose, but overall it reads like a decent Canadian in that it’s very sweet (tastes like a high corn mash bill), prickly, and lacking some of the low notes I appreciate in my favorite bourbons. Shout out to @ContemplativeFox for providing the sample.

Nose - sweet butterscotch, brown sugar, vanilla, cocoa, cinnamon, nutmeg, marked barrel spice, cherry, peanut, mild to moderate ethanol burn. Taste - butterscotch, pepper, sweet cherry, vanilla, apple, spicy barrel char, brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, cocoa, moderate alcohol bite, finishing fairly quickly with pepper, cherry, and barrel spice flavors. A solid sipper, but unfortunately overpriced. This has all the classic bourbon flavors, but it’s a bit thin and has an underwhelming finish. I wanted to give this a 4+ and feel the nose and palate in isolation deserve it, but I think the disappointing mouthfeel and finish knock this down just below that.