Tastes

Lovely bourbon this is Old Foresters barrel proof or barrel strength edition. Nose is a cherry bomb like real cherries, with brown sugar, vanilla, apple, cinnamon, light oak, hint of dark chocolate and a touch of alcohol letting you know it's over 110. Taste is not 115 proof tastes like 96 proof maybe 100. The fruit, sweetness, vanilla, brown sugar all jump out on the taste, mid palate you get a little alcohol burn as you also get hit with the rye (mint that shows on the finish), barrel spice and cinnamon. Finish is medium/long with the brown sugar, cinnamon, some oak and the rye induced mint freshness (rinsing with mouthwash) feeling in your mouth lingering the longest.

Old foresters attempt at double oak. Neat backstory (#1) too bad there isn't one so which one is real? Was there a fire on the bottling line and the whiskey had to be held in a second set of new char oak until it could be bottled? or Did Brown of Brown-Forman simply want darker, richer, ultra aged barrels of the best Old Forester had to offer? John Fitzgerald rip off (the $2K 350ml one). This one is not as good to me as the 1920 or the lower floor single barrel store picks that ironically taste like sweeter better versions of 1910. Nose is classic bourbon. Caramel, vanilla, brown sugar, oak, cherry, sweetness in the back. Taste is Oak, brown sugar sweetness, maraschino cherry, mid palate the rye spice and a tobacco note roll in and set up camp through the finish along with that double oak quality. The totality of the finish is I'd say medium. For almost the same price I'd pick up the 1920 and for $10 less I'd grab a store pick if you can. It's better than average but it's an elijah craig profile and flavors with extra oak. 3.75 bourbon if this was $35-40

Nose bubblegum sweetness, honey, light fruit like a really sweet apple almost canned peaches, tropical fruit resembling pineapple and quick bit of lemon. Slight but not overwhelming alcohol smell. Hidden in the back is a buttery caramel corn note. Almost like someone added browned butter to regular caramel corn. Palate is the same bubblegum sweetness, quick hint of banana, and the fruit note strong pepper, rye spice and cherry note mid palate, more rye spice ramps up almost giving a cinnamon note and wood tannin on the end. Finish is rather short the only notes that are left in the finish are honey sweetness, barrel char and apple with the skin so it's got that touch of sour/bitterness that you get from eating apple skin. I enjoy these incorporate a bit of everything well into one whiskey kind of drams. Then again I like challenging and smokey bourbons and scotches.

Really like the Jim Beam profile, knob creek was always a good solid go to but that changed with this whiskey. The age statement is back and they aren't at 9 they upped it to 12. This whiskey changes multiple times through out an evening as it opens up which is always great because you don't drink the same whiskey twice. Nose is sweet caramel, vanilla, a bit of brown sugar. Cherry is your fruit note, barrel and rye spice round it out. Let it open up and you get more honey, nice baking spices, cinnamon and apple with a sweet pie crust note true apple pie in a glass. Taste is classic bourbon, sweet, cherry, honey, caramel, it's knob creek so the rye and barrel spices show up early and loud but calm down quick with a vanilla surge too. Let it open up with time and you get cherry, honey, even more vanilla, peaches, and corn syrup on the taste. Finish is kind of short for such a bourbon with an age statement like this but it's sweet, oak, fruit and honey as long as it lasts. The finish doesn't really change the more it opens up except that you get less oak wood notes and more vanilla cream the longer it sits. Really nice bourbon and a nice age statement at a fair to good price.

My oh my oh my I'm tasting the fall 2019 batch bottled at 56.3 ABV. 112.6 proof. Nose is all candy sweetness, light caramel and dark dark fruit like sherry finished scotch or whiskey. Stewed fruit of raisin, ripe plums, dark cherry, blackberries and raspberries. Taste DOES NOT DISAPPOINT. All of the notes you get on the nose are on the palate too. The sweet berry notes, the juicy dark cherry, ripe juicy plums the raisins. The honey sweetness is very forward also. The mid palate becomes more of a traditional rye with the rye spice, a bit of an alcohol punch, mild wood notes (think eagle rare), and black pepper. Just before the finish you also get a fleeting touch of black licorice just before the finish. Finish is fairly long but not too dry but you get the wood notes and a slight apple skin bitterness along with apple flavor on the finish along with the return of the blackberries and even something I'll call herbal notes almost like you got a blackberry with some vine/stem attached. This reminds me very much of a sweet blackberry brandy the berry, the sweet and then the alcohol bite or a fortified merlot wine. I've bought 3 bottles can't get enough. If you're a sherry bomb scotch drinker or a sweet bourbon drinker looking for a sweet rye this is it.

Caramel bomb with nice amounts of vanilla, oak and light cherry on both nose and taste. Cinnamon and baking spice notes more on taste than nose. Corn notes and pepper spice in the background as secondary notes on both nose and palate. Bottled in bond gives a nice proof without giving a harsh burn. This bourbon isn't trying to kill you and is classic as it can be.

Not loving this as much as even regular makers mark. Makers is cherry, sweetness, vanilla, caramel. This is alcohol first and foremost o.k. it's cask strength but i've had makers 46 at 114 proof that wasn't this alcohol forward. Once you struggle through the alcohol you get some cherry and vanilla that was it for me. Taste was a bit more complex but in addition to the fruit alcohol and vanilla there was a waxy milk chocolate like cheap almost fake chocolate and a slight bitter coffee note that was a bit of a turn off for me. It's good just not that good so I'll stick to makers and 46.

Way more interesting notes than Makers mark or even makers mark cask strength for a 4 year MGP. Bought this as it was reviewed to have the same apricot and peach notes as 10 year old rip van winkle. I've only had a neck pour and yes it's sweet, mellow wheat. Hints of vanilla, oak and light chocolate I'm not getting those same transcendent pappy fruits. Will let open a few days and see what happens. Nose is a cross between the sweet vanilla cream of the special reserve and the alcohol and floral of the antique 107 from weller.