Tastes

Nose - vanilla, some rich creme brulee, some metalic awful young whisky or something notes. Some heather and some savory also coming through. A lot of alcohol on this nose. Taste - Sweet caramel, some kind of canned fruits, spices, and a hell of a lot of alcohol. Water seems to only bring out more alcohol and more heat. Overall the opening is this really creamy and viscous sweetness that's met with assertive spices and then killed with metallic and youthful alcohol burn. An incredibly disappointing experience for the price and for the age statement. I'm at a 1.5 as the sweetness is really appealing at first.

2020 Edition Got lucky and a local store took care of me on this one and let me get it 75 out the door. Always drink with your local store owners! Nose - cherry's and pie crust. Light rye spice over caramel. Extremely inviting with apples and cherries and baking spice with a very nice oak overlay. Taste - I get some of those same fruits here, but I get a lot of pie crust filling with a heavy spicing. Cherries are certainly here and I love them. Rich creamy mouth feel. There's a touch of a waxy element. Finish is reasonably long. I'm not sure what I scored the 2019 nor which is better, but I'd go 3.0. Really like this one. If I scored the other one higher, it's a bit of subjectivity.

I have no idea why I broke down and bought this but I did. So lets see how it does. Getting to test out a new REAL copita glass and not my generic one. Nose - Struggling with this new glass, tiny nose hole? Mouth hole? Anyway spicy, vanilla and oak tannins. Thin and light, very little oil, and at 48% no shocker. Very classic bourbon, but not getting older notes. Corn alcohol and vanilla and oak. It's pleasant, inviting, and a good showcase of what bourbon does. I think this is a good example of a more classic traditional bourbon, but again not an old one. No leathers, no darker elements, just some spices giving hints of age. Taste - Apples and baking spices, simple syrup, oak tannins, and a cream corn finish. Very simple, very basic, but clean and well done. Mouth feel is thin but the finish does have some linger effect which helps. So this is a barton mash bill and I'm without a doubt a fan of their bourbon and this is a nice enough bourbon. 2 star, well made but lacking the impact of age that you'd expect with the price and 14 year age statement. Night and day however better than the 12, but I think I might still like some of the 10 year single rack or store picks I've had. Shockingly little to say about this one, almost reminds me of a buffalo trace in the simplicity and that's despite a good bit more rye and spice in the mash bill and certainly older than any of their core offerings.

So I saw smoke wagon and I just bough it. Pretty sure I got ripped off. 100 bucks? Anyway to the nose. pretty classic MGP notes, reasonably aged elements, rye spices, baking spice, a bit of youthful corn spirit the more I dig, a bit of a green fruit and kinda dull overall. Taste - I get a saw dust and youthful MGP corn mash. There's a bit of funky spice, perhaps a blend of 80% young and 20% older. It's a bit funky and it's clearly young. Toasted vanilla oak and some milk chocolate. It's interesting my first impression of this was chocolate and funky oak, but the more I go back this reminds me of my tumblin' dice 5 year pick. That young under aged MGP, but then this has some older notes. So I know I got ripped off on this (they sold out mind you), but ignoring that. This is funky and there's a weird mix of old and young whisky notes. I'm liking it, but not that much. 1.75 score here. There's just so much better whisky. It's a cool bottle and at about 50 bucks, I'd say give it a go if you're adventurous, but it'll be well below average for 50.

Batch 28. Nose - caramel, orange peel, some sweet grass, light clay dirt on a spring day after the rain, sweet notes from chocolate and perhaps simple syrup, distinct oak, perhaps a drop of cherry cough syrup as well. Taste - rich sweetness, marmalade, orange, cherry, cinnamon spices, there's a leafy and earthy element from the armagnac. Of course brown sugars and baking spices which seem to be a staple of older MGP rye and seem to come with this kind of finishing. There's certainly vanilla and perhaps even a hazelnut in the finish. Oh yeah there's that hazelnut coffee thing without the bitter coffee. Some light tobacco and hints of aged leather are almost certainly mixed in with these other notes. Just an outstanding whisky and despite the 240 I had to pay to get this (actually I haven't been told what I owe for shipping yet so maybe more), not to mention the need for a friend's mom to pick it up and ship it to me...this was well worth the trouble. If you see batch 28, it has my highest of high recommendations. This is easily a 400-500 dollar bottle and yes a extremely rare American Whisky score of 4.25.

OK so this is a touch early for a review, not a neck but close enough. Nose - ok so a theme will come in that there's a touch of sulfer on this and it's already in 2 days faded dramatically. I expect it's going to just get better. So yes sulfer, sherry, fresh raisins, brown sugar, and this kinda sour sugary sweetness. It's absolutely fascinating. Taste - There's a craigellachie note here, it's lovely funky sour and chewy malt, with sherry sweetness, oak and chocolate blend together. More funk and yes a bit of a sulfur fart at the end. This chewy chocolate and funky oak finish with some sherry and even that sulfer is freaking wonderful. This is a VERY funk and VERY difficult whisky. I must admit, I like springbank, but in general I tend to like "cleaner" whiskies. This one however is very much in my springbank love zone. OK so I'm not sure this is exceptional when I think their regular 23 is just as good at this one, but this is richer, more intense, and far more funky. This is a 90 out of 100 but I think with more time, a month or so, this might be drinking 92-93. I'll make sure to update down the road and this is one with potential for a Mike's Whisky Review video down the road.

I have no idea how I haven't reviewed this but wow. nose - It's putty, vanilla, oak, and a touch of artificial sweeter. Sounds bad but honestly it's very inviting and it's bringing me back. taste - up front there's turkey funk, a lotta oak, and a nice sweet and balancing profile. But who cares about the flavor because the finishing is outstanding. It's filled with transitions from sweet to oak and then to funk. There's screwed vanilla tootsie rolls meeting oak and it's moving and shaping up the profile. As I dig in caramel surpasses vanilla as the primary sweetness. A super sweet bourbon balanced by oak and turkey funk nearly perfectly. This is one that rivals their recent 17 year release. I absolutely can't recommend this more to turkey fans and turkey interested people. Anyway i paid 40 for a 375 with a retail of 50 and I've done the 50 once too. If you like wild turkey 101 this is the best of their best in terms of still being near the profile. 3.50, one of the best bourbons I have had and it comes with all kinds of funky off notes to make people happy exploring bourbon.

I normally debate doing this more, but this is a pick, but it's a single barrel product. They're all effectively picks. This is barrel # 18-0715 and it is a 10 year old bottling. Warehouse F and rick 38. Nose - The nose brings with it a nice mix of sweet and savory. Peanuts, oak, caramel, a bit of honey comb, and based on sneezing twice nosing it....a bit of alcohol despite the good but not BP proof. Taste - The first thing to come to mind is a lot of peanut shell. This is turkey but it's a unique one for sure imo. Oaked peanut shell is paired with near aspartame levels of sweetness. The finish is this odd and yet pleasant mix of alcohol, some youth, vanilla, and that just intense aspartame sweetness. Normally, I use that aspartame note as a pretty negative one, but it's so balanced with the peanuts and oak and vanilla, I kinda find it interesting an inviting. Normally with a bourbon this vibrant and light in most of the tasting notes, i'd tend to expect more fruit. This isn't fruity though. Even with water where I thought we'd tease some out, I didn't get it. A balanced and yeah enjoyable pour. It's oddly one where I like it more when I'm just drinking and not thinking about it. Trying to dive into the nuances here is somewhat distracting me. Score - I'm at a 1.75. I like it, but I like whisky. If I took the 350 bottles I have and ranked them, knowing my bottles skew higher end and better, I'm not sure this would be better than the bottom 20. I'm glad to have it but I'd rather have a rare bread. I might actually much prefer that one.

ok this isn't fall of 2018 but I have no idea how they do this. I'll deal with this later 53.15% and based on details other than at least 12 years old, this is likely 13 years old. Nose - Rich caramel, rye spice, and awesome. Oak and spearmint and all kinda of sweetness. Taste - So off the bat it's a bit acidic and harsh. So I'm going right into some water. Ok so it's a very nice MGP product. It's spicy complex and sweet sweet vanilla and caramel. I get christmas trees and liquorish. So this is an assertive and intense MGP 12-13-14 year old bottle. It's so sweet forward with great spices. Everything just works. Intense explosive and I do get a grape like thing. Terrible review but the score is a 3 and I'd debate going to a 4. I'll re review.

So, I have said some bad things about this brand, but in my defense I've never said it about their official bottles. I actually think their official stuff is priced insanely well for what it is. the VERY little I've had. Nose - FRUITY PEBBLES! This is almost making me think of a suicide where you mix all the soda together and I don't think there's a nose to that but it's kinda like the whisky feel. It's got a kick of alcohol I wasn't expecting. There's that mineral note but it's so sweet and fruit that it doesn't bother me like it does on other bottles. The oak level is perfect, letting that fruity note dominate while it just hangs in there. Taste - more fruity pebbles and minerals and just sweet caramel covered fruits. This works because the oak is there, but the sweetness and minerals are more dominate and that sweet dominates. I think when the mineral notes and oak get together, it's a no go. OK I love this for about 40 bucks. It's one of the sweetest bourbons I've had while having a cool funky finish that doesn't bother me. But I love it for 40 and I think the price is a bit over 40. Add in no it's not complex per say. So my score of a 2.5 is crazy good imo. I really like this offering, it's unique and good. When it comes to value and unique get one man.