Tastes

Been wanting to try this forever. Nose - funky fruity chewy chocolate, brandy oaked raisen, dusty leather, vanilla chews, yellow sour fruit, dusty oak, sandal wood, slight vegital stew note, and light caramel drizzle with a hint of sea salt. Almost an extra fruity and malt forward older bourbon in a way. Taste - While sherry was unmistakable on the nose, it was not nearly the sherry bomb I get on the pallet. The rich fruit malt however is what makes this special. It's this full body and rich fruit orchard fruit forward and sour fruit. Then oak and sherry bring it right back into a perfect balance. A rich powerful and exceptional pour for 46%. I'll give this 3.75. It's a sample review. Subject to some change. Could go 4 star could go 3.5. A lovely whisky that has me regretting never picking one up when they were available for reasonable prices.

Sometimes you just want to be happy. You don't need to wax and wain over 200 flavors. You don't want to spend hours over it. You just want it to be perfect. This is that whisky Nose - Sweet funky sherry malt. Taste - Oily, viscous and rich. Fruity and yet sharp and slightly acidic. Finishing in a wave of flavor an intensity that rivals most peated 60% bombs. I could and I will go into more depth on a video review, but that's all just so much excessive detail. The reality is this just works. It's shockingly bold for 49.9%. It's got a finish that no 12 year whisky should be able to have. It's just perfect And perfect....that's a 4 star review all day. 4.25 because it's just that good. This won't change your life so lets not go 5 star.

31 years old and we're given the notes of "First and refilled casks". Would be nice to know what types? Nose - stately old oak notes. Leather, oak, tropical and lemon citrus notes. Some rich toasted vanilla over more oak. Pineapple perhaps. Light custards and other relaxed desserts. Taste - Rich. Oily. There's a distinct first fill bourbon note. And holy crap this goes places. Spicy pineapple over a light wood smoker. Super rich layers of caramel and vanilla. Light toasted oaks linger forever here. Sweet, savory, and sour notes up front with pepper spices on the finisher. The nose gave this whisky signs of a well aged but underwhelming malt. The pallet however takes you to a new world of rich intense flavors, far exceeding what just over 50% abv should yield. That classic worm wood sulfur is here in large presence with intense sweetness and over powering spices. A truly exceptional whisky. So score - Lets keep price out of here for now. Do I like this over some of the exceptional casks? To be honest, not really. I don't think this uses sherry casks unless they are part of the refill. I love the richness. I love the spice. But it's not wowing me. I'll give it a strong 4.5 but I'm wondering if I'm letting the price skew me. So for the price of 75 for this oz of whisky....likely a pass.

Batch 3 So this has gotten some pretty big hype from at least a couple of youtube, simi known people. Not people I really trust, but they got me interested enough to grab one for 80 bucks. Nose - I get none of the cherry without REALLY looking for a way to say it. What I do get is heavy heavy oak. Cinnamon. Alcohol. And while yeah it's clearly bourbon, this is very much on the oak and spice forward side with extremely little good aged bourbon notes. Not looking good. Taste - the taste is really complex and we should start there. It's spicy, rich, full of flavors, and yeah heavy oak in everyway you can imagine. But what's lacking....age. It's all superficial oak and more oak on what is likely a pretty spicy bourbon base. Actually reminds me a bit of some 7 year bourbon that fourgate is working with lately, more details to come btw! But while that bourbon is really pretty decent, I'm glad fourgate finishes it and I'm glad so far I'm not aware of just a double wood use of it. I don't think a spicy bourbon needs to be double oaked. Umm spice, oak, almonds perhaps,touch of vanilla barely there, no caramel, some weird leather note. I'm torn because it's big and bold and full of flavors. I just don't enjoy any of it. i also don't dislike it and I'm rather at least engaged by the flavors and spices and how bold it is. As always 2 is average. 5 is a unicorn that shouldn't be possible! This is a 1.0. It's not great but it's not a disaster either. It's below the average whisky I'd want to drink or would want made. I know it's 2023 and our standard have to keep dropping to keep up with demand, but sorry. 10 years ago this wouldn't sell for a good reason. Today at 80, it's not the worst thing out there, but I'd recommend a bar pour. There's enough flavor an power to justify a buy for a very select few. But maybe batch 1 or 2 was way better? I still don' get the cherry some mention. And I love cherry.

The weird question is if you have a youtube video and plan to release it early to patreon, is it wrong to write notes here? The answer is likely yes, but I'm having my second pour and I wanted to make notes, and this is easier. Nose - The nose is about what you'd expect. Rich fruits, vibrant toasted oak, and so much vanilla. Taste - Lets pause on flavor and talk about how rich and oily this is. Those 20+ year old first fill bourbon casks have worked their magic. Leaving this with buttery levels of oils and richness. Rich oily vanilla, over fresh toast, butter, then some white pepper and cinnamon join in with rich oak and orchard fruits. Delos is a wonderful example of light and softer malts and grains that were given quality first fill bourbon casks to impart rich sweetness. This is a wonderfully easy drinking and complex whisky, but 320 bucks? I can't recommend this one for the price unless you need all compass box bottles. Still, to get a piece of 20+ year old imperial does at least somewhat spark enough interest for me to have paid for it. 3.5 out of 5.

I've been given way too many of these bottles and samples and haven't gotten my notes down on nearly enough. Anyway. Nose - So unlike batch 24 which is a high rye, this is much more fruity and approachable. Just sweet barely rye notes, which a high rye bourbon would have. Taste - Mint, rye, brown sugar, strong lasting oak. Simple great and yet kinda what you'd expect. I'm a few pour deep and my notes aren't the best here. Overall however this is a really nicely done whiskey. Great finish. Great mouth feel. Great body. That said sharp alcohol. Acidic. Comes off younger than an expectational whisky. But really, it's just too hot and too alcohol forward. This is what happens when you take GREAT casks to finish something but use younger product. I know fourgate's guys will say this cost xyz and so the price is fine. They're trying to justify secondary barrel prices, which aren't justifiable. They ARE overpaying! And we the consumer shouldn't have to pay for their mistake...but at the same time, they are doing MAGIC with these finishing's. And this is one of their best. 3.25 - this is a great overall experience. It's youngish. It's not epic. But it's a master class of blending and quality parts. If I'd bought I bottle at 200 I'd not be upset but I'd not buy one either.

Place holder - I have a bottle and really like this but have a lot to say. Didn't realize someone added this. I think Jason was however right you need to REALLY let this open up.

I've not been super impressed with this brand. Mostly too young of whisky for insane prices, but I was told this was special. Minimum 7-8 year 99% corn mash bill MGP finished in a second barrel. Nose - roasted coffee with dark chocolate over french vanilla icing. Just a lovely sweetness with some youthful corn coming through. Taste - There's this classic old carter profile that they seem to look for. It's almost vegetal tomato if that makes any sense. Actually, almost reminds me a bit of the chewy sprees once you get past the shell (not a fan). Roast coffee comes through here, but it's also got some bite and heat from the alcohol. A very nicely roasted character over the traditional younger MGP notes. Shocked that this is 99% corn, while I don't get much rye or anything like that, I don't always get that on younger MGP anyway. Overall, really nice step up from some of the past Old Carter batches, but I'm not about to drop 230 for my own bottle.

Nose - vanilla ice cream. As I dig in some peach and pear kinda sneaks in. Slight metallic spice and notes of a grain whisky. I recall a day when I'd have thought this was young, but it clearly it isn't. It's just that a mix of grain whiskey and pot still can really provide some youth notes for me or at least did. Taste - When I first got into these guy's stuff I was surprised it didn't contain 25 year old whisky and that it used so much grain whisky. This showcases that grain whisky and clearly illustrates how wine casks give this an older whisky profile. The peated casks obviously don't do this. Instead they give us a very fair and honest look at this blend. Wonderfully well aged, but not old whisky. Amazing vanilla quality leading way to earthy and just insanely complex finishing notes. A few drop of water. nose - richer more full bodied and less metalic pot still notes. The peat elements are coming out more as well. Rich earthy elements, not very smokey. Just earthy. taste - ok the water did bring out MORE grain and pot still bitter/sour. I can again see where a younger me would find this more "off". But this is really a showcase of blending of single malts and grain whiskies then aged to give these earthy notes. Nowhere close to the last Killowen I had, which was a master piece, but this is exceptional. The finish lasts 10x longer than say 99% of bourbons I own (and I own way better bourbon than average). The mouth feel is great, rich, oily, full. 3.5 star from me. I want to give it a higher score just to skew up the lower scores but I'd never do that. The bottom line. if you see this and you like grain whisky, peat, and pot still...you need to buy it instantly. If you don't like all 3...well you might second guess this one.

So what do you do when you have what's widely seen as one of the best daily drinking, can mix, and be loved by geeks and novices alike bottles of bourbon? Well duh silly, you make a new label, put in vastly inferior juice, and hope nobody cares. Nose - mostly just vanilla. Some ethanol, some light oak, bit of toast. Perhaps some toffee, cream, cherries, vanilla. Look it's classic bourbon, just lacking any real depth, nuance, or well hint of age. Taste - this is where things go south fast. Where's the turkey character? Where's the funk? Where's the hints of at least some 6 year bourbon? What once was a catch all do all kind of entry level bottle now noses and tastes like a high quality mixer. You seriously will struggle tasting this to think wild turkey. All and all a travesty, but I can't say this is terrible bourbon. It's easy drinking for the proof and has a nice vanilla profile that'll mix well and isn't offensive. This seems like both a push to save money with youger bourbon and an attempt to repurpose this brand as a bar mixer vs dive bar safe sipper. An interesting, and decent entry level bottle, but for the love of Eddie Russel, don't call this wild turkey 101.