Tastes

Second chapter in MM wood finishing experiment. Code BR22-A, Volume 1 of 5, 10 virgin toasted French oak staves, bottled April 2024, 55.85 ABV. Billed taste notes: caramel, chocolate, maple. I'm tasting this neat. Lighter coating legs and rosy bronze color in the glass. Nose is soft grain, vanilla oak, apple, and cocoa powder. Sweet and floral, with a hint of spice in the back--very nice. In the mouth, oak tannins and toasted baking spices blow up. Pepper, clove and cinnamon, vanilla, dry cocoa, charred oak and sweet grass, and flame-caramelized sugar. Tingling mouthfeel, not oily but also not thin--it hangs around. Finish is loooong and tingling: spicy, dusty dry, sour apple, dark chocolate bittersweet. Ice brings out the chocolate and caramel notes, and tames the tannins. Overall, a good drink either way. This second round of MM experimenting with French oak stave finishes is an oak spice bomb. Some will say too much, but I like the difference from the softer wheated MM profile. I get the distiller's notes of chocolate, but not so much maple. Going to keep thinking about this as I drink the bottle.

Single barrel cask proof straight bourbon whiskey, BTB Edition #1, from NHCABC (New Hanover County ABC, North Carolina), 61.9% ABV. NAS, but reportedly a blend of 5 and 7 year bourbons. Tasting neat. Golden brown and average coating legs in the glass. Nose is light, floral grain, and vanilla. Tannic oak, char, vanilla, and a healthy ethanol burst opens the mouth. Dry and dusty, grassy spicy, then brown sugar sweet shows up. Coating oily mouthfeel. Nose and mouth couldn't be more different. Finish starts from that hot spicy mouth and turns a little sweet-sour underneath the spicy, oaky baseline. Long tingling finish. After a half hour open in-glass, this bourbon is opening up, softening, and the butterscotch sweetness is growing against the tannic oak. Ice calms the heat but not the smoky tannic character. While not a really balanced flavor drink, each part is good on its own. Interesting, not easy,

Single barrel cask proof straight bourbon whiskey, BTB Edition #1, from New Hanover County ABC, North Carolina, 61.9% ABV. NAS, but reportedly a blend of 5 and 7 year bourbons. Tasting neat. Golden brown and average coating legs in the glass. Nose is light, floral grain, and vanilla. Tannic oak, char, vanilla, and a healthy ethanol burst opens the mouth. Dry and dusty, grassy spicy, then brown sugar sweet shows up. Coating oily mouthfeel. Nose and mouth couldn't be more different. Finish starts from that hot spicy mouth and turns a little sweet-sour underneath the spicy, oaky baseline. Long tingling finish. After a half hour open in-glass, this bourbon is opening up, softening, and the butterscotch sweetness is growing against the tannic oak. Ice calms the heat but not the smoky tannic character. While not a really balanced flavor drink, each part is good on its own. Interesting, not easy, Love the bottle--squat, short neck, flat front rounded back. Going to give this whiskey a 4 now and think about it over time.

Fusion Series #5, 47.45% ABV, straight KY bourbon whiskey. 56% Bardstown 4yr bourbon (70% corn, 18% rye, 12% malted barley); 14 % Bardstown 3yr bourbon (60% corn, 26% rye, 10% wheat, 4% malted barley); and 30% Kentucky 11yr bourbon (75% corn, 13% rye, 12% malted barley). Yes, I like their blending transparency, even if I'm a novice in what that blending really means. Found this last April 2024 in Colorado, time to open it. Tasting neat. Golden straw brown and average coating legs in the glass. Nose is dry grass, sweet grain, light milk chocolate. In the mouth, a burst of baking spice and caramelized sugar and floral vanilla with a little ethanol bloom. Sweet and coating mouthfeel that fades quickly into a thinner spicy/minty tingling finish that is rather short but pure. Oak is rather understated until the finish. I've found a lot to like in these Bardstown blends. This one seems sweeter/lighter in flavors: less oak, leather, and tannins, but at the same time not overly fruity or floral. Nice sipping. Will see how this grows on me.

Soft red wheated straight bourbon. Distilled 2018, aged 6 years in charred new oak barrels stored in Rickhouse B floor 4 (47%) and Rickhouse C floor 3 (17%) and floor 5 (36%). Bottled in October 2024 at rickhouse proof (60.75% ABV, 121.5 proof).Tasted neat. Nose is spicy with warm oak underlying a sweet grain profile. In the mouth, sweet honey, cherry, spicy baking spices, then dry oak tannins and an ethanol bloom. Mouthfeel is thin at first but grows into the finish, which is grassy and spicy, and dry char oak tannins, overlaying a white sugar sweet (and lightly sour cherry) aftertaste of average length. Holladay is doing all the right things--making and patiently-aging (6 years!) their own distillate from Missouri grains, putting it into nice embossed bottles with metal screw caps (yeah!) with vintage-style labels, tracking the rickhouse and floor of the barrels in each bottle, and issuing it either BIB or rickhouse proof. I tried the BIB soft red wheated bourbon previously and think this higher proof version is similar but more interesting. Look forward to trying the regular Holladay bourbons.

Have waited 6-7 years to find a bottle of this, while the price rose from $80 to $100. But finally scored one. Tasting neat. Light golden straw in the glass, with substantial coating legs. The nose is floral grain, grape, honey, and oak. In the mouth, oak and honey show up first, then grain and some grassy rye. The flavor intensity is understated and floral, but some smoky fruity flavors seep in. Mouthfeel is vicous and tingling. The finish is honey, oak, and spice, dry and fairly long, then leans a little dry sour at the tail end. Classic Japanese whisky blend, in color and floral grain and sherry finish. Soft, complex, surprisingly tactile mouthfeel. I've tried it in a classic Whisky Highball (excellent! but an expensive mixer) and with an ice cube (meh). Pricy, so will enjoy this bottle judiciously.

Picked this up in April at Jackalope Liquor, while passing through Fruita, CO. Paid a premium for this jackalope bottle... but worth it. Single barrel, barrel strength rye, from Warehouse I, Floor 3, 129.7 proof. Tasting neat. Mahogany color and strong coating legs in the glass. Nose is grassy spicy, cherry fruit, light caramel corn. In the mouth, burnt brown sugar, char oak, tannic leather, and dry baking spices. Oily mouthfeel, hint of ethanol. Finish continues the spicy, oaky, burnt sugar. Tingling grassy mint and dark fruit sweetness linger a long long time. An ice cube softens the aggressive flavors and lets the caramel corn sweetness emerge. Really rich, chewy, big 64.85 ABV single barrel, barrel strength rye Louisville whisky. Excellent bottle.

Tasting neat. Average coating legs and golden copper-brown in the glass. Nose is floral grain, pine resin, and sweet chocolate malt. In the mouth, chocolate malt, pine resin aromatics, grain, and mint/peppery spice. Mouthfeel is thin but warming (not hot), especially as the finish progresses into sweet maple syrup and raisins, and then warm tingling spices with just a hint of oak and smoke. Fairly long finish turns clean and soft. An ice cube takes down the spiciness--not a particularly good thing. One of the early leaders in crafting American single malts, and this is their "flagship" whiskey. Well worth searching out and trying, along with other American single malts like Westward and Stranahans. All is not bourbon on the continent. Cheers!