Tastes

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!

2023, Batch 23-02. Mashbill 70% Corn, 16% Wheat, 14% Malted Barley, aged 4 years, finished with 10 French oak staves, bottled at 110.1 proof. Tasting neat. Bright copper color and good coating legs in the glass. Nose is brown sugar, cinnamon and baking spice, oak char, grassy, and some ethanol. Really nice. In the mouth, burnt sugar, char, cinnamon, vanilla, and then dry tannic oak. Dark, with a little cherry, and then dry, holding the sweet in check. Slightly oily, but a thin mouthfeel, with appropriate ethanol tingle and heat. Finish is dried fruit, char, tannins, and dry. Average length. Ice cube tames the tannic oak and lets that sweet wheated bourbon shine. Makers Mark profile with an extra dose of French oak and at cask strength. Not surprising, but what's not to like? Ok, I like the initial 2020 taller rounded bottle and cork like the Wood Finishing Series rather than this traditional squared MM bottle and screw cap, but... that's just packaging. Overall, a solid high-proof wheated bourbon.

Another one that's been resting in my cellar for 2 years. C922, 12 years in oak, 124.8 proof, tasting neat. Deep rosy brown copper and strong coating legs in the glass. Caramel corn and cherry, maple syrup and dry sweet grass on the nose. Hint of ethanol in the far back. In the mouth, ethanol and rye spices bloom in a cocoon of sweet maple syrup and burnt brown sugar. Dry tannic oak and floral vanilla and cherry take over, with cinnamon and baking spices holding the sweetness in check. You can taste the alcohol content. Finish is tannic, dry grassy spice, mouth-tingling mint, and then a loooong lingering black cherry flavor. Dry but not sour or overly sweet. An ice cube calms, but does not erase, that dry tannic spiciness. It's great, with or without. This was one of those barrel proof releases that EC hit on the nose. It's more assertive than the sweeter Larceny B522 barrel proof I just opened-- drier, more tannic, spicy, and assertive. They're both good. This is more challenging in flavor profile for the additional years it stayed in oak. Glad I held on to it--haven't had an EC like this in 2023 (never found a C923, damn!). Hoping their C924 (next month) is this good. Fingers crossed.

Have had this on hold in my cellar for two years. Time to air it out. Tasting neat. Dark golden brown and rather thin coating legs in the glass. Big nose of brown sugar and caramel corn, vanilla oak, a little dry grass, and a dose of ethanol, but not as much as you'd expect at 123.8 proof. Sweet brown sugar, cinnamon graham crackers, and caramel in the mouth. Soft and oily coating (pleasantly surprised given the lack of legs). Vanilla oak, cherry, some tannins and ethanol, but not that much. Overall, soft and sweet with maple and cherry notes. Finish comes out of that sweet mouth, turns spicy grassy, and then a looong mint tingle finish. Maybe the best part of the sip. An ice cube tames the sweet a bit, but also blands the finish. Another winner in the Larceny barrel proof series if you like a sweeter-than-spicy bourbon. Big flavors, easy sipping given the proof, very comfortable.