Tastes

Batch 47, Bottled by Dreana. Dark golden brown color and average coating legs in the glass. Nose is sharp spice and green grassy notes, with sweet musty grapes. In the mouth toasted grain, burnt sugar, and some vanilla oak tannins. Big puff of ethanol takes over--wow--and takes you into the looong finish which is carmelized sugar, rye spice, pepper, and lingering nettles/mint tingle. A little charred oak in there too. This is a big burly rye blend that actually works, but not for the uninitiated. Good ABV for drinking and mixing--will hold its own in a cocktail as it should. Sweeter than I expected, but that's ok. Ice cools down the ethanol, but still a ton of flavor remains. Love S.A.'s Contradiction labels, and the $35 price range makes this a real deal.

Iodine and a whiff of smoke on the nose. Thin mouthfeel, sweet malted grain, salt, and smoke. Sweet. Not complex, not off, just right, time after time. Meh.

Vanilla and sugar cinnamon on the nose. Thin mouthfeel, cinnamon and refined sugar, floral and very light oak in the mouth. Some ethanol. The oak grows through the short finish with a very little baking spice. Ice flattens it further. Underwhelming. Not very deep or complex. Meh.

C921, 61.3 abv. Deep golden brown color and good legs in the glass, served neat. Nose is sweet, maple and cherry fruit, and a little grain spice. In the mouth big sweet vanilla oak, some tannins, burnt sugar, and rich toasted grain. Coating and rich. As big and brawney as this is, there's only a little ethanol in the mouth. Sweet lingers but slowly gives way to grassy spice in a long finish. No odd off-flavors, just sweet grain and oak. Ice softens the flavors, more sweet malted barley, maple, and vanilla, less ethanol and tannins. Ice or neat, nice sipping, complex enough to keep it interesting.

Kentucky straight rye whiskey distilled by Castle & Key in Frankfort, KY. Mashbill 60% rye, 20% corn, 20% malted barley, aged "more than two years," but not much. Bottled in 2021 at 98 proof. Light golden color, average legs in the glass. Banana and maple syrup, with a little rye grassiness and spice on the nose. Sweet and a little sour in the mouth--vanilla and grain and some ethanol heat, giving way quickly to dry tannic oak (a little acrid), vanilla, and hot rye spice in a long finish. The sour and ethanol heat shows how young this is. To riff on an old 1960s song, "All we are saying, is give oak a chance." Needs more time to age. Ice cools it down but seems to accentuate the sweet/sour profile and tannic finish. Not the best neat, but good sipping with ice. This should mix well in cocktails--an Old Fashioned (ok, I tried it, it didn't) or a Manhattan (nope, not that either). OK, remains better on the rocks, maybe 3.5. It's just a little young to be more than a 3.25 neat. And since it mixes poorly... back to a 3.0, generously. But, will take some time and drink/think about it and that rating more. What's the hurry.

Rosy brown in color, rather thin legs in the glass, drinking neat. Nose is maple syrup and fruit, sweet but light. A little vanilla oak in the background. Sweet and sour explosion in the mouth. Dry and astringent ethanol, thin and meager. Finish is harsh, astringent tannic oak and hot rye spice, but the finish is blessedly short. Odd sour aftertaste. Trying this with ice changes things fundamentally. The vanilla and fruit sweetness other reviewers mention appears. The astringency declines, the rye grass emerges, but a dry sour base flavor remains in the finish. Grows softer with melt. In a word, much better with ice, but still a pretty flat flavor profile. I'm trying to imagine this bourbon without the port cask finish ((shiver)). Nothing deep or rich about this, not even rich corn sweetness or a balanced rye grassiness. At a $60 price point it's decidedly underwhelming. And really disappointing. Going to give this a little time and retaste and re-rate, but right now it's a 3 at best; maybe a 3.25 with ice. Ok, after several nights, my opinion hasn't changed on how this drinks neat. But, on the rocks, it is a better drink, and for that I'll give it a 3.25.

Sweet vanilla and on the nose. Burst of corn syrup sweetness, and then astringent dry oak takes over. Citrus peel bitters and tannins. Thin mouthfeel, and light straw color. Rye pepper and spice comes on and then dry tannic vanilla oak in a long finish. Gets a little acrid at the very tail. Second pass at this. Neat taste about the same, maybe noticing a honeysuckle sweetness buried in there. Then Ice, which softens the tannic finish a little, letting the honeysuckle and rye spice and bitter citrus catch up, but not enough. Finish turns more sour. As the ice melts and lowers the ABV this becomes an easy drink. I expect this will make a good cocktail bourbon--my next test. A little underwhelmed. I know MGP bourbons pretty well and appreciate them in other people's bottles, so I was expecting more from the juice they're putting out under their own label. I have had their Remus Repeal Reserve Series V, and it is great. This... not so much. Will keep chewing on this.