Tastes

Bakers 7 year, but this bottle is aged 8 years 6 months. Nose features a healthy amount of cherry, some vanilla bean, corn dust, campfire smoke, and a hint of bubblegum. A very faint nose for a 107 proof whisky. Palate opens up with caramel and cherry. As it turns to the mid-palate it smoothly transitions to cinnamon and oak. So far nothing to write home about. The finish...oh my god the finish! HUGE savory char flavor; I mean like the thick charred crust on a well done grilled ribeye. Proof also hits here with some prickly alcohol heat. The finish is of ungodly length, with the charcoal and ethanol almost blending into a mint long after the other notes fade (over a minute) Coats the tongue and settles in and hangs there with along with the flavor achieves a drying effect which invites you to take another sip. Hands down the smokiest bourbon I have ever had, almost edging into Scotch territory. Since I love char/smoke, I also loved this bourbon. At $57, I feel I got what I paid for big time. This being a single barrel product, I hope I didn’t just get a honey barrel. As it stands, a rebuy and a recommend. Edit from 9/26/20 - Grabbed another bottle, this one aged 7yrs 0 months. Everything is as above except take the oak down a notch and dial up the sweetness a notch. And it’s even BETTER. Only paid $50 for this one. Bonus! 4.25 on this bottle. Edit #2 Just picked up another bottle on 9/17/21 aged 7 yrs and 3 months and this one is literally perfection: peanut brittle, barrel char, and baking spices in perfect harmony. Can’t stop drinking it. 4.75 on this one!

The return of SAOS, still MGP sourced with no age statement but supposed to contain 5 year juice. On to the review: Pretty weak nose, with some creamed corn, pipe tobacco, and vanilla through a thin layer of alcohol. Not particularly inviting, but not off-putting either. Palate opens with caramel, vanilla, and butterscotch. Good things are happening...wait...what's that in the mid-palate? Yikes! An astringent, earthy mint and pencil shavings that wipes out the initial sweet flavors entirely. Finishes with cinnamon and burnt oak trailing off into a kind of bittersweet chocolate which is nice. Finish is short. Mouthfeel is neither chewy nor watery, and is appropriate for the proof. Overall this is a weird one because it starts well and ends well, but the mid-palate experience ruined it for me. Maybe it's the young age coming through or maybe it's always this earthy at any age, but I found it to be very unbalanced and overall not my jam. Hard to recommend at $43

Tasted with a neat pour in a bar so not as in depth as my other reviews... Nose has some dill, mint, and pepper. On the palate the predominant flavor is ginger snap. Some spearmint on the finish. I enjoy ginger so I enjoyed it well enough. Mouthfeel was nice and oily and the alcohol was super well attenuated. Only the second MGP 95/5 rye I’ve had and I’ve enjoyed both. A solid value option.

Store pick from Liquor Express in Tempe, AZ. On the nose getting a lot of banana and clove; reminiscent of a good Hefeweizen beer. Delving deeper we find dill, cooking herbs (sage? thyme?), movie theater butter, and snickerdoodle cookie. The level of ethanol in the nose is zero; something I wasn't sure possible at 115 proof so definitely extra points for that. On the palate, opens with rich liquid snickerdoodle, followed by a nice slow transition to a slightly herbal mid-palate, leading to a long and peppery finish. The sticky sweetness remains present underneath as it changes, making for a nice smooth ride instead of a jarring turn. I dig the journey. Mouthfeel is slick and buttery. Fits the flavor and proof perfectly. A definite winner. At $50, I feel I got what I paid for. The sweetness makes it more of a bourbon lovers rye. Those looking for a dill bomb or herb garden might want to look elsewhere. My area seems to be swimming in store picks for this expression so eager to try some other picks.

I must be the only bourbon fan in the world who hasn't tried Angel's Envy. So here we go! The port barrel influence is immediately evident in the nose; which is mild but complex; cinnamon-sugar roasted pecans, tannic red wine, grape preserve, and vanilla pudding. You can literally touch your nose to the liquid and not get ethanol fumes. On the palate, the initial taste is that of liquid cinnamon toast crunch, followed by maple, orange zest, and corn in the mid-palate. Leather, wood, and some astringent char on the finish, which is quite short. The flavors might be lacking a little richness that might be found if this was a little higher proof. Delicate, silky feel on the palate. This was a hard one to rate. I definitely enjoyed it, but it has some flaws and is not the greatest value at $47 a bottle. That said, it's an interesting whiskey that kept me plumbing it's depths; I think it's one of those "the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts" bourbons. Just misses a 4.0 overall.

Store pick from Liquor Express in Tempe Arizona. Interestingly, they had two picks available; a “sweet” pick and a “spicy” pick. I went with the “sweet”. On to the review.., Nose is primarily a vanilla bomb, with some caramel, orange, and a nice toasted oak note underneath. On the palate there’s caramel, vanilla, orange, and cinnamon and not much else. Very “traditional”. Doesn’t really change in the short finish, just more of the same with a hint of oak but you have to really concentrate on it to pick it out. Very mild on the spice level. Mouthfeel is thin. This is decent if you like traditional bourbon flavors (I do) and has zero off-flavors, but lacks any sort of pizazz or character. Just not enough going on. I purchased this on a Black Friday sale for $34, but the normal price is $45 and if I had paid that I would have been sorely disappointed. No way it’s a rebuy at that price with everything else out there.

*Already reviewed this whiskey previously. This review is more for my personal notes noting the differences between the standard version and a local store pick. Will be of little use to anyone outside the Phoenix area* Store pick from AJ’s Fine Foods in Scottsdale, Arizona. A sweeter nose with strong note of birthday cake frosting and Fuji apple. Less oak than the standard. On the palate getting some custard notes, oatmeal, more apple, and even some berry before finishing with a big spice bloom of nutmeg, cinnamon, clove, and some floral bitter astringency. I think I know one of the reasons they picked this barrel; the finish is quite long. Profile is a little disjointed, going from very sweet to totally spicy with jarring speed. Overall more interesting than the regular offering, but still not quite a 4.0 whiskey. A plus was scoring this at the same price as the regular EC despite being a store pick.

Powerful aroma consisting of cinnamon, french toast, orange, dill, leather, and musty old books. If that sounds like a strange combo, it sure is but it's also delightful. Amazingly low alcohol presence on the nose. I could sit here and sniff this all day. Palate: some chocolate not present in the nose, cinnamon toast crunch cereal, mandarin orange, and a hint of pickle. The flavors are all very rich and bold. 111 proof lets you know it's there without becoming a distraction. Finish is very long and peppery (both chili and black) with additional notes of cherry and mint. Mouthfeel is thick and chewy which supports the rich flavors. A truly great and unique whiskey; certainly never tasted anything like it and well worth the $57. Sweet for a rye, but with crazy depth and complexity so it never gets cloying or boring in it's sweetness. Instant re-buy.

Store pick from Sun Devil Liquors in Mesa, Arizona The nose is medium strength with banana, butterscotch, and pear leading the way. Waaayyy down in there is a whiff of cedar. Enjoyable. Palate opens with the butterscotch and banana from the nose, with the addition of cake frosting and a good amount of caramel. Some clove creeps in there as it heads to the spice laden finish, which is on the long side of medium with big pop of ginger ale, clove, and cinnamon. Drinks right at it's proof point, which feels right for the flavors. Medium body, but very oily (a good thing). I really enjoyed this; the aromas and flavor profile don't stray to far from what you'd expect from 1792 but this is probably the most balanced of the line that I have had, which may owe to it's store pick status. Sun Devil definitely picked a good one, no doubt about that. At $30, it's an absolute STEAL, and I will be going back for more.

Aroma is soft and mild with buttered dinner rolls, white pepper, honey, and orange blossom. The softness extends to the palate; opens with honey, citrus, and vanilla which shifts into grass/hay for a moment before a peppery rye spice finish with a touch of spearmint that lingers for quite a while. Pleasant, but not terribly complex. Thin mouthfeel, but has some oil to it. Overall this was fine, but lacking richness and intensity. What's there is nice, but muted. And while I wouldn't want it to be medicinal, it could use few more herbaceous flavors to give it some depth. At $45, I can think of several ryes that I'd prefer, making this one fall a little short of a repeat purchase.