Tastes

I love the Reserve version of this one but when I went to get a new bottle, I discovered the price had gone from $53 to $70 in less than a year. Shouldn't be surprised since the comparable Smoke Wagon is only a bit more. So, I decided to try this version. It's made in ultra small batches of two different high rye bourbons of at least 6 years resulting in a 30% rye product. The color is a nice caramel. While the fragrance is a bit shy, I like the buttery caramel with a little spicy citrus in the background on the nose. It reminds me of a muted version of E T Lee back when I could get it. This one shines on the palate. Here comes an almost intense rich buttery caramel The spicy citrus has been replace with a touch of nutmeg apples in the background and that's not a bad thing. There's a thick mouth feel, almost chewy, mouth filling. The finish is long and complex, it's nutty and oaky with some leather and spice. Nice. In rating this at 3.75. I cut back .25 due to the shy nose. The Reserve is a little older and a nicely developed nose.

So another young MGP high rye bourbon tonight. This is distilled in Indiana and aged and bottled in Las Vegas. Label says barrels selected from the top two floors of the warehouse (not rickhouse) to create a bourbon that has flavor which is smooth and rich beyond its years. Medium approaching dark honey in color with quick forming legs. This one has a rich complex nose of buttered caramel corn over a fruity background. It's nicely sweet with touches of honey and brown sugar. It's 92.5 proof but only hint of alcohol on the nose. Palate says it's bourbon but only a basic miss mash of flavor. It's not bad by any means buts its hard to pull anything out. The mouth feel is thin and the finish almost non existent. It drinks more like an 80 proof product. Earlier this year I tried three different renditions of the uncut, unfiltered. Those were world class. This one relates to those on the nose and I do love to nose my bourbon. This falls short on the palate and leads me to believe that H&C Distilling needs to stay in the 100+ proof range with their products.

My bottle is from Total wine put up at 116 proof. It has a light honey color and slow thick legs. It is distilled in Indiana and bottled in Louisville, KY by the Barrell Bourbon folks. Best info I find says it's 4-5 year MGP high rye bourbon. This one is shy on the nose taking 10-15 minutes to open up and still there's not much there. This is the second pour from the bottle as the neck was a couple weeks ago. There is no depth to the nose or palate and it's has a quite thin mouth feel. Oddly there is a long lasting, crisp, spicy finish and a moderate KY hug. Aside from the finish, this drinks more like an 80 proof bottom shelfer - very muted. Generally, I am a fan of MGP high rye products and have been pleased with a couple 4-5 year bottlings (Belle Meade, George Remus and Smoke Wagon) albeit lower proof versions. Proofed this one down a bit but not much change. It's a single barrel, so maybe an off bottle but for $60 I am disappointed. On the positive side this one will be perfect for my wife's old fashioneds.

Pinhook of various varieties has been making a strong show on the shelves here for a while but this is my first partaking. As I looked through the various bottles, I selected this one because it is distilled at Castle and Key. Just under 120 proof and aged three years. It has a rich caramel color in the glass. The tears form and fall quickly. Haven't dabbled with a high proofer for quite a while but there is precious little alcohol on the nose, more like 86-90 proof. I am fixing some fried apples for this evenings dinner and I swear the fragrance is dead on (before I add the cinnamon) There's a rich blend of butter, caramel and apples. What a nose especially for a three year product. A little oak shows up after 15-20 minutes. Caramel and vanilla lead the way on the palate. One reviewer suggested hazelnuts and yeah that's there too. A little smoky oak shows up on the finish that's way too short. I like this one and at $50 it's priced fairly. Just wish it had a little more body and a longer finish.

It's been three months since I posted a review. Came down with covid leading to pneumonia and had a short stay in the hospital. Not quite a hundred percent now but close. Loosing my sense of taste and smell was the worst and where the remaining 1% of recovery is required. You might consider this review tainted on that basis I have a personal bias toward Heaven Hill. I have visited the distillery numerous times and even had the opportunity to have a taste in a barrel selection. Their products are stellar. It's amazing how many flavor profiles and labels they package. In an ongoing discussion with @pkingmartin and @Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington about this one, I thought it a great place to jump back in. Their reviews are spot on! My local Total store has put a two bottle limit on this and I am now down to 1.6 bottles. It's only $13 a bottle for a ninety proofer and delivers everything you want in a bourbon. I don't find it to be terribly complex with brown sugar maple in the lead on the nose. I love it on ice and as the ice melts down here comes the caramel, my favorite part of the profile. I get a touch of pears in the background. Time to take a sip and I am treated to a rich caramel covered pear (is that a thing?) This is pure enjoyment. Share with friends but pour it from a decanter and most will think you gave over $50 for it. It's that good. Heaven Hill's brand ambassador Bernie Lubbers says that the HH label was HH's gift to the bourbon drinkers of KY. It is only available in liquor stores in KY. So grab one if you can as you pass through. Three years ago the was a big brother to this one. HH bib white label. Thanks to a fire ten years ago, it was discontinued as there was a shortage of maturing product. Two years later, HH bib seven year was launched. That extra year of barrel aging added $35 and it is not available in KY. Now they have introduced Five Brothers in the same price range at 90 proof. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to see where things are headed. Maybe that's why the workers went on strike. It ain't over yet and it's been a great ride but hard to stock up.

Very Complex and a lot of surprises from a high proof young bourbon. First whiff is alcohol but still tame. Next whiff, I get citrus and rye spice. Drying a few drops on my palms, there is a faint barrel aroma but the spiciness is there too. Nice! The color is dark copper in the bottle but medium amber in the glass and a very slight curtain at the rim, stingy with tears. The alcohol dissipates quickly and the sweet fruit fragrances intensify. Don't get much of the cherry that others do but citrus, peach and mango with layers of baking spices and a touch of mint. Should I sniff long enough, there are more fragrances in the background. It really evolves. Very little vanilla and oak. I am loving this nose even though caramel and butterscotch are my favorites and they are mostly aol. Had I tasted this blind, I would say it's 90-95 proof 4yr rye. The alcohol is incredibly well resolved for a two year bourbon. A few sips and the burn in your chest reminds you that it's 111 proof. The palate is not as elegant as the nose but again very complex and the rye component comes across the strongest. The finish is buttered lemon toffee and goes quite a while. In looking at it as a bourbon, it's missing a lot that I look for but it really satisfies as a different kind of whiskey. It's incredibly complex, the alcohol is tame and the value is there but it lacks chewiness. I really like this one but it's like nothing I've ever had.

This one is nostalgic for me. In my early years, Ezra was my preferred brand. It was made by the Ripy family then but I don't remember a change other than the label when it went to Wathen. It was 7 years old and ninety proof. Then it disappeared. Started seeing again about ten years ago but only tried it again in the last few years ago. I liked the recent release of 99 and love old Ezra. This one is proofed in between and and almost exactly 5 years old. I made an impulse buy like @Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington grabbing a couple bottles. (Around here you often don't get a second chance if you like it.) Slow to open but the standard butterscotch is there, most especially with a little water. For a 107 the alcohol is not especially noticeable on the whiff but becomes apparent upon nominal lip numbing. There' some pecan pie in the next layer down. What's not to like. Palate is true but there is a bit of alcohol tingle. Finish is shorter than I was hoping for. Here is my conundrum. In absolute terms this is a $35 bourbon and I am pleased I got a couple bottles. Problem is its not much different from the 99 which I am enjoying now. And 99 isn't any better than EC 94. The store picks of EC 94 are better and a tad less expensive. One review stated YMMV and another stated that single barrel picks in the value range have more variability between barrels. That really sums it up. I like this bourbon but I was hoping for a bit more. If you have access to EC94 store picks, go there.

This is an interesting offering. 100 proof. Half is a high rye bourbon 52C, 44R 4MB contract distilled by MGP. The other half is Wheat Wiskey 83W, 12C 5MB. No age statement but really dark. Ultra small batches of 6-10 barrels. Don't know where it was aged. This is a neck pour. Very dark copper in color with slow forming legs. Shy nose but typical barrel aromas show up first. Caramel morphing to vanilla then a touch of nutmeg and some damp grass way back there. Very little alcohol. The palate opens with creme brulee but it is slow to develop. There's a touch of green apple and a slightly bitter edge suggesting some unresolved alcohol. The color says 8-10 years but that bitter edge says more likely 4. I am going to describe the finish as crisp and clean and that green apple shows up for a while. I like this one and it is fairly priced. Next time I will try their straight bourbon