Tastes

Citrus, cocoa predominant on the palate with a considerable amount of spice. Mouthfeel is thinner - not a very viscous bourbon - but not thin on flavor. Fruit exits at the finish, leaving behind vanilla, leather, oak, and a lingering pepperiness.

Full and viscous, nice legs on it. Nose is peanut and baking spice initially (nutmeg?), but if you continue nosing it there’s some dark fruit found towards the back end of it. Thick mouthfeel. Not as sweet as the nose might lead you to believe, leather and tobacco join the mix, coupled with that funky older oak characteristic of aged Beam. Finish is relatively short but pleasant. If this was a Knob Creek Single Barrel pick, it would be a solid one especially for the $50ish price point… but as someone who remembers those days, this is hard to swallow as an allocated release at the price points it is seeking.

Nose: caramel, vanilla, red fruit, Palate: where is it? Seriously. Giving this the old chew and I really don’t find much going on until I swallow it and see what the finish has to offer. Maybe I’ve been hitting the barrel proofers a little too hard, but even the 14 and 15 year had more going on. Finish here is mostly dry oak, little bit of baking spice. Fairly one-dimensional, this is perhaps a quintessential wheater that has been over-aged into boringness.

Nose: vanilla, cinnamon, cloves… if you take a bigger whiff there’s a lot of dark fruit to be found there too, but oddly I still had to go looking for it despite how pronounced I ultimately found it to be. Something masks it well. Palate: much less ethanol burn compared to the 14yr. Sugary, oak, chocolate, ever so slightly grassy. Finish is on the shorter side, peppery, oak, nutty flavors dominate but overall the exit is quick. The nose is probably the best part of this bourbon… complex and layered in a way the rest of the sip doesn’t live up to.

Nose: baked goods, shortbread cookie? Nutty. Pretty light on the fruit. Palate true to nose. Finish: oak, vanilla, a short burst of grape that exits pretty quickly. Decent but not hype-worthy.

Color: Pale, almost apple juice Nose: a veritable fruit basket. Pears, peaches, red grapes, grass, cinnamon. No ethanol burn despite the high proof… full of fruity sweetness and a touch of spice, not a big spicy rye nose. The longer it sits, the more the sweetness evolves into baked treat sweetness, vanilla, syrup coming to the front to meet the fruits. Palate: As full as the nose, but not as heavily tilted towards fruit. Fruit is still there - peach, plum? But more mint, nut, and tobacco notes present. A touch of saltiness builds part way through and sticks around as you swallow. Finish: Heat builds on the back end, finally for the first time revealing that this is in fact a 130+ proof pour. Finish is moderate-to-long, starts sweet and evolves in more of a dry/ever so slightly bitter direction (oak, tobacco) as the heat builds.

2021 bottling. Best qualities are up front, the nose is bright, buttery, fruity… green apple, corn, caramel or maybe even candy corn sweetness, no ethanol burn. Palate… kind of a disappointment. It’s a 90 proof wheater, so I don’t exactly have expectations that it’s going to win anyone with boldness… but it feels weak compared to previous year’s releases. I’m chewing and chewing and honestly don’t even get much of anything until swallowing, when it exits with notes similar to how it started. Not worth chasing.

An outright monster of a pour. Big and bold nose, chocolate cherry bomb, careful nosing it because it’s a punch in the face. Ease into it so you don’t blow your sense of smell. Leather, oak, vanilla, spice on the palate. Rich, viscous mouthfeel. Warm, medium-to-long finish doesn’t take things in any new directions but does this bourbon justice by letting its character linger. One of the strongest Stagg releases in years.

2020 bottling. Nose: cinnamon, cherries, vanilla. Oak comes through on the palate and the fruit backs off a bit. No burn, smooth and sweet true to its wheated nature. Finish is pleasant but ungratifyingly short.

2020 edition. Different profile than previous years. Overall, less fruit, more tobacco, especially up front. Not overly complex. Pleasant sipper, about what you’d expect from a wheater that has aged past its harshness, but nothing will really knock your socks off here. An easy buy at or near MSRP but an awful value if you’re buying secondary.