Tastes

Nose: Tons or cherry to start. That gave way to notes of tobacco before it settled on a brown sugar with a hint of orange peel. Super complex nose with absolutely no burn. Palate: Absolute fruit bomb. Reminded me or rare breed with a better mouth feel and more well rounded. Has a completely different profile than the 520, which had more sweetness with vanilla and caramel. Remarkable smooth for coming in at 132.8 proof. Finish: Nice full finish that continues to hit everywhere. Finish was a bit spicier than the palate, but continued to be excellent. Another hit by Elijah Craig in the C920. For my taste, I prefer the B520, but you can’t go wrong with either of them. Completely depends on personal preference. This is more fruity and spicy compared to the sweeter 520.

Color: Darker copper. Nose: I don’t get a whole lot on the nose. Kinda spicy actually, which feels weird. I’m not really getting any of the sweetness I expected. It’s a pretty unremarkable nose, unfortunately. Palate: I do pick up the sweetness that lacked in the nose on the palate. I pick up a lot of corn. Not really the traditional caramel and vanilla. Just a sweet corn taste. Finish: The finish was the best part of this for me. Finished all over the palate and gave a little hug going down. Not too thrilled with this. Kinda flavorless, in my opinion. For the price, I wouldn’t buy it again. The overall experience doesn’t warrant the price. Update: A drop of water definitely helped. Brought out a better palate for sure. Brought out baking spices and a bit more sweetness. Even with the water, I can’t justify the price though. 2.75 straight. 3.25 with water

Color: A true amber. Looks just like an amber beer. Nose: Pretty sweet and fruity. I get Caramel, Cherry, and maybe some Banana, but that might just be because I’ve heard people get hints of that before. The longer it sits, the more I get fruit and the less prevalent the caramel is. Palate: I get a lot of the cherry on the tongue. Maybe some brown sugar in there. Definitely pick up spice too, but I don’t have the palate to pinpoint which ones. It has a really nice mouthfeel too. Coats the mouth nicely. After having multiple pours of this, it seems to drink pretty hot. Revision: The more I drink on it, the less I seem to like it. Finish: Solid finish. Medium to long and hits all over. Finishes pretty hot though. Overall: I keep wanting to like this as it seems to be widely available and gets mostly positive reviews, but it just drinks a little hot for my taste, and I tend to like higher proof drinks. Some pours don’t seem to have enough flavor to overcome the heat. Each pour seems to be hit and miss. I probably wouldn’t buy again.

Color: Pretty standard amber color that comes with the ten years of age. Nose: Pretty subtle nose. I get more spice than anything, but overall the nose isn’t all that overpowering or memorable. I got a little pear or plum after a while, but barely. Drop of water brought out some brown sugar and maple. The nose improved with water. Palate: Pretty tart at first. Maybe a blackberry in there with some maple syrup. A bit of spice, but not much. Generally just not much going on with this drink. The brown sugar and maple that came worth the water on the nose continued on the palate. The water helped it open up better than it did neat. Finish: Medium finish. Coats mouth nicely. Nothing in this that would make me buy it again at this price point. Not bad juice, just not worth the price. Tastes more like a port wine to me with a bourbon undertone. I’d buy at $35-$40, but at $60+ it’s not worth it. Probably a 3.5-3.75 taste, but the price knocks the overall rating to a 3.25.

Color: Nice golden amber. Nose: I’m immediately hit with licorice. For me it’s a very fruity nose. As it opens up a bit I’m getting some tobacco with slight hints of the classic caramel and vanilla. It’s shocking that this is 116.8 proof based off the nose. Next to no spice nor heat on the nose, at least for me. The nose is loaded with vanilla after a drop of water. Palate: So good. Again, shocked that at this high proof there’s still hardly any heat. I get a fruit forward taste in this. Oranges in there I think. Kinda like a creamsicle on the palate with some spice. A drop of water takes away what minimal bite there is, but also muted some of the spice and flavor. There isn’t enough bite to merit adding a drop of water with the loss of flavor tradeoff. Finish: Good long finish. So good. At this price, I can’t imagine a better bang for your buck. Best bourbon I’ve had at this price.

Color: Really dark. Almost brown. Nose: I love this nose. Oaky with caramel and vanilla hints. The sweetness is definitely just an undertone to the oak, but there’s enough there to make for a really good nose. Adding a drop of water calmed the oak and actually brought out a pretty good floral scent. Maybe even a bit chocolatey. Palate: I can’t get past the oak on the palate. I like it, but it’s hard for me to pick out additional flavors with the strong oak presence. Water didn’t do much for me on the palate. Maybe got a bit sweeter, but didn’t change the profile a whole lot. After about 40 in the glass while I was doing stuff I came back to it and got a strong cherry taste. It was super nice. Finish: On the shorter side of a medium finish. It coats the mouth nicely and leaves a bit behind on the roof of my mouth, the true finish isn’t all that long. I really like this and have no reservations buying it at this price point.

Color: Gold Nose: The wax on this kinda says it all. This coloring reminds me of a butterscotch dilly bar and that’s exactly what I get on the nose. Butterscotch with a hint of orange. After a bit in the glass I get some additional fruits on it. Maybe some cherry. After a drop of water the butterscotch nose is even more emphasized. Pretty delicious nose actually. Palate: Definitely a fruity palate. Pretty pleasurable drink actually. Nothing overly complex but no issues drinking this neat. The drop of water brings out some additional floral tones. I think it opened up pretty good with the drop of water. That’s how I’d drink this one. Finish: Not a whole lot there. You get some of the lasting spice on the finish but it’s pretty short-lived. Overall, pretty decent for the price. I’d use this to introduce people to bourbon. You don’t get some of the Carmel and vanilla from the older aged bourbons, but it also lacks the heat that would turn non-bourbon drinkers away. Nothing special, but good enough. I’d go with the high proof next time

Nose: With a drop of water, the nose is subtle with a sweet scent of caramel and Vanilla. While not overwhelming, the nose is clearly sweet. Smells more like a candle than a bourbon. Palate: Hope I didn’t drown it out with the drop of water, but a pretty mellow palate. The sweetness in the nose definitely continues on the palate, but I almost think the nose was sweeter than the palate. A hint of orange is also introduced in the palate. Maybe a bit of citrus. While the nose improved with the drop of water, the palate lost most of its flavor. The same notes were much stronger and delicious before the water. Finish: Medium in length, but leaves the mouth with a delicious lingering hint of sweetness. Overall, worth the buy. Would only drink neat though as the bourbon doesn’t hold its flavor well with water. If available around $40, I’d say it’s a must buy.

Uninspiring at first. Slowly got better as a sipper. Wouldn’t buy again to drink straight, but made for an excellent Old Fashioned bourbon. Revision: After getting back in this bottle, it’s not all that bad. It’s nothing special, and it’s not complex by any means, but it’s an easy drink. More spicy than sweet. Guessing it’s a higher Rye mashbill, but I’d drink again at this price.

Wouldn’t buy again. Just not for me. Too much wine barrel, too little bourbon.