Tastes

I’ve had the Small Batch but never a single barrel. Finally found one and am giving it a go. The nose has cherry, green apple hard candy, brown sugar. On later nosings after the first few sips I really get that Buffalo Trace mashbill #1 dark fruit (plumbs etc). The palate has some dark fruit, some oak, and a little bit of leather. slightly nutty. The finish is nice and long. Nothing too overpowering or harsh. Just nice, with a good 100 proof burn. Compared to my Small Batch, and it’s definitely similar but with a few very different notes. The small batch had more baking spices and leather, where the Single Barrel had more dark fruit and some nuttiness.

I’ve had their regular bourbon, which I enjoy. So I thought I’d spice it up with this one. On the nose I get vanilla, sweet leather, baking spices, some smokiness, a little rye and plumb. I also get raisins on later nosings. The palate is rich, oily and has a nice sweetness. I get some oak, cherries and some rye spice. The finish is is nice and long with a slight bitterness on the end. Fairly easy to drink and has some nice flavors going on. It is a welcome variation to their bourbon, which I also like.

This pick is from Main Street Liquors, recipe OESQ aged 10 years and 1 month. 57.6% abv, Warehouse MW, Barrel 8-1V The nose has baking spices and oak. The palate has some of those spices from the nose, lots of oak and some leather. It dries the mouth some. The finish is long. I’ll be honest, I was expecting more out of this compared to the regular Single Barrel I have, which I think I like better? Time will tell.

This is a store pick from Woodland Wine Merchant in Nashville, TN. They included all of the Barrel and rickhouse info, but I’ll omit that for now. On the nose I get brown sugar, a little vanilla, cherries, leather, a hint of some dark fruit and baking spices. The palate has a few things going on and takes a minute to separate the flavors. There isn’t one that pokes out over the others really. I get some leather, oak, and dark fruit. Not really that sweet. The finish is the short side of long. No burn really. Just a slight minty aftertaste. I like this one. Not really overly complex, but it hits on areas that I enjoy. Though I wished it had some louder notes.

The nose of course has rye spice, some faint fruitiness, raisins and a little oak. The palate is nice and sweet. It has rye spice, some leather, baking spices and oak. It’s fairly smooth. The finish is nice and long considering the lower proof (86 proof). I think this is a very interesting rye, but I probably wouldn’t pay the asking price for it.

The nose has some vanilla sweetness, caramel, some baking or rye spice, and a little corn. The palate is sweet and has vanilla, some rye, a hint of leather and a fair amount of ethanol flavor. The finish is fairly smooth, but short. This one is fairly unmemorable. It’s light, and I have to search to find any flavors. And even though it goes down pretty smoothly, there’s a decent amount of ethanol lingering in the palate. Not my favorite. But I love the Double Oaked!

The nose has vanilla, some sweetness, some rye spice, oak and some fruitiness in the tail end. The Palate has oak, not too sweet, corn, some leather, and some of that rye spice. The finish is medium-long. Minimal burn for 100 proof. Slight ethanol taste at the end. Really not bad. If I think about it, I can pick out those notes. But only the oak really stands out. So it’s not very complex, but pleasant.

Tried in a cocktail glass at a bar in Philly. The nose has a decent amount of rye spice, some cola. The palate has more of the nose and a little bit of light leather. Fairly light. The finish is on the shorter side, with a slight ethanol flavor, but not too bad.

Tried in a cocktail glass at a bar in Philly. The nose has vanilla, brown sugar, graham crackers, The palate is somewhat sweet with some vanilla, leather, and oak. It’s on the lighter side, but has good depth. The finish is medium in length. But the flavors that linger are nice. Slight ethanol after taste, but it doesn’t distract. I need to do a side-by-side with the unblinded American. I like it.

Tried in a bar in a rocks glass in Philly. Nose has some vanilla, and nice rye spice. The palate is sweet with leather, some rye spice and some nice oakyness. The finish is nice and on the short side if long. It drys the tongue a little. I like it.