Tastes

Reviewing the Fall 2019 release, barrel# 19H2420 Color is warm mahogany, lots of thin, streaky legs after a quick swirl. Nose leads with Toffee, vanilla, red apples, cherry, a spearmint/evergreen note and varnished oak Palate starts with brown sugar, then spearmint and some indeterminate fruit. The mint note lingers as the baking spice comes in on the mid palate. Those flavors linger into the finish where they're joined by vanilla and oak. The finish is fairly nice especially given the relatively low proof. This is a big improvement over the 2018 bottle I tried at a restaurant last year. Still not worth secondary prices, but if you can find a bottle a retail it's worth considering.

I actually picked this up at the gift shop back in the Oct 2018 after tasting it and liking it. I just finally got around to opening it recently to celebrate a birthday and have had a couple of pours now so thought I'd write something up. Appearance - dark mahogany with amber highlights and thick legs Nose - Dark brown sugar, varnished oak, oiled leather, dark chocolate, orange peel, toasted vanilla, a hint of cherry and a smoky char note. Palate - follows the nose with dark brown sugar, cocoa, maple syrup, vanilla and baking spices,. The spice lingers on the finish as the oak asserts itself. The lengthy finish is dry but with just enough of that maple sweetness to keep it from getting too tannic or bitter. So this is definitely an oak-forward bourbon, just as you'd expect given the age. I happen to love it, but I can see how it might be a bit overbearing for some. It's not super complex, but there's a depth and intensity to the flavors that I really enjoy. Given the price I have to knock the score down a bit, but it's still excellent and intend to savor the bottle on special occasions.

Color - warm mahogany with copper highlights. A quick swirl produces numerous legs streaking down the side of the glencairn. Nose - brown sugar, red apples, oak, leather, cinnamon, orange peel and honeysuckle. No real ethanol or heat, maybe a very faint whiff of dried varnish. Palate - oily mouthfeel coats the tongue with notes of buttered toffee, caramel apples, cinnamon and vanilla; also a faint nutty note - but not the Beam/HH peanut - hazelnut maybe? Finish transitions to honey, oak and baking spices, without getting dry or tannic. Tried a few drops of water for the last half, didn't seem to change much aside from giving the mid-palate flavors a small boost. All in all a really enjoyable dram. It's more complex and subtle than any other MGP bourbon I've tried. At 14 years I expected more of an oak-bomb, but this is not remotely over-oaked IMHO. Definitely one to savor when your palate is in top shape. My only real criticism is the finish doesn't linger as long as I'd like, nor does it really hit the back palate the way really great higher-proof whiskeys do.

Nose leads with leather, vanilla, fresh apples, some orange peel, and a tiny bit of nuttiness. Maybe a faint floral note in the background? Not much oak. A little bit of ethanol at first, which fades after a few minutes. Pleasantly coats the palate with notes of brown sugar, honey grahams, vanilla, apples, and a (pleasant) earthy note. A bit of bite on the back palate, but not much spice. The vanilla and brown sugar notes linger on the medium finish along with a hint of oak. A few drops of water didn't seem to change the nose, but noticeably amplified the sweeter notes on the palate (especially the mid-palate). Overall it's quite good, but maybe not a standout worthy of Limited Edition status. I really enjoyed the complex nose, it seemed like I got something different every time I sniffed. The palate was more straight-forward but still pleasant. This actually reminds me of some of the better Russell's Reserver barrell picks I've had in the past, which is strange since most sourced KY Bourbon is assumed to come from Heaven Hill or Barton 1792.

Appearance - copper hue, a quick swirl coats the side of the glass, leaving plentiful legs. Nose - Leads with notes of caramel, peanuts, cinnamon, and a bit of oak. But there's also ethanol, and that grainy note and wet cardboard funk you get in young craft bourbons. Palate - fairly thick mouthfeel, it definitely coats your tongue. The first thing I get is peanut brittle. There are also some baking spices. Sweet notes linger on the finish, along with some funky /grainy notes that unfortunately bring the finish down. Overall it's decent, probably about as good as you can expect in a four year bourbon. They're doing a lot of stuff right from a quality perspective (sweet mash, low entry proof, NCF, etc), but for me there's just no getting around the fact that bourbon needs more than 4 years of age to be really good.

"The Vaults" is a new annual limited release from Widow Jane. A 20-barrel blend of 14+ year old straight bourbons from IN, KY, and TN, that were finished in eight-year air-seasoned American oak casks. 500 cases released in 18 states. Nose - dark brown sugar, oak, red delicious apples, tobacco, leather, cinnamon and cloves Palate - brown sugar, sweet oak, semi sweet chocolate, vanilla, and baking spices. A hint of that earthy note I often get in well-aged MGP bourbons. Finish - the chocolate and sweet oak linger with some smoky charred notes and make for a nice finish. The baking spices are also there faintly (wish there was a bit more). This is quite good, definitely more complex than the regular 10yr old product. Not exactly a value at the asking price though. I have a WJ 12-year MGP Single Barrel from a local store that's almost as good, and was considerably less expensive.

I've had my eye out for this for a while, but have never actually seen it on shelves around here before now. Interestingly, the label says this was barreled in 2006, so I guess some cases of the original 2016 release were "lost" at the distributor for 2+ years before showing up in a store now (Sept 2019). Nose - First nosing was a little hot, but after a few minutes that faded and was followed by subtle notes of red apples, graham crackers, caramel, spices, and oak. Palate - medium bodied, the palate follows the nose with apples, a bit of orange citrus, caramel, and honey grahams. Drier and spicier on the back end than expected. Finish - quite spicy, with cinnamon, baking spices, and drying oak that trails off rather quickly. Adding a few drops of water didn't really change the nose, although it brought out some sweeter notes on the palate. This was a surprise to me. It wasn't as rich/sweet as Weller, Maker's, etc. Oak and spice played a much bigger part, and it was drier than I would expect even for 10 yrs of aging. It also didn't really have much of the character I expect from wheated bourbon (I always get graham crackers in the good ones, and bread dough in the not-good ones). While there was a hint of graham, I'm not sure I would have guessed this was a wheater if I'd tasted it blind. Of course being a single-barrel product it's hard to know if this bottle is typical for the expression or slightly off-profile. All in all it's pretty good if not exactly what I was expecting. I liked it, but found myself wishing it was a little richer and not quite as dry. At $60 I don't regret the purchase, but probably wouldn't buy another.

Picked up a bottle of this in Amarillo on our way home from vacation in Colorado. I'm more a fan of KY-style ryes than the MGP 95% (can't stand that MGP dill flavor), with RR SiB and WFE 4-year being two of my favorites. I've also been a big fan of the last couple of Master's Keep releases, so when this Cornerstone Rye was announced I knew it was something I wanted to try. Nose - baked apples, oak, leather, a hint of butterscotch, and some of that earthy WT funk. Greener notes of rye spice are lurking underneath, but they're subtle. No noticeable heat/ethanol on the nose. Palate - Rich mouthfeel with toffee and baking spices up front, then it transitions into mint, buttered rye toast, and some faint pepper and oak on the long finish. The rye flavors are stronger that I would have expected given the nose. All in all I'd say it's an excellent rye. It has bolder rye flavors than I expected from a "barely legal" rye, and plenty of depth and complexity from the extra aging. It's hands-down better than the standard RR SiB rye IMHO. Whether it's worth 3x the price is a slightly tougher call. The $129 price point of previous MK releases would have been more appropriate to me, but I guess it's just the reality of the current market that prices keep escalating. Bottom line, if you're a fan of rich, well-aged ryes, or just older/premium WT expressions in general, this should be right up your alley.

Just picked a bottle of this up (6/5/2019), so I'm guessing it's not the 2017 edition; but it's 10yr Barrel Proof High-Rye Bourbon, 114.4 proof. The nose is classic MGP bourbon - oak, brown sugar, orange peel, baking spices, leather and some varnish (but in a good way). Enough heat to let you know it's barrel proof, but not to the point of being harsh. Palate follows the nose - brown sugar, oak, and baking spices dominate. There's an earthy quality but not to the point of adding off-notes. Finish is oaky but not astringent, the sweetness lingers along with some rye spice (but none of the herbal/dill notes that I get from MGP straight ryes). After adding a few drops of water and giving this some time to breathe in the glass, it just got better, with the brown sugar notes becoming more prominent (but without diminishing the oak and spice). All in all this is a really good example of well-aged MGP bourbon, and at $75 it was a relative bargain compared to similarly aged offerings from other NDP's. Stuff like Boone County and Widow Jane are a few bucks cheaper but also substantially lower in proof. Belle Meade Cask strength can be found for under $70, but it's NAS and obviously younger. Strangely, this was $20 cheaper than the Redemption 9yr low-rye barrel strength on the same shelf.

Nose - Roasted nuts, caramel, orange peel, oak, and vanilla. Was expecting more heat/ethanol given the proof. Palate - that Beam peanut note is definitely there, along with caramel and some baking spices. The finish lingers with vanilla, oak and some cinnamon. Not as concentrated (or hot) as I've come to expect from Bookers, I'd say this is a kinder, gentler Bookers (which is not a bad thing, I quite like it).