Reviews

Nose is grain, raisin, plum. Body is fruit punch, caramel. Finish is sugar, baking spices. This tastes a tiny bit young, but it’s still delicious. The finish is hot, but I’m enjoying this one more and more as it goes down.

This is a Wise Guys selection. Nose is maple, cream, clover. Reminds me of high-tier Canadian whiskies. Body is sugar, latex, more syrup, pretty shallow in depth. It transitions into lemon after a second. Finish is hot. Cinnamon, spices. Some green pepper flavoring too. This is a fine whisky. It’s got solid flavors, and most importantly: it doesnt do anything wrong. Bottle says “bottled in Indiana” but “distilled in Kentucky.” Website says they make their own whiskey? Who knows what to believe. If I’m trusting my taste buds, I’m saying this is made at Bardstown. And right or wrong, this fits well in the Bardstown fusion series lineup, and the price point is in line too. Overall a decent bourbon. My one criticism is flavor shallowness.

The first time I tried this over a year ago, I thought this was one of the nastiest things I’ve ever tried. Time to revisit. Nose is caramel, brine. Cola. Body is chocolate, raisin, yeast. Finish is bread, vanilla. Cinnamon. I don’t know if my bottle has mellowed or if i have. I think this is just fine. Pretty solid for a $20 bottle too.

Nose is cinnamon, oak, maple syrup. Fresh celery. Body is baking spices up front, followed by chocolate, malt, and honey. Finish is gentler than I was expecting. There’s smoke, oak, some clove. Gingerbread cookie. This is a good value product. It’s not in the same league as 15, 18, or some of the limited releases like 2001. But it’s a noticeable step up from 9 yr / nas bottles. Worth a shot at $60 from time to time.

Selected by: Station House Liquor Nose is brine, malty. Body is apple, flowers, vanilla, Finish is perfume, sugar. To me, this is a huge departure, and not necessarily in good ways. I really like mainline BT. In this pick, the apple and vanilla flavors are pure and clean. I love them here. But the perfume/floral notes are powerful. There’s a weird brininess that feels off, and although there’s some maltiness on the nose, that’s where that ends. Interesting whiskey, good whiskey, but give me OG BT anytime over this.

Selected By: One Stop Package Warehouse: N Barrel: #417 When our intrepid hero stopped bleeding, he typed this review. Nose is green apple. Must. Oak. Body is apple, sugar. Bit of chocolate. Finish is cinnamon, vanilla, char. Loads of sugar on the finish. This doesn’t taste all that different from mainline BT, but that’s not a bad thing. I really like mainline BT. I haven’t had them back to back, but from my memory this is a bit hotter and more dynamic than standard. Yet, the dominant flavors are so BT core that the differences kind of blend in to normal day to day palate variation. It takes a lot for me to end up writing a positive review about a bottle that cuts my finger open badly, but a good BT fits the bill. Update: it took 9 days for the cut to heal fully. Worth. It.

Many thanks to @ContemplativeFox for the sample! Nose is almond, cherry. Port influence is heavy. Bit of lemon. Body is heavy on the almond. Vanilla. The heat manifests as sugar, brine. Leather possibly. Finish is hot in feel. Pretty sure this was one of the things in the pepto bismol commercial. In terms of flavor we have more almond, raisin. Cinnamon. I remember loving the concertmaster, and unfortunately this one falls well short of that. That was a masterclass in port finishing. This one needs quite a bit of work.

Thanks once again to the incontemplatable @ContemplativeFox for the taste! Nose is butter, corn. Smells like white dog. While this isn’t always a red flag, more times than not, this has led to underaged whiskey. Body is mellower than I expected. It’s young for sure, but not hot. There’s raisin, grape, melon. Vanilla. It’s juicy. Finish is pretty short. Grape juice, salt. Black pepper. Bit of mint.