Tastes

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.

Thanks one again to the imcomperable @ContemplativeFox for the pour. Nose is cigar smoke, fig. Baking spices. Body is sugar, caramel, cherries. Finish is cinnamon, menthol, mint. As you spend some time with it, the menthol, mint, and spices fade away as your taste buds acclimate to the heat. It becomes a cherry bomb, in the best possible way. I freakin love this.

I thought about making this a 12 days of Christmas thing, but that would make @ContemplativeFox my true love, and I feel like that’s one of thise things you gotta discuss offline first. But thanks again for the taste! Nose is plums, sugar. Body is vanilla, more plums. Raisin. Finish is in sync with the body in terms of flavor. A bitter mouthfeel. Almond is the aftertaste. Fantastic. Port finish is heavily influential here, but that’s not a bad thing. This is delightful. I really can’t find fault with it. Expertly finished.

Thanks again to @ContemplativeFox for the taste! I’m noticing a pattern… Nose is roses, caramel, sugar. Body is orange, leather, salt. Some vanilla there. Very salty mouth feel. Finish is faint, but I get more orange. More salt. There’s something else hitting in the aftertaste… having trouble placing it. Best I can come up with is grape jelly. That’s not quite it though. It takes over and I get it on the nose now too. I actually really like it. Pepsi maybe? Really good. Giving me Jack & Coke vibes, but fancy.