Tastes

Lime popsicle, sweettart candies, vanilla ice cream; lime sherbert, very sweet, medicinal notes, thin mouthfeel, some ethanol, virtually no finish. This is an old bottling I got for a hefty discount. I read somewhere that there may have been additives to this which is why it isn’t labeled as a straight rye. Ot certainly seems like it. It almost tastes to me like it has been blended with a neutral grain spirirt and maybe even some sugar. My evidence is 1) Its very, very light on the mouth. 2) I used this for a cocktail once and it actually seemed to amplify an ethanol note, almost as if neutral spirit was added 3) it is almost artificially sweet That said, there are a lot more unpleasant whiskey i have drank and it goes down sweet, smooth and easy. I won’t be rellacing this bottle but it is an interesting end of the MGP rye spectrum.

Caramel, vanilla, musty oak, raisin, rum scents bordering on rubber; vanilla and barrel spices, fig, and oak, rich sweetness fades This might be my favorite bottom shelf bottle. It feels richer than the other bourbons in its class. It has a rum-esque vibe to the nose. I dont actually like rum but when bourbon has rum notes I love it. There is a decent amount of oak for something i assume is around 4 yrs old. This one really hits all the right notes for me, and none of the wrong ones.

First time I tried Maker’s Private selections i did not like it. It was too strong with unfamiliar oak. So I guess you could say this is not as approachable as other finished bourbons like Woodford Double Oaked. That said, these bottles have now become some of my favorites. This particular bottle is 0-0-2-6-2 at 110 proof. On the nose I find stong cherry and floral notes. On the palette there is also buttercream, spices, leather and umami. Overall very sweet, delicious and easy to drink.

We’ve got a single barrel store pick of a 6 yr old MGP 95/5 rye here with a limousin oak finoshing process coming in at 110 ish proof. I love MGP rye and at the sale price of 30 bucks i thought this was quite a bargain. And this isnt bad, i enjoy it. Its got most of the usual mgp rye traits that i love, spicy and herbal. But there is an additon of a licorice flavor, and a little bit of drying oak and bitterness at the end. It doesnt seem particularly sweet, there is not much vanilla or butterscotch. Its not really bright and vibrant, or dark and rich. Its kind of flat. Compared to all the other MGP rye’s ive tried at this point, this is my least favorite. It seems to me that whatever the limousin oak process is doing is making it worse for my tastes.

Nose is a lot of ethanol and buttherscotch. I have to let this one sit out for a while before i get anything Taste is butterscotch, honey roasted nuts. A little drying. Finish on this bottle is short. Tingles on the front of the palate and lips. This is a step up from standard 9 year but the flavor is more muted than I would like for the proof. Its also not very complex and it has a short finish. It doesnt strike me as very oaky for 9 years age. In fact, this particular single barrel is 9 yrs 11 mo, nearly 10 yrs old. Its not bad but comparing this to ECBP, RRSB, Rare Breed and even a younger MGP single barrel I think it is my least favorite of the bunch. At $50ish i can find this for its about the best price though.

The label on the back of the bottle says 5 year old but then the sticker on the side has barrel date 5/3/15 and bottle date 6/10/21, so really its 6 yr 1 mo? I’ve worked my way through a bottle and from start to end it wows me. Its all dark and rich, I dont get hardly any rye notes, nothing herbal or fruity at all which seems like it should be a disappointment because i love MGP rye. And it feels much older than 6 years. All those herbal notes seem to be covered up by the sweet oak. Just tons of sweet oak, but no ethanol, proof, drying or bitterness. That’s what really puts this bottle in the top tier for me. Nose: carmel, oak, maple syrup, butter, pecan, rum, cinnamon. A little rubber like a rum, but its not bad at all. Taste: Maple syrup and pecans on buttered pancakes with a sprinkling of cinnamon. Deeelicious. Drinks below its proof Finish: This is where the vanilla really kicks in. Absolute vanilla bomb for days at the end. A+++ for this one. I have not tried any other Tumblin dice barrels but this one is absolutely magic to me. Quick mention of price/value which is also A+ to me.

I love this whiskey, as i do most MGP based ryes. One of the things that strikes me is how thick it feels for its proof point. Typically below 100 proof it starts to feel thin to me but this is not. Drinks like a higher proof without the alcohol. Sweet, spicy, herbal, tropical, vanilla. Just delicious. Not a lot of oak but its not necessary here. Like an after dinner andes mint, refreshing.

Not to be confused with Clyde May’s Alabama style whiskey which has apple flavoring added to it. I’ll also mention i picked this up on sale for 30 bucks which is a steal for this bourbon. So we have here a 6 year old MGP bourbon at 110 proof. I saw some bad reviews of the 5 year bottling which gave me pause, but I am a big fan of MGP and took the chance. Nose - Apple, butterscotch, vanilla, oak Taste - similar to nose Finish - falls flat here Overall not bad. Probably not as good as the MGP single barrels of similar age I have tried, but at 6 yrs it has decent age, good flavor profile and good proof point. For the price I paid it is a great value. I think there is a little more apple on the flavor profile than standard MGP of this age which make me wonder if Clyde May is selecting MGP barrels with this flavor to complement their flavored whiskey.

This is good stuff! Barrel 2581 comes in at a lowly 103.6. Got it for a steal at $46. I can sum up this barrel with these notes - its like a key like pie with toasted graham cracker crust in a glass. Just a ton of citrus and then that toasty graham cracker. Now, that sounds amazing and it is pretty good but i can’t quite say that this bottle is amazing. There os a hint of bitterness and the finish falls flat. I cant help but feeling it would be better if it was a little older. It is not quite as good as my rossville union single barrels, or even my old pepper single barrel. I’m not quite sure if its as good as High West Double Rye which has a better finish, although is thinner. In any case, this is very good and I will be picking up any single barrel picks I come across. If you like MGP rye (you know, the best whiskey on plant earth) then you will be happy with this as an alternative.

I like this pretty well. I would say its better than a few of the scotches I’ve had such as Glenmorangie 10 and monkey shoulder which i use as mixers. This works well neat and shows notes like apricot and chocolate.