Tastes

Boy do I like this! Seriously excellent stuff. This is Act 6 Scene 6 and I'm lead to believe that, starting with Act 6, this has some of High West's own distillate blended in where previous iterations were all sourced. Nose: Vanilla, corn flakes, baking spices, dried fruits like cherries and figs, toasted almonds, brown sugar, poached apples. This just keeps getting more complex as I sniff. Flavor: Honestly...like fruit cake but not shitty. Dark caramelized sugar, some cereal notes, more dark dried fruits, a little port barrel funk, lots of baking spices from the European oak, and a hint of banana. Finish: Long. Much longer than I expected and it changes as it goes. Mixed baking spices with some rye spice, a little bit of mint, black pepper, and more fortified wine funk. This stuff is seriously delicious! Get it.

Excited to try this as I 'm a fan of the 1792 lines but I tend not to like the less aged items and am super in to the Full Proof and even more so the 12 Year. Nose: Toasted pecan, dark caramelized sugar, vanilla, dried cherries. Flavor: Lacking the harshness from the ethanol of the standard 1792 bottlings. Sweeter as well. Dark dried red fruits, vanilla, caramel, a little bit of barrel funk that I associate with fortified wine finished whiskey, and very little alcohol bite. Finish: Medium short, a little spicy and nutty, a little drying as well. A little bit of funk that is somewhere between stinky weed and skunk that I found just a hair off-putting but not enough that I hated it. Overall I liked it and I'd drink it again. If I found a bottle at MSRP (Yeah Right!) I'd buy it but not at secondary.

A generous sample from dthom as part of the "whiskey transfer program". Very excited to try this as I really like Booker's and Little Book. Nose: Very complex. Right away I'm hit with caramel apples but there is a vanilla malty undertone almost like I'd expect from an Irish Whiskey. Some funk in here too that reminds me of tropical fruit changing that initial apple in to more of a mango. As it sits in the glass I start to get the signature Beam roasted peanuts with honey and dried figs. Flavor: Caramel cream, boiled peanuts, vanilla, dark sugars, crème brulee. Wow this is good! Thick mouth feel and punches way under its weight for the proof. Finish: Very long. Starts off nutty and then quickly turns sweet/spicy and gets oaky but not very drying. As it sits the spice fades in to a pleasant black pepper note with more toasted nuts and toasted coconut. This stuff is delicious! I could see paying MSRP of $200 for it but the secondary over $600 I'd have a hard time doing. Definitely the best Booker's I've tasted and it should be. Extra points for the cool packaging with the box being reclaimed wood from a rickhouse floor described as "reclaimed wood that Booker Noe once walked on."

A generous sample from dthom as part of the "whiskey transfer program". Very excited to get in to this as I tried it at Whiskeyfest SF but it was probably my 25th sample and I don't recall a whole lot other than that I enjoyed it. Nose: Butterscotch up front with dark wood notes, toasted pine nuts, a hint of spearmint, vanilla, and a musty note like old library (I like books). Flavor: Sweet vanilla and dark sugars with some toasted coconut and dried dates. Fairly strong herbal rye notes but not overpowering and playing very nicely with the sweeter notes. A fairly thick mouthfeel. Finish: Medium long with rye spice and more herbal notes transitioning in to a lightly drying toasted oaky finish with some clove, cinnamon, and cardamom and then a cedar note to finish. I like this and it's super complex but I didn't love it as much as I did during the fest. Admittedly the flavors then were playing with a lot of other samples I'd had as well as my somewhat inebriated state at that point. At $50-$60 this is a solid deal. More I'd probably pass.

A generous sample from dthom as part of the "Whiskey transfer program". Dying to try this. I LOVED Volume 1 and am a big fan of the other Jim Beam lines so this is very exciting. Nose: Sweet dark sugars up front, orange peel, cedar, toasted almond, toasted coconut. Smells like everything I love about volume 1 with none of the things I don't. Flavor: Much milder than I thought at first. Dark caramelized sugars, toasted almond and coconut, creamy mouthfeel, dark toasted wood, honey, and more orange peel. Finish: Spicy and sweet, a lot like honey both mouthfeel and flavor, lingers for a long time with nutty woody notes. Wow is this delicious. Everything I like about the small batch Beam lines but turned up to 11 with the higher proof and extra aging. Not an everyday drinker as, much like the Booker's items, you really have to be in the right mood for something this strong and powerful but wow.

A sample from dthom as part of the "whiskey transfer program". Very excited to try this. Nose: Very nutty with deep wood notes. Boiled peanuts, dark caramelized sugars, vanilla, and an odd yeasty note that almost comes across like a cross between white bread and hand lotion. It's not off putting but a little weird. Background orange peel. Flavor: Super nutty but tending more towards toasted pecan, more dark sugars, vanilla, leather, tobacco, and pencil shavings. Finish: Medium long with quite a bit of barrel bitter and dark wood notes which fades in to a sweeter note with cedar and lots of clove and nutmeg. Overall this is super interesting and a little more easy to drink than Booker's. I like the Booker's stuff but you kind of have to brace yourself for it and this is quite a bit more drinkable. Highly recommend.

A barrel pick by my favorite local store, Bottle Barn. 3 Year cask strength (107 proof) MGP. Can't go wrong with anything Jason from Bottle Barn selects. If you're lucky enough to get one of his Four Roses picks look out! I'd never heard of Old Pepper Rye. No surprise seeing as I had to submit for it to be added to Distiller. I've seen the 10 year bourbon going for WAY too much at my local place but for $40 for a barrel pick rye why not? Nose: Very grassy spicy notes with vanilla, lemon peel, strong ethanol, and some of that "too young" piney whiskey nose. Flavor: Still a little bit of young pine but sweet and spicy with more herbal grassy notes. A little bit alcohol forward but big on the sweet heat. Finish: Barrel char, black pepper, and then more sweet herbal notes. Not super hot. It's a little young with some of those pine notes that indicate it needed more time in barrel but overall it's solid for the price. A nice sweet and spicy rye with some herbal notes that make it complex and interesting. I think in a year or two more in barrel this would be dynamite instead of just ok.

Nose: Light sugars, vanilla, orange peel, dark dried fruits like dates, sherry funk, and grapey wine notes mixed with brandy. Very pleasant. Flavor: Sweet wine notes play with more dried dates and cherries. Citrus peel abound. Finish: Quite a bit of sweet barrel char, light cloves and tobacco almost like a clove cigarette, finishes sweeter than the other varieties. This one is nice. I approve of the sherry finish and not too funky which I sometimes find off putting.

Nose: Sweet sugar notes, vanilla, peach, musty funky notes that come from that wine finish, a little bit of grapey background funk as well, and a hint of orange peel. Flavor: Very thick and buttery but far too sweet for my liking. Nondescript sweet wine notes overpower any other flavors I'm trying to get. Finish: Shorter than the other varieties with light barrel char and heavy grapey sweet wine notes. Finishes sweet transitioning to a little bit of a drying barrel note and then gone. Kind of disappointing. Too much sweet wine flavor that masks everything else. Not a fan. This is my first sauternes finished whiskey and I'm thinking I'll avoid in the future.

I don't like this nearly as much as the original 10 year. Some very weird notes on the nose have me wondering if this sample bottle is bad. Nose: Light sugars, vanilla, mango, apricot, and...a hint of wet dog. Why? Flavor: Tastes much nicer than it smells. Some darker caramelized sugars, creamy mouthfeel, toasted almonds. Finish: Medium length with some sweet barrel char, baking spices like clove and cinnamon, and a bit of black pepper spice. Very weird. I like the flavor and finish but the nose has a very off putting wet dog smell. Bad sample bottle?