Tastes

Nose has roasted peanuts and salted caramel with a hint of apple butter. The peanuts go a little minerally on the palate. Apple is there with cinnamon. The finish os peanut butter and pepper. Ends a little bitter.

Nose is sweet and nutty with a slight soapiness. Palate hits withpeanuts and icing. A nice spice level as well and good heat. Peoper lingers on the lips for the finish.

Nose has sweet fruit and fall spice, cardamom and nutmeg. Palate is a bit spicier bringing cinnamon and chocolate, and a hint of oak. Not very woody considering it's rebarreled. Finish is quick but pleasant. All in all a nice well balanced mellow whiskey.

Nice nose, light. Freshly sliced apples, sweet cherries, and burnt sugar and a touch of wood. Palate follows suit, a very easy 115.84 pr. Apple butter comes through sweet and fruity. A touch of raw pie dough and cinnamon is present. Finish is a bit disappointing, very short. Overall I like this as a sipper and think it woulld be a nice intro to barrel proof for those acclimated to 80-100pr whiskies.

Nose has notes of caramel and herbs. Palate hits with hot pepper which lingers. Along the way, sweet salted caramel, anise, and coffee candies make an appearance. Finish is a little bitter. Ice killed the nose, but eased the rough edges on the palate nicely, bringing cinnamon foward as well. This bottle brings together the notes from MGP's 95% and 51% ryes making it quite interesting. I'm not sure the sum is better than the parts, however.

HyVee LS West 2023 Holiday Pick, 114 Proof Nose is very oaky with a lot of toasted white bread. Palate is pleasant, light fall spice, light oak, followed by pepper. Not overly sweet. Finish brings a touch of cocoa, and pepper permits. A very nice sipper with someone moving into BP whiskeys.

I've had this bottle for several years and mostly use it in blind tastings. Just now realized I never wrote any notes on it. For the proof, the nose is light, but very nice. Cherries, prunes, cinnamon, bubble gum, and hay, but does not fill the sensory with alcohol. The palate follows suit with a slight floral note. Spice dominates but still very balanced. Finish is medium, with cinnamon fading to light apple amd finally dark chocolate. Less cherry than I usually pick up from Brown Foreman. Definitley over priced, but more nuanced than Old Forester 1920, and the bottle is gorgeous.

Lukas Liquour 24220, 12/22, 109.1 proof Sweet apple and fig nose. MM consistent minimal legs in the glass. Pleasant but light nose, stewed sweet applea and light fall spice. Palate follows with a smoky emphasis. Ice brings the apple forwaed, but smoke remains. The private selection series is so variable and hit and miss, this one seens to be ib thw middle. Price is right.

Hyvee LSMO, 12331, 10/23, Caramel Granache, 110.5 Proof Typical MM apple nose, more apple butter than green apple, with a hint of coriander and nutmeg. No legs to speak of. Palate follows with a hit of spice and smoke. Ice helps mellow the profile, but nothing spectacular.

Barrel 1363. Nose starts out musty and moves into toasted rye bread and a touch of pine. Decent legs in the glass. The palate hits strong with white pepper and it slowly grabs your whole mouth and holds on for quite a while, especially on the rim of your tongue. Their is a hint of licorice but the pepper completely dominates. I like this but it is monolithic. I let this sit with some ice for a few minutes as sometimes that helps bring out depth in whiskey. This did back off the pepper some and let some rye flavor come forward, but not enough to turn this into a sipper. This was a store pick and had been on the shelves for a while. I think that's why the price was so low ($32). Seems like I usually see these for the low to mid $40's. I think this is a 95% rye from MGP, not sute, though. I've definitely had better picks from Pepper, but can't complain. I think this bottle is destined for cocktails.