Tastes

N: Intense sweet corn, caramel, barrel wood, spice, smoke, char, ethanol. M: Vanilla, butterscotch, toffee, cooked corn, cinnamon, baking spice, mineral bitterness. Touch of heat. Light mouthfeel. F: Oak, char, smoke, ethanol, mineral chalk. Some vanilla, lightly spiced. This one is not really for me. It's an okay bourbon that I had no difficulty finishing, but the profile leans too far in the wood category for my taste. If that's your thing, by all means... _______ Please come join an unofficial Distiller community on Discord: https://discord.gg/VSmCvzAQfH. We chat spirits (and other things) in real time while being a great resource to each other for recommendations, finding deals, and generally enjoying the journey together. (If the link is expired, please post a comment and I will provide a new one.)

N: Strawberry, peach, pear, caramel, floral notes, maybe some cut grass, mint and other dried herbs. Lots going on and working in a couple different directions. Nice. P: Caramel, vanilla, strawberry, stone fruit, buttercream, baking spice, fresh bread, some pine, some dried herbs. Smooth, creamy, rich mouthfeel. F: Baking spice, dash of cinnamon, fruit and the consistent dried herbs from the nose and palate. A savory toasted bread with some earthy notes. Little bit of heat, but not much. A lovely dram, no doubt, but about par for the age and price. Nothing stands out, good or bad. Wouldn't have a problem grabbing another, but not in any hurry to do so either. _______ Please come join an unofficial Distiller community on Discord: https://discord.gg/VSmCvzAQfH. We chat spirits (and other things) in real time while being a great resource to each other for recommendations, finding deals, and generally enjoying the journey together. (If the link is expired, please post a comment and I will provide a new one.)

N: Cinnamon, butterscotch, banana, charred oak, ethanol (and a little too much of that). P: Caramel cream, butterscotch, milk chocolate, cinnamon. F: Lot's of heat in the transition. Charred oak, banana, banana bread, cinnamon, faint mineral bitterness, long lingering brown sugar sweetness. This is my favorite of the Barton's. Really, it's the only one I would repeat, assuming I find it without a markup - I've seen it both ways. _______ Please come join an unofficial Distiller community on Discord: https://discord.gg/VSmCvzAQfH. We chat spirits (and other things) in real time while being a great resource to each other for recommendations, finding deals, and generally enjoying the journey together. (If the link is expired, please post a comment and I will provide a new one.)

04/01/21 printed on the bottle. Other numbers are rubbed off, but could be a 21/01. I don't know enough about the batches to know what that means, but someone reading this probably does. I assume at least it means bottled Jan 4, 2021. N: Apple, citrus, heather, flowers, dried herbs. Mild peatiness that takes the form of cooked fruit and vegetables. Might be a dash of baking spice in it too. P: Sweet fruit up front with more of the apple and citrus from the nose. Gives way to a spicy caramel and vanilla bomb that just seems to swirl on the tongue over and over. Bitter herbs and dried flowers lead into the finish which then brings more caramel and vanilla with sweetened cinnamon spice, lingering cooked fruit, and a salty ocean vibe. Long after most whiskies are done, the finish here continues to change: citrus, floral notes, and finally, an almost hop-like bitter quality that lays on top of a woodsy, spicy, and somehow just plain elegant cinnamon candy note. This stuff is terrible. Please, if you see this on a shelf, especially in Los Angeles County - and let's say any neighboring county too - leave a comment below letting me know where and I will make sure it is disposed of properly. Elsewhere in the country, we may have people who can help - see below. _______ Please come join an unofficial Distiller community on Discord: https://discord.gg/VSmCvzAQfH. We chat spirits (and other things) in real time while being a great resource to each other for recommendations, finding deals, and generally enjoying the journey together. (If the link is expired, post a comment and I will provide a new one.)

N: Citrus, dash of coconut, lemon, too much ethanol. P: Sweet with lemon and orange early. Moves to baking spice with some warm bread, vanilla, and caramel mid-palate. Holding it on the tongue brings out bitterness and basically makes you want to swallow and move along. Some tropical fruit. Finish has some heat - cinnamon spice, mostly - and lingering citrus bitterness (more palatable now). There's also some baking spice and eventually some lime. This is... okay. Worth taking home once, not likely to be repeated. _______ Please come join an unofficial Distiller community on Discord: https://discord.gg/VSmCvzAQfH. We chat spirits (and other things) in real time while being a great resource to each other for recommendations, finding deals, and generally enjoying the journey together. (If the link is expired, post a comment and I will provide a new one.)

N: Sweet corn heavy early, but it gives way to lighter berry notes (strawberry even?) and some caramel covered banana. Not a lot of depth and a good dash of ethanol, but okay for the price point. P: Caramel with vanilla deeper in the background behind that. Sweet corn, honey, and maybe some stone fruit. Cinnamon starts to build strong with the second sip. Maybe a few other baking spices in there complicating that. Definite oak tannin and heat, but no particularly noticeable bitterness. Finish brings more caramel, some herbal notes, some mineral notes, middling heat, and finally, late in the finish, a little black licorice. Back in May, a local shop here ran a deal where if you bought three of these puppies, you could get bottle of ECBP for about normal retail. I'd never had these before, but I figured the deal could also be worked out the other way: buy an ECBP (at the normal markup) and get three of these for free. The numbers were fairly close. Anyway, clearly I pulled the trigger. And now I'm just past halfway down on the third bottle. (Barely touched the ECBP btw - not for any particular reason, just has worked out that way.) I've actually quite enjoyed these bottles. It's a good amount of flavor for the price point. The profile is pretty classic bourbon, well executed. It doesn't require much thought or effort to enjoy and so it makes a nice weeknight pour. It's paired really nicely with a few cigars. I really can't think of anything bad to say about it. I can say there are definitely better, more complex, more interesting bourbons on the market, but none that I can think of sub-$20. Closest I can get is my beloved Buffalo Trace, which usually runs $22-26 around here. The BT is a definite step above this, but it also sometimes disappears from shelves for a few weeks at a time. This would make for an easy and obvious substitute in my rotation for the BT. And I think that's a pretty solid compliment. _______ Please come join an unofficial Distiller community on Discord: https://discord.gg/VSmCvzAQfH. We chat spirits (and other things) in real time while being a great resource to each other for recommendations, finding deals, and generally enjoying the journey together. (If the link is expired, post a comment and I will provide a new one.)

Batch No. 94. Aged 5 years. N: Sweet corn, cinnamon soap, baking spice. Mild oak notes. A little more time in the glass and the baking spice develops into a gingersnap cookie. More corn and then some hints of fruit. P: A bit thin at entry. Then caramel, faint vanilla, sweet corn, toasted white bread with a little bit of butter. Some faint green rye grain notes which bring along some herbal notes that almost lean toward white tea. Finish is sweet cinnamon with very little heat (if any), and then a long-lingering sweet caramel candy with hints of vanilla and sweet oak. Long, but very gentle finish. I'd been curious to try a Wyoming bottle for some time. I really like the commitment to local ingredients. I read somewhere something along the lines that this distillery is trying to make something that's not a Kentucky bourbon made somewhere else, that they subscribe to the idea that where this is made influences this juice to make it something unique in the market. I like that idea. I'm not sure how it holds up in this bottle, but this is really solid. It is different than your average Kentucky bourbon - it's softer, less sweet and less hot, which leaves you wondering what's left. Well, it has some nuance that is often bombed out by oak on entry level (or second level) Kentucky offerings. It's not one I'm likely to repeat - it just doesn't make much sense at the price - but it's good enough that I'm curious to see what else Wyoming has to offer. _______ Please come join an unofficial Distiller community on Discord: https://discord.gg/VSmCvzAQfH. We chat spirits (and other things) in real time while being a great resource to each other for recommendations, finding deals, and generally enjoying the journey together. (If the link is expired, post a comment and I will provide a new one.)

N: Caramel cream, shaving soap, herbs, baking spice - especially cardamom and cumin. Maybe some hints of berries in the corners. P: Fruity - definitely some berries on the first sip. Caramel, fresh herbs, maybe a dash of dill, and some mint laying on top of some fresh orchard fruit. Finish is brings some oak bitterness, but more fruit and caramel sweetness. Plenty of herbs and also some mineral whispers. A serviceable rye. Nothing really stands out about it, good or bad. The fruitiness of it is nice, but never quite rises above the fray enough to distinguish this from other ryes in this price range, and there are also plenty of cheaper ryes that offer more (EC rye can be had for a few bucks less, Old Overholt BiB rye is a personal favorite at about $22), but this profile might work better for some. _______ Please come join an unofficial Distiller community on Discord: https://discord.gg/VSmCvzAQfH. We chat spirits (and other things) in real time while being a great resource to each other for recommendations, finding deals, and generally enjoying the journey together. (If the link is expired, post a comment and I will provide a new one.)