Tastes

The nose is that of a young bourbon, which is odd, because 6 years isn't necessarily that young. However, I think it's more of a fresh grain, with just a bit of fruit and a tiny bit of sour tang, on top of a small amount of charred barrel scent. The taste is very young grain, wheat prominent, with a citrus chocolate flavor, leaning more towards chocolate when air is introduced. Almost 100% no finish present, other than some barrel finish, but that's more taste than an actual spice in the mouth. Always love fellow military members (seems safe to assume this distillery is likely veteran heavy), and the packaging is shockingly familiar, but this one isn't all that for me. Looking forward to returning to the distillery, this time when it's open, to try all the other products.

Nose of honey and sherry, and loads of barrel spices mixed with cinnamon. The sherry flavor was there, and there is some barrel flavor, but the fact that the proof is so low is disappointing. I don't even want to write more, because, although this is good, it's definitely overhyped and not $300 worth it.

The smell is chocolately with a bit of cooked sugar. The initial taste is the expected heat and cinnamon of a rye whiskey, but a sweetness slowly creeps in, and the same chocolate and sugar on the nose help guide the finish into a decent hot, mouth-coating, lasting rye flavor.

A really lovely honey/pastry scent with a decent amount of ethanol. There's even a citrus note on the forefront and background, if you whiff from a distance. The barrel wood comes to the palate at the very beginning, and then transforms to fresh citrus and caramel, bouncing back and forth between sweet and slightly sour or bitter. The finish is very hot, almost similar to a rye, but this is clearly from the proof. Going back for more sips transforms the scent more and more into caramel, and sweetens the entire affair while still maintaining the strength of the proof behind it.

The nose is corn-full, but definitely has plenty of barrel depth with just the right amount of ethanol. The oak, with just a bit of smoke, is immediate on the palate, but once air is introduced, everything seems to fall apart. Using just standard Jim Beam as a reference, this has a stronger smokiness and the proof is obviously much higher, but seconds later the only thing that is left is pure ethanol with slight corn flavors. Having had the lower proof single barrel from Jim Beam (albeit a long time ago), this is surprisingly not an improvement, which is disappointing given the higher proof and being unfiltered.

Nose is light only at first glance, and then corn, and nothing but corn. The sweet smell gives way to just a bit of oak, but no char or smokiness abound. Low proof delivers the obvious downfall of no cask flavors upon tasting, which is a shame because I can tell this would be well enhanced at a higher proof. There are small bits and pieces of flavor profiles bouncing around, but all is overwhelmed by the corn. Sweetness does in fact blend into some smoky cask, but it's very subtle and gives way to the corn yet again for the finish, with a small oak sidecar. I can see now why this is popular; this is a clear winner for those who protest the wheated whiskeys and bourbons to the point of wanting the opposite end of the spectrum. Plus, it's dirt cheap, and that's what everyone seems to want. I can't really see the appeal to it, but more importantly, I'm finding it very hard to distinguish against other bottom shelf bourbons of the like, and that's why I have to rate it as such.

The scent has that iconic light vanilla sweetness Four Roses is known for, but with more of an ethanol bite, although not enough to steer you away. Out of the Four Roses products, small batch has always been my favorite, mostly for the mash bill choices. This entry, however, uses basically the opposite mash bills as the regular small batch. I can't speak to exactly how well the chosen 6 mash bills blend with each other, but I'm certainly not able to piece together the tasting notes from all 6 separate bourbons. There's a typical rye spice up front, but a powerful barrel/oak sweetness quickly takes over, and is actually impressive, especially given the increased proof. The finish is a slight return of the spice, but is overall quick and only lingers a bit with the before sweetness and a tiny bit of smoke.

Great dark color, but not enough to think it's artificial or from anything other than charred oak. The scent from a distance is nutty and light, but strong toasted oak and jammy wine flavors come alive when nosing the glass. The proof seems perfect for this application, since the blending of wine, bourbon, and sherry all have a corner to the palate here. A classic, middle-aged bourbon is the first thing to taste, then deep, dried fruit notes, likely from the wine, have a slight impact on the middle. The finish is clearly nutty and where the sherry comes in. A few minutes after the last sip, more and more toasted and even raw oak are easily tasted, smoothing out the finish for quite a while. As daring and odd as the Noe brothers have been lately, this is actually a great addition, with a really good price point.

The smell is weak of flavor, but the proof is still there. The taste is great on the lips, but once it gets past the teeth into the rest of the mouth, all flavor vanishes. This is a perfect example of how wheated bourbons can fall very flat if not given another attribute, such as age, proof, filtering, etc. The taste is slightly different, but this is just as watery as Maker's Mark, but I can't say I expected much for the price. A redeeming factor is that, although the taste is weak, the proof does come back around on the finish and at least gives this a partial leg to stand on.