Tastes

Barrel number 3 of 250, about 7 years and two months in the barrel. Caramel Apple Jacks on the nose, with a little bit of Bazooka bubble gum and peanut shell. The palate has the same notes, plus cinnamon and little oak on the finish. It’s a crazy good value at the 32.50+tax I paid. I think I like it better than the recent 10 year Knob special release, but you can’t go wrong with either. Hopeful this is an ongoing trend of well-priced tasty special releases.

Noses nut medley with peanut and almond, powdered sugar, praline, vanilla, oak. Palate is caramel, something slightly fruity like a little bit of Cherry Capri Sun, cinnamon, generic nut, oak, vanilla. Lengthy finish. It's not super exciting, but it retains some Knobbyness while being better than the standard release and priced well. Good enough that I'd be interested to see what edition 2 has to offer.

Batch 3, bottled at 56.9ABV. The nose has a lot of the woody Armagnac notes along with tobacco leaves, grape skin, apricot, and burnt caramel. There's a slight vegetal note, but it doesn't register as something recognizable from the rye. The palate starts with juicy red fruits - berries, cherries, then brings the rye spice, including cinnamon, allspice, pepper, mint. The spices coat the palate and linger for some time. The empty glass somehow smells like tobacco leaves and reminiscent of its namesake, but like Bill, I didn't inhale.

On the nose walnut, rummy banana, vanilla toasted marshmallow, oak. The palate is sweet caramel up front, then leans into the oaky notes going into the finish. A smidge of cherry vanilla cola comes out on the finish. The empty glass is quite peanutty. Good bourbon, er Tennessee whiskey, but not one I would overpay for.

On the nose dried fruit - more date than raisin. Dried mango. Dried orange peel. Toffee. Varnished wood. The palate starts with toffee, then the dried fruits, nutty Christmas cake, followed by some baking spices and old leather, cherry pipe tobacco. It's a pretty spicy finish, but the fruit and the toffee and the leather linger on.

The finishes are strong on the nose. Cherry and vermouth stand out. The herbal note is there, whether from the bitters or rye, or both. The palate follows suit with lots of cherry up front. The spicy rye is felt on the mid-palate, followed by the vermouth note going into the finish. All seem to come back with the finish. This is a really well-made finished rye. Another winner in my rye tastings lately.

The nose is full of sherry - berry, raisin, dark chocolate, also banana, but the sweet rye lurks in the background. Citrus and burnt sugar. Slight herbal note. The palate starts with fruity sherry notes, then pivots into rye territory with sweet citrus, carmelized herbs, vanilla, almond liqueur? Really enjoyable whiskey. 4-4.25 range.

Everything you would want in a 10-year-old MGP 95-5 rye. This particular bottle is from a barrel pick by Houston Bourbon Society, bottle 73/114, 62.6 ABV. Citrus, cherry, caramel, clove, sweet black tea, vanilla. There's not quite dill, but maybe dill's shadow. Eucalyptus, spearmint. Deep and layered. Sweet, herbal, oaky. Long Indiana hug, i like it with a good bit of water. The Sagamore 10 is very good, but I think this is better.

The nose is orange eucalyptus mint tea. Caramel. Polished wood. It's the kind of nose that doesn't rush you to take a sip. Pause and enjoy. The palate has a lot of spice from the jump. Cinnamon, clove, then caramelized orange, vanilla. The finish is sweet and woody. A little mint. Great whiskey, attractive bottle, very well-priced. What's not to like?

This barrel was dumped a few days short of 9 years. It's hard to get past peanut shell on the nose. While the recent tasting of the 12 year had peanut brittle, this is like sticking my nose in a bag of peanuts in the shell. Faint vanilla in the background, but mostly peanut. The palate continues the heavy peanut shell with a little sugary vanilla. I don't recall ever experiencing this much peanut in a Russell's Single Barrel. It's also been several years since I had any Russell's, so not sure if this is a really off-profile single barrel, or if this is what the SB has become. I'd still consider this fine to good bourbon, but I used to think of Russell's Single Barrel as one of my favorite bourbons. Wouldn't include this one at the top of my list. But it seems like even if you tried to make a peanut flavored whiskey, you wouldn't get closer than this, and that's gotta count for something.