Tastes

Tasted neat in a glen; neck pour; rested for 15. Nose: dusty cola and dark chocolate, faint oak, hints of fruit which skewed towards a port wine. This nose was really interesting. Palate: very sweet (sweet corn), turned a bit to caramel mid-palate, hints of the ~55% ABV came out with subtle heat Finish: butterscotch pudding, and faded to almost kind of like root beer cola; again, subtle heat t8ke: 8.5/10 After thoughts: these flew off the shelves; was lucky I found a a BRT-01 and BRT-02 in PA @ SRP. The guy ahead bought the full case of both before me (no store limits) - which was frustrating when you’re just trying to… try. I’ll give this another go and edit after the neck pour and see if it opens up more. I really enjoyed its nose, but the palate left a bit to be desired as it was predominantly sweet corn. Still, it’s Maker’s LE — a great bourbon — and pretty much what I expected.

Neck pour. Rested neat in a glen for 15. Nose: predominantly burnt brown sugar and maple pancakes. One of the nicest, sweetest nose bourbons I’ve smelled to date. Palate: immediately sweet vanilla, raisins, rye pops a bit Finish: cinnamon / red hots, skewing a little towards an allspice; pleasant heat at the end with faint barrel char Thoughts: I’ve been wanting to try this for a while (have heard great things about their Double Oaked variety). I realize it’s coming in young with NAS (claimed to be at ~4 years), but this is kind of difficult to justify at its price point.

Nose: mainly oak Palate: buttery, first thought was “this tastes like gingerbread”. Very sweet. Rye and spice started to come out 20 or so minutes in. Finish: a good deal of rye in the end Really enjoyed this dram for my brother’s wedding down at Greg Norman Steakhouse in SC!

Blue won this hands down. No detailed notes now after 20+ tasters but Blue Spot won with a very close second to Red; then Yellow. Green was a bit of a let down, but that may just have been because of the comparative to how great the other Spots were in the vertical.

Wow. This hit the mark for Islays and peated tastes. Favorite taste of the night by far.

Rested about ~20-30 minutes. Nose: sweet, some fruits, maybe a touch of vanilla pudding, notes of almond extract, small hint of oak Palate: early on the first thing I noticed was a super thin mouthfeel; it’s virtually absent. Some cinnamon-apples. The longer this sat, the nuttier it got — primarily, almonds on the nose and into the palate. Finish: little bit of bite on the the end, but overall it stayed pretty sweet I won’t grab another bottle. Might make a good mixer. Happy Labor Day!

Tasted neat in a glen. Nose: touch of oak; I personally can’t draw much from the nose. Palate: first note is immediately sweet candied pecans/peanuts and a nice rich, oily viscosity. This dram really didn’t bring much heat, as the sweet buttery palate dominated most hints of spice. Finish: candied pecans/peanuts hang around, and the finish is very mellow for a BP. Maybe it’s been the ryes lately and this was my one of my first forays back into wheat, but this is a very mellow bourbon from the first sip into its finish. I thoroughly enjoyed it and wish it were more accessible! t8ke: 9/10

Peanut on the front of the palate. A tad spicy.

First ever pour, neat in a glen. This may be the closest thing to a “cherry cola” bourbon I’ve had. Color: deep amber/copper Nose: mostly picked up oak, but the longer this sat out, the more sweet fruits and graham crackers came out on the nose Palate: oily, viscous, very, very sweet —lots of notes of fruits — primarily cherry 🍒 Finish: leads into some rye spice, a bit of a lingering bitter citrus element there as well in the after taste which was really pleasant t8ke: 9/10 What a phenomenal bourbon! Maybe even more so than one of my go-to favorites, WTRB.

Tasted neat in a glen (last tasting was last summer in July in the Poconos with friends). Nose: a bit of leather, tobacco and oak Palate: front of the lip is very sweet and definitely nutty (thinking peanuts). Hits the tongue and some spice lands. Finish: nuts continue Would definitely buy again for < $60, as I got this in NJ. Willett’s products unfortunately aren’t available in VA.