Tastes

NOSE Cornbread, caramel, vanilla taffy, butterscotch, cereal grain sweetness, oak and peanuts and a touch of grassy fresh corn. The aroma has a balanced, diverse sweetness to it, a bit light overall in the delivery, but the range of grain to dark sweets makes it interesting with a touch of oak to ground it. PALATE Caramel, cornbread, vanilla taffy, butterscotch, cereal grain sweetness, oak and peanuts with a bit more of that grassy fresh corn and touches of herbal spice and roasted marshmallows. Palate is nearly the same with a more pronounced caramel and some added herbal spice and toasted marshmallow notes. FINISH Medium -> Dried corn, butterscotch, spice, oak and fresh corn. Finish is a soft sweet grainy fade that starts dry and ends fresh.

NOSE Oak, complex dilly spice, baking flour, dried dark fruit, toffee, roasted nuts, copper with a touch of grassy, leathery and sweet tobacco notes. The aroma packs a huge punch with a complex delivery that starts earthy, heads to spices, turns to sweet and dives back to earthy profiles in a deep dark circle. PALATE Oak, complex dilly spice, dried dark fruit, toffee, roasted nuts, leather, grainy sweetness and a touch musty and leathery. Palate keeps the same level of darkness and heaviness but loses some of the earthy tones and picks up some addition grain-sweet notes and a light mustiness. FINISH Long -> Oak, spice, metal, dark fruit and mustiness. The finish on the Redemption 10 Year Barrel Proof Rye is the kind of oaky-spicy fade you’d expect but with a light mustiness that, kinda, reminds me of Old Bottle Effect found in dusties.

NOSE Rich dark fruit, oak, leather, complex baking spice, pepper, dark sweets, oil, nuts and cocoa. It’s dense and filled with layers of dark fruit, dark sweets and leathery-oaky profiles – it’s a dark, velvety and alluring aroma. PALATE Oak, rich dark fruit, vanilla, complex baking spice, dark sweets, pepper, leather, oily nuts and cocoa. The palate of the Redemption 9 Year Barrel Proof Bourbon is even darker and oakier than the aroma without losing any of the nice baking and sweet notes. If anything, they’ve been kicked up a bit more here. FINISH Long -> Oak, dark fruit, vanilla, corn sweetness. It starts dark and heavy but fades out to lighter vanilla and corn-fueled sweetness without losing any of the oak.

NOSE Oak, dried dark fruit, caramel, spice, brownies, copper, candy sweetness, grain sweetness, oil and a touch of wood smoke. The aroma is so freaking deep and rich with oak and those darkly sweet and fruity notes, though what really draws me into the Redemption 10 Year Barrel Proof High Rye Bourbon is the pops of spice and the light whisp of wood smoke. PALATE Oak, dried dark fruit, brown sugar, dilly spice, sugar cookies, copper, candy sweetness, grain sweetness, oil and a touch of cocoa and wood smoke. Similar to the aroma, but pulls in a bit more bakery sweetness and brightens it up a touch without losing that intriguing wood smoke. FINISH Long -> Oak, spice, brown sugar, copper and wood smoke. Starts like a chunk of oak but fades out to a sweety-n-spicy-n-smoky chunk of oak.

NOSE Honied graham, fruit, caramel, melon rind, cocoa, marshmallow, grain and wood. The aroma is so light, there just isn’t much going on and what little is happening is watery and woody and… almost… crafty. PALATE Honied graham, fruit, caramel, wood, melon rind, marshmallow and some grain sweetness. It’s oddly even lighter, it’s like whiskey-flavored water, there’s just not much happening in this Redemption Wheated Bourbon and I find myself stretching and searching for signs of more. FINISH Short -> Honied graham, fruit and cereal sweetness that’s gone in a flash.

NOSE Graham crackers, brown sugar, oak, copper, citrus, vanilla, herbal, spice and a touch of cooking oil. It’s lightly metallic graham crackers with a lightly sweet frosting covering and a touch of herbaceousness. Rum doesn’t really come through. PALATE Honey, graham, oak, brown sugar, dried fruit, cooking oil, nuts, herbal, copper, dried corn and some bits of baking spice. Palate on the Redemption Rum Cask Finish Rye comes through a bit drier but with a more pronounced sweetness and an extra nuttiness and spiciness, but still no big rum note. FINISH Medium-long -> Spice, fruit, copper, oak, herbal and a touch of “rum”. Finish slowly draws out to a warm oaky herbal note and right before it disappears the only concrete “rum” note pops up.

NOSE Graham crackers, brown sugar, oak, copper, citrus, vanilla, herbal, spice and a touch of cooking oil. It’s lightly metallic graham crackers with a lightly sweet frosting covering and a touch of herbaceousness. Rum doesn’t really come through. PALATE Honey, graham, oak, brown sugar, dried fruit, cooking oil, nuts, herbal, copper, dried corn and some bits of baking spice. Palate on the Redemption Rum Cask Finish Rye comes through a bit drier but with a more pronounced sweetness and an extra nuttiness and spiciness, but still no big rum note. FINISH Medium-long -> Spice, fruit, copper, oak, herbal and a touch of “rum”. Finish slowly draws out to a warm oaky herbal note and right before it disappears the only concrete “rum” note pops up.

NOSE Dill, copper, vanilla taffy, oak, dark fruit, citrus zest, Smarties, herbal spice and a touch of caramel. Aroma is that oh-so-familiar dilly MGP 95/5 rye character that’s really comes to signify the resurgence of rye in the last 15 years. PALATE Dill, vanilla taffy, oak, dark fruit, sugar cookies, citrus zest, copper, Smarties, herbal spice and a touch of caramel. Palate of the Redemption Rye rides a similar profile with a bit more sweetness pulling in a nice sugar cookie note to compliment the oaky-dilly-herbal-spice. FINISH Long -> Copper, oak, citrus zest and dilly spice. The finish starts metallic and fades out to that signature dilly spice in a soft drawl.

NOSE Dried grain, oak, dried dark fruit, baking spice, cereal grain sweetness, honey, vanilla and some strawberry shortcake and toffee. It carries an earthy, human-like, note that mixes with the softly sweet and grainy notes and it reminds me of working on my uncle’s farm as a kid, so strange – yet nice PALATE Oak, dried dark fruit, baking spice, dried grain, Belgian Waffles, caramel, dried apples and a touch grassy and powdered cocoa. Deeper, oakier and more darkly fruity and sweet than the aroma, but the palate on this Cascade Moon Edition 2 carries a slightly yeasty waffle undertone that’s surprising and lovely FINISH Med-long -> Dried grain, oak, apple cider spice, chalky cocoa, copper and grassy. It’s a warm velvety fade that starts brooding but ends up bright.

NOSE Oak, cherry-heavy dried dark fruit, cocoa, leather, roasted nuts, honeysuckle, brown sugar, spiced and candied orange peel and a touch of vanilla. This is about as classic of a Booker’s aroma as you can get: oaky and darkly sweet with a candied and nutty underpinning. PALATE Oak, cherry-heavy dried dark fruit, roasted nuts, cocoa, leather, honeysuckle, brown sugar, spiced and candied orange peel and touches of vanilla and herbal notes. A near carbon copy of the aroma but with the nuttiness sitting higher and a slight herbal punch that’s fairly unique to the Booker’s 2020-03 Pigskin Batch. FINISH Long -> Oak, dried dark fruit, caramel, vanilla and peanuts that seems to fade for days.