Tastes

Aroma comes through rather muted, with little going on below the crafty woodiness that dominates; Palate again is dominated with that crafty-woody profile and ends up coming through like an “ok craft whiskey”; Finish picks up the most spice and even an interesting smoky note – definitely my favorite part of this whiskey.

Aroma is fairly on par with the regular release except there’s very little of that woody-crafty profile coming through, it’s there, but in the back and more of the dark spice, fruit and sweets notes are coming through; Palate follows suite and is warmer and richer than the standard with a more complex sweets array and, again, the craft note hiding out in the back; Finish shows the most similarity with the old standard release with that woody-craft note makes a noticeable showing.

Aroma starts woody and crafty but with some nice sweet and spicy notes that try to climb to the top, as it opens it gets quite floral but never overwhelms – kind of an odd and quirky profile; Palate pulls through the woody, spicy and sweet aspects, but surprisingly the floral aspect as well – not an artificial and soapy floral, but a more vegetal floral, like the edible flowers placed on small dishes at fancy restaurants; Finish is easily my favorite part and pulls through a nice balance of sweet, rustic and spicy notes.

Aroma is warm and oaky, approaching an almost musty funk along with the sweetness… like an olde tyme candy shop that needs airing out; Palate gets more oak and spice, but walks along the same path more-or-less; Finish picks up an interesting soapiness that strangely doesn’t detract at all, but is light enough to work well.

Aroma screams “young craft whiskey” with that raw woody note dominating – water pulls it down a bit and lets other notes come up… but not by much; Palate falls prey to the same scenario and what’s under the raw saw-dust-meets-cardboard profile is light and fruity; Finish pulls out more of that craft woody/cardboard note and does nothing for me.

Aroma is damn nice with some good fruity notes pairing well with the oak and darkly sweet notes giving it an elegant dessert profile; Palate is sweet and bready but intensely interesting with its delivery of dessert bar meets rustic outing profile; Finish gets fruitier as it goes – diving into a caramelized banana flavor before it disappears.

Aroma is light and nuanced but what’s there is nice with the sweet and rustic notes playing out in unison; Palate follows the same but with a bit more candy-like sweetness and fewer of the rustic notes to fully balance out; Finish is a soft sweet and oaky fade that comes through as my favorite aspect of this bourbon.

Aroma was confusing at first and then it hit me… my old car – this smells like my High School car on a hot day, an 80’s Honda Civic, and after that connected the notes of baseball cards, pencil erasers and air-freshener citrus unfolded; Palate is more college-level with notes of biting a Solo cup to free your hands for beer-pong, ash, more pencil erasers and late nights that leave a metallic taste in the morning; Finish lives nowhere and is a quick fade of chemical caramel and nothingness.

Aroma has a fairly standard delivery for rye and doesn’t stand out from other good ryes, like Pikesville rye, with a solid oaky, spicy and darkly sweet character; Palate is where it diverges and forges its own profile with the light raw/grassy notes showing up and the pancake note getting more pronounced; Finish starts nice but hits a light medicinal point that isn’t exactly my favorite thing.

Aroma starts kind of light and muted, but after a few minutes in the glass it blossoms and becomes a nice bouquet of oaky, spicy and sweet citrusy notes with a touch of dark sweetness; Palate comes through as a more complex version of the aroma with more fruit notes and a bigger dose of the dill-like spice; Finish is the perfect dark fade of oak and sweets with a bright pop of citrus.