Tastes

Nose - (w/o water) Initially very hot but tames with about 15 mins of air time, dark vanilla toffee, leather, dark chocolate, syrupy dried dark stone fruits (w/ water) exponentially less heat, more mellow toffee, addition of dark cherries to nose. Taste - (w/o water) Chewy, oily mouthfeel, white pepper tingle, dark chocolate covered syrupy dried dark stone fruits, ginger, orange zest (w/o water) heat is all but gone, more milk chocolate, very fruity still, orange zest more prominent, dried dark fruits, dried berries. Finish - (w/o water) Lingering dark chocolate covered fruit, ginger spice, fruity sweet, light bitter berry fruit (w/ water) less spice tingle, more balanced fruity chocolaty sweet Score - 93/100 Final Thoughts - This was initially super hot on the nose but after a bit of air time it tamed quite a bit. Once it does though, it does have a great nose, albeit a tiny bit one dimensional with chocolate covered dark fruits w/ a hint of toffee, but it's great. Oddly enough, this is only 48% but I find that it's a bit hot at that proof and it takes a tiny bit of water wonderfully. A tiny bit of water opens everything up, eliminates the burn and the flavors seem a lot more balanced and just pop out more. This is a fantastic dram when you want something desserty or a nice sherry bomb. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Yes Would I buy a bottle? - Yes

Nose - Vanilla, dark toffee, hint of orange & candied ginger, dried cherries, cranberries, raisins, prunes, light leather, cocoa. Taste - Pleasant warm tingle, orange peel, candied ginger, light bitter spices, bitter dark chocolate, plums/prunes, pecan nutty bitter sweet. Finish - Lingering ginger/orange spice tingle, lingering nutty bittersweet pecans, hint of dark dried stone fruits. Score - 85/100 Final Thoughts - This one has a fantastic nose. Sadly it was a bit of a disappointment on the palate as I got a lot more bitter notes in it than I expected based upon the nose. It was good, but I didn't expect to get so many bitter notes from all sides, whether it came from a chocolaty bitter, to a fruity bitter, to a nutty bitter. Usually a dram can have a few notes, but if it's balanced out it really really works, but in this case it became a bit distracting. Overall it's still tasty, but I think the nose is by far the best thing about it. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - No Would I buy a bottle? - No

Nose - Lightly spiced honey (ginger?), faint sweet nuts, barrel aged white wine stewed raisins/plums. Taste - Nice & oily mouthfeel, light ginger spice, hints of vanilla & honey, stewed raisins/plums, light almond skin bitterness. Finish - Lingering light ginger spice, bitter almond skins, fading raisin/plum dark sweet. Score - 87/100 Final Thoughts - As expected, this was a very nice dram. Nicely sherried and very well balanced although the lightly nutty bitterness was a bit much. I can see this being something that can be a daily sipper as the sherry isn't too cloyingly sweet. Nice spice throughout. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Yes, if priced accordingly Would I buy a bottle? - Yes

Nose - Intense dark caramel, dark chocolate, vanilla beans, sweet tanned leather, hint of coffee. Taste - Tannic oaky sweetness, sweet dark caramel, hint of milk chocolate, like a slightly oaky dark chocolate covered Almond Roca candy, light cinnamon spice up front, light bitter oaked brown simple at the tail end as it goes down. Finish - Drying oaky chocolate covered toffee, light oaky/almond skin bitter/sweet. Score - 91/100 Final Thoughts - I hate to admit this but I'm actually a fan of this one. It has a lot of the flavors that I love in a bourbon which are dark chocolate, coffee, and caramel. Fantastic nose. I'm a fan of oak if it's balanced and this does it quite well. Reminds me of this one Woodford Reserve Double Oaked Single Barrel I had which I absolutely loved. A tiny bit more tannic than that one, but it hits all the right notes for me. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Yes Would I buy a bottle? - Yes, If the price was right.

Nose - Light, apples, dark honey, pomelo, light subtle spice, peach/nectarines. Taste - Fresh apple, hint of pear, peach, pomelo pith, light white pepper tingle, hint of tea bitterness, honey. Finish - Lingering tea bitterness, floral fruit, honeyed apple, light lingering spice. Score - 86/100 Final Thoughts - Very pleasant dram, nice balance of floral & fruit, not overly complex but does its job well. Feels very summery and feels like it'd be great in a highball. This seems like it'd be a good "intro" Scotch for people too as there's nothing really offensive about it, easy to sip, might be a bit "spicy" for some palates, but some water should tame it out. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Yes, if price is right Would I buy a bottle? - Maybe, I'd pay up to $70 USD for a bottle

Nose - Oaky cherry vanilla cola, caramel, dark toffee, hint of leather, spicy cinnamon. Taste - Spicy white pepper/cinnamon tingle, cherry/strawberry vanilla cola, light fruity oak, light leathery dryness, orange zest. Finish - Lingering spicy cinnamon tingle, fruity vanilla caramels, hint of bitter fruity oak, light fruity bitterness like that of orange pith. Score - 90/100 Final Thoughts - I quite like this one in that it has this fruity cola theme that I find quite interesting in a bourbon. I think this has a nice balance of old & older bourbons as it has the oaky, leathery feel of an older bourbon, but is cut back a bit by some more "youthful" 10 year so that it doesn't taste overoaked. Nice fruity/oaky balance that I think works quite well. Is probably best neat, but I can see this making a mean old fashioned with some barrel aged maple syrup & some cherry bitters. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Yes, if the price was right Would I buy a bottle? - Maybe if I could find it closer to $100 USD

Nose - Oaky vanilla, cinnamon, mix of woods like you're in a lumber yard (mostly cedar/oak/maple/apple), hint of brown sugar. Taste - Spicy cinnamon tingle & spice, sweet vanilla caramel, dark creme brulee sugar top, lightly tannic on the backend, sort of like a charred cinnamon stick. Finish - Lingering tannic dryness, oaky vanilla simple, light cinnamon tingle mixed with a hotter white pepper tingle. Score - 86/100 Final Thoughts - Interesting nose in that I get some other wood type notes other than oak along with the typical bourbon notes of cinnamon & vanilla. Not overly complex and surprisingly hot for the slightly lower proof. Good balance of oak and I don't think it was overly oaked/tannic but had enough to make it interesting. This is tasty but I'm not sure the price is justified. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Maybe, if the price is right. Would I buy a bottle? - No, I wouldn't pick up another.

Nose - (w/o water) Spicy vanilla, orange zest, fresh ginger, toasted oak sugars, creme brulee, hint of sultanas (w/ water) Warm oaky vanilla, fresh ginger & orange zest, light dried stone fruits. Taste - (w/o water) Fruity spicy vanilla, white pepper heat, orange zest, light syrupy sultanas (w/ water) Caramel, light white pepper tingle, orange zest, light bitter dried stone fruit sweet. Finish - (w/o water) Lingering ginger/white pepper spice/heat, fruity orange zest, light oak tannins, light bitter burnt sugar sweet (w/ water) Light white pepper tingle, more fruity oaky bitter, lingering warmth. Score - 83/100 Final Thoughts - This was an interesting one in that it wasn't quite the sherry bomb I was expecting or hoping for. This seemingly had a more balanced ex-bourbon + sherry oak feel to it. I thought the nose was better without water, had a better initial taste with water, but finished worse with water. I think the water tamed down the heat a bit but brought out some hidden bitterness that was masked by the higher proof. Overall tasty, but not as balanced as I hoped it would be. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Maybe, if the price was right & there wasn't anything else I wanted to try Would I buy a bottle? - Not another one

Nose - Sweet vanilla, caramel, hint of oaky simple, light fresh cherry/strawberry notes. Taste - Sweet oaky vanilla, caramel, light cinnamon burn, light green oak sapling bitterness throughout, fairly thin mouthfeel. Finish - Lingering cinnamon tingle, sweet vanilla caramel simple syrup, light green sapling bitterness lingers. Score - 77/100 Final Thoughts - This one had a pleasant nose and very typical bourbon notes. I think this would have done a bit better if it hadn't been for this odd lightly off-putting notes of a bitter green sapling like bitterness I got throughout on the palate & finish that I didn't get in the nose. Not too bad overall, but the bitterness throws it a bit off balance and is just distracting enough. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - No Would I buy a bottle? - Not another one

Nose - Sweet cherries, vanilla, creamy caramel, oaky butterscotch. Taste - Spicy cinnamon oaky caramel, hint of fresh cherries, bit thin but mouth coating oaky dryness, oaky butterscotch. Finish - Lingering light bitter oaky sweet, more fresh dark cherries, oaky brown simple. Score - 82/100 Final Thoughts - So this had a very nice nose, nice hints of fresh dark cherries mingled with a dark caramel/butterscotch but that's really where this bourbon shines the most. I have a feeling they had a set of 17 year old barrels picked out for this release and found out that they had a great nose but were a bit overoaked so they watered it down to 43.4% in order to attempt to tame the oak & make it more palatable. It's not bad by any means, but it's a bit thin on the mouthfeel and a bit over drying in the mouth due to the oak. I normally can tolerate quite a bit of oak in my bourbons, but this seemed a bit much and not as well balanced as it could be, especially for the price premium. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Not anymore Would I buy a bottle? - No