Tastes

New bottle, new barrel. This single barrel seems just a notch above my previous bottle of 4R single barrel. Sweet floral nose goes right into a a honey sweet floral palate. Super smooth with soft cinnamon and toffee notes. Mild oak with not much leather and zero bitterness on the finish. At 100 proof it's just a nice little buzz on your tongue. So far I've enjoyed all of these bottles that I've tried, and this one is my favorite thus far.

I've had this bottle hanging around my shelf for a year and half now, visiting it now and then as the urge hits me. Looks like I may have my final pour of it tonight, though. The nose is pretty astringent with a whiff caramel. The palate hits the classic bourbon notes that you expect from a nearly barrel strength bourbon. It has some bite, and the high rye mash bill gives it enough spice to make it interesting. Enjoyed neat the sweetness and spice really mingle together nicely. If you're into high rye, high proof, and low price, it's hard to top Old Grand-dad 114.

I just poured the last pour from this bottle without realizing I hadn't reviewed it yet. I remember my first impression was a bit of a let down. Being a bottle that's somewhat hard to locate here in Alabama (crazy right), I think I was expecting more. Drinking it now though, I'll say it's a solid rye at a good price. I didn't pick up much on the nose maybe some herbal notes. The palate has a fair amount of sweetness, herbal notes, cornbread, and a nice dose of rye spice. The finish is medium in length and bitter sweet. I think this bottle disappeared quickly and without me reviewing it earlier because most of my pours went into old fashioneds, in which it performed like a champ. This would hold up well in any cocktail, and that's probably it's best use.

This one is very light in color and light on the nose as well. On the palate I'm getting a little vanilla, an average amount of sweetness, and a herbal note that reminds me of the smell hay. Maybe a bit of licorice in there too. The finish is short and a bit bitter. I'm not impressed with my first pour, but I wouldn't say it's bad either. We'll see how it does in subsequent pours.

When in Memphis, why not pick up a Memphis bourbon? Well, it's finished in Memphis anyway. From my quick research I found that this starts it's life in Indiana as a minimum 4 year MGP bourbon. This is supposed to be 35% rye, but it has little in the way of spice, just a hint of cinnamon. Super smooth, and even more so considering it's 100 proof, which is several points higher than many other toasted oak offerings. It's sweet, but not overly so, with notes of caramel and toasted marshmallow. The oak is prevalent, but not overwhelming. This one has great balance. No bitter aftertaste, and very easy drinking. It's not very complex and could be a little spicier, but otherwise this is quite tasty. After my first taste, I would say this is competitive with some of my favorite double oaked/toasted oak bourbons.

Bottle kill. I wanted to like this one, but it just never hit the right notes for me. It's not bad, just doesn't live up to the hype for me. It's a bit hot and peppery, which I don't mind, but not much oak and not much sweetness either. There also a faint old lacquer taste, it's not bad but it just doesn't suit my palate. I will say it makes a damn fine old fashioned, though. The problem is this bourbon is too hard to find and too expensive for old fashioneds.

Quick thoughts on this one. I can't help but compare it to it's non bonded sibling Old Forester 100. I get some of the same notes, but slightly less fruity and a little more oak. It's got a bit more punch too. This is a nice bourbon, but I'm not sure it's good enough to justify being twice the price of OF 100.

Bottle kill! I thoroughly enjoyed every pour of this one. It's sweet, rich, chocolatey, smokey, and just damn tasty. It can definitely hold its own against OWA. Now, just hoping I can snag a bottle of FAE-02.