Tastes

Heaven's door continues to bring some pretty good bourbon at a decent price point that *gasp* you can actually find on shelves. Their most recent offering, Homesick Blues is bottled at a fiery 122.7 proof. Will it be a bit TOO hot for those of us that insist on tasting neat? The nose smells quite hot indeed. Ethanol runs deep here but if you take delicate whiffs, sweet caramel and vanilla bean served up with some slight herbaceous basil ( weird... ) and just the slightest hint of dried apricots all lead up to a really interesting nose profile. The palate is very very hot and peppery. A bit expected for the proof. There are some high proof bourbons that don't really make their potency known... this is not one of them. The overwhelming taste here is tongue stinging peppercorns. When you first take in the drink, before the taste explodes with pepper and proof, you do get a very soft and sweet hit of caramel and vanilla that was present on the nose. As the spicy heat subsides, in comes the interesting drying herbaceous notes found on the nose but it tastes almost like rye spice. Weird... because this bourbon's mash bill is 70% corn and 30% wheat. The finish keeps that spice going, but definitely allows that initial heat to die down significantly. It's a tad dry and flashes some leather in there as well as a little spice drop candy ( you know the gummy ones that don't quite taste like dried fruit and don't quite taste like spice? ). This is a bourbon that's potent and will definitely wake you up. Not impossible to drink neat though - I've had similar proof whiskies and bourbons that burn much deeper than this. Maybe this Christmas season, I'll finally give in and buy a water pipette for stuff like this. Overall a solid stomach warmer.

The Blood Oath line has always garnered some serious hype. The one and only pact that I've tasted until today was Pact 7 and although that selection was a fine bourbon in and of itself, it left me feeling underwhelmed. I felt that it was just a bit overhyped and overpriced for what it offered. As I'm perusing one of my favorite local spots for their Black Friday specials, I came across Pact 9 at $149.99. Which is seemingly a pretty solid price. At approximately half the price that many other retailers in my area are asking, I thought it would be worth a taste. The nose mingles rye with sherry quite well. Initially, some dark cherries and vanilla swirl on top of leather and baking spice. It is just balanced enough to not lean too heavily one way or another. The taste opens creamy and sweet. Throughout the taste, the mouth feel of this bourbon is exceptional. Thick and oily - it really coats the tongue. Vanilla and caramel make a brief appearance to open the taste but quickly blossom into tongue tingling cinnamon candy. As that spice sits on your tongue, some leather and tannic oak slide in from the higher rye content. The finish remains dry and as is the case with drier, slightly higher proof whiskies; the mouth feel goes a bit powdery. Along with that, a faint hint of dark cherries creeps in, settling nicely with the leather and oak from the back of the taste. What a well rounded bourbon this turned out to be! But alas - now I'm going to seek out some of the previous Pacts that sound like they'd be right up my alley which can be an expensive proposition. RIP to my bank account.

A fellow bourbon head on here recommended I give 101 a try after a less-than-favorable review of standard Wild Turkey. I'm on a quest to find decent pours in the sub $25/Bottle realm and was able to pick up a taste of this stuff for a modest $4. The nose is subtle but incredibly sweet. I'm detecting sweetened corn syrup, honey and vanilla. If you really inhale deep you do get a little zingy citrus in there. But really... it is barely noticeable. As favorable as the nose was, the taste impresses a bit less. Just not my dram of whiskey. Throughout the taste, prickly heat from the proof stings your tongue. Underneath this heat lies caramel, corn syrup and candy corn. The mouth heat stays prevalent throughout but carries artificially sweet corn syrup taste into the finish. There's a very consistent theme of sweet corn throughout. The finish sees mostly that heat spice start to die down and once it does, tannic oak takes center stage. A rather dry finish to balance out all of the sweetness on the taste. It is a step above standard Wild Turkey for sure, but not the best in this price segment. I think I just tend to prefer Maker's Mark offerings more. Hands down my favorite in the sub $20 mark is Buffalo Trace.

In another installment of reviews of swill I got for free - Wild Turkey! There's got to be some sub $20 bourbon gems out there. The hunt continues for one.... Vanilla, caramel and spicy rye mingle with corn and some rather tannic oak on the nose. The palate opens slightly sweet before booming full force with spice. Although low proof, the astringency of this bourbon prickles your tongue. Charred sugar with vanilla offers a very soft sweet backdrop and as the taste transitions to finish there's an odd musty candy corn quality about it. Surprisingly, the mouth feel is oily and rich. Not sure how they did it with such low proof, but that is a positive about this bourbon. The finish is pretty quick though. It gets very rye spicy and leaves your tongue feeling tingly from the middle out. For such a budget bourbon it's really not bad but I think my favorite in this space still has to be Maker's Mark.

A friend of mine bartends private events as a side gig and presented an unopened handle of this swill stating that "she knows I like whiskey". You know those moments when you know better? Like... you know you shouldn't drink this stuff.... but how hell can someone turn down 1.75 L of free booze, even if it is seemingly terrible? Even more so when the friend offering it to you is insanely attractive? ( Hey, what can I say? Sex sells. ) It can't be THAT bad, right? The nose is kind of funky on this. I smell caramel, apples, some peanuts and a little vanilla. The nose is very light, so breathe deep ( if you actually WANT to smell it ). The opening has a weird, powdery mouth feel with vanilla, burnt oak, ethanol and rye. It hits all at once, so don't look too hard for the complexity. The finish carries the rye spice and with it: drier tastes like leather. It's a somewhat long lasting albeit a very simple finish. I don't know...for this price point I thought I'd be spitting this stuff out. But it's not undrinkable. I'd happily accept a pour if I was already pretty drunk and couldn't make out one taste from another anyway. For this price you can do a LOT worse.

The nose smells of vanilla, caramel and buttery pastries. Upon deeper whiff, you pick up some dried apricot and a little herbaceous licorice. The palate begins innocently enough, as a bourbon should. Softly sweet caramel and vanilla that was present on the nose. The back of the taste becomes drier, spicier. Cinnamon, rye spice and pepper all carry that taste to to the finish. Surprisingly enough, the finish swirls that vanilla and caramel from earlier with some anise-like herbaceous qualities and is actually not a bad finish in and of itself. For an inexpensive, readily available new core offering from Heaven's Door ( I read it was a new core offering, please correct me if I am wrong ), this one is a solid sipper if not a little soft and one dimensional. Recommended for sure.

Man: Stagg is some pretty potent stuff. I kicked off my journey with Stagg with Batch 18 which was a heavy hitter and Batch 19 ( AKA 22B ) isn't much lighter. That said, if you can peek through the ethanol heat of this bourbon, there are some more complex and delicious qualities about it. The nose certainly doesn't smell of the proof. Black cherries with figs and caramel tantalize your senses as you go in for a taste. The taste is burning, tongue prickling proof. I wish I had chance to decanter this bourbon as I believe some time mingled with air would do it some good. But off of a freshly opened bottle, the taste is overwhelmingly ethanol with pepper. Vanilla does take back stage to all the heat, but is present enough to actually be noticeable. Really hard to taste anything past the heat. The finish is long lasting because it has to be, in order to let the heat from the taste die off. A little bit of vanilla still remains, mixed with some sour cherries. But really, dissipating heat takes center stage here. This one is tough for me. Everyone seems to swear by all things Stagg but I just think its a bit too hot to really be enjoyable. That said, I'm sure some pips of water or a little time in a decanter would really benefit this bourbon but really: who has the time for that?

Does Weller CYPB change up depending on year of release? I've read some reviews of CYPB and really didn't seem to taste a big majority of the tasting notes that I've read about. Anyway, here's my review of CYPB as tasted from a Glencairn in 2023 at a restaurant, neat pour. The nose is all sweet and a delightful preview of things to come in the taste. Butterscotch and chocolate with a little hint of coconut and fresh pears open up your senses. What a sweet start to the taste! Honey, butterscotch and caramel open up to a very slight syrupy sweet hint of canned peach. You definitely get some Weller 12 mid taste and that is not a bad thing in the least bit. The finish gets a bit drier and spicier with some baking spices. Tannic oak kisses the tongue slightly for a well balanced and long lasting finish. Wow! I can see why CYPB is in such high demand and low supply. By far and away one of the tastiest selections I've had yet.