Tastes

Sweet fruity nose (green apple peel or an almost lychee scent) with vanilla and just a hint of a floral note. The palate is almost candy sweet on the front, and then quickly goes malty sweet and briny. It's s very good experience that falls off fairly quickly to a light oaky bitterness with a hint of smoke. The aftertaste is quite pleasing, like the freshness of a just eaten apple.

This tastes like a slightly harsher Buffalo Trace, with a slight wood-sour funk on the nose that doesn't translate to the palate. Honestly, it's easier to see the relationship between Stagg (Jr) and this bourbon than with Stagg and Buffalo Trace - the apple on the tip of the tongue in Stagg is prevalent and welcome here. This is a surprisingly good bottle, and in a lot of ways, more enjoyable than Buffalo Trace Small Batch.

Much sweeter and rounded than I expected.

Pear and tropical fruit notes under a mild blanket of raw tobacco and savory notes that border on mild smoke. It is somewhat grainy, but expected in this dram.

Bourbon with a sherry flair obvious enough it imports light light sulfur on the nose and an almost sherry-finished lowland Scotch note on the palate that almost translates into smoke with a rye bite. Very easy to drink for the proof. Ethanol is well-hidden in the other flavors for 108 proof.

Very maple sweet on the tip of the tongue, with hints of vanilla. The bourbon flavors at the least share the stage, if not take a back seat to the dessert nature of the dram. Syrupy thick mouthfeel almost fools the mind into thinking it's oilier than it is. Could literally be used poured over vanilla ice cream. This is a niche pour, but well executed in that niche.

More okay than the 12 and more astringent but still very good. I think the 12 double wood is the sweet spot. Molasses and honey with some tobacco on the barrel. Good stuff

Barley malt sweetness, cinnamon nose and subtle on the palate, mild smokiness, lightly oily finish

Wood spice is almost white-peppery, but also astringent. Irish sweet shortbread is there but is not the main event. Barrel character beats out the notes. Also a bit of unrefined grain alcohol on the nose, but it's not off-putting