Tastes

The Party Source pick Barrel No. ISC 779761 Rickhouse B-E12N4 Yeast Strain FP1 Age - 4 years and 4 months 53.46% abv; 106.93 proof Open 1 month Nose - Butterscotch, caramel, honey, herbal tea, anise, soft citrus, light oak, and medium ethanol. Palate - Soft caramel, white pepper, pine needles, dill, honeysuckle, white sugar, and dry oak. Finish is medium with herbal and floral rye notes, white pepper, mineral water, dried honey, and light ethanol. I've had Wilderness Trail Rye Cask Strength before, but apparently they're switching their cask strength single barrels to a white label and renaming the single barrel to Family Reserve. Thoroughly enjoyable and affordable rye whiskey, and unique in its flavor profile that makes it stand out amongst the barely legal ryes and MGP ryes. Not as good as the previous single barrel I've had, but still a really good bottle.

The Party Source pick Barrel No. 12292 Distilled in July 2018 Bottled in September 2022 Age - 4 years, 2 months 55.9% abv; 111.8 proof Open 1 month Nose - Cherry, allspice, fresh hay, honeycomb, chalk, vanilla, artificial orange, medium oak, and medium ethanol. Palate - Spiced orange, dark honey, black pepper, sweet grain, licorice, oak tannins, and clove. Finish is medium-long with black pepper, oak, vegetal herbs, dill, citrus peel, and medium ethanol. Spoiler alert - I moved to Cincinnati a month ago and have been taking too many short trips across the river to The Party Source in Bellevue, KY. The Party Source is claimed to be the second largest liquor store in the country that also conveniently shares a parking lot with New Riff. This is a distillery I haven't gotten to try while living in NC. It gets the same type of praise as Wilderness Trail, but their bourbon falls short. I may have picked the weirdest of the 4 bourbon picks available at Party Source. One of the cool things about New Riff is they are very transparent with their picks, and provide tasting notes on the bottle. On the bottle the aroma - black cherry, walnuts; flavor - orange juice, coconut; finish - dry, peppery. In retrospect I should've picked something with more classic high rye flavors, the orange juice and coconut intrigued me. Luckily all New Riff bottles are very affordable and since this purchase I've visited the distillery bar to taste more bourbons, ryes, and malted rye. My conclusion from that visit is they do a great job with their ryes but their high rye bourbons are middle-of-the-pack when compared to MGP bourbons.

Nose - Spicy, bold oak, cinnamon, clove, pumpkin bread, molasses, cocoa, burnt marshmallow, and medium ethanol. Palate - It is so much lighter on the tongue than the nose suggests. Dark honey, caramel fudge brownies, dark chocolate with sea salt, gingerbread, and clove. Finish is medium-short with light, syrupy honey and caramel, hints of clove and cardamon, tannic but not overly dry oak, and light ethanol. Received a 2 oz sample from a friend, and it's my first time trying a Remus Repeal. This smells like a cask strength, but drinks like a 90-100 proofer. I love the nose, but honestly it kind of dies on the palate and fades quickly. I expected a syrupy and oily mouth coating finish given the age and nose, but it drinks more like a one-note Buffalo Trace product. Is it better than standard MGP bourbons? Definitely. Is it worth $100 retail? Absolutely not.

North Carolina Bourbon Society pick Distilled on 12-21-2012 Dumped on 10-04-2021 Bottled on 11-17-2021 Warehouse K; Floor 3 Age - 8 years, 9 months, 13 days Nose - Dulche de leche, buttercream, caramel, cinnamon bun, cereal grain, white pepper, and light ethanol. Palate - Crème brulee, old-fashioned hard candy, butterscotch, peppercorn, honey, orange creamsicle, medicinal cherry, and grilled peaches. Finish is long with white pepper, rye grain, caramel candy, oak tannins, Frosted Flakes, and light ethanol. This was a 2 oz sample from a friend. Excellent RR SiB, probably the best I've tried. Hard to top the value of a good Russell's pick.

Received 2 oz sample from a friend Nose - Spiced orange, citrus cleaner, chai tea, toasted vanilla, rye bread, clove, medium oak, and medium ethanol. Palate - Cheap orange chai tea, honeysuckle, wildflower honey, fresh baked bread, sweet corn, and light anise. Finish is medium-long with orange oils, honey, vanilla, higher than expected oak tannins, and medium ethanol bite at the end mixed with an oily orange peel. This actually surprised me. I have no experience with Good Times. They must be a small distillery because it's difficult to find reviews or videos covering any of their bottles. They have a ton of finished products, which always screams gimmicky and upcharge to me. However, this is pretty dang enjoyable to sip on. It definitely is orange-forward, but those oranges are a nice mixture of spiced tea and creamy infused honey. It's one of the better non-traditional finished bourbons I've had.

GIA Bourbon Club 2021 pick Warehouse K; Floor 3 63.55% abv; 127.1 proof Nose - Cinnamon bun, banana bread, tobacco leaf, brown sugar, gingerbread, fresh grain, strong oak, and medium ethanol. Palate - Sickly sweet cinnamon caramel syrup, oiled leather, vanilla frosted gingerbread cookies, allspice, cardamon, black cherries, dark chocolate, and black pepper. Finish is long and oily, caramel, black pepper, light on oak tannins, medium ethanol, and a delectable powdered sugar and caramel candy finish after the tannins, spice, and ethanol kick. This is one of the best finishes I've had in a bourbon, hands down. Received a 2 oz sample from a friend. This is a great pick. To warm up my palate I sipped on some Jack Daniel's SBBP, one of the easiest comparisons to this flavor profile. This is much better than the current JDSBBP bottle I have. It tastes rich, complex, and old. Think of ECBP C919 and C920 and you'll know what league this pick is playing in.

Received 2 oz sample from a friend, this is a single barrel pick but I don't have any information. Nose - Caramel, powdered sugar, candied strawberries, hot funnel cake, wildflower honey, maraschino cherry, fresh cut grass, little to no oak, and medium ethanol. Palate - Oily, caramel apple, artificial cherry and grape, sticky vanilla frosting, light cinnamon, white peaches, and caramel. Finish is long and oily, surprisingly dry and tannic oak, white pepper, medicinal fruity cough syrup, overtly sweet vanilla, Red Hots, and sharp ethanol on the back end. I am more impressed with this than the Stagg Jr I tasted yesterday. But, and this is a big but, Weller FP is even more difficult to find than Stagg Jr in NC. This is a step up from the equally priced Maker's Mark Cask Strength, however, there are Maker's Mark Private Selection picks floating around everywhere. The stave finishes add a richness of flavor to a cask strength wheated bourbon that I don't get in this Weller FP or the normal MMCS. Based on my my experience with this, Antique 107, and 12 Year, there is absolutely no reason to hunt for this when Maker's Mark is available everywhere. You would be surprised how similar they taste.

Received 2 oz sample from a friend Nose - Medicinal grape and cherry cough syrup, bubble gum, brown sugar, caramel, toasted marshmallow, milk chocolate, medium oak, and medium ethanol. Palate - Chocolate covered cherries, raisins, light tobacco, sweet oak, maple syrup, and light baking spices. Finish is long with prominent dry oak, light black pepper, bitter dark chocolate, burnt vanilla, and medium ethanol. This is my first ever taste of Stagg Jr, and I'm disappointed. It's actually pretty good for the MSRP, but the scarcity and hype surrounding this and anything BT is frankly ridiculous. You can get roughly the same flavor profile minus the medicinal grape with OF 1920, ECBP, 1792 FP, and JDSSBP. I think all of those bottles are more interesting and complex, plus they are so much easier to find. This is sweet and flat, like every BT product I've tried. At this point in my bourbon journey I'm pretty confident in my assessment that anyone who thinks BT makes the best bourbon just doesn't have the palate for spice and complexity. My irritation is particularly influenced by YouTube where I ardently disagree with some popular channels (e.g., Bourbon Junkies) whom almost always rate BT products over Wild Turkey, Elijah Craig, Knob Creek, etc. Not only do those companies offer more transparency in their mash bills, age statements, barrel number, warehouse, etc., they are also priced competitively and available everywhere. The ECBP and JDSBBP I have open right now beat this handily, it's not even close. I know I'm ranting, but it's both frustrating and gratifying to finally try a highly reviewed product I've sought after for years to only discover it's just another mid-level barrel proof bourbon.

North Carolina Bourbon Society pick Distilled on 12-21-2012 Dumped on 10-04-2021 Bottled on 11-17-2021 Warehouse K; Floor 3 Age - 8 years, 9 months, 13 days Nose - Dulche de leche, buttercream, caramel, cinnamon bun, cereal grain, white pepper, and light ethanol. Palate - Crème brulee, old-fashioned hard candy, butterscotch, peppercorn, honey, orange creamsicle, medicinal cherry, and grilled peaches. Finish is long with white pepper, rye grain, caramel candy, oak tannins, Frosted Flakes, and light ethanol. This was a 2 oz sample from a friend. Excellent RR SiB, probably the best I've tried. Hard to top the value of a good Russell's pick.

Durham County ABC, "Master Distillers Pick" Barrel No. 6362243 Warehouse T; Floor 5 Age - 8 years 66.05% abv; 132.1 proof Open 3.5 months Nose - Frosted gingerbread, rich oak, molasses, caramel, cinnamon, tobacco, new leather, clove, and medium ethanol. This is outstanding. Palate - Maple toffee syrup, bread pudding with almonds and walnuts, cinnamon stick, allspice, light chocolate cherry, and light black pepper. Finish is long with rich but slightly dry oak, dry cinnamon, caramel, light pepper, and medium ethanol. Who knew the youngest (but highest proof) of the 3 picks I bought this summer would be the clear winner? Not me, especially because Durham has notoriously gotten mediocre barrel picks because they get randomly assigned a barrel instead of tasting beforehand. After my experience with these 3 picks, clearly Elijah Craig has a bunch of great barrels ready to go at 8-10 years but they can't use those for batches until they reach 12 years. This easily competes with the best batches of the last few years (C919, B520, and C920). For only $10 more I will continue to buy barrel picks when I find them.