Tastes

Part of a virtual tasting with Southern Distilling **this should be labeled as Paragon Bottled in Bond Nose - Sweet grain and grass, vanilla, Cherry Coke, caramel, butterscotch, cinnamon, allspice, toasted oak, and light ethanol. Palate - Honeycomb, artificial cherry vanilla flavoring, cinnamon stick, cardamon, clove, and toasted marshmallow. Finish is medium with dry cinnamon powder, oak tannins, caramel, vanilla bean, and light ethanol. Much, much better than the previous two samples. This wheated BiB is something I would buy and competes favorably with other wheated bourbons.

Part of a virtual tasting with Southern Distilling Nose - Faint smells all around, cherry, vanilla, cinnamon, honeysuckle, and faint ethanol. Palate - Light vanilla caramel with a hint of cherry, light clove, light cinnamon, peaches, and apricots. Finish is short with light oak tannins, vanilla, cinnamon, peach pit, and light ethanol. This is the lightest wheated bourbon I've had. It's so easy to drink, nothing stands out on the nose or palate. For those who like wheated or Buffalo Trace products, this is your type of bourbon.

Part of a virtual tasting with Southern Distilling Nose - Black pepper, clove, light dill, light eucalyptus, toasted vanilla bean, caramel, medium astringent oak char, and light ethanol. Palate - Light caramel, light black pepper, allspice, clove, light cinnamon, and light floral notes. Finish is short with light rye baking spice and floral notes, light black pepper, and faint ethanol. Easy to drink, but due to low proof and/or age this is not impressive. I enjoy the nose much more than the palate.

Part of a virtual tasting with Oak & Eden Wood: American Oak Infusion: No Fire: Heavy Nose - Toffee, hot gingerbread cookie, clove, allspice, light black pepper, light dill, molasses, flamed orange peel, medium oak, and light ethanol. Palate - Gingerbread, almond bread pudding, molasses, clove, cinnamon stick, and oak extract. Finish is medium with dry molasses, dry baking spices, saturated oak sugars, and light ethanol. This is the closest to a rich double barreled bourbon of the tasting, but maybe a little too much toffee and oak for an every day sipper. I like it a lot, but wouldn't pour multiple in a night.

Part of a virtual tasting with Oak & Eden Wood: American Oak Infusion: No Fire: Heavy Nose - Honeycomb, toasted marshmallow, white pepper, cinnamon, light oak, and light ethanol. Palate - Rich honey, butterscotch, toasted vanilla, crème brulee, saltwater taffy, and tree sap. Finish is medium with honey, light butterscotch, white pepper, cinnamon, sweet oak, and little to no ethanol. This is easily my favorite one so far. It tastes like a cross between Maker's Mark Wood Finishing Series and Woodinville Bourbon Cask Strength with the heavy honey and sweet oak influences. I really can't believe this is just 90 proof wheated bourbon, it is really good.

Part of a virtual tasting with Oak & Eden Batch B028 Nose - Cherry Vanilla Coke, dried berries, acetone, clove, allspice, white pepper, sharp oak spice, and light ethanol. Palate - Birch beer, sarsaparilla, molasses, toffee, baking spices, cocoa powder, and sweet oak tannins. Finish is medium-short with saturated oak spice, clove, allspice, toffee, and light ethanol. This has a lot of rich, craft soda flavors on the nose and palate, but overall I don't see myself grabbing a second glass. The bourbon is a more classic toasted flavor while this is unique and maybe a paired dessert whiskey.

Part of a virtual tasting with Oak & Eden Batch B079 Nose - Burnt caramel, charred oak, toasted marshmallow, light black pepper, toffee, dry cinnamon, and medium ethanol. Palate - Brown sugar, maple candy, light caramel, sweet oak, light clove, light allspice, and light ethanol. Finish is medium with toasted oak, cinnamon, rye spice, caramel candy, and little to no ethanol burn. Honestly I'm kind of shocked how much I like this one. It still seems like an unnecessary gimmick that would be less consistent than double barreling, but this drinks much richer than 90 proof. I think they got really good MGP barrels because they claim they're only 3-4 years old.

Bull City Bourbon Club pick - "When the Leche Breaks" Barrel No. 35890 Age: 6 years and 3 months 58.2% abv; 116.4 proof Open 6 weeks Nose - Brown sugar, caramel, toasted vanilla, hot cinnamon bun, allspice, black pepper, sweet oak tannins, medicinal cherry, burnt orange peel, and light ethanol. Palate - Crème brulee, caramel hard candy, cherry cough drops, toasted marshmallow, Honey Nut Cheerios, and wet barley. Finish is medium with sweet and dry oak, light orange peel, black pepper, light caramel, light dill, and light ethanol. Old Scout has similar flavors to other sourced MGP high rye bourbons like Penelope, Pinhook, and Old Soul, but clearly offers the best value for the money. While those other bourbons are all around $60 for similar age and proof, Old Scout continues to offer cask strength picks for $35 in NC. For most people that is a steal in today's market. Personally I'm not that into it. They all taste like grainy caramel with hints of citrus, but are not in the same league as Smoke Wagon or other premium MGP products. I'll still buy picks when available because they are incredible values and at the worst are excellent mixers due to the proof and high rye content. But, if you are looking for MGP bourbon or high rye bourbon you can do better <$80 with Belle Meade, Smoke Wagon, Four Roses, Old Grand-Dad, Redemption, and Bulleit.

Open 6 weeks Nose - Heavy oak and caramel, black pepper, allspice, cinnamon, cherry cordial, and strong ethanol. Palate - Maple syrup, caramel, rye bread, toasted vanilla and marshmallow, light cinnamon, cocoa powder, and light oak. Finish is medium-long with dry oak, caramel, baking spices, black pepper, light orange peel, light chocolate, and light ethanol. The one big difference between the nose and palate is you expect a much bigger alcohol burn from the nose but it's surprisingly light on the tongue. This is the first non-store pick I've had, and it's underwhelming. In the past I've had 14Y and 15Y picks, which were some of the best bourbons I've tasted. Sadly those are scarce these days as it seems Jim Beam is using those good barrels for other Knob Creek releases. This used to be one of the best values on the shelf at $45 and then $50, but now with an additional price increase to $60 I believe there are quite a few better options. Additionally, they provide zero information on the barrel which I find odd because Jim Beam, Baker's, and Booker's are all more transparent with batch or barrel info. I would skip the standard offering and pick up store picks if you can find them, you'll likely get a better product.