Tastes

Open 2.5 years Nose - Vanilla wafer, banana pudding, Runts, butterscotch, lemon candy, little to no oak, and light ethanol. Palate - Liquified vanilla wafers, banana and maple flavoring, and watered down oak. Finish is short with dry oak spice, butterscotch, banana saltwater taffy, and light ethanol. This does nothing for me, and as a result has sat at the back of my cabinet for years. It tastes like the Single Barrel Rye, but worse. With the Barrel Proof Rye now widely available, I see zero reason to ever drop $40 on this. Generally, just skip over the cheap JD products and go straight to the barrel proof or limited releases.

Batch No. 0022 53.9% abv; 107.8 proof Open 6 months Nose - Freshly baked cinnamon buns, nutmeg, browned butter, pine sap, lemon oil, roasted peaches, toasted rye, and medium ethanol. Palate - Citrus peel, mint, pine needles, pumpernickel, and gingerbread. Finish is long with mouthcoating citrus and pine oils, dry oak, dry cinnamon, rye bread, and medium ethanol. This is the second batch I've tried, and these remain a great value. Every time I visit one of the northern Kentucky stores they are sitting on the shelves for $60 or less. They don't have the typical bourbon profile of what people chase (ssssssswwwweeeeeettttttt and simple), but I think I've nailed down a good comparison. More savory and more rye spice than Rare Breed or Russell's Reserve. I've had a couple off-profile Russell's Reserve picks in the last year, and this reminds me of those picks. I would also compare this to the more floral and savory Four Roses barrel proof picks that people overlook.

Liquor City Uncorked pick, "Gallenstein Selection #10" Barrel No. 6590889 61.25% abv; 122.5 proof Age - 10 years Open 2 months Nose - Caramel, dry oak, dry cinnamon, burnt marshmallow, clove, medicinal cherry, and medium ethanol. Palate - Tannic oak, brown sugar, baking spices, cocoa powder, and orange oil. Finish is medium with muted oak tannins, cinnamon, brown sugar, toasted vanilla, and light ethanol. This was disappointing, probably the worst Elijah Craig pick or barrel proof batch I've had. It is flat and muted across the board. No flavors stand out, not even the oak or ethanol punch you expect in a ECBP. If I didn't know the bourbon, you could fool me and tell me it was bottled-in-bond. That's how unremarkable and watery it tastes.

Barrel No. 50 NAS (purportedly 4-5 years) 59.3% abv; 118.5 proof Open 2 years Nose - Dry malt, musty barn, sharp grain, smoked corn, black pepper, light caramel, burnt marshmallow, medium oak, and strong ethanol. Palate - Burnt wheat, burnt corn, burnt malt, black pepper, light brown sugar, and oak extract. Finish is medium with tannic oak, musty grain, and sharp ethanol. This is just not good, and overpriced. I purchased this before moving to Cincinnati as a token of an NC produced whiskey. Clearly I made a mistake, should've bought a cask strength wheater from Southern Star. Their process of farm-to-glass using local grains from their own farm is commendable, but the end result isn't good. It's way too harsh, spicy, sharp, grainy, and young. It has almost no sweet or fruit flavors, a huge no-no with bourbon. There is no age statement like there was with earlier bottles. It used to be 2-3 years, and they removed it. Now it is purportedly 4-5 years. The explanation from one of the distillers didn't make much sense. Why would you remove the age statement for a product that is almost twice as old as your original releases? I would stay far away from this.

Open 2.5 years Nose - Heavy ash and smoke, burnt malt, light lemon peel, light honeysuckle, light brine, and strong ethanol. Palate - Liquid, wet ash, maybe a little malt and honey? It's straight up wet campfire ash which I've had a lot of experience with camping. Finish is thankfully medium-long with more ash, more char, more burnt malt, and strong ethanol. This is everything you like about the 10Y cask strength turned up way too many notches. Too young, too much barrel char, and way too much smoke and ash to be enjoyable. This was unfortunately my first Cairdeas experience, and I've been hesitant to buy any others I see on the shelf.

Spec's pick Barrel No. 19576 Bottled - 08-28-2020 Age - 30 months 63.9% abv; 127.8 proof Open 2.5 years Nose - Hot, spicy, black pepper, dill, ground cinnamon, burnt malt, strong oak, and very strong ethanol. Palate - Overwhelmingly oily and mouthcoating, very spicy, oak extract, burnt honey malt, and burnt marshmallow. Finish is long, oily, heavy oak, heavy spice, light honey, and strong ethanol. I'm over Balcones. Every cask strength whiskey I've tried from them has a similar pattern. The neck pour is great, then it quickly gets worse. Worse as in they all start tasting like flavored oak extract. I don't know why that is, but I do know it has happened with bottles I've split with my friend over the last 5 years. Corn whiskey, bourbon, rye, unpeated and peated single malt. I never enjoy them after the first few weeks. If you're interested in Texas whiskey, my suggestion is to try Ironroot or Still Austin. They have the spirit of that Texas hyperage but maintain the flavors of whiskey you are used to from the Midwest. I split this with my friend who will buy

Liquor City Uncorked pick, "Gallenstein Selection #1" Barrel No. 39-193 Warehouse WF5 Age - 7 years 57.83% abv; 115.66 proof Open 1 month Nose - Peanut brittle, toasted marshmallow, sweet cinnamon, baked apples, white peach, nutmeg, white pepper, medium oak, and medium ethanol. Palate - Honey roasted peanuts, caramel, milk chocolate, cinnamon bun, fresh cracked peppercorns, and sweet baking spices. Finish is medium-long with bitter oak tannins, dry cinnamon, peanut shells, cocoa powder, cherry, and medium ethanol. This is delicious. The only reason I'm knocking it half a point is the price and the finish. Everything up until the finish is 5 stars, which is slightly more bitter and dry than expected. Otherwise, this pick is a home run. I thought Smoke Wagon UCUF was one of the best available MGPs, and this certainly tops it. I know it is pricey, but if you see it under $90 I would pull the trigger.

Liquor City Uncorked pick, "Gallenstein Selection #6" Barrel No. 3026 Age - 8 years 55.7% abv; 111.5 proof Open 5 months Nose - Heavy clove and allspice, cinnamon, burnt rye bread, toffee, brown sugar, pine, tobacco, strong oak, and medium ethanol. Palate - Black pepper, clove, star anise, molasses, oak char, tobacco, and maple. Finish is medium-long with dry oak, black pepper, cinnamon syrup, black licorice, cherry pit, and medium ethanol. I was really excited to grab this pick, but ultimately it's slightly disappointing. In the past year I've bought 6-year cask strength ryes from OKI and The Senator, and I thought this might be a huge step up considering the 2 additional years. It's not. All 3 of these taste virtually the same, leading me to believe you won't find much difference with other 6-8 year MGP ryes. Don't get me wrong, you are getting more value because this is around the same price as The Senator and OKI. But you're not getting more flavor. Honestly I prefer the profile (and the price) of Old Scout 5-6 year ryes. I think they have less barrel char and more fruit and sweet spice notes.

Open 1 year Nose - Savory cinnamon bun, toasted marshmallow, white pepper, black cherry, barrel char, and strong ethanol. Palate - Gingerbread that someone forgot to sweeten, cinnamon stick, maple, medicinal cherry, peach, and clove. Finish is medium-long with hot, spicy oak and cinnamon, red cherry flavoring, fresh bread, and strong ethanol. This has just sat on my shelf for a year. There's nothing terrible about it, but it is not something I enjoy drinking. I love Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, but Larceny and now this are misses for my palate. I've never loved any of the wheated bourbons from Heaven Hill, including the stuff they sourced to Lux Row. I doubt I'll ever buy one of those products again, Maker's Mark and Buffalo Trace make much better wheated bourbons.

Town of Crepe Myrtles (Angier, NC) 2022 pick Barrel No. 20107 Finished 1 year in ex-Malbec barrels 49.6% abv; 99.2 proof Open 2.5 years Nose - Bright red fruits, red hot cinnamon, anise, dill, white pepper, bitter oak, orange peel, lemon oil, vanilla, and medium ethanol. Palate - Muted, mellow mixed berries, cracked peppercorns, licorice, dill, lemon custard, and candied oranges. Finish is medium with dry, bitter oak, musty wine, anise, and light ethanol. This has a good nose but just dies on the palate. It smells like cask strength, and drinks like 90 proof. I don't get High West. I've tried 4 or 5 products from them, and haven't really loved any of them. People raved about these Double Rye! Barrel Selects finished in all kinds of barrels. I don't get it, other than the price. Just another gimmick to hide young rye in a wine barrel.