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Four Roses Limited Edition Single Barrel Bourbon (2014)
Distiller Score 98
Baking spices smacks the olfactory receptors as you waft this over-proof spirit. Next, ripe red and stone fruits follow with cacao and mild tobacco notes coming next. The palate is full of chocolate and caramel with a rich oily mouthfeel. The finish is less spicy than anticipated, with a medium-long length. The bottling tasted was from warehouse HW, the Barrel No. was 47-2J.
Reviewed by Dennis Gobis
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High West A Midwinter Night's Dram
Distiller Score 92
The robust spicy rye notes are still present in the glass, but as it sits, red fruit tempers that just a bit. As you taste, the spicy rye comes again to the forefront along with vanilla and more red fruit. The finish is warm and spice filled with hints of chocolate and fresh whipped cream with a dash of white pepper.
Reviewed by Stephanie Moreno
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Belle Meade Bourbon Sherry Cask Finish
Distiller Score 92
Plenty of sherry and wine fruit on the nose, from that Oloroso cask, along with caramel, from the bourbon itself. Velvety, silky mouthfeel, and smooth on the palate, with a wonderful caramel and vanilla sweetness. Hints of spice, plum, cloves, molasses and brown sugar lurking in background. A light, quick burn fades to a pleasant warming on the finish.
Reviewed by Jake Emen
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Blanton's Single Barrel Silver Edition
Distiller Score 89
Classic nose for a Blanton’s, with maybe a softer approach than the Gold and Straight From The Barrel bottlings (both only available outside the US). Aromas of tropical fruits like pineapple come through a first layer of honey. The palate is very smooth with more fruit, this time including quince and mandarins. There are enough soft spices such as cinnamon and vanilla to give structure to the whiskey and the finish is perfectly sweet and smooth.
Reviewed by Julien Le Doaré
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High West Bourye (2015 Release)
Distiller Score 89
The spirit opens with spiced honey and caramel followed by whiffs of vanilla bean. Baked pear commands the glass on tasting; imagine the fruit drizzled with creamy toffee/butterscotch and dusted with white pepper for a lilting accent. The moderately long finish offers up oak and toasty spice that the incautious might be tempted to call curry-like, a quality, real or imagined, that helps make for a mean Perfect Manhattan.
Reviewed by Ron Bechtol
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Pappy Van Winkle 15 Year
Distiller Score 89
A nose of sun-dried cherries dipped in honey and a bowl of cinnamon-sprinkled cereal. The palate tastes of a melted Heath bar, vanilla saltwater taffy, and charred cinnamon. The finish shows charred wood, cinnamon sugar and wheat.
Reviewed by Rob Morton
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Jim Beam Signature Craft Brown Rice Bourbon 11 Year
Distiller Score 89
An exceptionally pleasant nose full of brown sugar, toasted marshmallow, dark fruit, and honey. The taste boasts caramel and oak, candied walnuts, plums, and even an odd but not unwelcome tartness. It's rich and oily, and there's spicy wood and caramel on the finish, which is warm and medium-length.
Reviewed by Keith Allison
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Jim Beam Signature Craft Soft Red Wheat Bourbon 11 Year
Distiller Score 85
There's wood, alcohol, and spearmint on the nose, along with Beam bourbon's signature caramel and honey. Raisins and hay lurk in the background. The flavor is a bit flat, with peppermint, strawberries, chocolate, and oak. It's thick and silky, at times a bit flat. It gets drier on the finish. An interesting array of flavors that are never quite as pronounced or assertive as they should be.
Reviewed by Keith Allison
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Woodford Reserve Master's Collection Four Wood Bourbon
Distiller Score 96
The nose on this bourbon couldn't be more complex. Vanilla, caramel, red wine, freshly chopped firewood, candied citrus, the list goes on. The first sip is like taking a drag off a slightly harsh cigar, and then instantly mellows. The palate then explodes and coats the mouth with sweet citrus, well integrated wood, cool smoke, and a non-cloying sweet, lingering finish. Gorgeous, meticulously complex, yet still approachable.
Reviewed by Paul Belbusti
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Jack Daniel's Sinatra Select
Distiller Score 90
Honey, applejack and ripe peaches on the nose, but it's on the palate that the Sinatra barrel makes itself known. The distillery says that the grooves in the barrel double the surface area, which is evident from the get-go. On-the-stove caramel, vanilla and peppery smoke prevail. The extra sweetness is balanced nicely by the higher proof. This is a smokier, bigger and bolder Jack; I can see why Sinatra wanted to be buried with it.
Reviewed by Michael J. Neff
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Buffalo Trace Experimental Collection French Oak Barrel Head Aged
Distiller Score 88
The nose is like a tropical fruit bowl: coconut, banana, papaya, and apples with a bit of oak in the background. The taste still boasts fruit notes, mostly cherry and apple, but it's primarily spicy rye and pepper, salted caramel, and wood. There's more wood and spice on the finish, along with a lingering minty bitterness.
Reviewed by Keith Allison
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William Larue Weller Bourbon (Fall 2013)
Distiller Score 96
A nose full of caramel, molasses and maple sugar candy gives way to the palate of seeded fruit on toast with butter and cinnamon sugar. The finish is long and complex, with light tobacco, leather and more cinnamon sugar.
Reviewed by Rob Morton