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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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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
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Michter's 10 Year Single Barrel Bourbon
Distiller Score 90
Nose has green apple and caramel, along with surprising hints of green olive. Full flavored and rich. Hints of vanilla and butterscotch at the initial taste. Finishes with smoke, and an unmistakable flavor of roasted nuts.
Reviewed by Eric Abert
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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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Eagle Rare 17 Year Bourbon (Fall 2013)
Distiller Score 95
Complex doesn't cut it for the nose, with English breakfast tea, cherries, nutmeg, and cinnamon. A palate of tobacco, leather, almond, clove, and pepper finds its way to a truly lengthy finish of citrus, additional almond and a return visit from the cherries.
Reviewed by Rob Morton
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Pappy Van Winkle 20 Year
Distiller Score 92
Sweet and spicy notes of cinnamon, raisins, brownies, vanilla, oak, and maple are found on the nose. Honey, vanilla toffee, nuts, dark fruits, and baked apple pie greet you on the palate. Finish is LONG with plenty of spice and more baked apple pie drizzled with vanilla-laced honey.
Reviewed by Rob Morton
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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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Forged Oak 15 Year Bourbon
Distiller Score 87
It has a campfire nose, lots of wood and spice with candied walnuts, licorice, dark red fruits, and crème brûlée under the initial oak attack. On the palate, the oak and spice assert themselves but eventually give way to ginger, plum, orange bitter, tobacco, and coffee. During the warm, lingering finish one finds orange bitters, and pepper.
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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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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Wild Turkey Diamond Anniversary Bourbon
Distiller Score 97
Strong aromatics such as peanut brittle, smoky vanilla, and both dried and fresh grass undertones strike you first. The bourbon isn't extraordinarily chewy, but there is smoke that seems to sidle next to both the fruity and spicy flavors on the palate. The whiskey continues to develop as it sits in your glass with notes such as menthol and cherry syrup. This is a whiskey that you want to spend time with which is a sentiment you have when you’re around the man this bourbon honors.
Reviewed by Stephanie Moreno
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Wild Turkey Master's Keep 17 Year
Distiller Score 95
A bouquet that is reminiscent of classic Wild Turkey, with big oak, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg, along with salted caramels, fresh orange peel, and just a hint of barbecue smoke. On the palate, Master's Keep is satisfying and complex. Hints of orange peel hide behind the initial wave of vanilla and caramel, before a big oak note comes through, finishing with a flavor reminiscent of an extinguished campfire with a subtle graham cracker and chocolate note emerging. The finish brings baking spice, oak, and warm caramel right at the end. A truly satisfying and enjoyable bourbon whiskey.
Reviewed by Distiller Staff