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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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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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Woodford Reserve Master's Collection Brandy Cask Finish
Distiller Score 91
This long awaited whiskey starts off with a very breakfasty aroma: maple-covered granola with dried fruits, nuts, and a bit of milk chocolate. It has a certain rich smoothness that is almost silky along with more toasted nuts, caramel, and lovely baking spices. An all around solid whiskey to enjoy neat so you don't miss the raisin notes brought about by two years in brandy casks.
Reviewed by Nicole Gilbert
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Heaven's Door Redbreast Master Blenders' Edition
Distiller Score 92
The nose offers a combination of vanilla beans and toffee, with prunes, walnuts, and honey roasted peanuts atop an oaky undertone. The palate is full and rich, with salted caramel and pumpernickel bread, as well as fresh plums and berries alongside sugary dried fruits. A big finish offers brown sugar and cinnamon, along with candied ginger, leather, and dark chocolate.
Reviewed by Jake Emen
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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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Jack Daniel's 12 Year (Batch 2)
Distiller Score 91
Flambeed bananas and salted caramel are prominent on the nose, along with barrel char, and powdered sugar-dusted beignets. The palate is rich and offers poached pears, sticky sweet toffee, candied apples, raspberry syrup, and orange zest. The finish showcases tannic oak, leather, brown sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla extract.
Reviewed by Jake Emen
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Belle Meade Bourbon Madeira Cask Finish
Distiller Score 94
Nose offers a combination of vanilla and baking spices, dry oak and a red wine influence, along with light mint and herbal notes. The palate is rich, with more vanilla, dark red fruits and wine tannins, oak, clover honey, and rye spice. A moderate length finish continues on the sweet and rich sweet side, with vanilla, char, chocolate, brown sugar, and just a touch of black pepper. Delicious, and an excellent job interweaving the Madeira influence with the bourbon itself.
Reviewed by Jake Emen
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St. George Single Malt Lot 20
Distiller Score 94
The nose is big and enticing, with butterscotch, cocoa powder, milk chocolate, and creamy vanilla pudding. The palate is full and rich, with toffee and fudge, as well as barrel char, candied fruit chews, and towards the back, waxy notes alongside touches of bitter coffee grounds and peanut shells. The finish lingers with Christmas spice, tannic oak, orchard fruits and Black Forest Cake.
Reviewed by Jake Emen
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Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon (2019)
Distiller Score 93
There is room here for each mash bill and yeast strain to express itself with equal stage time. The nose is brooding with tanned leather, rye bread and accents of mint. The palate is coating but not heavy with creamy flavors of maple and caramel apple down the middle and cinnamon and nutmeg along the sides. A late appearance of dry tannins reveals the influence of the oldest casks in the lot.
Reviewed by Colin Howard
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Woodinville Bourbon Moscatel Cask Finish
Distiller Score 92
The nose is filled with dark chocolate chips and cocoa powder atop a fruit bouquet ranging from banana chips to raspberries and lingonberries. The palate is big and rich, with toffee, burnt caramel, vanilla, salted rye pretzels, tannic oak and wintergreen. The finish is lengthy, warming and reminiscent of mulled wine, redolent of red fruits, cinnamon sticks, orange peel, cloves, and anise.
Reviewed by Jake Emen
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WhistlePig Old World Series Port Finish Rye 12 Year
Distiller Score 88
Jubilant aromas of maple-vanilla cream pie and strawberry shortcake leap to greet you on the nose, then settle down with a few drops of water, which encourages the port barrel wood’s floral sweetness to emerge. But any concern of this being too cloyingly sweet to sip is rendered moot the instant you take a taste and the spicy, peppery rye jumps into the spotlight. It’s that spiciness that takes over, nearly obliterating those playful floral and fruity notes on the long, dry finish. Just a few raisin-y notes linger in the wreckage.
Reviewed by Liza Weisstuch
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Yellowstone Kentucky Straight Bourbon 9 Year (2019 Limited Edition)
Distiller Score 88
The rich copper tone of this bourbon is a keen indicator of the bold flavors ready to burst forward. The nose is almost tense with competing aromas of spiced molasses, sugar cookie, and mint leaf. On first sip, the Yellowstone 9yr coats the palate from front to back with an oily richness. Pepper notes (from the rye and 101 proof) skip back and forth with candied ginger and caramel forming the backbone of the overall profile.
Reviewed by Colin Howard