Baker's Single Barrel High Rye Bourbon 7 Year

Nose: sweet, notes of vanilla with subtle spice Taste: moderate oak and rye notes with a light sweet finish. Finish has subtle vanilla and apple

Nose: light syrup, a vanilla sweetness, and a touch of cinnamon and spice Taste: sharp oak and rye spice, pine, and mint. Not as sweet as the nose would lead you to believe. Finish: lingering finish with hot rye spice, followed by a mellow sweetness and lingering tannins

Nose: Caramel, Vanilla, mild cinnamon Palette: Woody and high rye changing to oak with some earthy notes Finish: Medium finish of oak and leather

Barreled 01/17 Warehouse CL-3 Aged 7 yrs., 6 mo. Color: Medium copper-Light Amber Nose: Interesting nose! I'm not getting the usual maple and leather that I get from the majority of bourbons I've had. This is more... Grainy(?). I'm going to attribute this to the higher rye content. Dill? Ok, now I know what it is — spearmint, or menthol... or eucalyptus. Weird, I know. I've never gotten that on the nose from any bottle that has come before it. Let's go in for a first sip... Palate: (drank with an ice cube) The higher rye % really is the star of the show here. If someone had blindfolded me, and asked me to take a sip, I'd have asked, "Ok, what Rye is this?". But as the ice slowly dissolves, the "bourbon" starts to come through. I'm getting a nice "time release" chest hug upon further sips. A faint hint of cherry is the next flavor to make an appearance. But this profile is mainly spice-driven. The more I sip... and the more the ice opens this up... the more things I'm getting. I just got a major blast of "cedar" on the last sip I took — like lemon varnish on cedar planks. Very interesting, this one... very interesting, indeed. Finish: I'm calling this a long finish. The spiciness and the herbal/menthol profile dominates here. Wow. I really love when a bourbon surprises me and sends me down a different path than most others have. This is not the smokey, leathery, sweet, cinnamon-y bourbon that I tend to gravitate towards. But I gotta say, this stuff is unique. I don't think I can really compare it to any other bourbon I've had (and I've had quite a few at this point). I'm going to go back to what I've said before — this is a very "Rye-like" bourbon. I wish I had a bottle of Baker's 107 to compare it to. That one I list among my Top-10 bourbons. I may need to grab one and do a side-by-side in the near future. Final thoughts... this is very good. I am not sure yet, at this stage, if it's a "back-up"- worthy bottle. However, considering this is a "Limited Release", I'd say you owe it to yourself to give it a spin — especially if you're a fan of Baker's like myself. I'm giving this a solid 4.0 stars.

The mouthfeel is more on the lighter side. Some really nice muted sweetness on the palate and full of flavor and baking spices. Nice finish for a 107 proof.

Carmel, spice, smooth

Nose offers spruce, apple, light vanilla, cedar, allspice, and a hit of creme brûlée. Very traditional. Ethanol basically non-existent. Palate is full of barrel char and oak tannins. Additional notes of rye spice, black peppercorn, flan, peanut, cinnamon candy, and mint. Hardly any mid-palate to speak of; literally races to the finish. For 7+ year age, there’s a heat here that I wouldn’t expect given the proof. Everything is a little disjointed. “Minty oak” is the predominant flavor which I don’t really dig. Long finish brings more barrel char, oak, cinnamon, mint, with a hint of ginger. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, but has a grainy sharpness that hits the sides of the tongue in a manner similar to hot sauce. Oof. I thought I would like this more than I did, but ultimately disappointing especially for an LE and given that I usually enjoy Bakers. At $74.99, this is a huge “nope” for me. Not terrible but pretty far from great.

4.0