Belle Meade Sour Mash Straight Bourbon

Nose is apple skins, toffee, Elmer's glue. A thousand plastic meatballs and a Stanzo brand fedora. A nice toasted barrel char in the nose. The taste is spicy (high rye?), toffee, black pepper. Definite prickly burn, a little salty too. Red pepper flakes, but like only a few. The peppery spice with the barrel char really pop. The finish is black pepper with spicy burn. A smooth, sweet toffee finish. Charcoal and oak-wood. Barrel char. It lights the palate on fire with it's spicy red pepperness.

Purchased on a trip to SC. In general the bourbon selection and prices weren't much different from NC, but this was $9 cheaper so I decided to grab it. Grainy and dusty corn notes mixed with strong, unsweetened baking spices. A little orange peel, black pepper, and dark chocolate. It's a really good and unusual nose. One half of the aroma gives off George Dickel vibes, the other high rye bourbons like OGD 114 and Four Roses. Also a medium oak influence, as is expected if the ~6 years according to some websites is correct. It is spicy on the tongue, black pepper mixed with baking spices. Sweeter on the tongue compared to the nose. The caramel and vanilla combine nicely with the rye spice and orange peel. I'm really surprised how much aroma and flavor this 90.4 proof whiskey packs. Medium finish of rye spice, oak, and corn dust. I knew Belle Meade was a highly regarded bourbon but I was put off by the $50 price tag in NC. However, I think it is far better than almost any other low proof bourbon I've had in this price range. Anyone who likes Basil Hayden's should really look at this, you're getting a lot more for your money.

Picked up at Jungle Jim’s. Solid sipper with a touch of spice on the back end.