Belle Meade Cask Strength Reserve Bourbon

Mild nose, sweet on the front with a medium mouth feel followed by a medium burn for the proof and finishing with leather.

Don’t like the cask strength as much.

Apple. Chocolate. Starts out very sweet and finishes with a nice burn to balance it out. Dry finish with cherry and clove. Overall, this is an incredibly smooth bourbon albeit not exceedingly complex. This could serve as a benchmark for other barrel strength bourbons to be compared.

For reference, this sample comes from batch 22 that @ContemplativeFox was generous to provide. The nose is very restrained but with some time the notes start to come through starting sweet with a light sourness with honeysuckle, sautéed Granny Smith apples and toasted marshmallow then mild rye spices and chocolate pecan pie followed by mandarin oranges and cherry hard candy that transitions to light spices of spearmint, ginger, cloves, leather and polished mahogany with medium ethanol burn. The taste is a medium mouthfeel starting with honeysuckle, sautéed Granny Smith apples and toasted marshmallow before a moderate spice that slowly fades to blonde espresso and chocolate covered candied pecans followed by mandarin orange zest and sour cherries that transitions to spices of spearmint, ginger, cloves, leather and polished mahogany with medium ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with dehydrated apricot, sour apple candy, blonde espresso, chocolate covered pecans, spearmint, ginger, cloves, leather and polished mahogany. This is like that introverted friend that arrives at a party shy and restrained but after a while they open up, throw caution to the wind and you spot the friend half naked in a pool of jello challenging others to a match. The nose was incredibly restrained for a while but with time it finally opened up with a honeyed sweetness, mild sour citrus, light rye spices and well-aged oak that carries over to the palate with the addition of earthy espresso and a moderate spice before finishing on the sour side along with light earthy and rye spices. These appear to be around $60+ which is a fair price for a tasty bourbon these days that just requires a little patience.