Belle Meade Cask Strength Reserve Bourbon

Nose: cherry, brown sugar, rye towards the licorice direction, clove, leather Taste: some cherry on early sips but less so later on, pine, a creamy sweetness, a little rye licorice, later sips found chocolate Finish: rye, nice amount of burn, kind of a fresh/cool feeling After reading reviews: not a lot of reviews on my usual apps but the ones that are there note vanilla which I’m not getting - maybe the creamy sweetness, the molasses/fig note on the nose I can see - it’s a rich/darker sweetness

Do you like belle meade? Well if that answer is yes, you need to get your hands on the bottle. Color wise this stuff is black coffee side by side with belle meade standard 90 proof bourbon. Neat, its stout, but not a choking bite stout, but stout like Guinness compared to corse light. With water or on the rocks, man it opens up like a nascar throttle. Flavors galore, chocolate super present, rich throughout all the way to the smooth finish. Just a damn excellent bottle of whiskey.

Batch No. 5, 56.8% ABV On the nose, you’re abruptly hit with overripe apples, banana peel, gingerbread, toasted walnuts, graham crackers, and intense vanilla; very little subtlety here. The palate is quite a bit more complex than the nose, with stewed apples and cherries, honey, ginger, cloves, cardamom, peanut brittle, musty corn, vanilla, and a bit of dried, dead grass. The finish is straight vanilla extract, honey, and dried apples, with a bit of a waxy walnut note. Expect a nice warming Kentucky hug on this one. A bit heavy on the vanilla and overcooked fruit notes for my preference, but overall an interesting and tasty bourbon.