Bond & Lillard Kentucky Straight Bourbon (Batch #2)

nose - Sweet corn, faint dust, oak, clay putty. Nothing interesting. You know that horrible candy corn stuff? This smells a bit like that. Taste - Starts sweet but quickly goes to funk, dirt, clay, putty, and harash alcohol (it's 100 proof only). This is horrible. Run from this crap. I don't know how they found such bad whisky to blend but my lord they did it. on sale for 40 for a 375 ml bottle!

Animal up front. Smooth taste. Leather sweet finish.

Nose- The nose is full of lots of floral vanilla and a hint of citrus. Body- Very smooth and sweet up front with the vanilla sugar continuing, giving way to classic wild turkey earthiness including baking spices, pecans and lots of leather. There is a rich earthiness to this whiskey reminiscent of Blanton’s. Finish- The leather now gives way to tongue prickling pepper spices. This finish shifts gears hard when compared to the body. There is more of a zing than a sizzle that I really like. The pecan continues but becomes a bit more like the earthy bitter pecan pith that leaves your tongue a bit numb. This is an excellent, dynamic sipper. Thanks for the recommendation Milliardo.

This year for the holidays I’m going to try a brand new whiskey every day in December. #lifegoals Dec. 22 I debated whether or not I would create a new whiskey in Distiller for this one. So I poured this side-by-side with Batch 1, and immediately, it felt necessary. For starters, the colors are noticeably different. Batch 2 is much darker in color. However, it wasn’t until I tasted the two that I realized just how different they were. The nose is where I see the most resemblance. Caramel, leather, brine. There’s apple on batch 1, and for the life of me I can’t find it here. There is cane sugar though. Body is nutty and dusty. I get leather, pecans, powdered sugar. This is wholly different from the fruit on the body of batch 1. Finish, however, is fruity. The brininess transforms into a citrus on the sides of your tongue. It’s delicious. There’s a cinnamon and vanilla buzz that carries off on top of your tongue. This too is wholly different from batch 1. I can tell these batches are brothers. They both manipulate the same types of flavors, albeit at different times during the drink. I can tell that they are both expertly made, but they’re just too different to be considered the same. If I had to give the edge to one, it would be Batch 1, but it is extremely close. A large part of that vote would be personal preference only. Both batches are worth a go IMHO, should you find them. Just mentally adjust for the 375 mL trickery. ‘Tis the season. I don’t know if I actually have 9 more new whiskeys lined up, so if you’re reading this and there’s something readily available out there you’d like me to enjoy/suffer through this holiday season, leave it in the comments.