Booker's Bourbon Batch 2016-01 "Booker's Bluegrass"

Rested 10 minutes. Served neat in a Glencairn. Nose - plum, cherry, vanilla, a little sting on the backend Palette - gives you this dark chocolate cherry kick, baking spice, oily, coats the palette and makes room for the finish Finish - if there was a chocolate red hot? Lol. I imagine that would taste like this. A nice lingering finish that makes you want more Really great but lacks some complexity that I’m looking for, which is gonna keep it from being one of the best I’ve had.

Spice, full flavored, bold

If you've read any of my previous Booker's reviews, you'll know I'm a huge fan. When I find a dusty bottle from years gone by, it's pretty much an automatic purchase. So when I saw this Booker's Bluegrass in a small liquor store that I happened upon by chance, it was an immediate buy. This is the first of 6 batches from 2016. At this point it's a rarity. Bottled at 63.95%, it's just shy of being the strongest Booker's I've had to date (Kitchen Table and Bluegill Creek are 64%). It's 6 years and 11 months on the dot, which is slightly above average based on what I've had in the past. Enough about all that, on to the tasting. Nose: The first thing I notice is a massive amount of baking spices. Waves of nutmeg, clove, and allspice. Pumpkin spice and maple. Behind that is cinnamon and ginger, the latter of which I've never gotten in Booker's before. Classic Beam peanut brittle and caramel, as well as cocoa, brown sugar, and vanilla. Fudge and milk chocolate. Some cherry and new car leather. A touch of pipe tobacco, cocoa, and as always, a hefty serving of oak. Superb start. *Some apple pie in the empty glass. Palate: Upon entry it's all leather. Beyond that is more peanut brittle, brown sugar, and caramel. An absolute whopper. All of the spices are in tact; it's another surge cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, and allspice. A bit of ginger and black pepper. In addition to peanut, there's also walnut and toasted almond. Apricot. Carrot cake. Black cherry. Maybe even bitter/sweet dark chocolate. Nougat and fudge. And, of course, loads of oak. It's an absolute juggernaut, and can be overpowering if you're not ready, but is as complex and intriguing as any other bourbon I've had. Finish: Cinnamon, black pepper, nutmeg, clove, and allspice. Fudge. Wave after wave. It's an absolute spice bomb. I also get some cocoa, caramel, and brown sugar. Finally, peanut brittle, carrot cake, and oak. About as long a finish as you can imagine. It's been 2-3 minutes and I'm still getting hit with a periodic sensation of spice and oak. It's absurb--in a good way. What a find. I consider myself lucky to have stumbled upon this piece of history. At $71, I'd pay for this all day. Sadly, I doubt I'll ever have the privilege of buying another. 5 stars. It's as good as any other Booker's batch I've had. I had the chance to conduct a side-by-side comparison between this and the Center Cut batch before finishing the latter. That was the most unique and interesting Booker's I had have had to date, and, overall, this Bluegrass held up on even footing. Every batch is worth the trouble for a different reason. All near-perfect pours. I love the aggressive, spicy, and oaky nature that this one exhibits. Buy on sight, folks. Edit: A year later, I'm down toward the end of the bottle and it's only improved. I haven't had the chance to compare this to Center Cut, but at this point, I may have this one pegged at number 1 of any Booker's rendition. I put it in my top 2 without reservation. Amazing. Second edit: Came back with a fresh bottle almost three years later. As amazing as I remembered, with a couple new notes sprinkled in. Stunning bottle.