Booker's Bourbon Batch 2020-02 "Boston Batch"

Very much enjoyed the flavors present in this pour. Still had the nutty notes but there's much more depth of vanilla in this bottle compared to the Granny's Batch

Nose: Dried fruit, grapes with a spicy holiday note. Taste: Spice jumps around your mouth like a machine band in the summer. Dried cherries and holiday spice helps a soft oak. It’s a rich, full bodied attack of flavor that hits you like a blind a buss driver. Finish: The spice hangs on long after the gold goes down. The dried fruit also continues to linger around like that friend who won’t leave your house at 4am. Good buy. Don’t be scared to feel off that beautiful black wax to get that liquid gold.

Bookers is always great, but this batch is a bit more muted that the previous (Granny’s). Lingering finish, but up front, a tad more minty/clean.

Deep copper color. The nose has notes of boiled peanuts, chocolate brownies, vanilla frosting and charred cinnamon stick. Rich and creamy mouthfeel. The palate is hot with honey roasted peanut butter, Ceylon cinnamon, brown sugar, wintergreen, and hints of freshly cut grass. The finish is long and hot with more peanut butter, cinnamon and vanilla, marshmallows, grilled peaches, oak and charcoal. This is a spicy peanut butter bomb, and one of my favorite Booker's releases.

So, as I have the opportunity to try several different versions of the Booker's line, I'm frankly falling in love. This is good and certainly in the family of others, but it hit me that it just wasn't as complex or deep as some others. The day before having this I had some of the Granny's Batch and it was stunning. This one drinks hotter with some of the nice peanut notes. But it stays hot even with some water, where others bloom. It's good, but this one isn't worth the price.

Alcohol, peanuts, prunes and a slight grassiness on the nose. Palate starts with that Jim Beam peanut brittle with the Bookers proof providing heat and spice, fading to tobacco. Somewhat short finish ends with a bitter note which really takes away from this bourbon. The price of Bookers continues to climb through the roof while the product has seemed to be phoned in over the last couple of years. Good, not great.

Uncorking - nose roasted nuts, vanilla, light spice and maybe a hint of citrus rind barely in the back. Taste - better than it smells. Spikey on the tongue in a way I love. Balanced but strong in a great way. Lots of hug after a few sips. Lingers spice in the tongue with peanuts and bitter cherry. Finishes with some corn, hints of caramel that bitterness and almost an earthy mossy quality I'm going to need to come back to. The reviews way undersold this for my pallet. I'm pleasantly surprised. I'll try it against Granny's Batch and Country Ham soon.