Booker's Bourbon Batch 2020-03 "Pigskin Batch"

Very smooth, especially for such high proof. Classic bourbon flavors. Loved it. Instantly a favorite.

Nose: oak, peach, orange, cinnamon, toffee, caramel and barrel spices. Spicy but smooth on the palate; sweet cherry, dark chocolate, pepper, oak, orange, toast and caramel. Lingering spicy finish. Lovely stuff, and pretty easy drinking for the proof.

Rating: 16/23 N: There's certainly alcohol, but there's also a nice, surprisingly old wood note here. Although it's mixed with biting alcohol, it reminds me a bit of old Dickel. There's some nice cinnamon coming off of the wood, a little vanilla richness, and a hint of black licorice. An odd hint of lemon as well. And some peanut shells with the wood. Ooh, and there's some nice caramel too! P: Oof, a lot of alcohol flavor. And it really burns. Like a lot, even for Booker's. There's a really nice orange favor like a hard candy, but that slightly industrial alcohol really overshadows it. I get nice black licorice as well, but, wow, that alcohol. There's some cinnamon, but that's not most of what I'm getting from the alcohol. Some sort of bitter herbal flavor as well some. Ah, I'm getting a bit of that Jim Beam peanut mixed with peanut shells now. I like these additional flavors, but they're really fighting with the alcohol, which has a little too much of a fusel quality. F: Alcohol burn, licorice, alcohol flavor, bits of orange. Maybe some wood or something. It burns and isn't that complex. - Conclusion - Booker's is pretty good, but this is unfortunately the worst of the roughly 10 releases I have tried. There's way too much alcohol here and it isn't even that full or complex. I could maybe reach a 17 in my wildest fantasies, but I'm thinking that this is more in the 14 to 16 range and I'm leaning toward a 16. Side by side, this is just not on the level of George Dickel Bottled In Bond (16/23). This burns way too much and it's actually a little harsh. If it weren't for the burn and harshness, I might put them really close, but that difference definitely pushes this down. This seems closer in quality to my 15 year old single barrel bottling of Dickel 15 (15/23). I'm shifting to a 15 for this. Taking one final tasting, I'm torn here. I think that this is better than Dickel 15 and Uncle Nearest 1856 (15/23), but not quite on the level of Dickel Bottled In Bond. It's hard to tell against Russell's Reserve 10 (15-16/23), so this is a very borderline case. I think I'm going to give it a low 16 on the grounds that I've faintly considered giving the Uncle Nearest a 16 at times and the Dickel Bottled In Bond is on the higher end of 16. Thank you, @jdriip , for giving me a taste of this one.

At 127 proof, this stuff is the strongest bottle I've ever had. Burns a bit going down. Definitely needs an ice cube to rein in the heat. Very complex. Hard to discern every nuance. I'm almost done with my bottle, and I don't see any need to search for another. Like a brief, torrid affair with a very hot girl. LOL.