Booker's 30th Anniversary Bourbon

Just… wow. Stays true enough to the profile to be readily identifiable as a Bookers, but clearly so much more even from the first taste. Rich spiced cherry is the most prominent to me. Corn. Caramel. Dusty chaff and barn oak. Nutmeg. Dark chocolate. Each taste starts gentle and sweet and the flavor builds slowly and steadily, evolving into a crescendo of flavor and spice. That gentle start helps it drink well below the proof without sacrificing any flavor. Even poured blind, I’d bet many more folks than usual could tell that they were tasting something pretty special. Awesome stuff.

Neat. Bar pour! Because I needed it today and found a cool local place that had it ($45 for 1.5 ounce). I proceed to knock over the Glen and lost .5 of it…. Got enough left to taste it for the first time. The bar I am at is also a cigar bar. May influence the nose a bit. On the nose, oakier than expected. The wood actually dominates the typical Booker’s nuttiness. Dark cherry and lots of nutmeg and cinnamon. Getting a nice elephant ear sprinkled with a powdered sugar but also a vanilla glaze. There is a melody of fruit under all of this…. Mango and passion fruit? Interesting. On the taste, mouthfeel is syrupy dense and even with a grit to it. Flavor upfront is intense and immediate. Sweet caramel syrup, rock candy, nutmeg and cinnamon. Mid-palate is a caramel covered salted pretzel that morphs into a chocolate covered pretzel. The finish brings an immaculate oak, slight nuttiness and more chocolate. It brightens up on subsequent sips with a bit of vanilla in places and those fruits are emerging too. Especially on the finish. Delicious pour. I love every second of it. I can’t knock it for any aspect.

Oak, leather, strawberries and cream, vanilla

Sweet spice entry, warm Carmel and cinnamon finish. A consistent gem