Boone County Small Batch Bourbon Finished in Oloroso Sherry Cask (Batch 2 - Second Fill)

Nose is red wine, raisins, cherries, brine, sugar, almonds, bit of chocolate. I could see green apple. Great nose. Body is heavy on almonds, with a nitrous mouth feel. The red wine comes back. Cherries, oranges, and sweet cream are there as well. Fruit punch. Finish is honey. Red wine is still there. Bitter coffee note hits on the end. Substantially better than WTMK Revival, which is mustier and more bitter in comparison. More industrial. This tastes cleaner. This may be my new benchmark for how good an Oloroso sherry finish can be.

Rating: 10/23 N: Sweet with some fresh stone fruit, a squeeze of lemon, and some light nutty oiliness that adds a rich dimension to this. A bit of kind of a rye herbaceousness with a little bit of vegetal flavor. Some definite minerality as well, though it isn't terribly assertive. What's more the case is that this is kind of on the light side. P: Not the boldest and it has a lot of burn, but there's some nice sweetness with well-integrated stone fruit and a touch of richness that makes me think pecans, but not that oily. A little bit of syrup to the fruit, with maybe a touch of vanilla and a hint of anise. A small amount of woody tannins, but it does add a clear bitter and slightly astringent layer. It's probably so clear because it isn't very complex. The burn is unfortunately quite hot and kind of harsh. It's not a nice flavorful pepperiness, so much as it is just a straight burn. It's reasonable for this to burn at such a high proof, but it really should have more flavor filling it out. Adding a bit of water, some youthful wood vanilla and a substantial smokiness stand out. I didn't expect that. I'm really noticing more smokiness now. It's not grassy, but it isn't quite barbecue-y either. F: I get some nice toastiness and vanilla here. It still burns, but the burn is fading. It's fairly sweet now. Hints of minerality and stone fruit. - Conclusion - Unfortunately, as much as I like the core flavors here, I don't like the burn and weakness to this. The oloroso finish is really working here, but it needs more work to be really enjoyable. The heat isn't hitting me as much anymore, but I still find this to be rough and light. This is no Russell's Reserve 10 (15-16/23) in terms of richness or complexity or smoothness. Even a 12 would be a tough sell here. Unfortunately, I don't really have stuff down in this range to put side-by-side, but I'm thinking that this is at most an 11. An 8 seems like it might be a little bit low, but I could believe it. A 7 would be hard to believe since it's hot, but it isn't really harsh. I'm leaning toward a 9, but it could be a 10. Coming back to this, it still really burns, but the oloroso oily nuttiness is showing through nicely. This strikes me as more rich and mature than Trader Joe's Kentucky Straight Bourbon (11/23), but it's just so much more harsh. I think I'd take the Trader Joe's over this, but not by a lot. The Sexton (9/23) doesn't burn as much as this does, but it is so much more funky and weird. Ick. I think I prefer this. I'm thinking now that this is a 10 now. Thanks to @Milliardo for another interesting cask-finished dram!

Neat. Opened two weeks. I am not a big fan of the Boone County Small Batch. I adore Boone County and their MGP but this blend didn’t work for me. The first batch of the Sherry finish (first fill - 10 weeks) was average as well. The finish just couldn’t overcome the base. This is their second attempt - second fill finished for longer period of time (26 weeks). On the nose, it’s delightful. Honey and graham crackers, butterscotch and raspberries. The graham crackers are like a pie crust, extra crispy and there is a lot of cinnamon and spice in the crust too. The raspberries are glazed. It’s all covered with powered sugar. Delightful as I said. Lovely, thick texture. Syrupy. The Sherry up front hits immediately and it comes with that powdered sugar, very strong first note. Mid palate the Sherry keeps coming and is followed by the butterscotch. The butterscotch escalated through to the finish and is delish. Getting this very nice vanilla sweet cream on the finish. The Sherry has this consistent presence all the way through. This is so good. I need to go back to the Boone County Small Batch. This is so much better than Batch 1 of the Sherry finished, maybe the base blend itself is better now and I never gave it a second chance. The extra time in the Sherry barrels really helped this. It’s so well balanced and one of the better finished MGPs. Great job Boone County!