Bulleit Bourbon Barrel Strength Batch 7

Agave and floral on the nose. Lots of spice of the front of the palate followed by notes of oak and bitter nut like a pistachio. Wish there was a little more going on with the flavor since the proof is so high. Medium finish.

Nice flavors but a bit too harsh. Liked batch 6 a lot better.

I'm not usually one to create a new listing for batched whiskey (while some others will create listings for far less of a change), but this one does have a different ABV listed, and the distillery found it important enough to print new labels with this information instead of using write-in labels, so here we are. At least I take better pictures than damn near everyone else on here. A darker color from some decent time in the barrel around the outskirts of the glass, but a surprisingly thin and more translucent hue through the center. Lots of classic notes on the nose, including vanilla and wood sugar, but there are also some smaller notes of unripe banana, and some citrus-y grain. The ethanol is really quite weak through the nose given the proof. The body is a little weak at first, but it's mostly because the focus is simple, and really captures good, basic qualities of a bourbon. The corn is still young, but at it's full strength, it combines well with the small amount of rye here, giving a sweetness that has just a tinge of bitterness behind it thanks to the charred barrels. The gum piercing is mild, but the rye can still be tasted in the forms of cinnamon and some of the raw grain, again with the youngness. A slight spiciness on the finish, but far than I expected with this proof, which is interesting as well as it is dangerous. I really do love the simplicity that Bulleit captures, being a bourbon that's very approachable by all, and, as a side note, for making the most rounded and first (to me) proper 95% rye whiskey. As that stands, that also makes this a very approachable cask strength bourbon, but also makes it fairly plain as a result. For the price, it's a great pick-up, and although I don't believe there can be too much of a difference between batched whiskey, it's cheap enough to get a few of the different batches and work to detect the nuances between them. Other than that, as I continued to finish my glass, I was unable to come up with any further notes, further sinking in the simplicity of this whiskey, for better or worse.