Doc Swinson's Exploratory Cask Series 15 Year Kentucky Straight Bourbon (Release No. 6)

Neat. Neck pour. Release 009, NASA Liquors. 15 year Heaven Hill at 113.8 proof. Yeah, that is a delicious nose. Dark, dark oak. I would call it sweet oak as a single note, but it is surrounded by a tremendous amount of sweetness. Powdered sugar covered caramel cheesecake. Some cherries on top in a cherry sauce too. Lots of cinnamon. Yeah great nose. Mouth feel is odd. Little rough and grainy. Wood bitter up front. Geez, this teeters really close to over oaked. It opens up nicely on the palate. The bitterness lingers as a dark, low note but there is some good flavors to tease out. Yeah, sticking to the caramel cheesecake with a hint of cherry. Gets bitter on the finish again. I’m going to let this sit for 20 minutes before final judgement... So air time marginally improved it. More sweetness is coming through and the bitterness is turned down, but still prevalent throughout. Ugh, the sticker is the best part of this bottle. Hopefully air time on the shelf makes it more enjoyable.

Thoroughly enjoyed this one.

Aroma is exactly what you want in a heavily oaked bourbon that gets balanced with bold and complex sweet profiles; Palate follows the same track with some bolder peanut and spice notes; Finish is a tad underwhelming but carries a nice balance of oak and sweetness. I could sniff and sip this all day any day.

Doc Swinson has come on the scene as a Non-Distilling Producer in the last year or so, mostly releasing sub-$50 bottlings of moderately aged TN whiskey (Dickel) and youngish MGP rye. But this Rare Release #6 is an 18-barrel batch of 15 year-old Kentucky bourbon, widely speculated to be from Heaven Hill. Nose - Peanut shells, leather, oak, tobacco, caramel, vanilla, orange peel, cherries, and some varnish. A little hot at first, but opens up after some breathing time. Palate - mouthfeel is fairly thick but not really oily, starting with dry roasted peanuts, vanilla, burnt caramel, maple, nutmeg, allspice, and oak. The moderately long finish closes out with some slightly tannic oak, dark chocolate, and dark brown sugar.  There's a Kentucky hug, but no harsh burn. So yeah, I feel confident in saying this is definitely sourced from Heaven Hill. It has that dry-roasted peanut note that I often get from HH (different from the Beam peanut funk). I would put this in a similar league to some of the better Elijah Craig Barrel Proof releases I've tried. It has a little more oak and a little less caramel, so I could see people's preferences going either way depending on what they like. Given the age and proof (118.2), I'm guessing this is from a lower tier than ECPB usually is, but I'm not one to judge a whiskey on its ABV. Cask strength whiskeys under 120proof are kind of my sweet spot anyway. At twice the price of ECPB the value proposition might seem questionable; but lets be honest, ECBP is way underpriced for the current market (which is why it's so hard to find in most places). My suggestion is anybody who likes HH in general and ECBP in particular should definitely go for this one if they see it.

Tasted like lead paint that had been in the attic for 15 years. I was able to try this during a very long night of whiskey tasting, but I was unfortunately unable to take good notes. I use the rating scale below. Distiller uses a scale of 5 and I use a scale of 10, but I’m sure you’re not too drunk to do the math! 1. Disgusting - So bad I poured it out. 2. Poor - I wouldn't consume by choice. 3. Bad - Multiple flaws. 4. Below average - Not bad, but many things I'd rather have. 5. Good - Just average. 6. Very Good - Better than average. 7. Great - Well above average. 8. Excellent - In a league of its own. 9. Incredible - An all-time favorite. 10. Perfect

Color: deep copper Nose: very complex with caramel, leather, cinnamon, tobacco and nutmeg Taste: rich and deep, caramel and vanilla with hints of baking spices akin to banana bread Finish: long and tannic with black pepper, cinnamon and bitter dark chocolate Overall: Even though the source wasn’t disclosed, I’m thinking this has got to be a 15 year Heaven Hill. I did a side by side with an Old Fitzgerald 15 and got many of the same qualities. I don’t know how Doc was able to secure these honey barrels.

Warm hug. Subtly sweet. Some of the best juice I’ve had in a long time. So good I went back and got 4 more bottles.