Elijah Craig Toasted Barrel Bourbon

Liked the cinnamon hints

A definite improvement to the Elijah Craig. I like the sweetness up front it is well balanced.

When I first tried this at neck pour I was not a fan. Felt like the nose delivered while the palate lacked much. Last pour of the bottle and let me give you my thoughts. Nose: normally I’m not phased by anything higher than 40% but tonight the smell comes in really sharp. You get your typical bourbon brown sugar molasses notes, there are notes of dark fruit. Spices not sure normally some thing that I smell but this definitely gives off cinnamon spice. Palate: When I initially tasted this dram, the taste didn’t live up to the smell. They still taste a lot spicier than it smells. The smells give you a pleasant sweetness, but the taste is an oak spice that you aren’t prepared for. That must come from the extra toast. The extra spice gives you a bitter aftertaste, from the smell you would think it would be something different.

This is really great!

Starts very sweet and quickly goes bitter on the finish. Nose has a lot of typical bourbon notes (cherry honey vanilla). It's spicy for a bourbon but does not approach rye like status. Throughout the nose, taste and finish there is a campfire, toasted (burnt) marshmallow note that is fun and appealing.