Garrison Brothers Single Barrel Bourbon

Good heat with a nice caramel/dark cherry nose.

The first impression here is sawdust, like someone just dumped some wood chips in carelessly. It's a far stronger flavor of that "huh?" nature than I.W. Harper 15 is. It's strong though and the barrel is nice. The price is absurdly high for the quality though. The nose is rich with some umami and sour flavor. It smells a bit like rancid meat. Some more spice comes out though, along with some sawdust. The palate indeed has that sour flavor, but it's not nearly as prevalent because there's a huge richness and sweetness with brown sugar and then sawdust taking over. The tartness remains to balance it, but is vastly subdued. There's quite a bit of spice and some smoke. The harshness hits home. It's sweet with a bit of a toasty flavor from the sawdust, but it doesn't have a toffee sweetness, not does it have any fruit or a great deal of complexity. It's a decent bourbon because of the richness and sweetness, but it isn't terribly complex and the way that the flavors don't quite cohere (what is that sour flavor doing?) and how the sawdust comes through suggest youth. With a few drops of water added, the sawdust becomes more complex with additional smoke and barrel flavors. For comparison, George Dickel Bottled In Bond has a much more complex and palatable nose, with toasty and fruity notes that pull me in. George Dickel has a less brazenly assertive palate with less wood and smoke, but it has more balance with some nice toasty flavor and juicy cherry. If you're going for the biggest kick, choose Garrison Brothers. For a balanced bourbon that has plenty of wood and toasty flavors with a mouth-watering mixture of baking spices, go for the Dickel. Yeah, this just isn't on the level of George Dickel Bottled In Bond. I kind of like the rich, sweetness - it tastes like a very good young bourbon. Still, it tastes like a young bourbon. I bet this would be really good at 8 years rather than 3.

Nose: dark chocolate coconut vanilla macaroons, caramel, medium oak Taste: Medium mouthfeel coconut, vanilla cake, cinnamon, coffee Finish: spicy with a medium length

Spicy. But delicious

Leather, smoke, on the palate. A bit of spice and hug on the back end. I got this for a Christmas present and would drink again, Until I found the price point was $100?!? could name 10 bourbons I would choose before this at that price.