George T. Stagg Bourbon (Fall 2017)

Snagged a bottle from Washington DC Costco for $80 - I’m relatively new to bourbon and got extremely lucky. Not an every day sipper but great for a special occasion. I wouldn’t pay $200+ for it. I (as a newbie) don’t get much more from this than from Stagg Jr.

This bottle showed up at a recent party and I was fortunate to get a nice taste, the owner was saving it for a tasting event so we only had a couple of shots to judge on but so be it. This was the first "tall" Stagg(not junior) I've gotten to sample, so my expectation wasn't remarkable based on what Junior both is and ISN'T. Like the baby-daddy it is 127ish proof and not for the faint of heart as this may be too powerful for an immature drinkers palate. The nose was quite familiar, "junior like" but brings an additional array of sugars, a Booker-like richness that is missing in the short bottle (jr). Very warm up front, heat that is "in your face"(literally) but still surprisingly smooth and absent of harshness, again reminded of the best characteristics of junior without some of the overbearing wallop to the nose you get with the short bottle. Daddy is smooth! On the tongue, George T Stagg is heavy. This is where you really start noting the amazing difference in the George T over the Junior label, the flavor profile has a big beefy middle of sugars, (deep woods, vanilla, aged red fruit) like something Fred Noe himself would keep tucked away from strangers. The richness of often missing notes in the short bottle are all filled in here, present and accounted for, slight variations of fruit and spices linger into the finish and the heat slowly dissipates allowing for a much anticipated followup sip. I sprinkled a thimble of water in my mini glencairn for the 2nd round and found it did "break open" the weight of the rich middle to reveal some hidden spice notes. I expected better than Stagg Jr, but I didn't expect THIS KIND of better. Fantastically good, just amazing, it's everything you wanted but isn't in Stagg Jr. making for one of the best bourbons of the year. If this isn't a 5 star bourbon then THERE ARE NO 5 star bourbons on the market today. I believe it sold at well over 200$. Given the rarity of BTACs you won't stumble over this on the street anywhere, but if you can find a way to try this or snag a bottle.. DO IT! For the true bourbon connoisseur, you won't regret!