George T. Stagg Bourbon (Fall 2018)

Sweet and absolutely delicious

Hot but dry good. Creamy mouthfeel.

Dried fruit on the nose, cherries. Obviously lots of heat - charred wood and spices on the palate. Nose has gotten sweeter after first tastes. Excellent - so delicious.

Char, charcoal, very spicy nose, rye, marshmallow, candy corn, maybe some maraschino cherry and almonds. Nice spicy rye flavor that really wrestles with the corn. Very hot spicy pepper/cinnamon/alcohol burn. Very oaky, musty damp barrel wood. Tobacco and leather. Long finish with damp wood, tobacco, wet cotton, cinnamon burn, marzipan. Complex and well rounded, but definitely hot!

I have been chasing this for years and finally tried it in a bar. While it's very good I have to say I am underwhelmed for the price point. Took quite a while for it to open up but I still consider it fairly closed on the nose. The first surprise is that the 130 proof is far from apparent. There's vanilla and caramel with some nominal fruit but all very shy. The taste is true and very good. Finish is nice and long with lingering apple. If this were $75 a bottle it's definitely a 5 but I find Stagg Jr at $65 to be superior across the board.

One of the best I’ve experienced - absolutely delicious. Cherry fruit leather, burnt cedar, toffee, nutmeg, red apple. Balanced by more astringent notes of coriander, licorice. Diverse flavors that blend together incredibly well. Obviously packs a little heat, but for the proof, it’s super smooth from sip to finish. First pour of GTS I’ve had - this really lived up to the hype for me.