George T. Stagg Bourbon (Fall 2020)

Missed checkin from last month in NJ

Remarkable. Sweet cherry notes without much burn, tremendous for a 15y/130

Got 2 oz of this so this is my 3rd attempt at this. Lets see how this goes. Nose - So this has been poured for about 15 minutes. When I first nosed this it was sweet cherries and over oaked buffalo trace classic oak with a bitter over coat. Now it's straight creme brulee, caramel drizzel, dare I say some kind of chocolate pie, and well some more oak. Taste - Ok tannic, chalky, cherry, big...bold...hot. OK it's opening up a bit. Bottom line is it's good, it's certainly a stagg, but I don't like it more than better GTS's and while the age is there it might have turned a bit while not getting mellowed with age. It is playing very well with water, it's allowed some sweet to come out and hidden some bitter oak, but still something is missing. I'll give this a 3.25, feels awfully low for a Stagg, but this is coming up short. Edit - yeah everytime I come back it starts out WONDERFUL and then the finish goes south, fast, and it doesn't recover. A real shame as this is missing what makes the great stagg's great. Still it's good!

Smell: Sweet dried cherry Legs: very strong Heads: spicy Body: deep and dark flavor Tails: vanilla, long lasting, therapeutic mount feel Conclusion, this is a very flavorful and clearly defined taste

Nose: caramel, dried black cherry, dark oak, ethanol punchiness, dried herbs Nose After Swirl: bigger pick up of the ethanol burn, dried medicinal herbs similarly to earlier, so much dark fruit. Palate: Crazy thick mouthfeel. Immediate heat, very dark taste profile... cacao, black cherry, those dried herbs show up again Finish: extremely long finish, dummy juicy 💦, maintains the darker notes of the palate and doubles-down on the apothecarian profile, nice sharp oak that muddles perfectly with the sparse lighter notes.

Full-bodied, crescendos to palpable spice and dried fruits and never lets up. Divine.