Heaven's Door Redbreast Master Blenders' Edition

The nose hits very similar to an Irish whiskey. The palate is incredibly silky and soft. It’s a good marriage of the bourbon and the Irish, caramel and nuts paired with a sweeter shortbread note. Delicious

If you're wondering the answer is yes - it tastes like someone took a robust Tennessee whiskey and mixed it with an Irish whiskey. So on the palette, you've got the Heaven's Door heat right in your face, with wood/spice notes. but as it goes down the hatch... The heat dissipates quite a bit and you get the Redbreast smoothness (and if I had to guess, this would be a Redbreast 12) with a hint of vanilla. But to me it came in waves and not all at once which was interesting. Ultimately I imagined this would be some new and insane tasting profile; a happy marriage with little heat/spice. But no it literally tastes like someone mixed bourbon and Irish whiskey in a barrel then bottled it. I imagine if you did that at home it would taste fairly similar. Didn't hate it at all, just saying this isn't a new bold frontier of whiskey.

Now that I have safely secured 2 more bottles , I can finally share my thoughts lol First off I was big time skeptic about this , I don’t particularly care for Redbreast and never tried heavens doors , just seemed like another celebrity jumping on the bandwagon and being 10 year Tennessee you automatically assume trash Dickel . Well all those assumptions were wrong I don’t know how but it just worked and came out with some amazing Juice ! Definitely in my top 3 for the year. Definitely recommend. Would like to know where it was sourced from I’ve heard dickel but it doesn’t match up with there Mash bill . If anyone know please share . Cheers !

A timely pour sent by @jonwilkinson7309 , which I took with me on a 10 day hiking trip through the Utah National Parks and Grand Canyon. This was such a welcome treat after a few days of going down the rim of the Grand Canyon. I’m sure having this at the bottom of the Canyon after a tedious hike, looking at the Colorado river, adds to the positive experience and scoring. Probably a top 5 bourbon of the year—-and priced relatively affordable at about $100. It’s not cloyingly sweet, but you do get sugared cookies on the nose, followed by sweet plums , oranges and berries on the palette. Really well balanced. I shared a small portion of my pour with a fellow hiker at the bottom of the Canyon. He put aside the Jim Beam he was having and asked me if he can buy my entire sample. ( not selling...it’s all mine !) Goes to show how good this is. Buy a bottle while it’s still priced around $100...you won’t regret it. Thanks Jon for the treat, which turned out a much needed respite after a 12 hour hike down the Canyon.

I am very impressed. For those that don’t love finished bourbon this is for you. It may change your mind. The Irish adds just enough to make a difference but not too much that it overpowers the bourbon. I would love to see more Irish cask finishes. Very nicely done.

Rating: 17/23 N: Light and kind of tart. Some woodiness builds, but it's still kind of light. More dusty funk starts coming out of the wood. Some dried granny smith apple chips. P: Wood, spices, somewhat dusty. It's a bit lighter than I might have expected without smelling it first, then a little oil and some sweet, light fruits including plenty of apples, Some light vanilla notes and light caramel sweetness. A little bit of a rye spice character too. It's not as light as I.W. Harper 15, but it isn't as full as George Dickel Bottled In Bond or Resilient 15 Barrel #124. This tastes more complex and mature than Russell's Reserve 10 does, the Russell's is richer, and I don't really consider it to be a very rich whiskey. I get a bit of rye tartness that makes me think of Belle Meade Reserve, but I prefer the Belle Meade. F: Numbing wood spice with some dustiness and some of the fruit overlay with vanilla, but less sweet and tart than it was before. It's lasts a long time and showcases the maturity here. Some papery vanilla goes well into the long finish. - Conclusion - This strikes me as inferior to Resilient Barrel #124 and more in the range of the first release of George Dickel Bottled In Bond, but better than Russell's Reserve 10 and I.W. Harper 15. There's quite a bit of complexity here and it's very good, but it seems kind of like a a fight between the mature bourbon and fruity, tart finishing cask a lot of the time. I'm looking at a 15 to 17. It might push an 18 at moments, but I think I'd generally take Wild Turkey Rare Breed over this. The shame here is that there's some great complexity but the marriage is wanting. I'd love to leave a half-full bottle of this on my shelf for a year or two and see how it develops. My guess is that it would be substantially better at the end. I'm going to go with a 17 right now. This was a really fun one to try and it was darned tasty, but I don't think it's quite hit the mark for me. Thanks @pkingmartin for the sample!