Hotel Tango Classified Series Bourbon Brandy Barrel Finish

Rating: 7/23 I wasn't all that impressed by Hotel Tango Bourbon Ready-To-Drink, but I'm a big fan of cognac and armagnac finishes on bourbon, so I'm hoping that this will be much better. N: This isn't what I expected. It's neither particularly sweet nor particularly bold. It's strangely vegetal and pepperminty with a touch of white pepper. There isn't a lot happening here. Maybe a whiff of alcohol. P: This is vegetal for sure. I'm thinking that this is quite youthful and the brandy barrels are here to cover for that. It's the vegetal flavor of young distillate. It doesn't burn or taste industrial, but it certainly does taste too young to be bottling. I also get some funkiness that reminds me of PX sherry, but I think that might just be the youthful distillate's squash flavor. There is a sweetness here though that brings in a fruitiness on the back of some woody tannins that don't end up too astringent. There's a bit of caramel mixed with orange going on, but also some funky sweetness that I'm not sure whether to attribute to the distillate or to the brandy (after all, it could be an American brandy). There's a fair amount going on here, but it's weird and flawed. This is an unfortunately challenging palate that needs age and refinement. F: The precise funky flavors fade out, leaving more of a tingling woodiness with hints of orange oil and some mild squash. Maybe a touch of caramel. Less challenging than the palate and not exactly boring, but still not that great. - Conclusion - This has a bit more flavor to it than Hotel Tango Bourbon Ready-To-Drink does, but I think that this just isn't as good. The BRTD doesn't have the same youthful flaws that this does, making it a better product overall. Earl Settle (10/23) is also clearly better than this, though it does have more alcohol bite to it. The Sexton (9/23) has more of an alcohol bite to it, but it's sweeter with nicer fruity flavors. Side-by-side with this, I'm slightly liking The Sexton for the first time. I might be able to justify a 9 for this, but I'm not confident. Black Eagle (8/23) is more lacking in character and age than this is, but it doesn't have that same vegetal funk to it. Both taste young, but in different ways. I think that they're similar in quality, so I'm going with an 8 for this. I've gone back and forth between this and Black Eagle, so I think that 8 is spot-on. Coming back to this, the funk is so weird that this might actually be a 7. I'm getting this kind of upsetting vegetal buckwheat flavor that reminds me of Corsair Grainiac tried on a tired palate. Still, the Black Eagle really does show a lot of alcohol. Maybe I need to just still with my original 8. I don't know. This is rough. It's an active struggle to drink. I think that the Black Eagle is slightly better, but is this bad enough to be lowered to a 7? Maybe, but I'm not confident enough to make that call, so it will get to stay at an 8. It's quite borderline though. Actually, on the final sip, I'm going to push this down to a 7. I can at least swallow the Black Eagle and forget about it, whereas this lingers. Thanks for the sample @Milliardo !

Subtle sweetness from brandy barrel aging. Pleasant nose, smooth finish. Worth the price? You’ll have to decide…