Jack Daniel's Old No. 7

N: Bananas! Ripe apple, wood char, light brown sugar. Ethanol, if you leave your nose in there too long. P: More bananas! But this time cooked in brown sugar. Mineral water. Dash of oak. Finish is short with vanilla, more of that soft mineral water quality, and just a little heat. Every now and then, a little more bananas! Years ago, I hated this with a passion. Thought it tasted like olives - I can't explain that - maybe that little bit of barrel char? I avoided bringing my newfound and drunkenly earned whiskey knowledge to bear on this puppy because, well, I still really dislike olives. But, alas, I've started to run short on cheap, mass produced swill that I haven't tried/reviewed (probably not true), and so the day came for me and JD to be reacquainted. I definitely don't hate this. I find it quite drinkable, if not somewhat of a novelty. It almost strikes me as a banana Laffy Taffy flavored whiskey - the banana is that pronounced for my palate. But I will say that in that banana (and also the mineral water) note I also detect something very reminiscent of the noted Flintstones vitamin note in the George Dickell BIB series. I can only assume the charcoal filtering has something to do with it. Whatever it is, however this happens, I like it and feel like it ties them together as Tennessee whiskies, while elevating this just a hair. For $17 bucks, this ain't bad. I'd do it again.

Char, Vanilla, banana,