Jefferson's Reserve Twin Oak Custom Barrel Bourbon

Opinions are all over the board on this bourbon. I first tasted it at a specialty shop and was impressed enough with its unique character to buy the bottle for when I wanted something different. Upon opening the bottle and tasting a few drams, I can say for sure this is “something different” but not necessarily in a good way. The nose betrays the spice of high rye mash bill. The first thing I noticed on the palate was a smooth oily mouthfeel. Instead of blossoming into the burnt caramel and vanilla I love in a good bourbon, a very mild brown sugar sweetness was quickly overcome by a bitter taste and the smoothness gave way to an extremely heavy oak. Here I must relate a story. Back in grad school the student union building had a deli that allowed you to put whatever you wanted on a sandwich for the same price. I love cheese. And the deli had like 9 kinds. So I said to myself, “You can never have too much cheese” and asked the sandwich maker to put a slice of each kind on the sandwich. As I retired to a nearby bench to enjoy the cheesiest of all sandwiches, I found quickly that my jaw-closing slowed and nearly halted about 2/3 of the way through the cheese stack. I muscled through but then my molars had the same problem chewing and the sphincters of my throat just gave up and refused to push it all down. I learned that day there is such a thing as “too much cheese”. Returning to the present, the wave after wave of oak that presented themselves on the palate and finish taught me something new in the same vein: there’s such a thing a “way too fucking woody” in a bourbon.

Snifter at Cresent city BBQ. Vanilla

Just OK, especially for the price. Way better bottles at half the cost.

It's good, but nothing crazy. Another new bottle here, maybe it needs to breathe?

Smooth