Koval Single Barrel Bourbon

Nose: A lot of vanilla with some fruit / spice and a little bit of smoke after tone. Taste: Vanillla covered peaches start but it turns into a peppery spice as it goes across your tongue and to the back of your throat. Some Carmel mixes in as well

Caramel and Vanilla smell. It definitely is sweet in the nose. Is spicy on first taste, but the back end hits with fruit.

I tried this neat first, as normal, and it is noticeably spicy. The ethanol odor is present but not horrible. Halfway through, put some ice chips in, and it cut the spiciness and brought out the other flavors. The spice does linger afterwards, but it's good. I would keep this on hand and drink it over ice.

Strong cherry notes, great for old fashioned.

Color: orange-toned honey I poured two, and let one sit for about 15 minutes to compare the two. Fresh pour: Nose- heavy ethanol and vanilla First sip- ethanol that burns of quickly, leaving some traditional vanilla and caramel without a lot of burn (surprising, given the ethanol) and without the sweetness that usually comes with vanilla and caramel. There is a weird plastic-y taste. I’m not sure if it’s the unfamiliar grain or not. Finish- medium, a little bitter like extremely dark chocolate. Still plastic-y. With a few drops of water- It gets sweeter, and that plastic quality is mitigated a bit. My sister, a wine drinker, pulled out a “woodsy quality, like damp fallen leaves.” Sitting pour: Nose- fruit and vanilla with hints of butterscotch. Definitely improved with sitting. First sip: sweeter. There’s more of a butterscotch quality as opposed to the caramel from the first pour. There’s also more of a spicy burn to it. Few drops of water- tones down the spice, except on the finish. Makes it more buttery. After a couple of sips of water, there’s almost a hint of cheap pink bubblegum from childhood. Finish- medium, tongue-tingling cinnamon spice. Final thoughts: I think that sitting for a bit and adding water is the way I most enjoyed it. The plastic taste is a big turn-off for me. Perhaps it’s the unfamiliar grain, perhaps it’s just from a newly-opened bottle and will disappear further down. I’m willing to investigate further.