Larceny Barrel Proof Bourbon Batch C920

Nice flavor, pretty tasty

The palate is immediately hot with spice, dry oak and touches of ripe fruit that are a hallmark of wheatex bourbons. Touches of creme brulee are in the background, getting hint of some smoothness. Brown sugar and touches of leather round out the nose. The palate is somewhat dry yet rich and fairly quickly coats the entire mouth. Oak, brown sugar and a bit of baking spice fill the mouth, and offers some chewiness. There are some touches of ripe fruit however, Larceny has never exactly been known for that. For being barrel-proof it is not overwhelmingly intense. It is perfectly easy to sit on if you are a fan of having a bit of heat in your whiskey. The finish is long and slightly hot, has notes of creme brulee swirl around as you chew, coming out at the very end of your sip. There is a lingering ookiness that ever so slowly fades. The notes you get on the finish definitely last you until your next sip. This is a very full and simple, yet flavorful whiskey.

Nose is full of hot baking spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice) and peanut. Some cherry cola as well. Ethanol is moderate. Palate matches the nose nearly precisely; if you like lots of spice and peanut, this is your whiskey. Also rum soaked raisin, caramel, and black pepper. Flavors pass “punchy” and enter the realm of “in your face”. From a guy who likes his flavors dialed up to 10, this is a 15. For 6-8 years old, this seems young as hell. Finish brings more of the same and is shorter than expected for the good parts (nut, baking spices, leather, oak) and longer than necessary on others (cinnamon/chili pepper spice) Mouthfeel is full bodied and oily which is the best part of this whiskey. Oof. Hot mess express. The oldest Larceny BP I own and reviewing it so many years later shows how the expression has matured and developed over the years as you can tell the whiskeys in the blend here were much younger than subsequent releases. I think I paid 59.99 which was great at the time given the price creep in bourbon, but honestly even at that price from days gone by I would not pay that for this specific release. Lowest rating I think I have given to an LBP.

Nose: vanilla, cherries, brown sugar - classic Palate: oak spice, dried fruit, cinnamon - tasty Finish: oak spice, cream - a little too short

Rating: 10/23 So I've got this up against another Larceny Barrel Proof release and a bunch of Elijah Craig Barrel Proofs. I wasn't that impressed by regular Larceny, but I hear that these barrel proof releases are much better, so I'm hopeful. N: Sweet and a bit vegetal with a slight hint of meat. It oddly reminds me a hair of a young PX-finished bourbon. There's a spicy layer of wood that shows ginger, pepper, turmeric, cinnamon, and clove. There's a flat bitter licorice scent hanging out at the bottom. This nose is fine enough, but it isn't actually enjoyable. The complexity is fine, the balance feels like it's missing something, and the actual scents aren't particularly inspiring. P: Sweet with minerals and confectioner's sugar and hints of apricot, as well as some peanut shells and maybe even peanut. There's definitely alcohol here. Not a ton is happening and this burns. It's not bad, but it's fairly boring. Some wood with bitter elements (the licorice and some smoke), but it isn't overwhelming at all. I really do taste the alcohol in here, unfortunately. The spices are expressed as an immature pepperiness that gets a tad harsh at times even. This might not burn as much as my cask strength bottle of Ry3, but it's concerningly close. This profile actually reminds me a lot of a light, low-end Booker's. F: Mineral, bitter, bland dry wood. And a long-lasting peppery burn. - Conclusion - Even Elijah Craig C920 is definitely better than this is. I think it might be time for the Larceny line to call it quits. It's not a massive gap between them, but it's clear which is better. As sort of a crushing point of comparison, my neck pour of Elijah Craig A121 absolutely destroys this, even on a tired palate. But actually, it's worse than that. I was surprised by how close to Ry3 (9/23) this was and I'm now thinking that Elijah Craig Small Batch (15/23) is better than this. Flavor-wise, this is about on part with the Elijah Craig. It might even be a hair better - so a solid 15 instead of a low one. However, this burns so much. I definitely can't go higher than a 13 here and I'm faintly toying with even a 9. Signatory's Caledonian 29 (1987) (12/23) has a big bite to it and a lot of that tart grain flavor, but it tastes more like it's achieving what it set out to. I just can't get over how much this burns while also being so light. The hints of malt and banana that the Caledonian shows off side by side win me over here, though not by a huge margin. The burn is definitely the biggest factor. Because this strikes me as a little closer to the Ry3 than to the Caledonian, I'm unfortunately going with a 10 here. Thanks to @ctbeck11 for sharing this. I think I'll be sticking with ECBP for now (assuming I can find any of it).

I'm not generally that impressed with wheated bourbons, although I understand the appeal - they're easy to drink, but similar to Irish whiskies, I find them often a little bit boring. Batches C920 And C921 were consumed consecutively rather than side-by-side. When I poured the first I wasn't thinking I was going to have more than one sample. The 920 was good but didn't leave an exceptionally strong impression. Pretty classic wheated bourbon flavors, although amped up with the barrel proof. The 921, however, was really nice. I’m not sure I can put my finger on what made the 921 stand out, but it’s one I wouldn’t mind having more of to figure it out. Thank you for the samples @ctbeck11