Larceny Barrel Proof Bourbon Batch C924

N: cocoa powder, oak, wheat, vanilla P: starts with a good blend of heat and sweet. Toasted oak, cinnamon, baking spices. Ends with some chocolate and brown sugar notes with a little smokiness. As it mellows I get some coffee. F: fairly smooth for a barrel proof. Heat warms the throat and lingers Very good

Color: Deep Bronze-Amber Nose: Strong nose of alcohol with barrel char and sweeter notes of leather and oak. I'm thinking that this nose will evolve with time and subsequent pours. Palate: (drank first pour neat) Moderately syrupy mouth feel; Big initial dose of spiciness and sweetness, followed by a chest hug that could melt the Grinch's icy heart! This definitely drinks per its proof... but overall, it's rather balanced. The chest hug sticks around. This stuff is very toasty, indeed. (drank second pour with a large ice ball) Similar Spicy-Sweet initial sips... I'm certain that there's "caramel" in there. Cinnamon, as well... yes, there's the cinnamon! As the ice continues melting further, "caramel" indeed comes around, and "Sweet" begins to overshadow the "Spice". Having had quite a few Bourbon brands and expressions, of various proofs — including some other Larceny batches — I gotta say, this is reminiscent of other high-proof batches I've had (Booker's, EC, etc.). Lots of char, spice, oak, and sweetness. Vague, yes... but I think you can catch my drift. Finish: Medium with barrel char and oak. Somewhat drying, I'd say. I wish I could put this stuff up against 2 or 3 other recent Larceny batches, to get a better read on each of them. But it's hard to hold onto each batch, as acquiring them takes time (takes me time, at least), and its months before I can locate the latest release. By then, the previous bottle has been killed. Looking back at my reviews of previous Larceny releases, the A124 impressed me. Not sure if this C924 is achieving the same notoriety, but I'm placing it on par with most other Larceny batches from my past. I actually bought this for around $10 less than the stated SRP. So what I had intended to score 4.0 stars, gets bumped-up per the value factor to 4.25 stars.

Sweet, caramel, doesn't drink hot, pleasant mouthfeel and med. to long finish.