Legent Bourbon

Nose hits you with some berry compote, caramel, oak, and a welcome hint of the Beam peanut funk. On to the palate we get some chewy bourbon flavors of burnt caramel, almond butter, raisin, and honey. Finish is pretty damn long and very very dry with tannic oak, dried cherry, tea leaves, and a hint of mint. Buttery mouthfeel. Overall, something about this leaves me a little underwhelmed. While I know it was blended by "master blenders" and all, but something about the marriage doesn’t work for me; the dryness and tannic bitterness of the finish are a little overboard. It's not bad by any means but I'd probably reach for something else given the choice. If there was a "3.65" rating that's what this would get but seeing as there isn't I will reluctantly round up.

Nose: Cinnamon spice, clove, and orange zest are the most apparent notes initial. The spice turns into a bit of an ethanol burn. After that fades, it's like a stodgy fruitcake. It's hard to find much more behind the alcohol. Palate: Sweet, cool, and thick! There's a burst of icing sweetness followed by cinnamon, clove, orange, and oatmeal raisin cookies. Lurking in the back is some rye spice and a small bit of oak. Finish: Medium length. That oatmeal raisin note sticks around for quite a while. Some cinnamon and vanilla float in every now and then. Water opens up more warming spices, a small bit of cherry, oak, and vanilla on the nose - and gets rid of much of the ethanol burn. The mouthfeel is much bigger with some water, and there's a bit more of a burn. There's also much more rye spice, some red hots, earthy sawdust, leather and vanilla now. That oatmeal raisin cookie still dominates the finish, but is joined by much more oak and corn. Conclusion: At first, I was pretty disappointed by the nose on this - almost everything was hidden underneath a hot layer of ethanol. The taste on the other hand was an explosion of flavor in comparison. I don't know if I've ever found such a distinct oatmeal raisin cookie flavor in a bourbon before, but I'm a fan. All-in-all it was fun to buy, but I don't think I'd buy a bottle.

This is a beautiful bottle with really interesting content. Lots of different fruity aromas without being cloying and you get a new surprise with every sip. 90