Little Book Chapter 6: To the Finish

So, this Little Book Chapter 6 is comprised of the following: 4-yr Straight Malt Whiskey Finished with Cherrywood Staves 4-yr Straight Malt Whiskey Finished in Applewood Smoked Barrels 4-yr Straight Malt Whiskey Finished in Hickory Smoked Barrels 4-yr Straight Malt Whiskey Finished with Maplewood Staves 5-yr Kentucky Straight Bourbon I’m not sure if it’s just me, but those age statements don’t seem compelling enough to justify the $125 MSRP that they appear to be priced at. Thankfully I was given a sample of this by a friend and am able to find out for myself. The nose starts with a youthful acetone, maraschino cherries and burning hickory wood then cocoa powder dusted stale almond cookies followed by Granny Smith apples, dehydrated apricots and lemon zest that transitions to light baking spices with medium ethanol burn. The taste is a medium mouthfeel starting with creamy orchard fruits and espresso that quickly veers towards an ashy bitter spice that slowly fades to flinty minerality and freshly lit pipe tobacco followed by Granny Smith apples, dehydrated apricots and lemon scented disinfectant that transitions to light baking spices with medium ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with burnt pine cones, used espresso grounds, lemon scented disinfectant, sour cherries, flinty minerality and pipe tobacco. No, no, no!!!! This is truly awful and tastes like a new craft distillery that is experimenting and struggling to find their way. The nose has a mild astringency along with sour fruits, light smoke and stale sweets that has a glimmer of hope on the taste starting sweet with a light bitterness before pummeling my taste buds with a mini forest fire of heat and ashy char that then fades to sour fruits and metallic notes that finishes with what I can only imagine the vengeance of a rampaging Smokey Bear on smokers in a forest would be by shoving burnt pine cone ashes, forest floor dirt and hand sanitizer down their throats. This certainly doesn’t justify that $125+ price tag for me and seems that it’d only sell for that due to the hype received from the previous Little Book products which will hopefully have less influence going forward if Beam continues down this road of releasing young blends for premium prices.

Sweet dried fruit and leather with building sweetness leaving weak tea with brown sugar. Delicious and smooth!

Nose: Prunes, figs, dates, tea, tart cherry Palate: Sweet, spicy, slight bitterness. Can't exactly pin-point the unique flavors. Tea? Pepper? More figs carried over from the nose? Definitely a nice dose of "smokey" — which I love in my bourbon. Finish: Long, spicy, warm chest hug. This is no run of the mill Bourbon. It stands out from many others I've had — for better or for worse. I guess you'd consider it "complex". I've seen this going for $300+ on secondary market sites. This is very good, but there's no way I'd pay that much for ANY bottle. Fortunately for me, this was a Christmas gift purchased at SRP — which I'd say is justified. 1/29/23: Licorice!

Nose: smarmy and grainy. Also has some grassy and apple notes. Palette: wow, this is different. Sweet but more of a savory sweetness, not like honey, maybe molasses. Would go great with brisket. Char is felt on the back, not really smoky, does not taste the proof. The finish reminds me more of smoked meat, that savory flavor, and does not show too much of the young notes. Medium length finish with more char and vanilla.

First sniff has notes of spice and smoky leather with rich caramel sweet notes. First sip stars spicy with a sweet caramel and toffee notes with a progressive grain burn spice that mellows out to a smooth peppery finish.

Nose: Childs Play-dough and malt Taste: Exactly what the nose leads you to believe. Malty play dough and a cherry smoke finish. I can’t wait to get this taste out of my mouth. This whiskey reminds me a lot of the Woodford 5-Malt. Very glad I had a taste and did not buy.