Old 55 Single Barrel Bottled In Bond

I’m torn on Old 55. I really really want to like this bourbon. Being an IN native and having a distillery in your backyard not sourcing from the powerhouse MGP is commendable. I’ve had the single barrel and the single barrel BiB and have gotten drastically different flavors on both from the different batches. My first taste was batch 16c1 and that was just a flavor bomb of awesome. It had a really strong Cracker Jack flavor profile, corn, caramel, pecans, little bit of fruit, nice amount of spice on the back end and a balanced finish of oak and corn. Was delicious! The latest tasting is 16c3a and thus far just hasn’t had that same flavor. Neither had a really strong nose, the 3 is more caramel and orange but really strong on alcohol. Get a quick burst of sweetness on the front end. The palate has hints of caramel and orange, little bit of corn and pecan, big on spice and dries out with oak on the finish. This bottle I’ve seen range from $65-$75 approx. That first batch I’d have no problem being at $70, had great flavor and I’d pay a little extra to support a local. This 2nd is good, but not scratching the $70 mark for me, I’d put it more in the $50 or less range. I’m still a fan overall, but would like to see some consistency in releases to establish the base, and then experiment with barrels, aging, mash bills etc. Cheers! *Revisit, pretty much have just let this one open up over the past 3 months and has gotten considerably better. Caramel, maple butter, and corn are the prominent flavors, spice is there but it has toned down, and oak on the finish. It’s not as good as that first bottle, but there’s something there. It has good flavor and a really nice oily texture. If they let this go for another 4 years Old 55 just might be onto something.