Old Fitzgerald Bottled in Bond 17 Year (Spring 2022)

Yeah, I just pinned a "5" on this one. It's the second time I've been thunderstruck by OF BIB. Not sure how things get better than this. Strawberry vanilla cream with a kick of spice including cinnamon and clove. Added a drop of water to a side pour as I didn't want to risk the glass. Good choice. No water necessary. Takes away the heady Aroma and the front fruit punch. Spice kicks up. Maple notes from time to time with lovely dark brown sugar and oak. Just spectacular

Vanilla, banana, caramel, sugary sweetness from the wheat but also a little cereal, malt, nutty, earthiness that provides balance and complexity. Wheaters often are too simplistic and sweet for me, but this provides some depth and curiosity that made it stand out as best in the blind tasting I did when trying this.

What an amazing aroma of dark caramel dipped toasted oak, chocolate cream pie, apples with cinnamon and sugar, vanilla bean, and my grandpa sitting in an old leather chair puffing away on his old pipe. Incredibly balanced and evocative, I keep smelling it. Surprisingly, the fruit hits first with bright red apple and red cherry before the toasted oak washes over the palate. Awesome weight and smoothness on the here too with hot cinnamon, clove, vanilla, and toasted marshmallow bring much welcome spice and sweetness to the party. Finish is long lasting and flavorful with more toasty oak and caramel. Damn near perfection. There’s nothing I would change about this bourbon. Nose is amazing, oak doesn’t dominate, super smooth and lively in the mouth, incredibly complex and moreish. My favorite Old Fitz to date

Nose: blackberries and caramel. Thick gooey warm caramel. Light oak but it’s really well balanced. Not over oaked at all. Vanilla. Body: medium to full Palate: toffee on the front palate that evolves to caramel and vanilla and then fades into blackberry and vanilla and then just melds into the long smoky, sweet lingering finish Finish: medium to long with barrel smoke and sweet vanilla blackberries. Note: this was an amazing purchase through 1010. Really it was a lucky day. I am excited to rate this after tasting it for the first time yesterday and really thinking this is an outstanding dram. It reminds me of a less in your face barrel gold, it’s more understated (which is not bad at all), but has the classic caramel and vanilla with a very interesting front palate that is almost minty, like minted toast and toffee and then has the blackberry sweetness on the back end. The difference between this and barrel gold is this doesn’t have the Tennessee whiskey orange starburst flavor. This is an amazing dram that is ridiculously easy to drink so if you get a bottle be careful not to finish it too fast.

Perfect oak and smokiness for a 17 year wheater.