Parker's Heritage Barrel Finished in Orange Curaçao Barrels

Belated review but in short this is brilliant. This bottle belonged to a friend and was half empty and well over a year old. I didn’t get the mint notes that others have mentioned and wonder if 1) these fade with time or 2) this was toward the end of a decent night of sampling. The nose is balanced with vanilla and orange zest. I can’t peg any baking spice but the zest had a mild character of its own. There’s little to no ethanol. A bit of the wood comes through after swirling for a minute. When it hits the tongue it’s impressively smooth. Initial flavors are classic vanilla with mild nutmeg, oak and floral notes. Then the magic happens. As it makes its way down the pipe the oily nature comes out and brings with it milk chocolate and orange zest again. It’s like a boomerang between a classic 8-9y bourbon and a chocolate orange from childhood. Maybe it’s because I’m on a kick with cask finished bourbons, maybe it’s the orange mingling with a hot summer night. This is different, no doubt, but expectations were pleasantly met this evening.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I saw this but I had to try it. Get loads of wintergreen upfront on the nose but surprisingly not much orange. The wintergreen dies off on the palate but makes a slight appearance again on the finish. Never did get the orange I was expecting but overall it was very good and smoother than I thought it would be.

Like a really strong and less sweet old fashioned, but better!