Peerless Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon

Tonight I'm going back to the Peerless Single Barrel store pick from Skip's Beer, Wine & Liquor. Love this one. Toasted marshmallow and caramel. Low burn... When I tried the small batch from them, the love wasn't as strong.

This is a Justin’s House of Bourbon single barrel pick that comes in at 112.8 proof, a barrel date of August 26th, 2016 and the label says that the barrel had a name of “The Birthday Barrel”. So, let’s see what this birthday barrel has to offer. The nose starts sweet with rich caramel, peanut brittle, cloves, dark chocolate, following into some fruits of orange, cherry, then finishing off with some of those barrel spices of polished oak and leather. The taste is very much the same as the nose with a very rich caramel blanket mouthfeel, peanut brittle, cloves, dark chocolate, leading back to those fruits of orange, cherry then barrel spices of polished oak and leather with a moderate alcohol bite from that high proof before finishing with a long caramel hug with peanut brittle, cloves, cherry, orange, polished oak and leather mix and linger for minutes after the sip is over. Overall “The Birthday Barrel” is a great pick and as the bottle is less than a quarter filled now, a great one to drink during a snow day.

Also the DEP’s pick, barrel #2. Surprisingly flavorful for the proof. Good sweet beginning moving to a nutty, oaky middle and a peppery finish. Good balance.

Neat. Neck pour. DEPs store pick. I like the Peerless Small Batch but wasn’t blown away. I recall peanuts and preserves which made me think of a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich. It was great for a 4 year product but lagged behind New Riff and Wilderness Trail in my opinion. I wasn’t planning to buy a single barrel but the color of this bourbon dragged me in. This store pick is DARK. Side by side with the Small Batch it’s impossible to fathom that these are both 4 years. It looks 10-12 years old. Let’s see if I will regret the impulse buy... Hmmm. Uh oh. Initial impression of the nose wasn’t strong. Wet wood after a rain storm. I’m digging. Okay I found some sweetness finally but that was concerning. Floral with a hint of peanut. Starting to get some fruit. Nice strawberry. Mostly floral though. Hmmm. Nice creamy mouth feel and the flavor on the tongue is straight strawberry jam. That is pretty cool. Never had that before. Okay, the taste is better than the nose let on. The oak is intense on this. This is jumping all over, need to take a step back. Okay, the strawberry jam transitions into a peanut butter cup. Creamy peanut butter surrounded by chocolate. Then oak on the finish. Oh, there is a rye kick on this finish too. Comes with some vanilla and mint. This is a flavor bomb. Did not see that coming. I poured a glass of the Small Batch to compare. No comparison. Small batch is flat and simple compared to this single barrel. So much flavor. I didn’t see that coming. The nose doesn’t hint at any of the waves of flavor of the taste. It’s intense and delicious. And the oak on the finish. It truly makes no sense for being 4 years. Oh and at 4 year ZERO young note. This is going to be fun to throw into blind flights. It’s going to throw people off in the best way. Solid impulse buy!

Sweet vanilla start, followed by savory oak, bitterness, some dark spices. Lonnnnggggg finish that gets sweet and woody