Pensive Distilling Co. Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey (100 proof)

Batch #: 008 Bottle #: 213 The second and last of the Pensive products I purchased while I was on-site at the impressive distillery and restaurant, the longer aged and mid-proof version reflected more of a flagship product than the younger 80 proof, but was far more affordable by volume than the older cask strength offering (although that did taste the best). The price was still too high for being from a small craft distillery (and a sourced product, no less), but this was easily the best bourbon out of the 3 to take home for volume to cost ratio, as well as factoring in flavor. As far as the age goes, it has been long enough since I've been on the tour that I am no longer confident in the number, but I thought it was in the 7/8/9 year range, whereas the 80 proof was 3 or 4 years, and the cask strength I recall to be 12, but these are all loose memories at this point. With all of these variants being the same mash bill, the changing of the age and proof still provide a noticeable difference, but can still easily be tied back to the same base flavors; I'd heavily wager that this unique semi-vertical product line styling would be well received if other distilleries began offering it (take notes). To honor the environment of the distillery (and because it's quite late), I am tasting this in a very dark room with nothing but a single warm LED "lamp" to light my area. As such, the color of this is a little harder to distinguish, but it's miles darker than the 80 proof version, making the latter look like water next to this. The body here does appear lighter on the whole, but has spots of deep chestnut throughout that are very impressive and inviting. The legs cling much, much longer than expected at this proof, which is another lovely twist. The nose begins with basic chocolate and a tangy, almost briny earthiness, which shifts slightly into mild, but meaty, mushroom. The earthiness doesn't fade at all, and by the time a pretty decent ethanol vapor pushes through the nostril, the scent has now transformed into what I can only describe as wet, old, stagnant beef, like an unseasoned hamburger that's been sitting in a warming tray for many hours. Finally, repeat smelling gives a new note of fresh cherry juice, but this is rather confusing amongst the other aforementioned scents. The initial body begins warming at a pretty good pace, but also starts things off with a slightly tangy, bitter, metallic-y tinge. Before I think this is going the way of the notes from the nose, spicy rye sinks into the gums with one of the most intense pinching burns I've ever had. Once you're acclimated to this, some red berry and raw barley flavors come around amongst the heat, and overpower or even take away entirely the earthiness that was on the nose before. The finish focuses more on the red berries, which turn slightly sweet and also include the addition of a pinch of lemon zest. The extended finish has a very faint return of the earthy mix from the nose, including what very, very faintly tastes like slightly cooked and softened white onion. This bourbon is definitely amongst the top contenders for the "biggest difference between smell and taste" award, which in this case, I'm very glad the tasting notes won out. I don't mind a wet, briny, umami earthiness in my whiskey (in fact, this is usually pretty hard to find in American whiskeys), but this one has a very potent nose that can turn off a lot of people if they aren't fond of that flavor profile. The way this ended up tasting is a bit basic, but still tasty and unique, and that's why I think this should be considered the most flagship product from the brand, rather than the more obvious 80 proof version. Once this gets distrubuted somewhat (I recall the tour manager stating that they have no intention of distributing outside of Kentucky, not that you can buy anything in Ohio anyway), and the price hopefully becomes more economical, I'd be pretty happy to continue supporting this brand, especially given that these flavors are expected to be fairly different between batches, since all their bourbon products are single barrels (a really nice touch, by the way).