Rhetoric 23 Year Bourbon

I’m just sifting through tobacco leaves, sitting on a weary, dusty mahogany throne adorned with a buffalo pelt overlooking a library of dusty tomes. Don’t mind me. You really need to love oak to like Orphan Barrel Rhetoric. A 20+ year old bourbon is not for those who want something alive and vibrant. But I love the old oaky stuff; the ancient wood oil and syrup that forms legs that do not fall; the smell of must and dust; the taste of leather and black cherries. This almost loses its bourboness and tastes like an over-oaked anything. I once had a Hart Brothers Strathisla single malt heading towards 40 years old that tasted similar. The spirit is gone, but you can still appreciate the senile, wrinkled complexity imparted by the wood. This deserves an oversized cognac snifter to appreciate. If you let this breath for a while, or add a few drops of water, it does wake up and offer some of the fruitier and spicier properties of a bourbon, but I prefer staring and nosing this antiquity neat, thinking if the Library of Alexandria melted and was bottled, it would taste something like this. Score: * (unforgettably good) How much does a bottle cost: Retail is around $140. Secondary market pricing is $200-450 How much do I think a bottle is worth?: $140

Absolutely neat. Nose: rough nose, almost pungently oak, pepper, cinnamon, and I thought possibly anise was the only thing I could get close to making that nose. Or maybe oaky molasses. I don’t know. Honestly to the point that isn’t pleasant but you keep going back and trying to figure out what it is. Palate: things changed 180° with the palate. Immediately tangy, cherry, sweet with lots of complexity and turns every sip. Not a ton of spice, but a nice moderate length finish anyways. Favorite to date, even though I usually go for chocolate and wheat majority. Super fun!

Kinda weird nose on this one. I get oak which is expected in a bourbon this old but also get a tinge if pineapple. Thin palate with dominating oak. Cinnamon and vanilla come out note on the back end. Finish is a bit sour. Overall had much higher hopes for this. Wouldn’t buy a bottle and may turn down a drink. Cheers!

I can taste the years on this bourbon. Cobwebs and tales from the walls of the rickhouse. Peanut brittle and praline but tanned leather and charred cedar. Oldest bourbon I've had to date.