Rhetoric 24 Year Bourbon

I definitely get the vanilla pudding and maybe some butterscotch on the nose. Initially on the palate It starts soft and then comes on with spice and fades into a dark chocolate maybe with a definite burn in the back.

Opens up as it breaths, starts with Marzipan and moves to oak , cherry smooth balance

Great

This year for the holidays I’m going to try a brand new whiskey every day in December. #lifegoals Dec. 24 I come into this drink with one question: is there enough of a difference between the 23 year and the 24 year to justify collecting all 6 years of Rhetorics? For the collector, the point is moot, but for the drinker, are the 6 different bottles more like 6 different Booker’s, or are they more like 6 different single barrels from a consistent product line (minor variations, but virtually indistinguishable)? The nose immediately takes me back to the 23 year. There’s a bitterness of brine and dust, but a sweetness of caramel too. There’s a tanginess that I get every now and then: tangerine, orange, cherry. That part is when the bitterness presents itself more as a sourness. It’s undeniably an older bourbon. The body is a delivery of the promises made by the nose. The caramel hits most clearly, with a brininess to follow. It takes some work, but I can get those fruity flavors from the nose. Finish is moderate heat, and though there’s not a huge flavor shift, this is where the sourness really kicks in. I really like this bourbon! My memory says this is identical to 23 year, but my current notes seem a bit different. This will require me to also open up a 23. Blind taste test time! For science. So they honestly are different, and it kind of pisses me off to say that. I was convinced that in a blind taste test, I wouldn’t be able to distinguish, but I could every time. Here’s the deal: noses are the same. If there’s a difference in the bodies, I can’t detect it. Finish is the way to know. Across multiple bottles now, the 23 year has a leathery, dusty finish. This 24 year is sour on the end. There’s no mistaking those trail offs. For the average drinker, I think it’d be safe to use these interchangeably. They are far more similar than they are different. But I’ll be damned if those finishes don’t give away who’s who. The 23 and the 24 are not like two different Booker’s, but they’re also a bit more different than 2 different single barrels of a consistent product line. My honest preference would be the 24 year, but they are both superb whiskeys. As a drinker, I do now yearn to at least collect a 20 and a 25. Perhaps those endpoints could help me map out what’s going on with each additional year. ‘Tis the season. I don’t know if I actually have 7 more new whiskeys lined up, so if you’re reading this and there’s something readily available out there you’d like me to enjoy/suffer through this holiday season, leave it in the comments.

Like rye with cherries. Short, not a lingering flavor, but while it lasts it’s a thick and sweet rye with a delicious finish.