One of the best tasting bourbons I have EVER had. For my palette, I will take it over van winkle bourbon any day regardless of year. (And yes, I’ve had pappy 23 at a whisky tasting event.) Complex is usually not a word used to describe bourbon, but this is the exception. This noses as dark dried fruit, like figs and cherries with allspice and oak in the background. A deep rich scent that reaches into your sinuses and tickles your brain. The taste up front is smooth and sweet with the spiciest of the rye coming through that first swallow. As it hits the back of your tongue, ghosts from 25 years in the barrel rise up, letting sample a variety of oak tones as it fades into a slight sweetness and after tones of vanilla. An amazing sip of history that will be remembered long after the bottle runs dry.

I had the good fortune of purchasing a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle 20 2016 when I got into this hobby two years ago. This is the closest I have come to that experience. When I first cracked the bottle I was not too impressed. A week later, and wow; it's really impressive. If you like oaky, complex bourbon get a bottle. You won't be disappointed.

Alcohol, brown sugar, baking spices and maple on the nose. This initially has lots of heat and alcohol, but at 91 proof....this is likely the 25 years of oak shining through. A little water lets the maple syrup flavor, spice and cinnamon/ nutmeg flavors come out. This is not a Bourbon for everyone, but it is a interesting try. For the money, there are better Bourbons on the market....but there is some history in this bottle with the Bernheim distilling and Stitzel-Weller storage. As the purported final bottling of this series, this bottle shows what 25 years in a barrel can do in comparison to the prior bottlings - as this one seemed oakier. An interesting comparison is a taste test between this bottle and Entrapment (25 years in Canada, which was sweeter and less oak forward).

Sweet with notes of honey, cinnamon, and maple. Smooth

My cousin had some at Thanksgiving. Though I had to taste out of paper cups - long story, this is a VERY good bourbon; it made the Weller 12 taste like an “also ran” - at best! However, I’ll leave to others to describe the flavors and smells better b/c of the paper cups I had to use.) Won’t best GTS, WLW, or Pappy 15 (I haven’t had the 20 or 23), but this is an excellent bourbon. (I enjoyed this more than Wild Turkey Master’s Keep, MacAllen 18, and Yamazaki 12; trying to compare to similar price points.) I worried the age would be too much to enjoy - I’ve heard that liquid sitting in the virgin American Oak longer than 15-18 yrs isn’t pleasing to all palates (differing from Scotch, since their barrels aren’t virgin). I didn’t find any of that problem here, though a good bit of the wood flavor is present. It was an excellent dram that I would continue to enjoy. At the $150-200 price, it’s hard to say “it’s worth it”, but if you come across this drink and it’s within your price range, it’s worth sampling.