Rhetoric 25 Year Bourbon

I was expecting an almost unbearable over-oaked wood bomb. I was pleasantly surprised and this is the one that few like so I can only imagine how much better the 20-24 year variations taste like. Nose is oak but balanced with cherry, corn sweetness and caramel coming out of the glass immediately with a bit of ethanol. If you dig behind the dominant notes vanilla, char, malty note can be found. Very heavy and rich bourbon. The creamy vanilla, corn and fruit sweetness and wood take the lead on the palate, with the caramel, barrel and rye spices coming in right after. Finish is medium with the spice on the tongue leading the way and yielding to the vanilla and sweetness and you are left with cherry and apple and a dryness from the wood and barrel char notes. With water and/or time the vanilla cream and sweetness is intensified and the spice and oak character is cut in half. However the apple note because it is minor is lost with the water/time and nothing tones down the char notes from 25 years in a barrel.

Bought this after having the amazing 24 figuring this could only be better and unfortunately I was wrong. It's still a decent pour but so much time in barrel muted everything to the point it really doesn't have much going on. Not worth the splurge...

Nose - charred oak, leather, candied bacon, cinnamon, allspice, evergreen (cedar?), cocoa powder. apple, orange peel, vanilla, black tea. A bit of smoke. Really complex, with different notes coming out as it breathes. Some of the notes I'm getting remind me of older Armagnacs I've had. Palate - Soft velvety mouthfeel isn't really thick, but coats the palate. Starts with dark brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, bittersweet chocolate, toast, vanilla, rye spice, and a hint of spearmint. Oak, baking spices, a bit of smoke/char and some tannins linger on the dry finish, which is quite lengthy. A few drops of water didn't do this bourbon any favors. The nose became a bit sweeter but also less complex. The palate flattened out, and got a little astringent on the finish. Definitely preferred it without water. I really like this one. People talk about Orphan Barrel and older Heaven Hill releases being over-oaked and similar to sucking on a two-by-four, but that wasn't my experience. Rhetoric 25 doesn't have that bitterness that I associate with truly over-oaked whiskey (which BTW doesn't have to be super-old - there's a lot of bitter, over-oaked whiskey coming out of TX that's less than 4yrs old).

Explosive aromas jumping out at me, caramel, butterscotch, annise, mint, cinnamon, dark cocoa powder, black cherry, cedar, oak, pine, medicinal, shoe polish. So much going on in here and its screaming to be let out of the bottle. Multi leveled flavor here. First, its luxurious in the mouth. So smooth and very little burn. Starts with some smoke and cinnamon, turns into caramel turtles, vanilla, oak, and more oak dominate the super long finish. Minutes First experience with a bourbon of this age and I am a fan. Excellent job balancing sweetness with oak tannins that come with barrel age. Now to try and not drink it too fast...