Russell's Reserve Private Barrel Selection

Liquor City Uncorked pick, "Gallenstein Selection #22" Barrel No. 24-0325 Warehouse TY-B; Floor 4 Distilled - 03-02-2015 Dumped - 08-09-2024 Bottled - 08-19-2024 Age - 9 years, 5 months, 7 days Open 2 weeks Nose - Dark chocolate nibs, black cherry, blackberry, maple, charred marshmallow, cinnamon, rich oak, and medium ethanol. Palate - Creamy chocolate hazelnut, fig, cherry cordial, gingerbread, and cardamon. Finish is medium with white pepper, oily hazelnut, milk chocolate, bright cherry, cinnamon bun, and light ethanol. Very good pick with a shorter than normal finish. Pretty much in line with the past few picks I've bought with one notable exception from Kroger. I seem to get more chocolate variety flavors these days in Russell's picks than I used to get. Maybe coincidence, but I'm seeing more warehouse T__ picks on the shelves than I have in the past.

Raspberry bran cereal and chocolate strawberries.

Charred Barrel pick @ 110 proof Bottled 6/11/24 Glass: Glencairn, rested 15 minutes. Color: Medium amber. Nose: Caramel, vanilla, apple. Palate: Cinnamon, baking spice, clove. Finish: Long and warm.  Splash: The hot cinnamon notes are calmed, allowing a nice oak noye to appear. Overall: 9/10 - This is a fine pick & Russell's Reserve is alqays solid for the price.

Will only buy private barrels of this from now on. The difference is real.

OHLQ 2024 selection barrel #1 Barrel No. 24-0205 Warehouse TYR-F; Floor 4 Distilled - 10-28-2015 Dumped - 03-18-2024 Bottled - 04-17-2024 Age - 8 years, 4 months, 19 days Open 7 weeks Nose - Cocoa powder, toasted marshmallow, cherry vanilla, bright cinnamon, nutmeg, peanut shell, grain, medium oak, and medium ethanol. Palate - This bourbon tastes more like cheap milk chocolate covered cherries than anything I've had. Also a dash of cinnamon powder and cereal grain. Finish is long with semi-sweet chocolate, medicinal cherry, cinnamon vanilla frosting, and light ethanol. All I can say is thank god or whomever that I can still buy great picks from state-controlled liquor stores, because these Russell's picks are $80-95 everywhere I've looked in Kentucky. And so far, the few picks I've bought from OHLQ have been winners. This is an excellent, slightly off-profile Russell's with much more chocolate than the typical pick. If it had a year or two more to eliminate some of those sharp edges from the grain and baking spices, this might be 5 stars. Summary of the review, OHLQ does a good job with barrel picks.