Russell's Reserve Single Barrel Bourbon

The Party Source pick, "Shady's Pick" Barrel No. 21-0117 Warehouse K; Floor 4 Distilled on 12-26-2012 Dumped on 09-20-2022 Bottled on 10-12-2022 Age 9 years, 8 months, 25 days Open 7 weeks Nose - Hot cinnamon buns, caramel, hint of nutmeg, cherry bubble gum, light minerality, medium oak spice, and medium ethanol. Palate - Honey Nut Cheerios, sweet grain, ginger snaps, brown sugar, medicinal cherry, white pepper, baking spices, and sweet oak. The finish is medium-long with drier and tannic oak, black pepper, dried stone fruits, grainy caramel, toast, and medium ethanol. This is where I dock it 0.25-0.5 points, and it was a cleaner finish earlier in the bottle. Apparently RR picks are really hard to find now, at least in the Ohio/Kentucky area. The prices reflect that in Kentucky, where RR is >$20 more than state controlled liquor. But I walked into the store and saw only 2 of these left, and the manager said they were just released and sold like crazy. I wish I bought both of them despite the price. It's the best RR pick I've had. A good Russell's pick is hard to beat. Maybe because it's the oldest one I've had? Generally they are 8-9 years old, while this is closer to the 10-year age statement of the entry Russell's 10.

Montrose Pour House Selection

Caramel, toffee, full body. Maybe a bit of pecan. Mine was a store pic.

Chasing this for a long time. Nose has vanilla mint, chocolate chip ice cream and lotsa charred oak. There is some caramel and traditional Turkey funk for enjoyment as well. Palate blasts sweet smoky toffee/caramel notes while adding white pepper and spicy heat. Transitions to a long fading sweet/spicy/smoky barrel finish. Cooks the sides of your tongue with spice and oak heat. Not a high rye bourbon but sizzles like one so be prepared. This is high quality and well worth tagger if you see it. Id take it over Rare breed however the amazing value of the RR10yr and also 101 cannot be overlooked....87/100