Smooth Ambler Old Scout Single Barrel Bourbon

Neat. Neck pour. DEPs 5 year pick, 59%, barrel 27718. Pretzels and caramel brittle. Intense caramel brittle. Toffee. Brine. Apples. Great nose. Texture is quite oily and viscous. This one is a bit hot and spicy! Going to need to get acclimated. Caramel brittle again in the tongue, transitions to intense vanilla, cherry and a hint of cola. All those flavors remain in the legs, which keep coming in waves. This is really good. Maybe a hair below the TPS pick. Old Scout (and MGP) is back strong with these 5 year picks.

Neat. Neck pour. Party Source 5 year at 57%. Deep caramel, almost to the point of a salted caramel flan. Very rich. Gram cracker crust. Slight green tea note. Hint of cherry and cream. That salted caramel really dominates and it’s an impressive note. Mouth feel is medium with a syrupy granular texture. Brown sugar and burnt caramel gives way to an even stronger salted caramel punch, gram cracker, hint of toffee. The cherries come back on the legs. First impression, this is the best young MGP I have. That rich, vibrant, layered caramel experience isn’t one I recall from other MGP. There is a hint of the youngness on the nose but no where else. I’d have to blind this against Mic Drop 3.0 or a Traverse City pick to be sure, but I think this is the best sub-six year MGP I have had. There was a Backbone 5 year GGG pick that I loved but I don’t think it had flavors this vibrant even at 137 proof. Nice work on this pick Party Source!