Smooth Ambler Old Scout Straight Bourbon Store Picks 5 Year

I like the strength to this. The store pick I have is 57.5% ABV but seems stronger. Lots of caramel, vanilla and a warm finish. I love that this has some punch.

Nose: very fruit forward on the first go. Lots of dark berries and a little chocolate. So maybe chocolate covered strawberries (for the fancy people who smell 800 notes). Palate: very pleasant. Incredibly balanced between sweet and spice. Finish: hot finish that turns into peanuts. Very strong peanuts. Overall: very solid bottle for 5 years age. Store pick from Merchants wine & spirits in Knoxville, TN. Great price as well, I believe around $40.

One of the best $40 bourbons I’ve ever bought. Plenty of heat, plenty of flavor, and a long, warm finish. This is a Bayway World of Liquor store pick.

$50 bottle SAOS Citi Wine & Spirits store pick 5 year, 114.28 proof; Open about one month and 1/2 full bottle. Tasted neat in Glencairn and rested 10 minutes. The nose shows a little ethanol heat but beyond there is sweet vanilla, butterscotch, and touches of faint damp oak. The palate starts with vanilla and sweet caramel, and a slightly creamy mouthfeel. Then it moves on to honey graham cracker notes, hints of cherries, and refreshing spearmint as a wave of spicy heat washes over. The spice lingers on the medium to long finish with a kiss of the same vanilla, brown sugar, butterscotch sweetness. And after the spicey heat and sweetness fades, the slightest bit of dark chocolate and oak hangs on. A tasty dram indeed.

Neat. Neck pour. NASA Liquors pick. Traded a bourbon friend a bottle I had multiples of for a barrel I have never had. So glad Old Scout jumped back on the MGP train. This is my 8th bottle from a different barrel. Only two have been disappointments thus far. Oh this is a good pick on the nose. Lacks the MGP young note, which is a big turn off for me. I’m excited! Getting a ton of citrus on this one, orange peel specifically. There is a lot of vanilla with it, creating a dream sucks effect. There is a little graham cracker covered in honey but the nose mostly stays light and bright. The fact that it can stay this bright and not exhibit the youthfulness is great. The Old Scout picks I have liked the most have been darker in nature with the youth blocked out by the heavy barrel influence. This one is going down a different route on the nose. Super oily. The graham cracker and honey are dominating at first. Wow. This is a good one. Transitions into the orange and vanilla. And the orange lingers and lingers. And lingers. Delayed Kentucky hug. More orange. Ooo starting to get a chocolate note on subsequent sips. Doesn’t get much better than this for a $50 MGP. I would guess this is in the 7 year range blind, it’s hitting well above its class. And this is the neck pour. I think this is the best of the young MGP picks I have grabbed recently. I will need to blind this against the Gallenstein and Party Source after it has a chance to open up.

Cherry vanilla. Really nice.