Stagg Jr Barrel Proof Bourbon Batch 13

N- mint- leather- vanilla- P- warm- leather - Finish- brown sugar- mint - Burt creme brûlée- salt air- Very different today- excellent bourbon- more mint- fresh - light - sugar sweetness - less age or oak.

Found everywhere /s

Nose: I pick up cherries and dark, sweet syrup. Almost like cherry cola. Vanilla and a slight apple acidity. Call me crazy, but there are hints of grape Big League Chew as well. After reading reviews, I actually pick up spearmint and cinnamon candy — like red hots. Both are undertones, but definitely present! Spearmint shows up towards the top of the glass, while the cinnamon candy note is closer to the whiskey. Palate: The cinnamon candy definitely carries over to the palate, black pepper spice builds slowly, and hits its peak right before the finish. Sweet cherries, and leather are also present. Again, I’m finding notes of grape Big League Chew or grape soda. Finish: Finish is dry, with notes of cinnamon, leather and oak. Slight Kentucky hug, but not quite as pronounced as batch 14. My lips are left delightfully tingly and a little numb. My only complaint is that this batch seems to be missing the bold Kentucky hug I get from batch 14. The finish of batch 13 just leaves a touch to be desired when compared with 14. Still an excellent whiskey on its own, and one I highly recommend for all.

I’m not a big BT fan, most of their products tend to underwhelm me and I can never figure out the madness to rush out and buy all the Eagle Rare or Blanton’s a person can get. With that said, let’s see if this one justifies the madness that BT creates. The nose starts off with toasted marshmallow with some walnut bitterness leading to milk chocolate, spearmint, fried banana, cherries, cinnamon redhots, vanilla, caramel, old leather and polished mahogany furniture. Tasting reveals many of the same notes as the nose with a rich caramel viscous mouthfeel, butterscotch, cherry coke, fried banana, spearmint, apricot, walnuts, milk chocolate, old leather and polished mahogany leading to light barrel spices and a great big caramel, walnut, leather and cherry finish hug. Ok, I get it now, for under 60 dollars retail this one is a mind blowing good whiskey that has almost no alcohol bite at all for the high 128.4 proof. No wonder people line up for these. I would happily line up for an old school black Friday style stampede and grab whatever the new Viking themed Highland Park has out to channel my inner Viking spirit while using it to fight triumphantly through the crowd and come out bloody holding my prize of a Stagg Jr. Thankfully no blood or wounds were required for this tasting due to the generosity of @ctbeck11 for giving me a sample.