The Gifted Horse American Whiskey

Taking a short break from the distillery tour to review an American whiskey. This blended whiskey from Orphan Barrel (Diageo) is bottled at 57.5% ABV and is most likely natural color of a dark copper and at this ABV I would think it is also non chill filtered. This sample was sent to me by Lee. This blend consists of 17 year old Bernheim bourbon (38.5%), 4 year old high rye bourbon from MGP (51%) and 4 year old corn whisky also from MGP (10.5%). The story, or tall tale as it would seem, is that the Bernheim was "accidentally" added to the blend. The nose is potent, plenty of alcohol. Ripe red apples, cinnamon and oak. Lots of corn. Vanilla, toffee and a little butterscotch. Some orange and a little rye spice. Milk chocolate and toasted nuts. The palate is powerful and peppery. Apples and oak, lots of both. Lots of corn too. Toffee and caramel. Not much more to it than that. Very little complexity. The power of the high ABV drowns out anything else that might be there. I added some water to see if anything else could be coaxed out. More apples on the nose and what seemed to be a bit of a rubber hose note. On the palate it just brought out more corn. Full bodied mouthfeel. Hot and spicy. The finish is long, spicy and full of oak and corn. Not a very impressive blend. Seems a bit too high on the corn. Way too overpriced for what you get at $90. Seems like a result of Diageo's typical over inflation of prices. While I am a bit disappointed, I'm still glad to have tried it. Variety is the spice of life after all, and the more variety the better. 3.25. Thanks again Lee. Cheers