Woodinville Cask Strength Straight Bourbon

Bull City Bourbon Club pick, named "Honey Smack'd" Barrel No. 3306, Bottle No. 156 59.96% abv, 119.92 proof Open 1.5 months Nose - Bright honey, boozy mead, artificial cinnamon, young oak, apples and white grapes, bourbon cask strength version of pot-still Irish whiskey Palate - Honey, butterscotch, honey crisp apples, French toast, sweet oatmeal. Finishes with an ethanol punch that was disguised on the nose and tongue, then transforms to a light honey syrup with hints of cinnamon and oak. I took a chance on this expensive craft bourbon because I heard the Bull City Bourbon Club (BCBC) was a new group that has picked some good local stuff in 2020. This drastically exceeded my expectations. I've had a lot of cask strength bourbon in the last 2 years and this is wildly different. While most are spicy and dense in profile, this is light, bright, and sweet. I think the distillery location in Washington lends to a unique profile that is a nice addition to the bourbon category. The name Honey Smack'd by BCBC is appropriate, this tastes like the alcoholic version of Honey Smacks and is more like a strong mead than something like Elijah Craig Barrel Proof. I've been seeing a variety of store picks around NC and I doubt any of them are bad. I highly recommend picking one up, I guesstimate it'll be a welcome change to the typical Kentucky cask strength bourbon.

Aroma is fairly on par with the regular release except there’s very little of that woody-crafty profile coming through, it’s there, but in the back and more of the dark spice, fruit and sweets notes are coming through; Palate follows suite and is warmer and richer than the standard with a more complex sweets array and, again, the craft note hiding out in the back; Finish shows the most similarity with the old standard release with that woody-craft note makes a noticeable showing.

Not sure why woodinville 90 proof has a rating in the low 80’s. It won gold and it’s a regular drinker for me. I blinded it with McKenna, buff trace single barrel, and another one I can’t remember off the top of my head and chose woodinville. I grabbed 4 bottles of the cask strength goody pick and I love it. A little pricey at $69 but worth it in my opinion.

123.16 proof and does not taste like it. Raisin and burnt Carmel on the nose. Dried cherry and baking spice. I dig it.