Yellowstone Hand Picked Collection Single Barrel Bourbon

Barrel # 7849651 115 proof Not much on the nose at first. Burn. Graham cracker. Some sort of burnt fruit I havent completely pinned down. The initial sip had heavy oak. As time went on, it became less noticeable and more came through. Cinnamon. Orange. That orange became more present on the nose. Some cherry as well. Bubblegum. Nice spice notes throughout. The oak appears again on the finish which stays with you. Along with more spice and a malty note. Theres a nice color to it and thickness. It gets better the more you drink this and more flavor comes to the surface. Im especially impressed as the base bourbon is incredibly lackluster.

Hand selected by/barrel name: Some Things Are Meant to B&V Single barrel number: 7945735 Barreled on: 20FEB2018 Proof: 115 Finally getting around to trying the other Hand Picked choice I brought home last month (any chance to pick up another signed bottle, really). This one has yet another confusing name that seems like an inside reference, but is also a touch higher in proof and about 6 months longer in age, depending on the bottling date (I never understood displaying barreling date but not the bottling date), so I have higher hopes compared to the last. As always, the color is beautiful in the bottle contrasted with the deep black and red label, but this one still remains a dark chestnut-brown even while in the glass. The scent doesn't fill the room like some other Hand Picked bottles, but it's still present in the background. Nosing the glass, it's evident the rye is quite strong here, with notes of spearmint and almost a rich, savory fruitiness. There's a potency here, but it seems to come more from the ethanol than the grain, despite the rye putting forward all those strong flavor profiles. The corn is present and is still pretty young, creating the raw, sweeter, almost citrusy notes that the barrel has not had time to round off. The sweetness of the barrel comes around for the finish, injecting some caramel, butterscotch, and vanilla to create an almost overly sweet, but expected body/finish. The initial flavor starts pretty sweet, and stays that way for a while before the young corn creates flavors of citrus and a touch of florality. These flavors seemingly stick around forever, until the proof really builds in the throat around the same time the rye slowly pulses through the front of the gums. The finish is dry and citrusy, and focuses a lot on the flavor of the young corn alongside the aforementioned burn and spice of the rye and ethanol. This Hand Picked is a much better taste than the other bottle I picked up (which I had a little of last night, and still dislike, but you can't win 'em all), but it's overall quite simple. The tasted flavors are iconic bourbon, with the exception of a lack of barrel sweetness in lieu of the young grain. What's shocking is that this ~5 year bourbon easily has the flavor of a ~2 year, making a little more aging not just a necessity, but a question of how much is needed to round off the aggressive corn note. Of course, with this being a specific single barrel, the opportunity to further this is lost, but it does greatly excite me in looking forward to older expressions to come out of Limestone Branch, especially in the 8-10 year range.

Pittsburgh whiskey friends pick, 109pf. Tons of peanuts, leather, sorta like an old leather shoe

Pittsburgh Whiskey Friends pick. 109 proof. SO much peanut flavor, but also some earth, cardamom, leather, and dusty old books. Fairly spicy finish. Interesting flavors but I'm not loving it.

Not bad, but the flavor was a little off for me. Some spice on the finish.