Summer is coming and I’ve been waiting to perform my annual ritual of a banana split in a cup from the Apple Cart. If we base it off first time tried, cherry dipped cones originated at the AC, but Summer has not started until I get that chocolate syrup, peanut, vanilla, pineapple, banana, strawberry, and cherry goodness that I’ve celebrated every year since the 80’s. ….oh Sunday can’t come soon enough! They haven’t updated their marketing or menu at least since ‘96, and new flavors just get added as a post-it note. I guess it’s true that good product doesn’t need to be fancy or change and that’s what this Jack Daniels Single Barrel Barrel Proof is (we’ll just call it One-Eyed Jack)……great product in a not-so fancy package. I’ve selfishly been sipping this one in silence for months. Not for fear it will disappear once people realize how good the juice is, but because I really am amazed at what Jack has done with this pour…..and at a price well below a Benji. This is barrel #21-00190 Freshly poured OEJ doesn’t try to hide its high proof of 127.8p. The nose truly gives all the aforementioned characteristics of a banana split sans the pineapple. I let the g-glass sit for 15 minutes to breathe and was pleasantly greeted again by those profiles but this time they brought a friend. I can’t quite describe it but it’s a profile that falls somewhere between that of Disaronno and almond extract oil. Not overly bearing but definitely noticeable. On the tongue the first sip co-signs on all of the pleasant BS profiles picked up on the sniff…that lasts for about 3 seconds, before it feels like you’ve been put into a guillotine by Khabib….all you can do is think to yourself “…I…need…wa..ta.” But we’re whiskey sippers right?…F’ that water let’s take another sip!!….I’m confident I’m not the only one that’s done that with some brown water and been punished handedly for our foolishness…OEJ rewards us immensely. I was at a vineyard one time and the owner said it’s best to rinse your mouth with wine instead of water during tastings, so you don’t kill your taste. Thought it was odd but it worked that day and I’m finding it works with some bourbons. Subsequent sips of the OEJ replenishes the full Apple Cart experience of summer…albeit with a warm amaretto finish in the chest. This bourbon is an open secret that will always have a place in my cabinet. It sells at retail, doesn’t come with any fervor or lawn chairs, and is a damn fine summer starter. I sip this one in a highball over a football on hot days to stay cool, and prefer it neat in the g-man on chilly nights. Cheers to the weekend✌🏾.