For a brother’s reunion, I came packed with a plethora of bottles to keep our palates engaged and satisfied; however, I did not grasp that since we hadn’t seen each other in several years that we would all be quite parched. The cornucopia of bottles I brought was quickly consumed and an expedition to a variety of liquor stores ensued to find a necessary resupply. After several disappointing stops, we finally located a liquor store with a decent selection of options, the clerk then noticed me browsing their selection and tried to upsell me on a bottle of Horse Soldier Commander 13 year at $700 or Very Olde St. Nick “Ancient Estate '' 13 year at $500 stating that 13 years makes “smooth” bourbon and then I saw this lowly Barrell 15 year for a bargain basement price compared to those two at $220. I quickly replied “if 13 years is smooth than surely 15 years is incredibly smooth” and thanked the gentleman for his advice while noticing a slightly saddened brow as I made my way to the checkout with the obviously smoother discount bourbon. So how does this one taste, let’s find out. The nose is rich and syrupy starting with Hershey’s dark chocolate syrup poured on vanilla ice cream inside a waffle cone then candied pecans along with fruits of sautéed tender cinnamon caramel apples, sour cherry jelly and orange sherbet leading to espresso, spearmint, cloves, a dash of ginger, leather and old polished mahogany with medium ethanol burn. The taste is a medium mouthfeel starting with chocolate covered pecan clusters followed by cinnamon apple fritters, sour cherry jelly on whole wheat toast and smarties candy that then transition to red hot candy that fades to espresso, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, spearmint, leather and slightly tannic oak with medium ethanol burn. The finish is long with apple fritters, toasted coconut, bit-o-honey candy, orange push pop, high percentage dark chocolate, espresso, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, leather and slightly tannic oak. Barrell has put together a very delicious bourbon that starts with a syrupy rich nose with traditional bourbon notes of fruits, chocolate, nuts, espresso and well-aged oak that carries over to the taste with a lighter mouthfeel than I expected starting with chocolate, caramel and candied nuts before citrus that turns slightly chalky before a medium spice leading to espresso and barrel spices that turn mildly sour and dry with tannic oak that finishes long with some rich traditional bourbon flavors with a mild chalky tannic oak that throws off the finish but lingers for what seems like forever. For me, this seems like a step down from the 2020 that came in at 52.45% compared to the 2021 at 50.2% causing a thinner mouthfeel and the wood isn’t nearly as balanced as the 2020 causing a slightly tannic oak instead of the polished mahogany I got on the 2020. This is still a very good whiskey that we all enjoyed, but at $200+ there are better options out there and I wish there was a Cowboy, Kentucky Owl Bourbon Batch 10 or a Saint Cloud 7 year available at that liquor store that day.