Ezra Brooks Cask Strength: Barrel #7699934 (05/15/17) A group representing 2 local Restaurants (Oliver's on the Cape Fear & Moore St Oyster Bar) recently selected a barrel of Rebel and a barrel of Ezra Brooks. Barreled in May of '17 this clocks in just at probably just over 4 years. *NOSE: Salted Peanut Shell, Brown Sugar, Caramel, Stick Butter, Hint of Orange Peel, with a little Barrel Spice. *NEAT: A little more Oak Forward than the nose would suggest. Spicy Orange Peel, Black Pepper, Tannic Oak Spice, Eucalyptus. A slightly warming finish with a mild KY Hug. Orange Peel and Oak coat and Linger on the palate. There is an Overly Bitter Note in the background which drags the whole experience down a good bit. *SPLASH: Moves a lot of the Spice from the Palate to the Finish. Gives it a Vanilla and Peanut Note that wasn't present before. Tames the bitterness some, but not enough. *VERDICT: Of the 2 Picks, this lags WAY behind the Rebel. I had forgotten that I also had one of these EB Picks from a VA ABC (but it was only $35) and wasn't real fond of it then either (although that one I found too peanutty, while this one had too much bitter oak). Maybe some time open will help, although it hasn't done anything for the VA ABC version. Oh well, wish I had tried it at the restaurant first, but as much as I love their oysters, I would've spent way more than the price of the bottle. Just ekes out 3 stars.