Rating: 15/23 I tried Panamá-Pacific 9 at a bar and apparently liked it, so I picked up the 15 and 23 since they were pretty cheap. N: Molasses, sugar, vegetal. This is on the lighter side. A bit of dry, slightly varnished wood comes in. Occasional hints of barrel spices (allspice, cinnamon, ginger, clove). Not a very complex nose and not one that I find particularly enjoyable, but not a bad one either. P: Pretty sweet. I get molasses, fireworks, wood, light spices, and sugar water. The alcohol comes through a bit. There's nothing terribly off here, but it tastes kind of immature and needs more balance. Some vanilla going into a hint of sandalwood. F: Varnished wood, fireworks, alcohol, some spices, light caramel, a bit watery. - Conclusion - Unfortunately, I probably overrated Panamá-Pacific 9 (15/23) when I tried it originally. This isn't bad and I don't feel ripped off at the price charged, but this does seem like it should be marked $10 cheaper. There's a good core here, but it never gets fleshed out and it has some detractors. This is at minimum a 12. Plantation Xaymaca (14/23) doesn't show its alcohol as much and it has a lot more complexity, but it seems less refined. Between the two, I think I'd go with this one, but the gap isn't large. I'm kind of thinking about going with a 15 for this one just like I did for the 9 year. Comparing this with Elijah Craig Small Batch (sort of my canonical 15 bourbon), I find this to be highly competitive. Right now, if I had to award the win to one of them, I'd give it to this. That said, Russell's Reserve 10, my canonical 15 to 16 bourbon, beats this. So a 15 seems just about right. After extensive comparison to finalize this rating, I locked this in as a high 14 or low 15. I finally decided that it's a low 15, but it was close.