Rating: 17/23 N: A definite alcohol bite here. A hint of fudge with some spices and restrained wood. Maybe a hint of root beer too? Giving it a few minutes in the glass, I start to get some chili pepper and a bit of an odd vegetal note. The fudge and root beer largely disappear and some sour mash comes out. I've gone from slightly liking this nose to rather disliking it. P: This sure burns, but oh how there's loads of fudgey bittersweet chocolate with hints of root beer. Light caramel with sour mash that gives a little bit of tangerine and orange peel to the palate. Not the most nuanced release, but a really decadent one. As the palate develops, more vegetal hints come out along with the root beer. The wood and spice are hanging around as well, with the latter mostly appearing as a burning side of this, but bringing in a bit of cinnamon and black pepper. F: Long lingering burn. Some light fudge remains along with a touch of tangerine, a light hint of yeast, and maybe a waft of anise or root beer. - Conclusion - This isn't as nuanced and balanced as Elijah Craig A120, but it's fuller and more decadent. The burn is certainly greater here as well, however. As much as I enjoy this, I'm pretty confident in saying that the A120 is better. This is more bitter with a hint more copper to it. Wild Turkey Rare Breed 116.8 (18-19/23) is surprisingly a bit fuller than this is and it's also much funkier, with plenty of burn to it as well. The Wild Turkey gives me sort of a tart cherry and cream cheese danish vibe when tasted alongside this. I'm finding the two to be pretty competitive, though I feel like I like the Wild Turkey a bit more. Resilient 15 (18/23) is smoother with a nicer wood maturity to it and a surprising fullness. This really isn't super full. I'm finding the two to be competitive, but I'm leaning toward the Resilient. This is more complex, but it's just missing something. Old Forester 1920 (18/23) tastes very competitive with this. It's less hot and not super complex, but it has some fairly tasty banana and spice. There is a bit more alcohol bite here, with more of the ethanol bitterness coming through. I'd say that the two are very close, but I'd take the Old Forester if I had to choose. 1792 Full Proof (19/23) is smoother, richer, fuller, and more decadent. It isn't as interesting, but it's better executed overall. I would take the 1792 over this. On the other hand, I would definitely take this over Elijah Craig C920 (15/23). The C920 burns way too much and this has so much more fudgey decadence and way less alcohol flavor as well. Garrison Brothers Single Barrel cask strength (15/23) has a surprising amount of fullness when compared with this. For me, that's a sign that this really isn't as full as it should be. I think this is in the 17 to 18 range. I'm landing on a 17. The fact that just about everything I tried this against was fuller than it, regardless of their proofs, really drives home that as good as this is, it isn't a really great release. Resilient 15, in particular, is kind of a moderately full dram bottled at only 53.5% ABV, yet this was a bit shy of even it in fullness. 17. Thank you @ctbeck11 for this sample!