pkingmartin
Van Winkle Special Reserve Lot "B" 12 Year
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed
July 23, 2022 (edited August 3, 2022)
The nose starts with polished antique furniture, dusty leather-bound books and butterscotch candy then dark chocolate covered peanut clusters followed by sautéed cinnamon apples, cherry cough syrup and orange zest that transitions to light spearmint, cloves and pie crust with low ethanol burn.
The taste is a thin to medium mouthfeel starting sweet with creamy citrus before veering into a mild spice that quickly fades to polished antique furniture and dusty leather-bound books then dark chocolate covered peanut clusters followed by sautéed cinnamon apples, cherry cough syrup and orange zest that transitions to black pepper, light spearmint, cloves and pie crust with medium ethanol burn.
The finish is short with sautéed cinnamon apples, dark chocolate covered peanuts, light spearmint, dusty leather-bound books and polished antique furniture.
On the nose, the oak is dominant with refined well-aged oak notes of dusty leather and antique polished furniture that allows for those traditional bourbon notes of citrus, chocolate and light rye spices peak through which carries over to the palate where the creamy fruits become more dominant with those old oak notes underneath that creates a sweet and dusty balance of traditional creamy bourbon citrus wrapping around old oak with a mild spice before finishing short with light citrus, mild spices and old oak.
This is a really tasty bourbon, but the 45.2% ABV seems too low which provides for an easy sipping bourbon, but has unfortunately diminished the depth of flavors which could have been incredible with a richer mouthfeel and bolder flavors if bottled at a higher proof.
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Flavors sound awesome, too bad it lacks depth.
@Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington Yeah, it definitely gave me more of an ethanol kick on the palate than on the nose. It was also interesting that the wood influence was high on the nose but the palate was far more fruit forward.
My distant recollection is that the 45.2% drank hotter than expected, and like you mention was still pretty thin and while good, not terribly complex
@PBMichiganWolverine Yeah, the secondary has lost their minds on this one. Thankfully one of my friends managed to win the lotto to buy a bottle for $90 and was willing to share it with a few of us.
I’d expect more for that price