Rating: 16/23 Sloe gin is contentious stuff, so I'm surprised that anyone would use it for finishing. But I'm also intrigued. N: Spicy with rich herbal character like dill and peppermint. It's fairly rich with a fruity sweetness that must be the sloe gin. Based on the nose, I think that the gin is doing a great job here. It's hard for me to pull out a lot of particular scents, but my overall impression is that this is a very nice decadent rye nose. P: Less fullness and richness than I'd expected comes out at first, but then big rye spices and herbs come in. I get kind of a nice 6 year old MGP vibe. There's some kind of leathery wood too that's really nice. Then the fruity sweetness from the gin starts coming in. It's doing really well, but then the gin bitterness comes crashing in. There's juniper and weird lemon and orange flavors that don't work so well with the rest of the rye palate. F: Unfortunately, the finish continues to be quite bitter. That juniper bitterness is the dominant flavor and I really don't like it. There's definite spice still and some notes of herbs and sweet fruits, but that juniper is really oppressive. - Conclusion - There are a lot of flavors here that I like, but unfortunately the gin really drags this down - though not in the way I'd expected. Pikesville (16/23) is a clear win over this. It definitely has less of a pure rye flavor, but it doesn't have such a jarring note to it. My single barrel bottling of George Dickel 15 (15/23) isn't as bitter as this, though it is more tannic. Still, although the tannins aren't great, they taste more natural. There two are getting fairly close to each other, but I'd go with the Dickel. I think that this is a 13 or 14, though I could imagine a 12 and might be able to be convinced of a very low 15. There's enough really nice here for me to enjoy it at times, but it's also flawed enough that I struggle just as much. I'm leaning toward a 13. Coming back the next day, that bitter flavor is mercifully substantially reduced! There is still a juniper bite and it's more present than I'd like, but this is tasting more like a product that makes sense. There's a lot going on and I'm even getting some nice caramel now. I'm still not a fan of that juniper, but I like this better than I did before for sure. This is getting kind of competitive with Whistlepig PiggyBack (16/23). Color me surprised! It's a bit sweet like a cocktail, but not quite across that line. Pikesville is also no longer the clear winner here. I think that this is going to be yet another 16 rye and another success for Lost Lantern! Honestly, I could even believe that this is a 17. I think that another year in the rye's original cask, rather than that year it spent in the gin cask, would have been good prior to aging it in the sloe gin cask. Thank you, @PBMichiganWolverine , for sharing this one! It's really weird, but it grew on me over the course of my sampling. Definitely still a challenge though.