Rating: 19/23 N: Mmm! Rich and woody with musty dust and a touch of tobacco. Hints of maple and caramel. Some tartness from the tannins. It's solidly complex with some great hedonism. Maybe a little too much in the tannins department. P: Rich with lots of wood and those tart tannins. Firewood that has only just started burning. Notes of baking spices. Bold caramel. Occasional hints of savory mustard and faint cherry hints. The sweetness and richness with the tart and bitter tannins work really well together. It's could use a little more time to lose some of the bite, but it really doesn't burn that much. F: Sweet and easy with some mellow wood. Not that complex, but nice and relaxed while still being kind of decadent. - Conclusion - This is a great dram. It reminds me of Foursquare Détente (18/23), but bolder and a bit funkier. Also, a bit more tannic. I think that this might be a little better, but it isn't a big improvement. My bottle of Balcones True Blue Cask Strength (a Total Wine pick) (19/23) is funkier and lighter than this, but also more interesting, with an enticing corn sweetness. The two are quite close in quality, though I'm actually leaning in favor of this. I'm going with a 19 or 20 for this. As a double check, this is clearly better than Privateer Navy Yard (17/23), though it isn't blowing it out of the water. Coming back to this, it's pretty bitter and tannic, but it shows some really nice polished wood flavor and hint of chocolate. It's more tannic (astringent) than Foursquare ECS 2007 (18/23), but it's also less hot. I think I prefer this, but not as much as I did previously. The extra polished wood here is nice. I do see a valid comparison in quality with Foursquare Détente. The Détente is definitely more approachable, but this is more mature with decadent polished wood (and also too much tannin). Comparing this again with the True Blue, I'm not finding this to be quite as good. It's somewhere between that and the Foursquare 2007, so an 18 or 19. I'm going with a 19. Thanks to @soonershrink for the sample!