Rating: 18/23 I was planning to save this for a special occasion of some sort, but I saw another bottle at a good price, so I figured I'd better open this one to figure out if I should buy another. N: Faintly floral P: Decadent chocolate with apricot and tangerine. The flavors or muddled and obscured, but they're definitely there. This is full and rich. Faint floral notes with bitter vanilla and flat malt. This is decadent, but not the most complex dram that it could be. It's fuller than the regular Westward (16/23)with less of a weird wet paper flavor. The overall impression I get is that this is a better version that needs some time and air to mellow in the bottle. There's such decadence hidden in this palate that I can't let it go. F: I didn't expect this, but the finish is the most complex, decadent, and enjoyable part of this dram. It's surprisingly floral without being light. There's malt and a thin layer of that usual Westward funk. The chocolate sticks around a bit and there's plenty of vanilla. This is hard to describe, but it's the most complex form while also being decadent, interesting, balanced, and well-executed. - Conclusion - My bottle of Smoke Wagon Uncut Unfiltered (18/23) showcases more nuance and balance. This doesn't have as many dimensions, but it does have more decadence. Despite the lesser complexity here, this is still interesting to drink. The tannic boldness does come out here a lot, but it sometimes retreats, leaving some more toffee, malty, chocolate, apricot, tangerine, vanilla, maple decadence. This is a kind of weird experience. The regular bottle is odd, but predictable. Is this predictable? I'm not sure.It's a single barrel, after all. This has less going on, but it's more bold, rich, and full. Coming back to the Smoke Wagon, I appreciate the Smoke Wagon's complexity more, but there's a unique decadence here that I don't want to ignore. This is apparently not a huge improvement over the regular Westward (16/23), considering how competitive the Smoke Wagon is. Still, this needs some work. I think that this is between the regular Westward and the Smoke Wagon, so I'm going with a 17. This is a great distillery with a lot of potential and uniqueness, but this single barrel just didn't win me over. The Smoke Wagon does seem more complex and nuanced than this. OK, so I came back a few days later after having some weirdly earthy and chocolatey merlot and holy crap this has the decadent apricot flavor of 21 year old Irish whiskey! It's so decadent and delightful. I think that this is an anomalous situation, but wow is this delicious. Right now, I'm thinking that this is around a 21. Maybe a 20. It still has a lot of heat, so definitely not a 23. The flavor is decadent, but not absolutely blowing me away. Wow, what a finish. Hey, if you buy that merlot and this particular barrel, then I'm giving this very high marks. Aside from that situation, I do have more reservations. Regular Westward is more funky, complex, and bitter in comparison. I like both a lot, but the decadence here is just so much better. I mean, the regular Westward has more of that regular Westward funky flavor, but I'm not entirely sure that that is better. This has less of a bitter yeasty funk, with more decadence and less complexity. I give this the win for sure, but each has its place. I do get some nice yeastiness here too. Wild Turkey Rare Breed 116.8 (18-19/23) has a similar level of complexity with a possibly greater maturity, but also a bit more alcohol bite. Both are quite nice to sip, but do have some serious heat going on. I think that this is about on par with the Wild Turkey. Despite the decadence here, the Wild Turkey is much more complex. I think that indicates that this is either an 18 or a 19. I'm leaning a hair toward a 19 now, but I was previously set on an 18, so I think I'm landing on a high 18. Total Wine's Balcones True Blue Cask Strength (19/23) showcases much more ethanol, as well as just some of those regular home-barrel-aged flaws. There's nice vanilla decadence, but it has a lot of ethanol and some mild industrial flavors as well. Also, a surprisingly intense root beer flavor. My initial reaction is to prefer this Westward bottling. I really wasn't expecting that. based on this conclusion, I think that I should be giving this a 19. It's a bit of a situational dram I guess, but this is darned fine and never bad. I can still imagine this being an 18, but I'm fine with giving it a 19. I really don't see a 20 though with how muddled this is. There might be a perfect ABV that pushes this up higher, but I haven't found it. What really shocks me about this dram is how much the finish stands out. For most drams the finish is the worst part, but this has an amazing finish. I love that finish. That's really what pulls this up to a 19. Well, maybe only an 18. Still, the finish is without doubt the best part. I have my bottle of the Smoke Wagon at an 18 and this doesn't seem clearly better, so I think I'm going to give this an 18. It's quite enjoyable, but it's on the borderline in terms of value. Actually, it's over the borderline. At $90, this just isn't quite worth it, unfortunately.