So, this Little Book Chapter 6 is comprised of the following: 4-yr Straight Malt Whiskey Finished with Cherrywood Staves 4-yr Straight Malt Whiskey Finished in Applewood Smoked Barrels 4-yr Straight Malt Whiskey Finished in Hickory Smoked Barrels 4-yr Straight Malt Whiskey Finished with Maplewood Staves 5-yr Kentucky Straight Bourbon I’m not sure if it’s just me, but those age statements don’t seem compelling enough to justify the $125 MSRP that they appear to be priced at. Thankfully I was given a sample of this by a friend and am able to find out for myself. The nose starts with a youthful acetone, maraschino cherries and burning hickory wood then cocoa powder dusted stale almond cookies followed by Granny Smith apples, dehydrated apricots and lemon zest that transitions to light baking spices with medium ethanol burn. The taste is a medium mouthfeel starting with creamy orchard fruits and espresso that quickly veers towards an ashy bitter spice that slowly fades to flinty minerality and freshly lit pipe tobacco followed by Granny Smith apples, dehydrated apricots and lemon scented disinfectant that transitions to light baking spices with medium ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with burnt pine cones, used espresso grounds, lemon scented disinfectant, sour cherries, flinty minerality and pipe tobacco. No, no, no!!!! This is truly awful and tastes like a new craft distillery that is experimenting and struggling to find their way. The nose has a mild astringency along with sour fruits, light smoke and stale sweets that has a glimmer of hope on the taste starting sweet with a light bitterness before pummeling my taste buds with a mini forest fire of heat and ashy char that then fades to sour fruits and metallic notes that finishes with what I can only imagine the vengeance of a rampaging Smokey Bear on smokers in a forest would be by shoving burnt pine cone ashes, forest floor dirt and hand sanitizer down their throats. This certainly doesn’t justify that $125+ price tag for me and seems that it’d only sell for that due to the hype received from the previous Little Book products which will hopefully have less influence going forward if Beam continues down this road of releasing young blends for premium prices.