Whenever I attend the 2nd Mashbill group service at the Buffalo Trace Grief Counseling Center, my friends there refer to this as an underperformer. Possibly better than Blanton’s, but nowhere near Blanton’s Gold or RHF. I’ve always nodded with reverence, but I realize tonight that I’ve never really given this guy a fair shot. I intend to make up for that now. I’m gonna go so deep you could call me Sisko. If that ain’t a rap lyric from the early 2000s, it should be. Nose is tart and faint. Honey, lemon, vanilla. Melon. Hint of brine. Coffee grounds. Body is gentle and juicy. Flavor fades very quickly though. Vanilla hits first. That MB2 apple is there too, along with chocolate, brine, and then… lavender? I’m leaving it in. There’s definitely some floral note there at the end of the sip, and I can’t think of anything better. Finish is mild, but lingers. There’s cinnamon, syrup. A bit of the apple hangs on, but cinnamon is the key player. This is delightful. I’m excited before I sip and satisfied when I’m done. If this falls short of RHF and Blanton’s gold… I think it would be like being the ugly Jonas Brother. You know the one. I mean… you still got it going on. When I switched over to gold… and I know I love gold… the gold tasted bitter and acidic. Not great. I did a palate cleanse so I could enjoy my second drink, but for me the takeaway is that within the MB2 club, ETL must lean sweet and creamy, whereas Blanton’s in all of its incarnations is a bit more nutty and bitter. Next day: I compare to Hancock’s now. I think Hancock’s is better. It keeps all the good but loses some of that bitterness. There’s more sugar, more tart. This is a more… “apples to apples” comparison. 😎. I can’t really find anything that ETL does better. Don’t have an open RHF at the moment, but I know it wins. Also confident enough to say that Ancient Age loses. Even being a fan boy I have trouble parsing between all these. It’s a good whiskey. It’s not my favorite by a few, but it’s good. Would always be eager to share with a friend.