Hand selected by The Party Source Single barrel number: 99 Proof: 115.24 ABV: 57.62% (this distillery releases a variable ABV with each single barrel) A lovely birthday gift, I'm always a sucker for a good barrel pick, and The Party Source doesn't totally pick garbage, most of the time. This seems to be one of those distilleries that keeps to themselves and doesn't put out any information on their spirits, which is always either a huge miss or ends up being fairly impressive. The history of the actual brand seemed interesting on their website, but with only two products, both of which are bourbon that seem like they're from the same mash bill, it puts a lot of pressure on the brand to make sure they taste really good. Normally when distilleries have such a limited portfolio, they price them far too high, but at the price point this is at, it makes me think it may be sourced. Regardless, this is likely also fairly young (the price also backs this up), but the proof on this particular barrel is definitely welcoming to me. The color is a decent chestnut/muscat wine with a light edge, and the legs are surprisingly thin for this proof. The nose has initial notes of chocolate and sweet orange, but they never quite combine, instead being two separate notes. There are much lighter notes of red berries, specifically strawberry, as well as a floral profile, with a focus on honeysuckle. The oak comes through as "chewy," but the fruity and floral notes from above put the flavor of toasted or French oak in my mind. Initial sips are simultaneously fairly dry but very hot, and start with a lot of the floral/citrusy/fruity/toasted/French oak notes that I got from the nose. These flavors intensify as the body opens up, continuing to focus on the drier notes while the burn moves across the tongue and to the back of the mouth. The red berries come back as well, but in a dehydrated flavor form. The finish remains hot and fairly bright, with little to no sweetness tasted at all. I really appreciate how the proof hits hard with this one; it's certainly pretty high to start with, but I've had spirits with 130+ proof that just fell flat compared to this. This particular barrel and bourbon is unique in that there is a lot of focus on the dry, floral, and citrus notes, but without any of the more traditional sweetness you get just by default from the corn or barrel aging. The burn is heavy enough that it helps to open the body up and concentrate the flavors, but there's a distinct lack of young grain flavor here that was my biggest worry overall. This causes this to end up on that pretty impressive side, and excites me to drink and use it in further, be that in cocktails, over ice, and beyond. Without knowing anything further about the actual whiskey within, though (unknown mash bill, age statement, confirmation of sourced or not), I'm not likely to buy another single barrel on a whim, but I'd be happy to try the small batch (provided it is cheaper, as is pretty standard), and would even eye other single barrels if found at bars.