Nose: It’s been while since I visited this old friend. I definitely recommend giving this ample time to open up. As the airtime sets in you’ll find polished oak, heavy on the polish and more acetone than I recall from past bottles. Some blueberry scone, medium spice and lumber thats seen some heavy rain. Again let this one open up. Maple syrup and caramel form under the lumber and theres some light cereal notes that will cut through the alcohol with air time. Dark brown sugars come out after about 20 minutes. Now were going somewhere. Some citrus comes out, with red berries like strawberry and some Raisin Bran cereal. Not a lot of spice on the nose and somewhat restrained for 94 proof. To me the nose feels like it’s already been watered down. Lots of woody notes really assert themselves but its kind of all over the place, not so much oak, just “woody”. Dig a little deeper and on the back of the nose I picked up some cinnamon rolls, buttered toast and wood spices tucked away into the back crevices and this light banana note that was nice as well. Nothing really pops out of the glass on this nose and I’m really reminded of Evan Williams just with more brown sugars, overall sweetness and that polish note. ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Palate: Body on the palate is medium in weight kept standing purely by the foundation of spice on the tongue, which starts on the tip of the tongue then travels to the sides and back of tongue but doesn’t stray from there. Caramel and brown sugars from the nose come through but are quickly overshadowed by what I can only describe as “wet wood”. This is unmistakably HH with this note of chestnut and walnut that I pick up from many of their products. Some more (wood) polish notes appear onto the palate from the nose earlier, not in a bad sense its just very emphatic throughout drinking EC12. Brown sugars, cinnamon spice and that wet wood note keep coming around. The palate on this just felt a little “watery” and two-dimensional. ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Finish: At 94 proof I was hoping for a longer finish. The spice that was cinnamon and woody on the tongue lingers to the rest of the mouth but fades all too quickly and becomes nothing but a memory perhaps triggering another sip all too soon. Light hickory smoke and barrel char notes, vanilla bean and brown sugars carry through. Some paper, caramel and lumber round out the finish in whispers. ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Bourbon & House Rating: 85 _______________________________________________ www.bourbonandhouse.com