Barrel 28 -18 The very first thing you will note about this Sazerac offering is the exact, and I mean EXACT replication of the Blantons bottling process. From the little pewter Caribou mounted on a flat, hammered cork head, to the bottle bag and box, it is clearly a direct rip off of the Blantons packaging. Wither you find this an off putting encroachment, or an affectionate emulation of style, there is no denying the "stolen" characteristic of the display choice, not that the BT-Saz owned entities would care or have a say in the matter. At least the bottles are square-ish, with pleasing round corners rather than the 8 sided "crystal ball" style bottles we are used to with the top notch bourbon. The license style hologram stickers are a nice touch as well that carries over to the neck band. Ok bottling asthetics aside, as we know, it's really whats inside that counts. On the nose this is a spicy dram, a reminder of some other northern border offerings come to mind. Not much beyond some bold rye spice to be found though. The liquid defers an oily residue on the insides of my mini goblet and seems to retain a coating on the sides. With all respect to Derek, that reported "burst" of flavor seems to me nothing more than the spice we detected earlier. These differences could be explained from the single barrel nature of this offering. Letting the whiskey breath and open a bit with a few drops of water makes only a small difference as the rye spice continues to stand out. Certianly some small variants of sweetness in caramels and dank sugars but these are mostly over powered on the palate by the afore mentioned spice of most certianly rye origin. For a single barrel Canadian product this is not entirely unpredicted, nor is it unpleasent, however the barrel finish never really seems to materialize. Perhaps judged verse the strict whiskey classes this would stand up but as a bourbon aficionado there is less here in the wood finish and complexity in flavors to take away. The finish is perhaps warmer than an 80 proofer would typically yield and the lingering spices carry forward. All and all not a bad effort, an enjoyable high rye drink that imparts little else but has nothing to complain about either. A very decent drink but just not a dram that goes on the "must try" list. Perhaps the undoing of the Caribou will be the massive expectations some will derive from the packaging that shouts "Blantons" but whose contents are less than the very top notch product that is implied. This may be a satisfying drink but under no circumstances would you trade a bottle of Blantons for it.