Decided to go with another bourbon tonight. This review comes from a sample by way of @pollywollydoodle I’ve never heard of Backbone Bourbon before, but to be fair there are a lot of bourbons I’ve never heard of. Apparently this is a product of MGP in Indiana that was bottled in Kentucky. The standard bottling is at 58.2% ABV, but this was from a single barrel pick that was bottled at 57.3%. Natural color of dark copper and I’m fairly confident that its non chill filtered. Barreled in May of 2012 and bottled in November of 2017. The nose is predominantly oaky and dry grass with lots of cinnamon and cloves. Plenty of vanilla. No real bite to it considering the high ABV. A touch of mint and a very light dill note. A bit of cherry and tobacco as well. With water there is more oak, corn and rye with light brown sugar. A VERY big, hot, spicy arrival. The ABV really hits you and wakes up your senses. A huge charred oak profile, pepper, cinnamon, tobacco and leather. I couldn’t get much more because my tongue was on fire. Water made the heat much more manageable, but didn’t do much in the way of allowing more flavors to come through. Still very oaky with some caramel. A medium to full bodied mouthfeel that is hot and mouthwatering. The finish is long, heat, strong oak, cloves and leather. This is either lacking in depth or it’s so powerful that you just can’t get anything out of it...or both. Just too hot for my liking. Not enough nuances and I just couldn’t enjoy it from the heat. Thanks for the sample John, it really woke me up this afternoon. Cheers