A whiskey of beautiful extremes, Booker’s 2018-01 greets the nose with ripe red apples, cooked pears, buttery toffee, butterscotch, buttered toast, coffee candies, shelled peanuts, and a beautiful rye spice with cinnamon, cloves, and a bit of black tea. Like an almond roca dipped in fire. The palate hits hard with sweet caramel, dried apples, toasted peanuts, dark dusty oak, roasted corn, and a rich fiery spice of black pepper, allspice, cinnamon, cloves, and ginger. A long deep burn in the chest follows with an exhale of toasted walnuts, almond butter, burnt sugar, and a pleasant bitterness akin to a strong black coffee. A spicy, sweet explosion in a glass.