Batch 18-11 Bottle 1502 90.4 proof Hitting the bars, decided to do a Belle Meade discovery tour with this along with the cognac finish. First off this has a huge wham of sherry to the nose, I'm not sure I've had sherry that had as much sherry bouquet of spiced red sweetness. The nose was fairly exceptional in that regard offering up only feint bourbon qualities mostly overshadowed by the wine cask influence. On the palate the oloroso sherry again takes over and jumps out in front, I was impressed since I've never been a huge fan of "sherry finishes" and this was indeed a better quality than some of the sherry finished scotch I've sampled. Unfortunately after the strong sherry notes dissipate there really isn't that much of a stout bourbon to take over. The sweet bourbon notes are there just weakly holding on in the wake of the blitzkrieg of wine and red fruity opening. If you had to make me guess I could as easily imagine it was Jim Beam finished in sherry casks as standard Belle Meade, so the overall disappointment of the big blast early on yields a fairly harsh letdown. The finish was almost lifeless and made me wonder if I had really taken a sip or just imagined it. Maybe I was just sipping wine as the sherry was the only notable thing about the experience. This bottle barks loud but it's a mostly toothless hound doing the barking. Given the pricing I've seen on these bottles I really can't say it's a recommend. Anyone who likes the sherry style would do well to get a sample before dropping a large chunk of change on this as it can be pricey. While it's certainly not bad, I wouldn't go out of my way to try let alone buy this one.