STAGG JR (Spring 2016/132.5 proof) APPEARANCE: Dark Copper. Oily Coating of Glencairn with fat slow moving droplets. NOSE: Dry & Dusty. Cocoa Powder, Wet Coffee Grounds, Toffee, Hay, Leather, Old Oak. After time some Dried Peach/Apricot. Not as much heat as expected. Very Nice. NEAT: Buttery, Coating mouthfeel. Varnished Oak on tip of tongue. Then Hay, Unlit Cigar, and Salted Caramel. A Floral Taste? Lots of Astringent Oak mid to back of palate. A Loooong Drying, Warming finish with a deep in the chest Kentucky Hug. Dark Chocolate, Black Pepper, and Drying Bitter Oak coats the palate. That astringency builds with each sip. SPLASH: After a couple additions of spring water, the nose becomes all Citrus and Floral. Helps with the astringency, but doesn't eliminate it. The palate gets Honey Butter and more Traditional Oak notes. Adds a little Spearmint to the finish. VERDICT: There is no Batch Number listed on the bottle, but it was purchased in August of 2016 (As a sign of how times have changed, I had passed on previous opportunities to purchase this because of its $45 price tag). While doing my #SocialDistancing I've been reaching into the back of the cabinet for some forgotten gems. I sampled about 1/4 of the bottle back in late 2016 and found it to be overly astringent. No matter how much water was added, I could not get the offending astringency to go away. I liked it enough to give it a 4 despite that quibble. Time open hasn't removed the astringent note, but it has tamed is some if my memory serves. The nose is outstanding, and while the palate does still suffer from some bitterness, this is still one of the better bottles in my collection. 4.25