I’m just sifting through tobacco leaves, sitting on a weary, dusty mahogany throne adorned with a buffalo pelt overlooking a library of dusty tomes. Don’t mind me. You really need to love oak to like Orphan Barrel Rhetoric. A 20+ year old bourbon is not for those who want something alive and vibrant. But I love the old oaky stuff; the ancient wood oil and syrup that forms legs that do not fall; the smell of must and dust; the taste of leather and black cherries. This almost loses its bourboness and tastes like an over-oaked anything. I once had a Hart Brothers Strathisla single malt heading towards 40 years old that tasted similar. The spirit is gone, but you can still appreciate the senile, wrinkled complexity imparted by the wood. This deserves an oversized cognac snifter to appreciate. If you let this breath for a while, or add a few drops of water, it does wake up and offer some of the fruitier and spicier properties of a bourbon, but I prefer staring and nosing this antiquity neat, thinking if the Library of Alexandria melted and was bottled, it would taste something like this. Score: * (unforgettably good) How much does a bottle cost: Retail is around $140. Secondary market pricing is $200-450 How much do I think a bottle is worth?: $140