Neat. Neck pour. Super excited about this pour. I love the original 17 Master Keep and despite its low proof it is oily and packed with flavor. So what would a 17 year 100 proof taste like? It has to be ever better I’d imagine. Holy crap. Amazing. It’s aged is felt immediately with dark notes of oak and dark chocolate. But it surprisingly lightens up with vanilla and pears. A delightful hard candy caramel. That sweet oak is the main event though. It is oak, leather, tobacco all at once. Type of nose I could spend all night enjoying. Texture is creamy but less oily than expected. Cherry cola up front. Such a rich cherry too. Transitions into chocolate mouse but brightens up again into the inside of a cherry cordial. The legs are then dark and saturated in that oak. These legs. They last and evolve for minutes to come. Back and forth between the vanilla and the oak. It’s an amazing bourbon. It’s on the verge of being over oaked,but it doesn’t go all the way and the oak remains it’s most amazing note in the nose and legs. I intend to compare this to Russell’s 2002 but top of mind it is a far superior pour.