My neighbors have been awesome during this pandemic. Every weekend we all get together on someone’s lawn to drink. My wife and most of the others like to drink wine, but they know I’m a whisky fan, so one of them always brings a bottle of $30ish bourbon to mix or sip (I share some fancy scotch too). The neighborhood solidarity during these times is pretty awesome, and one of the best parts of being in Texas. Now, this was tonight’s offering. I could nose this forever. Buckets of caramel and vanilla, well balanced oak, and a herbal note, likely from the high rye. There’s also peanuts and an umami element I can’t quite place that others describe as the “Beam funk”. Sadly, it fell apart for me after that. The palate hits with a wave of ethanol that doesn’t really dissipate after the initial sip, and the finish is surprisingly short for 100 proof. There’s an intriguing minty note on the finish that I’ve only ever found in Lagavulin, but it’s not enough to salvage this one for me. I’m going 2.75 on this one. I know there’s a lot of Beam fans on here, and this may come off as overly harsh, but I just don’t care for their house spirit style I guess. I feel the same way about Buffalo Trace products if it’s any consolation. I’m glad I got to try this, and I appreciate as always the thought and consideration of my neighbor. This is a fine mixer, and indeed we mad bourbon slushes out of this which hit the spot on a hot Texas summer night. Cheers!