I’ve been revisiting some bottles that I bought earlier in my whiskey drinking days and I was still living in Colorado. This special bottle was a going away gift from an old friend right before I came down to Texas. We had some good times at the Stranahans distillery in Denver. I’m not sure if they still do this, but when they were first starting up, you could sign up to go fill bottles for a day on a Saturday, and as compensation they’d send you home with a free bottle. Good times! This particular bottle was from their first batch of sherry cask finishing. As with any finishing, it takes several batches to dial in just how long you let it cook in the sherry casks. This first batch was a bit overdone, with the sherry overpowering the whisky a bit too much. Fortunately, I like Stranahans profile of oily brown sugar and grilled peaches, and that still comes through on the palate once the sherry calms down. Finish is as long and warming as you’d expect. I’m sure that the folks at Stranahans have dialed in their finishing process by now. Value isn’t great at $92, but it’s downright affordable when stacked against other sherry finished American Single Malts from other heavy hitters like Westland or Balcones. Either way, a tasty bottle and a fun trip down memory lane. The best bottles aren’t always the top shelf pours, bit rather the ones you share with friends and associate happy memories with. Cheers!