Jefferson's Groth cask. A rare find indeed. Recognizing this, I bought this on sight. I don't live near that store and it was the last bottle. First and only bottle I've seen in recent years. So it's rare and all, but how does it taste? Is it worth the extremely high second-market prices? Let's find out. Batch No. 4 Nose: Some red fruit notes. Black currant. Cherry, cranberry, raspberry, plum, raisin, fig, date. Some peach as well. Some caramel, vanilla, toffee, graham cracker, and brown sugar as well. Oak. Now those are some fine notes. Problem is, they are barely detectable. I had to strain to get any of that. I cracked open last night's bottle of Stranahan's to test my olfactory senses. Conclusion? It's this whiskey, not my nose. Update: What a difference 3 months of oxidation makes. The nose is vibrant; in fact, it's the boldest part of this whiskey. I docked heavily for it's meekness the first time around, but now I'm very impressed. Palate: Cantalope, tangerine, peach, apricot, cherry, plum, red grape, cranberry, raspberry, plum, raisin, date, and fig. Nice mix of orange and red fruits. And there's no mistaking any of it on the taste. Bold and delicious. Maple and molasses, caramel and milk chocolate, toffee and brown sugar. Plenty of oak. Ginger spice. In previous tastings, I got a strange note that I can only describe as newspaper. In previous tastings, this was dominant and off-putting. Several months later, this has receded to the background, and where it serves as a nice element of texture. On the whole, spectacular palate. Finish: (Mostly dry) Red fruit. Plum, cranberry, raspberry, raisin, date, fig. True throughout. Then, the spices finally present themselves. Cinnamon, black pepper, allspice, nutmeg, clove, ginger, and oak. Dry, sweet, and spicy as hell. Surprisingly, it's moderate, bordering on long in length despite the relatively low ABV. Weird one to score. I wrote up a healthy list of notes for the nose. I could've just as easily left that part blank. It was mild to say the least, which is no good in my book. From there out, however, this is absolutely stellar. So much flavor and delicious fruit. The Groth cask made a palpable impact (on the palate and finish.) It's so damn expensive wine. Is its status warranted? Couldn't tell ya. I know next to nothing about wine. But I can say that this bourbon is worth its salt. Because of the subpar nose, I can't go above 4 stars for this one. As far the rest? Sensational. With almost a half year under its belt, this has become one of the better tasting bourbons I've had in a while. Very impressed with Jefferson's continued ingenuity--though I guess this one dates a few years back. Speaking of which, is this worth the second-hand markup? Not unless you absolutely have to have them all. I think $200 is much too much. The $84 I paid for it? Definitely. This is very unique and damn tasty. Disregarding the lackluster nose, this would've been a 5-star whiskey. Update: Bumped up half a star because the nose improved drastically. Update again: 4.75. Two and a half years later, it’s improved even further.