Rating: 21/23 So this has changed a lot since I last tasted it and my bourbon preferences have possibly changed as well. N: There's nothing biting on the nose. No excess alcohol, no weird Wild Turkey Rare Breed metallic tartness. It's just smooth and balanced. Digging into it, I can excavate numerous layers, much like with an Ardbeg (though obviously with a very different profile). It's fruity with some cinnamon up front, in a way that reminds me a surprising amount of Aberlour 12. The fruit has cherry, but also a surprising amount of strawberry and some jamminess to it. Aside from the cinnamon, I get wood, and these neatly folded layers of grain and traditional herbs. It's very approachable, yet also interesting and enticing. P: The cherry is more pronounced, but the strawberry still comes out, along with a big cinnamon and black pepper hit (I thought I might have smelled some of that), some mild toasty wood, pecan, and almond, and a more mellow assortment of herbal and floral flavors. Vanilla is here to help with the balance, but it doesn't stand out as much as the red fruit and spice. The grain makes a nice showing and there's even a hint of malt. There's some nice rye tartness that doesn't substantially lighten the profile and brings an interesting limestone character into the mix. It actually does remind me of a much more mature, complex, and just generally better Aberlour 12, obviously re-expressed as a bourbon. F: The fruit lingers a bit, but more vanilla and floral flavors come out, along with a hair more malt. The spice fades midway through the finish, but the heat remains for longer. Wood comes out more later on, leading into a bit of tea leaves. It's good, though, it's not as great as the nose and palate. I really can't tell how much of what I enjoy here is natural Russell's Reserve and how much is a year and a half of oxidation with lowish volume. Regardless though, the fact of the matter is that I can have a really excellent bourbon if I buy Russell's Single Barrel and possibly oxidize it a whole lot. Under the circumstances of this bottle-kill tasting, I have to conclude that this outperforms both Wild Turkey Rare Breed 116 and Elijah Craig Barrel Proof B520. It's not the best bourbon I've tried, but it's well worth the price. On the other hand, my bottle of Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Cask Strength does outperform this one. The difference there though is less than the difference between this and Wild Turkey Rare Breed and Elijah Craig Barrel Proof. Considering that they are roughly 19s along with the fact that I'm considering a 21 or 22 for the Jack Daniel's (I'm pretty shocked by that myself), I think that this is most likely a 21. I've been torn between 20 and 21, but I think that that bump up to 21 is merited here. OK, I decided on a 21 for this, but I also have a brand new bottle to open and compare, so maybe that will be a good indication of how much of the quality here was (was because this is sadly my bottle kill tasting) from the liquid put into the bottle and how much was from the 18ish months of heavy oxidation. Well, that or just a difference in single barrel quality. Ugh! This new bottle is... adequate. Whereas this balance with delectable flavors and a solid complexity really dazzles me with this bottle, the new one's neck pour is a big braaap. It certainly isn't bad and it does OK side-by-side with Russell's 10 that's been open for 2 months, but I'd say that the Russell's 10 beats it slightly. The new one is in a 15-16 range, with 16 being more likely. Honestly, I expected it to be much higher than this. I guess I'd better let it age for another year and a half or so. I killed a bottle of Wild Turkey Rare Breed at the same time. I concluded that the WT RB (116) was great, but a couple of points short of this (a 19). The Rare Breed had only been open for about 6 months and had been much more full for most of its lifetime, but I did expect the neck pour of the Russell's Single Barrel to at least match that of the Rare Breed. Surprisingly, the new Rare Breed was only about a point below the old one (about an 18 instead of a 19). Considering that Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Barrel Proof costs about the same as Russell's Single Barrel and has higher proof and tastes (shockingly) a tad better (based on one bottle aged 6 months with mild oxygen), I was borderline on buying another bottle of Russell's Single Barrel (though I will absolutely buy more of the Russell's 10). Now taking into consideration that the cheaper Wild Turkey Rare Breed pours better from the neck and that I haven't managed to make a bottle last nearly as long as my bottle of Russell's Single Barrel and that the Rare Breed is both higher proof and cheaper, I have to conclude that the Rare Breed is a better VFM. I greatly enjoyed my final sips of this bottle, but I don't think I'll be buying another. My old bottle was borderline in comparison with Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Barrel Proof, but my new one has absolutely nothing on it. The one thing that might change this is how rapidly the oxygen affects this. I didn't love the Jack Daniel's when I first opened it either, but after 6 months of very mild oxygen it was a star. If this gets back up to that level in 6 months, I'll put it right back on my shopping list. This tasting is an amazing 21, but expect a lower rating (more like a 16) next time.