MrWizard's Ramblings

To the tune of Baby Shark: “Whistle Pig, doo doo doo doo doo doo”!

Whistle Pig (WP) does almost exclusively rye whiskey so it’s going to be rye rye rye this review. Others did better job at summarizing the distillery in plenty of google-able places… like this one for example: https://www.thespruc … hiskey-review-761532. I’m going to skip re-treading their steps and concentrate on what I got. Also, I’ve had written down a WP sample prior, here: https://www.aerin.or … y:entry200810-152436 but there must have been something off with that one. Another note to be had is that WP sources their rye either from Canada or US depending on the bottle. I believe most of mine are sourced from Canada though. Also as most reviews below will be for single cask releases the big bold “Single Cask Disclaimer” applies. As a side note, I’m very picky at my rye whiskey choices so my opinion is as always my own.

Whistle Pig 17.5 SiB, K&L SP. Swine Merchants #20201, 56.3%
Well this is a fun start and it comes with a story:

On rare occasions funny things happen in whiskey warehouses. Barrels are overlooked or just never find the right distillery release to be blended in. Maybe they’re too tucked away and never get sampled? It’s not clear what happened to this lot of 4 barrels, but word from the distillery is that they were tagged for the 10 year single barrel program ages ago. Like at least 7 long years ago. Somehow we managed to get a sample lineup of four barrels numbered 20200, 20201, 20209, 20212. They were all filled on the same day from the same batch of distillate - February 28th, 2003. They were rolled away and there they sat. It wasn’t until October 28th, 2020 that they were pulled out to be bottle exclusively for K&L. Officially labeled as the “10 Year Old Single Barrel” these are distillery confirmed distillation and bottle dates but do not appear on the bottle.

So what do we get? Color is dark but it’s not too viscous in the glass, contrary to the expected age. Nose meanders between subdued and overwhelming with alcohol and sweet rye and is rather menthol and eucalyptus forward. The palate is sweet menthol eucalyptus with healthy dollop of wood mixed in. The aftertaste is woody, spicy and not too sweet (or my palate is totally overwhelmed). A bit of water cuts back the bitterness and brings back woody and decently balanced eucalyptus for some relief. Overall I do quite enjoy it, I feel it may be just on the edge of being over-barreled due to the delicate original spirit flavor and blindly I would never guess it to be anywhere near 17 years of age. Is it worth trying? Resounding yes! Is it worth buying? Also probably a ‘yes’, depending on how much one likes or dislikes rye. Though for me a few drops of water will go a long way with it. It won’t break anyone’s mind (or wallet at $90) but it’s a solid value proposition with a reasonably unique offering.
Score: B

Whistle Pig 17.5 SiB, K&L SP. Swine Merchants #20209, 56%
Sister cask to one above. Read the story there. :) Same deal. Nose is roughly same as 201 above too, alcohol, menthol, eucalyptus, wood. Palate feels little bit better balanced and thus slightly more interesting it still meanders between eucalyptus wood, spices, and sweetness. Aftertaste is tiny bit sweeter and less bitter, but… It could be because it’s a freshly opened bottle, or could be better balance in this cask. Provisionally, I prefer this cask a little bit more vs the other one, though they are fairly close to each other. Very much worth trying out though don’t spend money on secondary for it, plenty of other bottles in the sea.
Score: B+
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Whistle Pig 14, Single Cask Nation, Rum & Vermouth Finish, 50%
A Single Cask Nation bottle of Whistle Pig rye, finished in Rum and Vermouth casks. Looks like this is MGP rye. Color me excited. https://www.cellartr … ne.asp?iWine=3748358. Nose is rye spice, eucalyptus, some mint, herbs. I can keep my nose in there for quite a while. Amazing complexity of flavors. Wow! Just wow! Sweet fruit followed by herbal ball of flavor followed up by.. more sweet fruit? Aftertaste herbal, sweet, little bit of mgp spice coming through with slight wood notes following up at the very tail-end. Mellow and amazing, though I wish the aftertaste was a touch longer. My only real complaint here is that it really needs to be a 10-15 proof points higher.
Across the board this is straight up amazing stuff. Dessert-like herbal rye? This is up my wheelhouse, surprisingly. But then again… Old Potrero did a solid on me. This joins the very VERY short list of amazing lower proofed stuff that I’d heavily consider shelling out for. Beam Distiller’s Masterpiece being the other one: https://www.aerin.or … y:entry201212-193013, and perhaps Shenks 2020. Solid score with a very reluctant minus for shorter aftertaste and lower proof; and I guess price/availability this being a single cask bottling that’s unlikely to be repeated.
Score: A-

Whistle Pig 14, Single Cask Nation, Tokaji Finish, 57.7%
The other face of the two Single Cask Nation Whistle Pig bottles. This one finished in Tokaji wine cask. Tokaji wines are from Hungarian Tokaj region, with large number of them being of a sweet variety. Whether or not this particular bottling was in sweet or dry wine casks is unknown to me. Nose is *very* oak and rye forward. Somewhat reminds me of Masterson’s Hungarian Oak finished rye. Some alcohol, really pleasant overall though with oak, rye, and alcohol balancing each other. Palate, oh boy this is rye and red wine. Quite drying on the palate the red berries and european red orchard fruits are quite prominent. Blackberries, currants, cherries, plums, what a mouthful of flavor!!! In the long aftertaste some rye comes forward but the red wine and oak mostly dominates here. Yet again well balanced and really enjoyable making me want more. Now… To grade this is difficult… since one really much like red wine AND rye to truly enjoy it. Overall I do like it but it’s not what I would have expected out of a rye bottling, similarly to the one above. The two bottlings couldn’t be more different in their flavors, yet staying together like different sides of the same coin. Thoroughly enjoyable overall.
Score: A-
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Whistle Pig 15, Bitters & Bottles Pick, 114.9 proof
Super quick blurb since I lost my previous ramblings by forgetting to save. Plenty of pine resin and rye notes come forward on the nose and palate. Aftertaste gets more mint, sweetness, rye and yet again pine. Delicious, full of flavor and quite balanced. I like this particular bottle overall. It does go slightly bitter in the glass after sitting open for a while. I wish it didn’t; thus a minus.
Score: B+

Whistle Pig 13, K&L Pick, 59.2%
A 13 year WP single cask… I wonder how it compares to the others… Rye and light dill on the nose that’s a little bit alcohol forward. Personally, the nose isn’t too well balanced so far. That palate is very alcohol forward, though once the alcohol fades the flavors are reasonably tasty and balanced. Creamy mouthfeel with sugar, rye bread and some more dill, but oooh that first sip is rough. Slight lack of secondary flavors on the palate is noticeable, especially once the aftertaste starts coming up in a wave and that middle dip is very obvious. I really like the aftertaste on this one with more warming alcohol, rye, dill and vanilla caramel. Light sweet mint in the back of the throat lasts for a while too. Wood is felt throughout, but doesn’t overwhelm as may be the case with the 17’s above. Overall… for a rye drinker I think this would be quite incredible cask proof. For me… It’s okay drinker, I’m not wow’ed nor am I offended. Water cuts the alcohol somewhat allowing other flavors to shine. Praise where praise is due… It doesn’t evoke the wow factor from me , yet this is one of the better light regular rye whiskeys I’ve had. Considering that I highly prefer malted or finished ryes for my own palate that’s really high praise. Essentially this is great example of what light rye should be. Well worth having for a rye-loving drinker, or trying for a general whiskey drinker, if one can find this… Considering this is long gone… Good luck.
https://www.klwines.com/p/i?i=1405706
Score: B+
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Scoring Breakdown: https://www.aerin.or … age=scores_breakdown

Another day, another entry of the endless review cycle.

Royal Brackla 2007, 11 years old. Signatory Vintage, 43%
A bottle I picked up on a whim from a liquor store. This is a Signatory Vintage line of bottling from Royal Brackla highland distillery. Distilled in 2007 and bottled in 2019 this is nearly 12 years old (while the box says 11). Single cask refill sherry butt. Color is super dark, so dark that it doesn’t feel like a refill but a first fill instead. Nose is oloroso sherry with varnish, earthy musky notes, some cloves perhaps. The palate is very much lightly smoked dried plums with number of other dark fruit compote little woody and not too sweet bordering on well toasted bitterness. Aftertaste is drying leather, some tobacco, more spices. Fans of leathery non-sweet sherry bombs need to apply. An interesting proposition to be sure. My primary problems with it is reasonably low proof and somewhat of a lack of flavors outside of sherry cask. If you wanted to know what’s it would feel like licking a sherry and whiskey soaked piece of charcoal… you can taste it right here. Also, I am mostly enjoying it, soooooo… It’s worth trying being somewhat of a rarity of a dry sherry bomb profile…
Score: B-

Mortlach 13, Hepburn’s Choice, 54.5%
Another Hepburn’s Choice spooned Single cask distilled in 2007. This one is called “Below Bhainidh”. The other nickname for Mortlach is “The beast of Dufftown”, a Speyside scotch aged in a refill hogshead. I’ll leave note here, that most Mortlachs are sherry-aged or got some sherry in them at least, so this younger refill bourbon cask definitely has little to hide in there. The nose is intense, vanilla, some alcohol, apples and *-berry notes. Honestly, a little overwhelmingly strong. Palate is quite a concentrated ball of malt, vanilla and spices, though not too sweet. Aftertaste is more spices and vanilla with cereal grains. That spice really goes through the entire experience. Water is highly recommended with it. Dark rich flavors come out with water in so much that they can in something the color of pale straw but I actually enjoy with water quite a bit. Bitter Dark chocolate and toasted nuts. Tasted blindly I would guess some sort of a much darker-colored liquid with first fill something in there. Water is strongly advised as it goes from workable but ‘typical’ to ‘very interesting’. With the price there’s no question about value though I’ll personally not going to be buying another bottle, as one is plenty for me. This would please those looking for a spicy, flavorful malt without any sherry in it, but it’s also not the easiest one to drink either due to sheer amount of spiciness in the glass.
https://www.klwines.com/p/i?i=1511225
Score: C+ (B /w Water)

Glenfiddich 23, Hepburn’s Choice, 53.8%
Hepburn’s Choice spooned single cask distilled in 1997 called Hector Macbeth. Notably, in refill sherry butt. Nose is perfumed orange zest/oil. Deeply nutty, slightly sweet yet well balanced vs spice palate. Aftertaste sees, spices fall off quickly in sherry like sweetness then come back once sweetness fades for a long and very pleasant finish. Lots of orange infusion on the palate too like a spiced orange zest pie. Overall fantastic stuff. Water makes it slightly spicier and woodier though cutting back on the sweet balance. I really like it as it’s right up my wheelhouse. So much that I got another bottle of it. A very minor downside of this overall great bottling are slightly metallic notes present in the background, though that may be the oranges. Not too sweet, not too bitter, not too sherried. It’s great and delicious.
https://www.klwines.com/p/i?i=1510167
Score: A-

Redbreast Small Batch. early 2021, 58%
One of the tree very slightly different Redbreast Small Batch series from early 2021 is here. I don’t have info which batch it is though. An Irish whiskey too. Boy this one is strong on vanilla and alcohol notes on the nose. Interestingly, smells more like a grain whiskey than malt. Onto the palate… It’s hot, and seems like a mix between malt and grain whiskey with bunch of different casks in the mix. Which I suspect it really is that a blend of grain and malt whiskeys from different casks. Little hot on the palate, high vanilla, and bit of wood notes, quite sweet. Aftertaste is mostly cooling off from the high that is the palate, this is really reminding me of whiskey version of vanilla extract with some wood involved. Takes water like a champ, being 58% abv to start with, with darker woodier notes coming to the fore after alcohol becomes little less fiery. Well worth trying, especially for those that enjoy irish and sweet whiskeys. I can certainly see myself enjoying this, though perhaps not an entire bottle of it. It’s dessert-like (nearly too much) sweet and slightly spicy, grainy-malty goodness.
Score: B-

Amrut 6, Oloroso, Chris Hart Private Bottling. 60%
Rounding off this review cycle is a Chris Hart special bottling of ex-Oloroso-sherry aged Amrut from India aged 6 years. This is a sample from a private bottling so I’m expecting it to be quite unique. The nose is quite unapologetically wanders between sherry, some metal notes, and alcohol and is quite prominent. The palate is nutty, full of oloroso sherry and nearly overwhelming with alcohol. It starts sweet and then switches to being woody/tannic and spicy nearly to the point of being bitter. Aftertaste is reasonably pleasant and long with drying bitterness, spices and nuts as well as a little bit of sweetness from the sherry. With water, this becomes slightly more drinkable but the balance of sweet/sherry/bitter stays for the most part. I guess if one likes that woody/sweet almost bourbon-like combination this may be a single malt for you. Honestly I’m not finding much ‘malt’ in it for myself. It may as well be oloroso finished bourbon or a rum if tasted blindly, actually I can totally see this being a Foursquare rum product if I didn’t know better.
Score: B
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Scoring Breakdown: https://www.aerin.or … age=scores_breakdown

I’ve touched on Japanese whiskey before this write up here: https://www.aerin.or … y:entry201226-170937… And most of the facts stay true. Few interesting factoids did come out of this Suntory tasting.

• Japanese distill their grain alcohol from corn instead of wheat due to price reasons. Very very old grain may still be wheat but it’s been corn since 1970s or so
• Japanese distilleries do NOT trade with each other. Frankly they hate each other. It’s complicated and also very Japanese.
• To make any kind of purely Japanese blend, any distillery needs to distill every kind and type of cask and flavor themselves.
• Any Japanese blended whiskey components are produced by the same company, see above.
• Not all Japanese whiskey is Japanese due to lax regulations. This will be changing soon due to 2021 agreements.
• Hibiki 12 is gone forever due to Ume casks used. Hibiki Blender’s Choice is a good substitute being sherry and bourbon casks.

Chita Heavy Grain, 43%
Very corny, since distilled from corn. Somewhat available as a travel shop exclusive. Though Chita 12 is much MUCH better but not available in US.
Nose: Alcohol forward as expected of young-ish grain.
Palate: Initial tiny lick brought ice-cream like palate experience. Light but sweet vanilla. Creme brulee custard. Creme soda! Thin mouthfeel, it wants to be gone rather than to stick around.
Aftertaste: More vanilla up and down. Surprisingly long-lasting aftertaste. Almost like thin vanilla extract. No negatives here but also almost too sweet and not even remotely complicated. Just a vanilla creamer in a whiskey form.
Score: D

Hakushu White Oak Cask, 43%
This is not a regular release but something closer to a limited run few years back. The regular is much more peated!!!
Nose: Here comes the malt! Spicy malty oaky (vanilla), somewhat woody, goodness! So much orchard fruits, nearly overwhelming. Green apples for days. Pears, green peach, melons.
Palate: Almost a letdown after the glorious nose. Very slightly peated in the back with the residual still or cask smoke, this is a quite tasty ex-bourbon malt. Most of the notes from the nose apply as well as solid woody spicy core, again in the style of refill-refill casks. Old malt cask series comes to mind here.
Aftertaste: Somewhat reasonable old malt cask malt. The white pepper in the very back is welcome and overall this is very pleasant, though somewhat young and super mellow. The outstanding quality here is the nose. Saying frankly, it’s ‘boring’ in a same way that a clean canvas is even if this is a high quality blank. I would be okay drinking it, yet it offers nearly nothing of interest.
Score: C+

Yamazaki Spanish Oak Cask (Sherry Cask), 43%
… Yes the ~$5k bottle. https://www.wine-sea … le+malt+whisky+japan. Named Best in the World by the Whiskey Bible few years back the price of this bottling have skyrocketed since. Is it worth anywhere near $5000? Not at all. Will someone with more money than brains pay it? Yes. Is the supply smaller than the number of folks willing to pay the price? Likely.
A unique note, and a very Japanese specific. The casks for this are specially selected and commissioned in Spain by the master blender in person by picking specific trees they want to make into casks.
Nose: Very gentle oloroso sherry. This isn’t varnish. This is super delicate varnish for royal halls. Dark stewed fruits, baked apples, nuts for days, notably not sweet. Sign me up for having my nose in this forever if I can.
Palate: Still not sweet, perfectly balanced. Slightly smoky, perhaps just from sherry. More nuts, fruits and malt in the mix. Little bit of dark leather and dry wood come up in the secondary flavors and there are plenty of layers and layers here.
Aftertaste: More sherry, gently fading from the palate. Yet again balanced to perfection and lasts for quite a while with bit of tannin nuttiness (walnuts) lingering.
Overall: I feel like i should put my thoughts down as a separate line. This is hands down excellent, yet I don’t love it. I think Glendronach 25+ is easily as good if not better, at 10x less in price and fairly easily available comparably. Yes this is good, yet the low proof is a major downside and for my tastes it could do with being a tiny bit sweeter to balance. Price and availability isn’t even worth mentioning here… actually these are just sitting on the shelves because of the over-inflated valuation. Consider a heavy ‘buyer beware’ disclaimer here. Will I drink this? Yes, anytime and any day! Will I pay for it? Not in any foreseeable situation!
Score: A

Toki, 43%
A blend of the above in some sort of proportion. Mostly the Chita grain and Hakushu oak. Used a lot in highball drinks.
Nose: Green pears and apples from the orchard
Palate: Mint and green apples. Quite light and refreshing. Slight sweetness in the secondary flavors that are subtle yet complex.
Aftertaste: Enjoyable but really missing that maltiness. More mint and perhaps some garden herbs showing up. Little bit of wood and spice at the tail-end with a whisper of smoke lingering. A well-crafted blend with nothing outstanding and clearly aimed at highballs rather than neat. Still, quite drinkable as a summer drink without regrets if choices are limited.
Score: C+

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Scoring Breakdown: https://www.aerin.or … age=scores_breakdown

Or at least somewhat rare bottles. An odd comment here is that I try to write abv whenever possible but if no abv is available on the sample I’ll write the proof, thus the inconsistency of notation.

Barrell Armida, 56.77%
Armida is a blend of three Straight Bourbon Whiskeys finished separately in Pear Brandy, Jamaican Rum, and Sicilian Amaro Casks. I’ll be brief on this one as I don’t quite like it. Honestly, a bit of a mix between gin and some sort of herbal medicine initial sips are very rough. With time, it somewhat grows on me but I am not a fan. It is rather bitter and herbal, some whiskey notes come up here and there but for the most part are hidden away by amaro. The flavor profile is similar to a whiskey bitters. Perhaps something for the mixed drinks? Anyways, not a fan of this straight. It certainly is something and I have to commend Barrel on experimenting, but it’s certainly not what you’d call whiskey blindly. It’s uniquely weird and not quite like anything I’ve ever had. It grew on me slightly towards the very end of the sample but still not quite my type of pour. The score here reflects my preference for drinking it rather than quality of blending and flavor.
Score: D+ (C for most?)

Barrell Cask Strength 15 (2019), 106.52 proof
This is the 2019 Barrell release. It is made up of bourbons distilled in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Indiana and bottled at cask strength as is modus operandi for Barrell (cask proof). Let me summarize this in few words… It is a blend… and there’s a solid core of Dickel in there… and it’s thus full of peanuts. If you like Dickel, this is awesome. If you dislike Dickel (or peanuts)… This may not be your jam. Also it is by no means whatsoever worth the $200+ MSRP. Huge huge negatives for the valuation… But also same goes for Old Carter blended bottlings, though I digress.
Nose: Roasted peanuts galore (Dickel). Perfume/cologne and nearly no alcohol is felt.
Palate: Diiiiickel (roasted peanuts) primary palate but it’s real hard to get away from it… It’s not overwhelming of course, but a solid core around which other flavors are built. Mouth-coating and slightly oily texture helps it out. Still no alcohol burn so it’s really is proofed and balanced to perfection. The MGP spice appears around the peanut core and does it justice. Dark fruits, plums perhaps, are there too.
Aftertaste: Actually fantastic. The peanuts are gone and spices and sugars and wood and vanilla come to play.
Overall: It’s Dickel peanuts + MGP spice. It’s also reasonably tasty and would have been priced right at about $100. As it stood in 2019… the price is a huge negative point on this for frankly not very expensive ingredients. Dickel 15 year old single casks show up at about $60 in retail. But we’re not here to debate about value… So, what is the score really? Well, it’s basically a good Dickel and with repeated sips it is growing on me… Still not nearly anywhere near a bottle commitment. Try at a bar for a checkbox at best, bordering on skip if price is a factor.
Score: B-

Garrison Bros, Cowboy Bourbon (2019) 137.3 proof
Mash bill of 74% corn, 15% soft red winter wheat, 11% two-row barley, aged five years. Distilled in Texas and all. Nearly hazmat proof this is a dark monster in a glass. Thick, rich, burnt sugar caramel with solid wood core on the nose. Odd as it sounds… the nose doesn’t quite invite me to dig in… Yet it is super rich. Flavors galore on the palate with the toasted wood, corn caramel and warm baking spices taking the front. Very slightly metallic and almost savory at the immediate contact, it warms up and sweetens up as it flows through the tongue. The aftertaste primarily fades fast leaving residual sweetness for a long time. With water, the burn is mostly gone and sweetness comes fore. Slightly torn on water here as while making it easier to drink it loses some of its unique potency though near-hazmat isn’t everyone pour so few drops of water are probably recommended. Well worth trying though perhaps not buying a whole bottle, still this is something that is very nice. It’s hot, it’s rich and it’s full of multitude of good flavors. Majority of my A grade scores evoke a sense of ‘wow’ from me, this one happens to be one that is the opposite, it grew in the grade instead; leaving nearly nothing for me to criticize, other than overall value… this being a 5 year old bourbon with ~$250 tag.
Score: A-

Parker’s Heritage Collection 2020, 10 y/o, Heavy Char, 60%
A Heaven Hill product… Smells like Heaven Hill corn with wonderful dose of perfume. The palate is… well Heaven Hill corn and perfume profile plus a healthy dose of wood with a huge gollops of sweetness flowing through it all. Very much like a caramel lollipop. Much much gentler ECBP with less wood and more candied sugar. Quite delicious actually. Sweet sweet aftertaste that lingers and lingers for a while. Actually this reminds of a really good version of Fighting Cock. To summarize, this is right up my alley and I wish I picked up a bottle of this when it hit the stores as this is delicious and fantastic and sweet and full of perfume. A very specific type of bourbon for sure, this being a sweet corn variation vs Buffalo Trace more of a spicy, woody, cherry products, this is right up my alley of drinking. I would really love to keep on drinking this if available and strongly suggest others to keep one around… Yet, this being a limited release it’s all gone now. At the same time this isn’t a contemplative drink but rather a dessert in a glass and should be graded as such.
I don’t always agree with TheWhiskeyWash but this one mostly matches my opinion: https://thewhiskeywa … -heavy-char-bourbon/
Score: A

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Batch B520, 63,63%
Nose is dark corn caramel (as opposed to the PHC above), heavily laden with wood. Palate yet again delivers the warm flood of flavors from the nose. Very wood forward, this doesn’t descend into tannic bitterness but instead sticks with sweet char. Aftertaste isn’t as ridiculously long as the PHC fades a reasonably fast yet… plenty of wood, baking spices and sweet caramel. The woodiness borders on comfortable levels for me with being perhaps just a tiny bit too much. It balances and offsets other flavors nicely, but I’d personally would prefer little less intense. The proof is rather low for ECBP is still somewhat punchy. That being said, for bourbon and specifically for Heaven Hill fans, this is likely as good as it gets. A 12 year old full proof delicious flavor bomb. Good news! This being a 12 year old… it takes water like a champ. Even with water it’s great and doesn’t fall apart as most younger spirits do. The sliver of too much wood (for me) is the only detriment here. Great stuff across the board otherwise.
Score: A-

Old Carter (OC) Straight Kentucky Whiskey, Batch 1, 58.75%
I’ll be brief in this one. I suspect the core of this is a 1792 Barton distillate with other things in the mix, likely being rye. The nose is menthol, spices and burnt sugar on the lighter side with less wood than darker bourbons would. This is light amber situation so refined sugar vs charred caramel. Palate delivers everything the nose promises and more. Aftertaste is light menthol lollipops. Overall: pleasant but not exciting bottle with too much menthol notes in the flavors and frankly at the price/scarcity Old Carter can do much better. There are OC releases that are truly delicious but this one is mostly middling. It really is mint sugar candies or cookies. It’s a fancy Barton that doesn’t evoke any wow factors.
Score: B-
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Scoring Breakdown: https://www.aerin.or … age=scores_breakdown

Another day, more bourbons to try. Some special some fairly common. Most will be high proof I think.

Barton/1792 Full Proof. Jackson’s Wine SP. 125 proof
Always bottled at 62.5% abv this is a single cask #3201 pick from Jackson’s Wine & Spirits. Originally priced at $45 according to the remains of the price label. Woody funk on the nose with cherries and wet tobacco. Palate is quite forward with alcohol but past that are more cherries, cola, woody, spicy and all sort of interesting flavors float up over and over again. Aftertaste lasts for quite a while and now that alcohol is mostly gone past the palate it is an absolute explosion of spices and bourbon flavors typical to 1792 line. This is not as sweet as Heaven Hill, not cinnamony like Beam, nor it is a cherry bomb like a lot of Buffalo Trace products. Yet it seems to take just a tad from everyone and combine it into something… interesting and uniquely self. The alcohol is a bit too much though even for a relatively tame proof, compared to say Bookers or Knob Creek that are very drinkable at the same proof point. A few drops of water lowers the burn and don’t seem to act too adversely on the overall flavor, perhaps making it a tad woodier. One of the few cases in bourbon where few drops of water are surprisingly welcome.
Score: B (B+ water)

Smoke Wagon Unfiltered/Uncut, 57.31% abv
Small batch regular release of cask proof Smoke Wagon MGP from sometime in 2020. The nose is musky MGP reminding me strong of Plumpjack’s SAOS pick previously reviewed here: https://www.aerin.or … y:entry200729-002755. The palate? About same as Plumpjack SAOS pick. Really really good, but basically MPG SAOS. Perhaps slightly older version due to higher wood influence. Aftertaste is an amalgamation of MGP spices, sweets and more wood. Not nearly as overwhelmingly woody compared to Joseph Magnus 13, not really all that sweet or ‘raw’ compared to some of the 5 year old SAOS picks but something in between. Overall I like this, though a full disclaimer here, I generally like MGP profile. Perhaps a touch too much wood is working against it for minor minus.
Score: B+

Ironroot Harbinger STR BRB, HBS Pick,133 Proof
A 100% Texas corn pick from Houston Bourbon Society, whom I have to admit got a pretty solid palate for good picks of those that I’ve tried in the past thanks to a group’s mole insider. Nose got singeing alcohol with more wood than I’d usually want to deal with but, at that proof it works due to flavor intensity to offset the fire, mint and apricots, lots of dried apricots. Sadly, mint and apricots mostly fade over time leaving woody spice notes to revel in. I wish it stayed fruity… but spicy woodiness is still not bad. The palate is interesting, mint and anise in the back, nutty caramel corn and wood notes in the front, it makes for quite a complete package. Reasonably long aftertaste of warm anise and woody spiciness rounds it out. Overall really good, though the proof is few points too high for me. With couple drops of water the burn is mostly gone and creamy, woody texture emerges with almost no loss of flavor. While I’m not willing to equate this to ECBP (frankly because it is NOT the same)… there are some similarities, in particular the high level of caramel and wood notes on the profile. I find this to be just as woody, but somewhat dryer and having some solidly different secondary flavors in comparison. To be fair, if one is a fan of ECBP this distillery bottlings are well worth checking out, but of course single cask disclaimer firmly applies here. While this does get a solid (wow) factor from me, the minty note isn’t something that I personally enjoy in large quantities. Aside from the mint, there’s really not much to criticize.
Score: A-

Belle Meade 11 y/o MGP, 40 mo finish in 1940s brandy casks. 112.14 proof
Data above is from the sample label, no special information given aside from that. A special treat to myself and hopefully last MGP review I will write at least for the foreseeable future. Internet suggests that this is a Belle Mead Brandy Cask special release from 2019 bottled at 118.8 proof. Nose is full of dark chocolate notes, dark leather, like an old but well cared for leather jacket. The palate is mouth-watering and frankly amazing. It’s almost savory initially and then switches over to sherry-like syrup flavor and consistency in the secondary notes. Aftertaste is all chocolate, oak and spices gently fading for a long time. This strongly reminds me of ~30 y/o Cardinat Armagnac from 1984 which was so oaked that it tasted almost sherried and I loved it for that. With the disclaimer that this isn’t for everyone as it’s sorta like a woody sherried and surprisingly tame MGP… It’s real good. Perhaps just a tad of a wood bomb yet it’s not tannic, this is seriously delicious. It does have a weird note that I’m not quite able to place, perhaps a bit of sulfur, on the primary palate profile that briefly interrupts the experience mid-way and once past it, the amazing flavors come back.
Score: A-
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Scoring Breakdown: https://www.aerin.or … age=scores_breakdown