MrWizard's Ramblings

Nassif Family Reserve American Whiskey, Batch 7, 53.5%
Named after Gene Nassif’s family name, who happens to be the owner of Cat’s Eye distillery in Iowa. This is technically an American whiskey blend of Light Whiskey, high rye bourbon and rye. Almost certainly this is product of them buying a lot of MGP casks as Cat’s Eye bottles Obtainium Light Whiskey line which is all MGP, which is where the core component light whiskey comes from and is like 99% of which is from MGP. Sooo, it’s a MGP blend. Nose is fairly recognizable MGP woody spice mix. The palate is complex actually with everything from cherry cola, to some raspberries so cotton candy and toasted sugar while staying on the lighter side of the spectrum. Wood is there but not super pronounced and it’s not nearly as woody or concentrated as typical MGP SAOS is for example, also being 107 proof vs a SAOS’s 120 or so. The aftertaste is medium length with more of sugar lollipop flavors that stick around for a bit afterwards and a light ginger spice tingle. Quite delicious and certainly a surprise overall this also happens to be proofed about right to please both lovers of high proof stuff and more casual drinkers. It’s not overly complicated, yet not too simple to just be flavored booze. A great, casual drinker here. I cannot recommend this over say a single cask SAOS but it does offer a slightly more casual and a little easier to deal with alternative to that. Would great for @work… Value being circa $50 it’s a solid valuation here.
Score: B

Super quick blurbs off a recent tasting:

George T. Stagg 2019, 116.9 proof
Woody and fantastic for the proof. As much as I didn’t care for the ‘20 bottling this is complete opposite to it flavor-wise, it’s criminally underrated bottle. Woody and very distinctive BT mash1… It’s just purely fantastic overall. Sweet caramel spices and cherry dialed up to 11… Me likes!
Score: A

Barrell Seagrass Rye, 118.4 proof
Rye Whiskey Finished in Martinique Rhum Casks, Agricole Casks, Apricot Brandy Casks & Madeira Casks. Very bitter. Unique, but no like. Sweet with bits of fruit from brandy in the beginning but darn so bitter. Unique and may work under certain terms but No, couldn’t get through the bitterness. I’ll go on a segway here for a moment and quote this particular review: https://www.breaking … iew/barrell-seagrass : “Its unique and striking flavor profile can be rather lavish and challenging at times.”… no… It’s… terrible. The only reason it’s not a drain pour is because quick notes.
Score: D-

End of quick notes.

John J. Bowman, Virginia Straight Bourbon Whiskey, SiB, 50%
Mark does infinitely better job at this than I do here: https://the-right-sp … pirit-single-barrel/, but I’ll summarize. This is Buffalo Trace (BT) mash 1 distilled second time in a copper pot in Virginia distillery that Sazerac (Parent Company to BT) owns. So essentially this is Eagle Rare. This is good Eagle Rare, this is easily on par with store pick Eagle Rare. And so very few folks know about it. Best-kept open secret, this is good stuff. Expect their recent cask-proof release to catch insane prices on secondary. Huge like for fans of BT mash 1 and solidly priced at about $50 if you can find the BiB single cask version.
Score: B+

Maker’s Mark 2020 Limited, SE4xPR5, 55.5%
While technically marketed as a part of Maker’s wood finishing series, this being one of 1001 possible recipe this is instead a vatting of bunch of different aged bourbons rather than being same age in the stave program. A wheated bourbon Maker’s overall is somewhat of a middle ground between more subtle Wellers (at same proof) and much punchier on spice department traditional higher rye bourbons. Nose is flowery and balanced off with vanilla extract. Sweet toasted wood, harmonizes with more flowers and vanilla on the palate. Spiced vanilla and burnt caramel revels around the mouth. Lightly woody, almost nutty aftertaste is medium long, warming and sweet with notes of leather and wood remaining strong. This is really good and fantastically balanced… but… it feels l little raw around the edges with some chewing and repeated sips revealing some raw and not too pleasant alcohol notes at the edges with the flavors shouting all over each other instead of creating a subtle harmony. If you happen to enjoy your bourbon shouting the entire way at your palate… by all means. A commendable effort by Maker’s of course that showcases their blending abilities at a reasonable availability and price.
Score: B-

vs

Maker’s Mark 2019 Limited, RC6, 54.1%
This is part of Maker’s wood finishing series, this being one of 1001 possible recipes more so than the SE4 above and while the exact recipe is secret, RC6 incorporates mostly American Seasoned Oak staves. Nose is quite wood-forward with bits of alcohol floating up in the vapors. Very wood forward with notable ‘toasted’ nutty quality of the wood flavors. Obvious burnt caramel and vanilla dominate the other notes. Bitter enough to almost entire hide the bourbon sweetness without getting too bitter as to overwhelm the palate. Definite sugar candied walnuts are felt in the aftertaste. Yet again without overwhelming and the sugar sweetness does make an appearance in the aftertaste to relieve the primary palate oakiness which is actually fantastic twist for the experience. Repeated sips are keeping my opinions and taste consistent with the first one so another small kudos and a small bump vs the SE4. Considering that RC6 was essentially Maker’s way to showcase the existence of their barrel and stave finishing program I think they succeeded with ease.
Score: B+

Overall: RC6 is clear winner for me because I seem to enjoy sipping it repeatedly vs SE4 which is good on primary palate and nose and then falls apart on the aftertaste and repeated sips from the glass.

Addendum:

Maker’s Mark 2021 Limited, FAE-01, 55.3%
Not going to write a long-winded description since it’s still Maker’s. Reminds me of something between SE4 and RC6 with a little bit more fruit. It’s on par with RC6 pretty much.
Score: B+
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Scoring Breakdown: https://www.aerin.or … age=scores_breakdown