Penelope Bourbon: Architect Build 10, Barrel Strength Batch 18, and Toasted Bourbon Batch 24-301

I’d like to thank the folks at Penelope Bourbon and their PR team for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

A couple of weeks ago, I got a fun package from the founders of Penelope Bourbon sharing the newest batches of three of their four core expressions. Two of which, we’ve never looked at before. And since we’ve got a lot to cover tonight, let’s skip the usual blathering and jump right into the bourbons, shall we?

Penelope Toasted Series Batch 24-301

Description from the Producer: Our Toasted Series is a testament to the power of serendipity. When we began to explore toasted finishes, we weren’t expecting each barrel to be so different — so we decided to embrace this variety of chars and toasts that make every bottle in our Toasted Series truly one-of-a-kind. After full maturation in charred new American oak barrels, Penelope Bourbon is finished in a new, hand-toasted barrel. While it can be hard to predict the flavor profile of each bottle in our Toasted Series, the deep notes of vanilla imbued by the toasting process add another dimension to our signature flavor profile. Whether you’re into a Heavy Toast or Medium, our Toasted Series truly offers something for everyone.

Purchase Info: This sample was sent by the producer for review purposes. The retail price on their website is $69.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.67

Details: Mash Bill: 75% Corn, 21% Rye, 4% Malted Barley, 50% ABV. Char Level: 5. Toast Level: Heavy. 4 years old.

Nose: Bubblegum, honey, and a faint note of nutmeg.

Mouth: Cinnamon, nutmeg, honey, and bubblegum.

Finish: Medium in length and warmth with sweet notes of honey, bubble gum, and cardamom.

Thoughts: If you are a fan of bourbons that are bubblegum/almond forward you will love this one. I'm reading it as bubble gum and honey with various baking spices. It isn't hot but has a nice flavor. I like this one.

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Penelope Barrel Strength Batch 18

Description from the Producer: Penelope Barrel Strength is bourbon in its purest form. Completely uncut and non-chill- filtered, our barrel strength bourbon is just as delicious and even more powerful than our signature Four Grain blend. Each batch of our Barrel Strength is blended from three bourbon mash bills and aged in hand-selected new American oak barrels, imparting notes of caramel syrup and subtle barrel char and pushing the boundaries of our Four Grain’s balanced flavor profile.

Purchase Info: This sample was sent by the producer for review purposes. The retail price on their website is $65.00 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.33

Details: Mash Bill: 80% Corn, 8% Rye, 9% Wheat, and 3% Malted Barley. Blend of three straight bourbon mash bills distilled in Indiana. 57% ABV. Aged 4 to 6 years.

Nose: Strong caramel notes start you off. Followed by notes of oak, vanilla, red fruit, and cinnamon.

Mouth: Whoo that's warm! Follows the nose though the emphasis is different. This starts with hot cinnamon candies followed by sweet caramel, vanilla, and oak.

Finish: Warm and on the longer side of medium with notes of cinnamon red hots and honey.

Thoughts: This is a nice, hot bourbon. Though not nearly as hot as you'd expect a 114° proof bourbon to be. You could drink this neat with little trouble if you are comfortable with triple digit proofs. I really like it. When we looked at this last year, it was batch 14. I was a big fan then and I still am. I’d buy a bottle of this without hesitation.

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Penelope Architect Build 18

Description from the Producer: Architecture is defined as the the art or practice of designing and constructing buildings. Using those same principles, we wanted to build new and distinct flavor profiles that same way an Architect creates new innovative structures. Working in collaboration with Tonnellerie Radoux of France, the market leader in oak barrel manufacturing and innovation, we use French oak staves and their their state-of-the-art OakScan® process to build a truly precise flavor profile within every bottle. After all, the best architecture leaves no room for error. (Editorial note: OakScan is a process used to measure the tannin level of a particular piece of wood that was developed by Tonnellerie Radoux.)

Purchase Info: This sample was sent by the producer for review purposes. The retail price on their website is $65.00 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.33

Details: 75% Corn, 15% Wheat, 7% Rye, and 3% Malted Barley. Straight bourbon whiskey finished with two different types of French Oak Staves. Delicate Stave (low tannin content) and Intense Stave (medium tannin). 52% ABV. Aged 5 years with 6 weeks of finishing.

Nose: Dried grains, toffee, bubble gum.

Mouth: 1980's Baseball card bubblegum, floral vanilla, allspice, and oak tannins.

Finish: Medium in length and warmth. Notes of baking spice, toffee, vanilla, and oak.

Thoughts: Are you too young to know the wonderful flavor of baseball card bubblegum from the 1980s? Think hard bubblegum mixed with a little wax and cardboard. Sounds terrible, right? But weirdly I always enjoyed it. I've gotten this note on other whiskeys before but in this case, I'm not sure it is working for me. There is nothing wrong with the bourbon. It just isn't hitting right for me. I'm going to give this a neutral rating.

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Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond, Spring 2024

I’d like to thank Heaven Hill for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

I have been a hurtin’ unit the last couple of days. Spending nine hours shoveling mulch and moving it with a wheelbarrow will do that to an old guy like me. And speaking of wheelbarrows. I noticed something about myself as I was tiredly pushing that wheelbarrow on Sunday. I can’t actually say the word wheelbarrow. Instead, I say wheel-barrel. Even in my head, it’s more like a whiskey container with wheels than the yard and garden implement.

I don’t know if this is an Eric thing, a Northern Wisconsin thing, a redneck thing, or some combination of all three. But it was a weird thing to notice about myself. I’m guessing it is a family thing, which honestly would be a mix of all three. My family has a long habit of making up weird pronunciations for words. My dad would “trace” things instead of chasing them. His mom would ask me to make her a “hand sammich” when she went camping with us (instead of a ham sandwich). I guess I come by it naturally.

Anyway, let’s move over to tonight’s bourbon, shall we? Tonight we are looking at the most recent release in the Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond series. One of the few bottles that are over $100 that my wife would probably purchase just for the bottle. This is really weird to me as we have an empty bottle of the vintage design that these were based on. Of course, you don’t get really tasty whiskey with that vintage empty, either, so maybe that’s why.

Quoting from the press release now:

“Heaven Hill's stewardship of the Old Fitzgerald brand over the past quarter century has honored the legacy of John E. Fitzgerald," said Heaven Hill Master Distiller Conor O' Driscoll. "The Spring release showcases the premium quality and craftsmanship of Old Fitzgerald which has been cherished by fans, not just for decades, but for generations.”

These are usually really tasty, so let’s see if this one stacks up.

Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond, Spring 2024

Purchase Info: This 200 mL sample was provided at no cost for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $139.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $9.33

Details: 50% ABV. 10 years old.

Nose: Oak, caramel, cherry, vanilla, and hint of mint.

Mouth: Caramel, vanilla, chocolate, nutmeg, and oak.

Finish: Warm and of medium length with a lot of baking spice notes.

Thoughts: This is delicious. It's warm and spicy all the way through with a lot of baking spice. It is sweet and tasty. It’s more than I’d want to spend on a bottle of bourbon, but I do like this. A lot.

Somebody get me a wheel-barrel full. Or not. I can’t even imagine what that would cost.

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Larceny Barrel Proof, B524

I’d like to thank Heaven Hill for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

This will be the fourteenth look at Larceny Barrel Proof. We’ve been reviewing and enjoying it since the beginning. That said, I was thinking that maybe we’ve done it a little too often.

Then, I looked at the analytics. You guys really seem to enjoy them. Or rather, Google does. In any case, these Heaven Hill Barrel Proof reviews get a lot more traffic than others, so I’m just going to keep riding it. Plus, it’s a whiskey that I don’t have to buy. And I like not buying whiskey almost as much as I enjoy drinking whiskey. When I was growing up, when asked what his favorite beer was, my uncle would always say “free.” As I get older, I see more and more wisdom in that statement.

Anyway, like I said, we’ve looked at this thirteen times previously, so you all know what is going on. Let’s just jump into the review.

Larceny Barrel Proof, B524

Purchase Info: This sample was provided by Heaven Hill for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $64.99

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.33

Details: 62.7% ABV. 6-8 years old, per the press release

Nose: Cinnamon, brown sugar, and oak.

Mouth: Black tea, cinnamon, chocolate, and floral notes.

Finish: Warm and on the longer end of medium with notes of cinnamon, oak, mint, and chocolate.

Thoughts/Comparison to last time: B524 shows more sweet cinnamon on the nose. On the mouth, I'd say that B524 is sweeter and more vibrant, while A124 is richer in flavor. Both are good, and my wife and I are split over which one we like better. I prefer the rich caramel and oak notes of A124, while she prefers the sweet and vibrant B524. But I like both and this one gets a smiley face from me.

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If you want to support our work at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, t-shirts, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com. Use code BOURBONGUYREADER at checkout for 5% off any order of $50 or more.

Original Cocktails by Heublin: Manhattan and Old Fashioned

Memorial Day cookouts are over, and summer is here, even if the calendar has a little catching up to do. And honestly, though I often have a pour of bourbon in the summer, I tend to like cocktails just a bit more on a hot day, especially those that are served cold. Nothing beats an ice-cold drink on the deck with a little music playing while reading a book or visiting with friends.

That said, I’m a busy guy. I’m cleaning up after dogs, I’m designing junk mail for plumbers, I’m building things for my wife. I don’t always have the time or the energy to build a cocktail. Even an easy one. This is why we continually take a look at the ever-increasing selection of ready-to-drink cocktails on the market. Sure, they aren’t usually as good as the ones you make at home, but they sure are easy. Open the fridge, pour a little in a glass, and add ice. Couldn’t be simpler.

Tonight, we are looking at a pair of ready-to-drink cocktails from Sazerac’s 1792 brand—oddly, not including a Sazerac cocktail. I mean, maybe Sazerac makes a ready-to-drink version of a Sazerac cocktail, but I didn’t see one on the shelf, and I can’t find a website for these to find out more information. Aside from what I can find during some internet sleuthing, I know next to nothing about them. In fact, I only know for sure that tonight’s bottles come from Sazerac because I did a trademark search for Heublein, and they came up as the owner.

Heublin is an old name in the cocktail game. According to Wikipedia:

Heublein began as a restaurant founded in 1862 in Hartford, Connecticut, by Andrew Heublein, a German American entrepreneur. His two sons, Gilbert F. and Louis, soon joined the business. In 1875 they accepted a large order for pre-mixed martini and Manhattan cocktails for the annual picnic of the Governor's Foot Guard. Rain forced the event's cancellation. When a restaurant employee whom the brothers had instructed to dispose of the canceled cocktails several days later determined them to have withstood shelf storage safely, they began selling the pre-mixed cocktails from the restaurant. So popular were the ready-made cocktails that Heublein built a distillery just to satisfy the demand. When the focus of Andrew Heublein's business turned more heavily toward its lucrative line of ready-made cocktails in 1890, he transferred the business to his sons, and it became Gilbert F. Heublein and Bro. In 1892 they introduced their brand of “Club Cocktails” pre-mixed cocktails, an early form of ready to drink (RTD) cocktails.

When your name has been associated with something for over 130 years, that’s a trademark worth holding on to. And boy, have a lot of folks held onto this name. After a series of acquisitions over the course of a half-century (including Grey Poupon, Kentucky Fried Chicken, the US rights to Smirnoff’s Vodka, and others), the Heublein company was purchased by RJ Reynolds in 1982. After corporate mergers caused some divestiture, the name was sold to a company that would go on to become Diageo. I’m not feeling the need to go any further on the topic of corporate history, but suffice it to say that “Original Cocktails by Heublin” is currently a trademark held by Sazerac.

So now that we’ve read a bit of history, let’s see if these are worthy additions to our arsenal of deck drinks, shall we?

Original Cocktails by Hueblein

Purchase Info: $11.99 each at Lakeville Liquors, Lakeville, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $1.60

Details: 35% ABV

Manhattan:

The nose has notes of baking spice and cherry. The mouth continues the theme with a good hit of sweetness, and cherry notes that play nicely with the baking spice. The finish is sweet and medium to long with the same notes as the mouth and nose. I know this says 1792 Bourbon on the label, but it tastes a lot like a bottle of Very Old Barton. Very tasty. I especially like that the Vermouth influence is pretty light, as I’m not a Vermouth fan.

Old Fashioned:

The nose has orange and baking spice notes, which continue into the mouth. The mouth also introduces notes of sweet vanilla to the mix. And I mean sweet. This is very sweet with a thick, syrupy mouthfeel, even after stirring with ice. The finish is of medium length and has notes of orange and baking spice. Personally, I find this too sweet for my tastes, but I almost always use way less sweetener than the recipe calls for when I make an old Fashioned at home. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, though.

Thoughts: I probably wouldn’t take the Old Fashioned camping with me like I would the Manhattan (a bitters bottle is easier to tuck in the bag along with the bourbon than a bottle of vermouth is). However for relaxing on the deck after a busy day, both of these are just fine. I prefer the Manhattan to the Old Fashioned mostly due to the intense sweetness of the Old Fashioned. You will probably enjoy the Old Fashioned more if you have a bigger sweet tooth than I do. But all in all, I like them.

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If you want to support our work at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, t-shirts, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com. Use code BOURBONGUYREADER at checkout for 5% off any order of $50 or more.

Lux Row Four Grain Double Single Barrel

Welcome to the Lux Row blog…it sure seems that way, doesn’t it? What can I say? They were nice enough to send over a lot of samples this Spring. It just goes to show that they are putting out a lot of new products between the various distilleries that are part of the Lux Row/MGP/Yellowstone/Ross & Squib family. Tonight’s bourbon, however, was bought with my hard-earned money, as was the last one. Never fear, though. I’m specifically working to end the tyranny of Lux Row in order to fit in other producers between the Lux Row samples. It’s been a weird year. And though I tease about how many of their bourbons we’ve covered lately, I really do appreciate them sending me things to write about so that I can spend more of my hard-earned bourbon dollars on quality rather than quantity, like the one purchased for tonight’s post.

Even though I’d like even more to spend less money and get quality in what I buy, I’ve resigned myself to occasionally needing to spend money…I think I might go yell at a cloud next.

Anyway, tonight’s bourbon is a limited edition super-premium bottle of Lux Row bourbon. I was a bit thrown by the name of this one. I wasn’t quite sure what a Double Single Barrel was, but it turns out I was overthinking it. It’s a blend of two single-barrel bourbons. One of the bourbons is a wheated bourbon, and one uses rye as its flavoring grain. Both were filled in 2018. I bought this in March, and though I don’t know how long it was on the shelf before I got my grubby little hands on it, they are currently out of stock, so I’m assuming it didn’t last long. I’m guessing the liquid is five years old, with an off-chance of it being four and leaving it at that.

So, let’s dig in.

Lux Row Four Grain Double Single Barrel

Purchase Info: $89.99 for a 750 mL bottle at South Lyndale Liquors, Minneapolis, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $6.00

Details: 57.5% ABV. Rye Barrel: 8086657, filled: 7-11-18, and Wheated Barrel: 8119693, filled: 8-14-18.

Nose: Big Red Gum, toffee, dried grains, and oak.

Mouth: Spicy with a ton of cinnamon candy notes. Lurking beyond the prominent cinnamon is floral, vanilla, and oak.

Finish: Long and warm with notes of cinnamon, caramel, floral vanilla, and oak.

Thoughts: Wow! This is a spicy beast. Strong cinnamon notes throughout with enough vanilla and caramel notes to give it a nice richness. Followed by an oak note that ranges from bitter to mellow. This is extremely delicious. At 115° proof, you may be tempted to add a little water. If you do, be judicious as even a little tames it a lot and really amps up the sweetness, which may be what you are looking for, but if not, go easy or enjoy it neat.

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If you want to support our work at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, t-shirts, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com. Use code BOURBONGUYREADER at checkout for 5% off any order of $50 or more.

Rebel Bourbon Single Barrel, 10-Years-Old: Revisited

It has been two thousand five hundred and twenty days since I last reviewed two separate barrels of what was then known as Rebel Yell Single Barrel. Almost seven years. Since then, the brand has lost the “Yell” from its name and has been on a complete tear to improve its offerings' age, proof, and variety. In addition to the original Rebel and ten-year-old single barrel variations, we now get to enjoy Rebel in 100° proof varieties of both bourbon and rye, as well as six-year-old and small-batch bourbon varieties.

I picked this particular bottle up while I was shopping for items for March’s Bracket series. So, I’ve been sitting on it for a while. But I also haven’t even seen this particular bourbon on the shelf since I last reviewed it, so I knew I was going to have to pick it up. I loved it the first time I tried it. Here is what I had to say at the time:

I am really impressed. And even at $50, I think this is worth the money should you have it to spare. For me, this is on the line between really, really like and love. But because I think the price point is just about perfect, I'll just go with I love it.

Let’s find out if I’m still in love with this one.

Rebel Bourbon Single Barrel, 10-Years-Old

Purchase Info: $104.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Chanhassen, MN.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $7.00

Nose: Oak, cinnamon, caramel, bubblegum.

Mouth: Cinnamon, honey, cherry, mint, and oak.

Finish: Warm and on the longer end of medium length. Notes of oak, cherry, mint, cinnamon and honey.

Thoughts: I'm so happy that I stumbled on this again. It is even better than I remembered. It’s vibrant, and the flavor just blossoms in the mouth as it moves back. It shows a lot of oak without tasting like you are sucking on a barrel stave. In other words, it's delicious! It still straddles the line between love and really like. The first time around, the great price was what bumped it into the love ranking, and now, since the price per drink has doubled in the last seven-ish years, I’m downgrading this to a like rating. It’s very good, but I’m not sure I can recommend anyone spend over $100 on it, especially with all the other great, often barrel-proof, options the company currently offers at a more reasonable price.

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If you want to support our work at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, t-shirts, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com. Use code BOURBONGUYREADER at checkout for 5% off any order of $50 or more.

Blood Oath Pact 10

I’d like to thank ByrnePR and Lux Row for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

Hello, my friends! As I write this, I am in the midst of last-minute packing for a flight to Albuquerque. My wife is currently there for a work training seminar and we thought it might be nice for me to join her for the weekend after it’s finished. You know, get away before the summer rush happens in our dog-sitting business. By the time you read this, I will probably be in the air sipping a glass of bourbon while watching a movie.

But since I am super busy tonight, and since we’ve covered all of the Blood Oath releases but the second over the last ten years, I thought I’d just pull an extended excerpt from the press release to help explain what is going on in this version rather than skipping the post and waiting until next week.

ST. LOUIS (April 23, 2024) – Lux Row Master Distiller and Master Blender John Rempe marks a decade of distinction – and secrecy – as he renews his annual pact with bourbon drinkers by releasing Blood Oath Pact 10 Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey double finished in Cabernet Franc and Merlot casks. A limited supply of 17,000 (3-in) cases will arrive at retail this month at a suggested price of $129.99 per 750 ml bottle. As with all of Rempe’s pacts, Blood Oath Pact 10 is offered at 98.6 proof (49.3% ABV).

Blood Oath Pact 10 combines some of the finest rare bourbons Rempe could find, including two well-bred ryed bourbons and one finished bourbon each complementing the others. In honor of Blood Oath’s double-digit age milestone, Rempe achieved a double finish for this year’s special, secret blend. The first finish was perfected in Cabernet Franc barrels, imbuing rich flavors of tart raspberries and black pepper. The second finish was refined in Merlot barrels, instilling the tastes of red stone fruits with undertones of vanilla, cocoa and anise. The result is a delicious and distinctive pour.

For a decade Rempe has sought out famous and forgotten rare bourbons and bottled them in combinations for his limited-release Blood Oath Pacts. Not to cater to anyone’s loyalties, he has sworn to never reveal where he finds his bourbon, but only promises to choose and make the best he knows.

“We wanted to create something truly distinctive and unique to mark our 10th edition of Blood Oath and we did just that,” said Rempe. “For this offering I sourced three extraordinary bourbons that could be elevated even further through a double finish in Cabernet Franc and Merlot casks, and would ultimately deliver the kind of rich, fruit-forward notes and smooth drinking experience I wanted to achieve. It’s a superb blend and I’m excited to share it.”

So now that you know what is going on, let’s get back to what you are actually here for. How does it taste?

Blood Oath Pact 10

Purchase Info: The producer provided me with this sample bottle at no charge for review purposes. The suggested retail price for a 750 mL bottle is $129.99.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $8.67

Details: 49.3% ABV. Part of the blend was barrel-finished in Cabernet Franc and Merlot Casks.

Nose: Caramel, cherry, tobacco, and smoky oak.

Mouth: Cinnamon spice, caramel, tobacco, and oak.

Finish: Medium in warmth and length. Notes of caramel-covered red fruit, tobacco, oak, and after a bit, cinnamon pops back up.

Thoughts: This is a pretty consistent flavor experience from nose to finish, with many of the same notes popping up throughout. The mouth starts out sweet, but the longer you hold it in there to tease out the notes, the more the sweetness fades to dry oak notes. This is delicious! My wife has declared that if we see this, she is buying a bottle. That is considerable praise from someone who is as frugal as a long-time accountant can be. I really like it too.

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If you want to support our work at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, t-shirts, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com. Use code BOURBONGUYREADER at checkout for 5% off any order of $50 or more.

Never Say Die Rye Whiskey

I’d like to thank the producer for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

It was almost three months ago, to the day, that we looked at the Small Batch Bourbon from Never Say Die and gave away a branded winter hat to a lucky reader. The producer of that bourbon appreciated the giveaway enough that he not only sent a new hat to replace the one I gave away but also sent a bottle of their Rye whiskey as well. Now, as it was only three months ago, I’m not going to drill down into their company history again. But here is a quick overview of the life of the whiskey we are talking about tonight.

• A distillery in Kentucky distilled a mash bill of 56% Rye, 33% Corn, and 11% Malted Barley using a sweet mash process.

• That distillery ages the whiskey in new charred oak barrels for five years.

• The whiskey is then shipped across the ocean to England, getting nice and agitated while being exposed to the sea air during the crossing.

• The whiskey is then aged further in Derbyshire, England, before being bottled at 52.5% ABV. A small portion of that whiskey then comes back to the US to be sold online by Seelbach’s.

• I drink a bit of that whiskey.

I’m going to go out on a limb and speculate once again that this came from Wilderness Trail Distillery. Wilderness Trail uses a sweet mash process and the exact same mashbill for their rye, so I think that metaphorical limb I crawled out on is pretty sturdy.

So now that you’ve got a quick overview of the whiskey and some speculation as to its provenance, let’s dig in.

Never Say Die Rye Whiskey

Purchase Info: This bottle was provided at no charge for review purposes. A 700 mL bottle can be purchased online at Seelbach's for $84.99.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $6.07

Nose: Floral mint, cardamom, cherry, caramel, oak, and cocoa.

Mouth: Spicy and sweet with notes of cinnamon, red fruit, honey, cardamon, and oak.

Finish: Warm and on the longer side of medium. Sweet and vibrant notes of cinnamon, cardamom, honey, bubblegum and mint.

Thoughts: The nose is complex and ever-changing. The mouth is spicy and sweet, and the finish explodes with flavor upon swallowing. Overall, I like this, and even though $6 per pour is more than I’d like to spend on a rye whiskey, I will certainly enjoy the rest of the bottle. I tend to use ryes in cocktails more often than I drink them neat, though, so I don’t usually tend to spend a premium on them.

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If you want to support our work at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com. Use code BOURBONGUYREADER at checkout for 5% off any order of $50 or more.