I’d like to thank Heaven Hill for providing this review sample with no strings attached.
So I’ve had a love/hate relationship with my body almost my entire life. If by love/hate you mean just hate. Growing up I was the tall, lanky, scrawny kid who looked like a bundle of bones loosely tied together. No real visible muscle on my body. I hated how I looked and didn’t know how to go about changing things. As I got older, I had the opposite problem. From the age of 20 on, I couldn’t walk past a plate of food without putting on weight. It got so bad that at one point I was 70 pounds heavier than that scrawny high-school kid. My family liked to poke my belly and ask how things were going. Sometimes they came right out and said “putting on some weight, huh?” as a form of small talk.
Eventually, I worked hard and lost all that weight. And then put it back on. And then exercised hard and took it off, and then put it back on…you get the point. I’m currently about 50 pounds heavier than I was as a scrawny kid. So not as bad as in the past, but to the point that I feel the need to make some changes. And I found out that as I’ve gotten older, those changes are much harder to do on my own when you love smoked meat, beer, and bourbon as much as I do. So I’ve signed up with a personal trainer. I want to be the best me that I can be. Wish me luck.
And speaking of the best something can be, is there anything better than a delicious barrel-proof version of an already tasty bourbon? I haven’t seen one, and I’ve been looking (just ask that waistline of mine). Tonight we are looking at the sample of Larceny Barrel-Proof that recently showed up at the house.
Larceny Barrel Proof is a bourbon released three times per year, usually in January, May, and September. If you can find it, it is usually pretty affordable with a suggested retail price of $59.99. That if carries a lot of weight though as I’ve never seen it on a shelf before. Larceny Barrel Proof uses Heaven Hill’s wheated Bourbon mashbill of 68% corn, 20% wheat, and 12% malted barley. Every release so far has been super tasty, let’s see if that trend continues.
Larceny Barrel Proof, B522
Purchase Info: This was graciously provided by Heaven Hill for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $59.99.
Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.00
Details: 61.9% ABV.
Nose: Cinnamon. nutmeg, brown sugar, almond, and oak.
Mouth: Hot and spicy. Notes of cinnamon, oak, and almond.
Finish: Long and hot on the finish. Notes of cinnamon red hots and oak.
Thoughts: This is delicious but really screams for ice or water. Super spicy and strong on the cinnamon. Water brings out mint and ginger notes.
Comparison to A122: Both of these are hot but A122 is more complex when consumed neat. B522 is all cinnamon until water is added. At that point, B522 gains almost as much complexity as A122. I’d happily purchase either of these at retail if I saw them. If forced to choose, I’d probably get B522, because I drink high-proof bourbon with a bit of ice or a splash of water and it seems to take the water better. A122 is a bit too drinkable at full strength for my liver to be happy with it.
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