Tastes
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Elijah Craig Single Barrel Barrel Proof Bourbon (Private Label)
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed May 13, 2024 (edited May 14, 2024)Total wine and more pick, 125.1 proof, 11 year age stated. Sweet and spicy nose with allspice, nutmeg, confectioners sugar, honey, ginger, nougat, vanilla cream, and Snickers bar. As I was writing this before taking my first sip, suddenly a berry note came out of nowhere. Ethanol nicely restrained. Whoa. Palate much woodier and more astringent than the nose would indicate. Sour cherries, oak, caramel, dark chocolate, sweet corn, buttered toast, and berry. Flavors are sharp and “tight” if that makes sense. Lingering finish brings more sourness (almost like gummy worms), furniture varnish, astringent oak, cherry NyQuil, black pepper, cinnamon, the dark chocolate from the palate, and barrel char. Mouthfeel is the thinnest and grainiest I have ever experienced in a ECBP product to the point of being watery, ultimately resulting in an unpleasant prickly feel where everything is felt solely on the sides of the tongue. This is…not good. All prickles and stings. Strangely sour and let me tell you, sour is NOT a note I appreciate in my whiskey. Someone actually selected this and said “this is the one”?!? I think I paid 79.99 for this and it’s a few sreps above a drain pour. I’ll stick to the main three releases each year and leave these “barrel strength private barrel” offerings on the shelf from now on. Huge disappointment.79.99 USD per Bottle -
Ahh A124. The youngest ECBP to date. Is this truly worthy of all the hate? Let’s find out. Nose is definitely subdued with candied orange, minerals, cinnamon, berry, sweet corn, and…not much else. Really pesky ethanol keeps coming in and making things worse. Not a good start. (Ok after a while the mineral note vanished and ethanol decreased. Weird.) Thank goodness things improve massively on the palate; butterscotch, black cherry, soft mature oak, nutmeg, tobacco, and brown sugar. Flavors are less punchy than I am used to from this expression, but also well integrated and rounded. Finish gets even better with caramel, vanilla creme, cinnamon sugar, creme brûlée burnt sugar, white pepper, chocolate, oak, mint, leather, and barrel char. Honestly, a great blend of sweet and spicy notes here. On the longer side of medium. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, with a hint of effervescence which actually serves this pretty well. Let’s get something straight; this is NOT an inferior release. Just…different. Where as often times ECBP bludgeons you, this one is a gentleman. Comes across a little more like a “daily drinker” type whiskey vs a “special occasion” bottle and while that is a departure for the line it’s not a bad thing if you ask me. Anyone who says this is shitty because it doesn’t have a 12+ year age statement is smoking crack. At $89.99, there’s nothing to find sweious fault with here as I’ve paid a lot more for a lot less. Bring on B524.89.99 USD per Bottle
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Nose is fruitier than many from the series with caramel dipped green apple, berry compote, vanilla, cashew, milk chocolate, and cinnamon sugar. Ethanol is nicely subdued. Palate matches the nose very well so as to not be redundant all the above mentioned notes are there along with soft oak, cola, and toffee. Flavors are rich and punchy but there’s some sharpness there. Exceptionally long finish offers a nice “sweet and spicy” vibe with red hots candy, black sweet and sour sauce, black pepper, peanut butter, and oak which is a little more bitter than the oak initially found in the palate. Mouthfeel is very thick and chewy, but manages to be slightly grainy as well. Minor flaw. One of the better releases. I found myself wishing the flavors were a little rounder and the mouthfeel a little silkier, but hey we can’t have everything. At 79.99, nothing here that would stop me from continuing to buy the three releases per year unless things take a major downturn.79.99 USD per Bottle
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Balcones Texas Single Malt Single Barrel
American Single Malt — Texas, USA
Reviewed May 7, 2024 (edited May 8, 2024)Total Wine store pick. 65.3% ABV Oh wow, this nose is great with brown sugar, vanilla cream, stone fruit, fig, tobacco, leather, oak, smoke sausage, and caramel. Ethanol is noticeable, but it IS 130+ proof after all, so slightly lower than expected given that. Palate offers rich caramel, vanilla, marshmallow, pancake batter, a hint of maple, date, molasses, raisin, nougat, smoke, and cinnamon sugar. Wildly decadent. Finish is ridiculously long and complex with notes of creme brûlée, caramelized sugar, dark chocolate, flan, plum wine, charcoal, nutmeg, pomegranate, and date supported by an undertone of black pepper and toasted wood providing welcome balance. Mouthfeel is full bodied and oily, but with a hint of effervescence/airiness that really accentuates things. Thank goodness, because a sandpaper/graininess here might have really spoiled things. Very intense and challenging and not for the faint of heart but those willing to brave it are rewarded with something truly exceptional. Not something I would reach for every day; more like a “have to be in the mood” whiskey but it’s an experience. Loads of sweetness, spice, and heat here but it all integrates very well. At $104, it is pricey but in no way out of whack given the quality and uniqueness of the experience. Definite rebuy status.104.99 USD per Bottle -
Nose opens with stewed fruits in the form of pear and apple, tobacco, leather, vanilla cake frosting, orange marmalade, caramel chew, old cedar furniture, allspice, clove, Honestly, there is so much depth and complexity here you get a new element with every sniff. A truly great aroma. Ethanol is well controlled. Palate brings more “dark” elements than the nose would indicate; tons of gooey caramel, Black Forest cake, ripe date, toffee, black cherry, fig newton, and dark chocolate. Saying flavors are rich and robust is a massive understatement. Finish is insanely good with…remember one of those crazy ice cream sundaes you would get from a place like Swenson’s where it was three scoops of vanilla ice cream and then you had one fudge, butterscotch, and strawberry topping on each scoop? That’s totally there in this finish. Even a hint of the chopped nuts. Just enough cinnamon, black pepper, and toasted oak to add balance and keep things from becoming cloying. Very long, but wanted it to be longer because it’s so damned good. Mouthfeel is full bodied and creamy. A delight. So some ECBP releases are spicy, some earthy, and some sweet, and this is definitely the latter and it really hit the spot for me. Right up there with the best of the best of the expression. Can’t remember if I paid $79.99 or $99.99 for this but it doesn’t matter because the rating is 5 out of 5 either way.89.99 USD per Bottle
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Nose is full of brown sugar, molasses, caramel, waffle, mesquite, burnt sugars, nutmeg, and barrel char. Ethanol nice and low. Palate matches the nose quite well with additions of creme brûlée, raisin, dark chocolate, tea leaf, burnt marshmallow, and butterscotch. Flavors are dense and rich, almost “gooey” if you will. Finish brings heat and spice in the form of jalapeño pepper, ginger, rye, astringent oak, and unattenuated alcohol but after that it magically turns sweet again with caramel drizzled vanilla ice cream, which I found to be absolutely divine. And that note LASTS. Mouthfeel is full bodied and slick with a hint of effervescence which also worked for me. Very much a densely sweet and sharply spicy affair, there is a lot to like here if that’s your jam. A wild ride for sure, but a rewarding one if you’re willing to strap in. The finish absolutely slayed me. At around $70, it meets rebuy status easily, although I will say that like many Balcones products, I have to be “in the mood” because they are a little more challenging than the average dram, but overall one of the better expressions from this distillery.69.99 USD per Bottle
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Nose is bold and spicy with cinnamon, clove, allspice, and nutmeg. There’s also some apple, pear, smoke, and peanut. Ethanol is disturbingly persistent. Mouthfeel is nuttier and less spicy than the nose would indicate. Notes of peanut brittle, cashew, vanilla, caramel flan, red apple, and dry oak. Very bright. Tastes a little young, with everything being slightly rough around the edges. Finish bring a ton of black pepper along with pleasant oak, barrel char, red hots candy, and clove. Mouthfeel is full bodied and nicely oily. Having reviewed a lot of these, I would say this release is very “on brand” for this whiskey, that being nutty and spicy. I think a little more age on these releases would work wonders; imagine what a 12-13 yr old Larceny BP would yield? Sadly, the world may never know. At 79.99, the value is solid, and I’ll probably keep buying them at the price point.79.99 USD per Bottle
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Nose is wholly unpleasant with burnt rubber, smoke, wet cardboard, grape must, earthy damp cellar, and root vegetables (turnip? beet?) But then something strange happened…the burnt rubber and cardboard aromas vanished to be replaced by overripe date, salted caramel, strawberry, and plum. I’ve never had anything like this happen before. Am I drunk? Ethanol is pronounced and spikey. Things improve on palate with prune juice, brown sugar, port wine, sherry, white grape, vanilla, fudge, clove, allspice, black cherry, coffee, and vegetal beet. While reading that back it sounds good, but it sounds better than it tastes. Hard to describe, but the flavors are unruly and over the place. Finish is long with creme brûlée, pencil eraser, barrel char, dark chocolate, toasted oak, leather, black pepper, mint, sulphur, and astringent iodine. Mouthfeel is full bodied, chewy, and slick. Maybe it’s me, but I just didn’t dig this whiskey; too many weird/off notes at every step. A hot mess express. At $119 that I paid for this bottle via mail order, I regret my life choices. Strange because I usually enjoy Balcones, but this one missed the mark big time for me.119.0 USD per Bottle
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Aroma opens with rye spice, vanilla creme, shortbread, white pepper, candy cane, apricot, fresh leather, grass, dried plum, tobacco, and oak. An inviting and complex nose for sure. Ethanol is low. Palate offers raisin, date, caramel, fig newton, smoke, prune, and macadamia nut. Flavors are rich but with some delicacy to them; kind of like a soufflé. Finish is delightful; on the longer side of medium with figgy pudding, chocolate, black,pepper, herbal mint, toasted oak and coconut, caraway seed, and dried black cherry. Mouthfeel is full bodied with a soft, velvety texture but does turn a bit dry at the end. Yeah, this is delicious. I will admit that for the first few drams after opening I felt this was a bit tight and that the sherry/rye flavors were a bit clashy, but as more air got to the bottle it opened up and became more cohesive. A bold, innovative, and weird whiskey that somehow still works. I paid $99.99 via mail order and while I’d always like to pay less, I feel this is appropriately priced for the quality. Nicely done, Sagamore.99.99 USD per Bottle
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Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Bourbon Batch C923
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed April 28, 2024 (edited April 29, 2024)The now famous C923. Big fan of the expression so let’s see how this highly regarded release stacks up. Nose is “dark” with well integrated notes of plum, caramel, date, French vanilla ice cream, fig, custard, nutmeg, tobacco and sweet oak. Complex and inviting. Ethanol is low given the proof. Palate brings the caramel and vanilla from the nose with less fruit than the aroma would indicate although I do get nice black cherry and berry notes. Add butterscotch, raisin, black pepper, hazelnut and toffee. Flavors are rich and decadent. Some heat is evident on the tongue. Finish is so damn long with a cinnamon/allspice/ginger bloom, brown sugar, old leather, and barrel char. Lingering wood note (which to me tastes more like bitter sandalwood than oak) after everything else fades away. Mouthfeel is full bodied and unctuous. A truly outstanding ECBP release. Just missed a 5.0 for being a wee bit hot, but it’s the minorest of flaws. At the $79.99 that I paid it’s highway robbery; if you find it at that price buy two and thank me later.79.99 USD per Bottle
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