At 5 years, it possess aromas and flavors you’d expect from something two to three years older. I like it so much that I looked at my tasting notes from a single barrel pick of 6-year-old Chicken Cock bourbon and found them nicely aligned.
What is there not to love about this almost-annual release? What bourbon fan would taste this and object to any of its qualities? Release after incredible release, it confirms what great bourbon should taste like.
This is a deep, rich bourbon. The aroma is dark with molasses, Demerara syrup, and a bold fruitiness alternating between bright, fresh berries and fortified wine. As things open up, some crunchy toffee and pipe tobacco arrive.
If you’re even semi-American whiskey savvy, you recognize the phrase in this bottle’s name: Cask Strength Bottled-In-Bond Bourbon. Well, it’s true: no water was added to achieve 100 proof; just the mingling of sub- and above-100-proof casks to attain that essential proof for BIB.
There are days when I think, “I’m finished with cask finishes!” and then there are days when cask finishes redeem themselves. Old Elk Cognac Cask Finish did that recently when I tasted it and thoroughly enjoyed it.
If any tells you bourbon is too one dimensional, all vanilla and butterscotch, hand them this bottle. It’s a veritable fruit salad of flavor and aroma, kicking off with a rich, buttery nose of caramel-covered red apple, soft baking spice, and cocktail cherry.
Like every wood-finished Maker’s release, The Heart Series offers up a rich and complex nose featuring oak, chocolate, cinnamon and clove. Pastries, pie crust and fruit tarts made from all three doughs emerge laced with caramel and mocha.
The palate backs up the nose with bitter chocolate, milk chocolate, honey, cooked cherries and Demerara syrup. Brown sugar and baking spices collide and reemerge independently to form a fantastic, warm finish.
On the nose of this BIB release is spring in a glass–a mixed bouquet of peonies, roses and lilac–backed by cinnamon stick and lavender. I’d be hard pressed to recall nosing such a floral spirit.
Share with Elijah Craig fans, golfing buddies, and Scottie Scheffler, who could probably use a pour or four right about now.
