Misc Whiskey - BourbonSphere

Jack Daniel’s Bonded

I did it again. I went looking for beer at my l…

I did it again. I went looking for beer at my local liquor store and walked out with two bottles of whiskey.

Don’t judge me!

Though come to think of it, my wife may be to blame for this. Ultimately after 10 years of writing for this site, she should know better than to send me to the liquor store unattended.

See? It’s really her fault. I feel better now, how ‘bout you?

Anyway as I was taking the long way round the store to buy some beer, I saw one of the employees putting product on the shelf and asked if there was anything new. It turns out that there were a couple of new items from Jack Daniel’s. One of which was tonight’s whiskey, the newly released Jack Daniel’s Bonded.

As you might have gathered from the name, Jack Daniel's Bonded is a Bottled-in-Bond whiskey from Jack Daniel’s. It is at least four years old, was distilled during at least one distilling season, and is bottled at exactly 100 proof. Oh and due to new regulations allowing for more bottle sizes, this is also the first bottle of whiskey that I’ve bought in the US that is the world-standard size of 700 mL. (So one pour less in the bottle, but they don’t need to make one size for in the US and one size for outside the US.) Let’s see what the distillery has to say about the new release:

Jack Daniel’s Bonded is Jack’s time-honored recipe of 80% corn, 12% malted barley, and 8% rye. Barrels were hand selected for their unique and particular characteristics of deeper color, flavor, and aroma, which bring a darker, richer, and more oak-forward character to Jack Daniel’s Bonded. It is a big, bold Tennessee Whiskey at 100 proof with layered notes of caramel, rich oak, and spice giving way to a pleasantly lingering finish.

Sounds good to me, let’s see how it tastes.

Jack Daniel's Bonded

Purchase Price: $34.99 for a 700 mL bottle at Viking Liquor Barrel, Prior Lake, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $2.50

Details: 50% ABV.

Nose: Corn flakes, cinnamon, ginger, and mint.

Mouth: Cinnamon, ginger, mint, caramel, and oak.

Finish: Medium length and spicy. Notes of mint, cinnamon and ginger.

Image: I like this so I gave it a smile rating.

Thoughts: Sometimes I think that all Jack Daniel's needs to be really good is enough proof. This is a prime example. 100 proof, four years old. And it is delicious. This is a very tasty, affordable whiskey. Even if it is 700mL instead of 750.

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LAWS Whiskey House 4-Pack Virtual Tasting Experience

Seve…

Three Bottles of whiskey from LAWS Whiskey House

Seven months ago, I reviewed two bottles of Bourbon created by LAWS Whiskey House out of Denver, CO. One was a store pick of their bourbon and the other was a two-year-old version of their standard release bourbon that was included in the LAWS 4-Pack Virtual Tasting Experience. I said in that post “I’m going to just focus on the two Bourbons tonight and leave the rest for another day.” Well after seven months, that day has come. And while I encourage you to go back and read that post, I’m just going to post the tasting notes of the Bourbon below so that they are all in the same place.

LAWS Whiskey House uses local ingredients in its whiskeys. This package looks to have been created to show off that fact. It contains a Straight Malt Whiskey, a Straight Rye, and a Straight Wheat Whiskey along with a Bourbon that uses all three. According to the side of the box, the distillery is in Denver and all of their grains and water come from within four hours drive of the distillery. The corn is Homestead Corn sourced from Whiskey Sisters Supply near Burlington, CO. The other grains (San Luis Valley™ Rye, Centennial™ Wheat, and Henry Road™ Barley Malt) are sourced from Cody Family Farms near Alamosa, CO. How’s that for transparency?

One thing to keep in mind is that this tasting set has all the whiskeys age stated as “aged at least 2 years.” It looks as if the current releases of these products are currently three years old so there will probably be differences in tasting notes between the two releases. With that said, let’s jump right in.

LAWS Whiskey House 4-Pack Virtual Tasting Experience

Purchase Info: $34.98 for a multi-pack of four 100mL bottles of their core whiskey line at Hazel’s Beverage World, Boulder, CO.

Price per Drink (50mL): $4.37

Details: 47.5% ABV. "Aged At Least 2 Years."

LAWS Whiskey House Four Grain Straight Bourbon (Originally published 7/13/21)

Nose: Dried Grain and maple.

Mouth: Cinnamon spice, dried grain, mint, applesauce, and black tea.

Finish: Warm and on the longer side of medium. Notes of dried grain and wintergreen.

IMAGE: A Neutral face because I don't hate this, but I don't like it either.

Thoughts: This doesn't really do it for me. I'm getting better with well-constructed grain-forward bourbons, but this takes grain-forward to an extreme. I've eaten dried cereal grains before, and while it isn't an unpleasant experience, it isn't something I am looking to do for fun. This tastes like that did. Nice, clean grain flavors, but not something I am looking to have more of. Now, from what I understand, they are trying to showcase their locally sourced heirloom grains with this product. They did that very well, it just isn’t for me. But it might be something to check out if that idea appeals to you.

LAWS Whiskey House Centennial Straight Wheat Whiskey

Nose: Spearmint, cinnamon candies, a hint of dried grain.

Mouth: Nice spicy cinnamon notes along with almond and honey.

Finish: Medium length and warmth. Notes of dried grain, cinnamon, and candied fruit.

Thoughts: I like this one. Probably not enough to buy a full bottle, but I certainly don't regret letting it into my house. It tastes more mature than the bourbons did. As such I like it better than I did the bourbon. The dried grain notes are clean and not overpowering when they are present. Yep. Pretty darn tasty.

LAWS Whiskey House San Luis Valley Straight Rye whiskey

Nose: Cedar, cinnamon, ginger, sandlewood.

Mouth: Follows the nose. Spicy with ginger, cinnamon, mint and cedar.

Finish: Medium length. Notes of brown sugar, cinnamon, and dried grain.

IMAGE: A smile because this is really tasty.

Thoughts: This is really good. Kinda wish I'd have bought a full bottle of this when I had the opportunity. I might have to remedy that if next time I travel through a state that distributes it. The only hint that this whiskey is only two years old is on the finish. It shows some dried grain notes at that point, but not before. Overall it's a good, if young, rye whiskey.

LAWS Whiskey House Henry Road Straight Malt Whiskey

Nose: Cooked cereal grains.

Mouth: Dried hay, butterscotch, and cinnamon.

Finish: Medium length. Strong notes of butterscotch and cinnamon.

IMAGE: A frown because I did not like this.

Thoughts: This one is quite a bit too grain-forward for me. I don't like it at all, but I also have a known bias against malt whiskeys so take that how you will. On top of that, I’m not a huge butterscotch fan. So I guess it just hit all the wrong notes for me. Overall, I am just not a fan of this. Doesn’t mean you won’t be though if those are notes that appeal to you.

Yellow Spot Irish Whiskey

As e…

As expected, I missed last week. Sorry about that. I was taking my mother to visit my Stepdad at the VA Hospital in Minneapolis every day. And with worried family at the house, I had no time for tastings. But as of now, he seems to be recovering as well as a Vietnam Vet who had life-threatening surgery a week ago can be.

In any case, while I was driving around killing time while my mom was visiting the hospital, I decided to visit some of the liquor stores in the area to see if I could find something to buy with the Christmas tips I received from dog clients. And suffice it to say that I did indeed find something.

A couple of years ago, one of my dogs clients gave me a bottle of Green Spot Irish Whiskey. It was delicious and I had the thought that I might grab another bottle of it using this year’s tips. While I was in the store, cash in hand (metaphorically) to keep me from overspending, I noticed that sitting right next to the Green Spot was a bottle of it’s older brother the 12-year-old Yellow Spot. And honestly, since I was buying myself a present, I decided to splurge and spend the extra $40 to try something new.

Let’s see how it tastes.

Yellow Spot Irish Whiskey

Purchase Info: $99.99 for a 750 mL bottle at South Lyndale Liquors, Minneapolis, MN.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $6.67

Details: 12 years old. Aged in Bourbon, Sherry, and Malaga casks. Non-chill filtered. 46% ABV.

Nose: Apricot, honey, nutmeg, mixed berries, and green tea.

Mouth: Green tea, honey, cinnamon candies, and nutmeg.

Finish: Medium to long. Not much heat, but a lot of flavor. Notes of apricot and baking spices.

Thoughts: I really like this. I think it might be as close to a Love rating as a non-Bourbon could get. If you think that Green Spot is worth the $60 asking price (which I do), then this is an easy upgrade pick at $100. It is very, very good. Not an everyday drinker at that price obviously, but instead a bottle that sits on the special shelf waiting for a special occasion or a good friend to arrive.

Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Tasters’ Selection: 14E19 “Twin” Blend

Quic…

Quick one tonight as I have my parents staying over tonight so that I can take them to the VA Clinic right away in the morning. And, as much as I like you, I’d rather spend time with them instead of writing. If nothing else it will help keep everyone’s mind off of the upcoming appointment tomorrow.

Luckily we’ve already talked about a couple of whiskies in this series already so I can crib some of the post from last time.

Tonight’s whiskey is the last of the three of the Tennessee Taster’s Selections that I purchased on my September visit to the Jack Daniel’s Distillery. This time, we are looking at the Fall 2020 release: 14E19 “Twin” Blend. These bottles are only sold through the Jack Daniel’s Distillery Bottle Shop and select liquor stores in Tennessee. As we discussed the previous times we looked at one of these, the Tennessee Tasters’s Selections are limited, experimental releases that take a Jack Daniel’s product and play with it a bit. In this case they took 30 barrels of their Rye whiskey and blended it with 20 barrels of their standard Tennessee Whiskey. As you may be able to tell by the name 14E19, all of these barrels were filled on May 19, 2014, hence the “twin” name.

Jack Daniel's Tennessee Tasters' Selection: 14E19 "Twin" Blend

Purchase Info: $34.24 for a 375 mL bottle at the White Rabbit Bottle Shop, Jack Daniel’s Distillery, Lynchburg, TN

Price per Drink (50 ML): $4.60

Details: 53.5% ABV. Barrel entry date: May 19, 2014. 20 barrels of TN Whiskey blended with 30 barrels of TN Rye.

Nose: Oak, vanilla, caramel, chocolate, and leather.

Mouth: Oak, caramel, vanilla, cedar, cinnamon, ginger, and a touch of molasses.

Finish: Medium in both length and warmth. Notes of molasses and ginger.

Thoughts: I think my favorite baked good is a ginger- molasses cookie. They are soft, rich, and have just the right amount of bite from the ginger. This whiskey hits all of those same notes for me. I really, really like this one. And once again, I'm very sad I only bought one 375mL bottle.

Wyoming Whiskey Outryder (2021 Edition)

I’d like to thank Verde Brand Communications for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

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I’d like to thank Verde Brand Communications for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

Just in time for the holiday gift rush to begin in earnest, I’ve got one last sample to feature. This time, the 2021 release of Outryder from Wyoming Whiskey. I covered the origin story of Outryder when I received a sample of the 2020 release so let’s jump right into talking about the liquid itself instead of the story behind it.

Quoting the press release:

Following the popularity of its first two iterations of Outryder, in 2016 and 2017, Wyoming Whiskey came to terms with the finite amount of 2011 whiskey stock used to create the initial batches. In order to carry on the legacy of this exceptional whiskey, Wyoming Whiskey has begun to marry its 10-year-old “almost rye” whiskies (48% rye, 40% corn, 12% malt) and bourbon (68% corn, 20% rye, 12% malt), with two whiskies distilled in early 2017, which are considered a “true rye” (51% rye, 37% corn, 12% malt) and bourbon (68% corn, 20% rye, 12% malt).

I mean, that sounds like a pretty good blend. So how does it taste?

Wyoming Whiskey Outryder, 2021 edition

Purchase Info: This sample was provided by the producer for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $74.99 and was available nationwide beginning in November 2021.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $5.00

Details: 50% ABV. A blend of three Wyoming Whiskeys the original “almost rye,” a rye, and a bourbon.

Nose: Caramel, cinnamon, black tea, mint, and a muted orange note.

Mouth: Brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, mint, and black tea.

Finish: Warm and of medium length. Notes of cinnamon and mint.

Thoughts: This is a tasty one. I like it. It has a lot of "brown" baking notes. Brown sugar, baking spices, etc. The herbal mint and black tea notes play nicely with the baking notes. I'm a fan. Price is a little high for my tastes, but this is a limited release from a small producer, so you are going to have that.

Jack Daniel’s 2021 Single Barrel Special Release: Coy Hill High Proof

I’d like to thank the folks at Jack Daniel’s for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

…

I’d like to thank the folks at Jack Daniel’s for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

Last week I got to sit in on a fun virtual tasting with the Jack Daniel’s Master Distiller for their new 2021 Single Barrel Special Release: Coy Hill High Proof. It is an interesting tasting and what follows are some of the notes my wife and I took during the presentation.

Coy Hill is the name of the highest elevation on the Jack Daniel’s property with aging warehouses on it. This whiskey came from two of those warehouses, number 8 and 13. The retail product will list which warehouse of the two warehouses the whiskey was aged in.
The typical Jack Daniel’s warehouse has 7 floors, each with 3 levels. The top floor has just enough space between the ceiling and the top rack to squeeze another level of barrels. They call this the “Buzzard’s Roost.” This product came exclusively from the Buzzard’s Roost.
Barrel entry dates for this product were August 2, 3, and 17 of 2012. They were bottled in late September 2021. Meaning this product is 9 years old, though that is not on the label. All nine of those years were spent in the Buzzard’s Roost as they do not move or rotate barrels.
The retail product ranges from 137.4° proof to 148.3° proof. They had barrels in the batch that came in proofed over 160° proof, but the high alcohol content was causing leakage as the alcohol expanded in the head space and pushed the cork out. Most of these barrels are still aging until they figure out what to do with them. (For the record, typical barrel proofs at this age are probably in the mid-130s.)

And now some quotes from the Press Release that I found interesting:

“Coy Hill High Proof is made from Jack Daniel’s classic 80% corn, 12% malted barley and 8% rye grain bill.”
“The limited offering whiskey is bottled at proof points ranging from 137.4 up to 148.3 and marks the highest proof whiskey ever released from the Jack Daniel Distillery.”
“The Coy Hill High Proof is all about pushing the limit for single barrel maturation to create one of our boldest, most innovative whiskeys we have ever released,” says Jack Daniel’s Master Distiller Chris Fletcher. “It highlights one of the unique attributes of the Jack Daniel Distillery – the dry air of the highest floors of the barrel houses – and the amazing impact it has on whiskey making.”
“Due to the high barrel strength, the bottle should remain upright at all times
unless being poured into a glass for drinking in a responsible manner.”

But enough of that, let’s get on to the tasting notes.

Jack Daniel's 2021 Single Barrel Special Release: Coy Hill High Proof

Purchase Info: This sample was sent by Jack Daniel’s for the purposes of the virtual tasting and for review. The Suggested Retail Price is $70 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $4.67

Details: 73.65% ABV

Nose: Oak notes of leather and tobacco, spearmint, wintergreen, vanilla, and baking spices.

Mouth: Very warm and sweet. Initial strong toffee notes followed by vanilla, mint, and almond.

Finish: Long and warm with notes of almond, mint, toffee, and baking spice.

Thoughts: This might have the darkest color of any whiskey I’ve ever reviewed. It is also a very tasty whiskey. It is quite a bit too hot for my taste when consumed neat. Luckily for me, when I have a glass of whiskey for enjoyment, I like to have a small piece of ice in higher-proof ones. Well, this one gets a large piece of ice. And it takes it well. There is still some heat to the drink. The flavor softens a bit and brings the oak notes more to the forefront. And the finish is still fairly long. Overall, I really like this one.

Parker’s Heritage Collection 2021: Heavy Char Wheat Whiskey

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

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

I’m not going to lie. I’ve been slacking a bit on reporting on samples that companies have sent to me. Between vacation, a covid scare, the worst allergies I’ve had in years, and then a booster shot, I haven’t had many opportunities for tasting whiskey. But that seems to be changing. I feel great so let’s start taking a look at the backlog.

Tonight’s whiskey was provided by Heaven Hill. It is the 2021 Edition of the Parker’s Heritage Collection. the 15th Edition if you can believe that. My, how time flies. This edition is an 11-year-old wheat whiskey, using the same mashbill as their Bernheim product. It comes in at a whopping 122° proof.

I’ll let Heaven Hill tell you what makes this special:

This edition continues the award-winning series of heavy char releases, exploring how a more intense char allows the liquid to penetrate deeper into each barrel stave and the effects on the resulting flavor. Comprised of 75 barrels charred for one minute and 30 seconds (Level 5), as opposed to the traditional 40 second char (Level 3) for Heaven Hill, the Wheat Whiskey reached peak maturation after 11 years on the sixth floor of Rickhouse Y. The heavy char allowed Heaven Hill’s traditional Wheat Whiskey mashbill of 51% wheat, 37% corn, and 12% malted barley to interact more with the oak, extracting a mix of sweetness, filled with hints of molasses and butterscotch. This release is only the second time the Wheat Whiskey mashbill has been featured in the Parker’s Heritage Collection, with the first released in 2014 as an Original Batch Cask Strength.

And as with previous versions of the Parker’s Heritage Collection, a portion of the proceeds of each bottle will go to support ALS research and patient care.

Parker's Heritage Collection: Heavy Char Rye Whiskey

Purchase Info: This review sample was graciously provided to me by Heaven Hill for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $139.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $9.33

Details: 11 years old, 61% ABV.

Nose: Very hot, very spicy. Notes of cinnamon, mint, almond, and oak.

Mouth: Cinnamon spice, mint leaves, vanilla, almond.

Finish: Long and warm with notes of dusty oak, red fruits, chocolate, mint, and a nice nuttiness.

Thoughts: Hot and spicy as might be expected from the high proof. The flavor seems most heavily influenced by the barrel, rather than the mash bill which is expected from both a double-digit age and a majority wheat mash bill. Overall, this is pretty close to what I would have expected. Which is to say that it is very, very good.

Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Tasters’ Selection: Jamaican Allspice, Spring 2020

Goin…

Going to be a short one tonight. I got my vaccination booster last night and I feel like warmed-over poo. I originally got the J&J shot. It wasn’t too bad. Fever and Chills overnight the day I got it, but nothing lasting. This Pfizer one is wild though. For a while, I had every symptom of the flu except the lethargy. So I was amped up on coffee, raring to go but with chills, joint aches, etc. I got a bunch of work done this morning. Then boom. I got run over by a truck about 1 pm. And I’ve been down since. But hey, it gave me a lot of time to listen to podcasts and play a Star Wars Lego game on my iPad this afternoon.

Tonight’s whiskey (tasted this weekend prior to getting jabbed), is one of the Tennessee Taster’s Selections. As far as I know, these are only sold through the Jack Daniel’s Distillery Bottle Shop and select liquor stores in Tennessee. The Tennessee Tasters’s Selections are limited, experimental releases that take a Jack Daniel’s product and play with it a bit. This one was finished with “Jamaican Allspice” wood. Otherwise known as Pimento Wood, this is the wood that gives Jamaican Jerk Chicken its unique flavor.

So in the name of this being a short post, let’s get on with the tasting notes.

Jack Daniel's Tennessee Tasters' Selection: Jamaican Allspice

Purchase Info: $34.24 for a 375 mL bottle at the White Rabbit Bottle Shop, Jack Daniel’s Distillery, Lynchburg, TN

Price per Drink (50 ML): $4.60

Details: Finished for 180 days with Jamaican Allspice Wood. 50% ABV. Released Spring 2020. Selection number 6.

Nose: Oak, caramel, allspice, and pipe tobacco.

Mouth: Spicy with notes of tobacco, clove, caramel, and oak.

Finish: Medium to long and warm. Notes of tobacco, clove, and caramel.

Thoughts: Damn. I wish I'd bought a second bottle. This is delicious. Strong tobacco and clove notes throughout. Nice heat. Nice finish. This makes me look forward to the next two Tennessee Tasters’ Selections I have in the closet. This bottle, however, will live on the special shelf so I don't empty it too fast. Damn, that’s tasty!

Little Book Chapter 5 – The Invitation

I’d like to thank the folks at Jim Beam for providing the following review sample with no strings attached.

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I’d like to thank the folks at Jim Beam for providing the following review sample with no strings attached.

IMAGE: Sample bottle of Little Book Chapter 5, the Invitation

By the time you are reading this, I will be on vacation. I’m guessing I will be somewhere in Northern Missouri if you are reading this the evening it came out. Hello from Wednesday! Did the world survive?

This is my first real vacation since before Covid. Even vaccinated, I’m a little nervous. But if I didn’t go, I’d lose all the money I paid for housing…so here I go. I’ll be as safe as I can and mostly just try to avoid being too close to people. Which is kinda how I usually do vacations anyway. And since I am in the middle of working my way through a list of “Things That I Should Have Done Last Week But Need To Be Done Before I Leave,” I’m going to jump right into the whiskey portion of this post.

I’ve been a fan of the Little Book releases since they were first released. I’m pretty sure that I’ve enjoyed every one I’ve tried. I really like the experimentation that Freddie Noe is doing with them. And this is no different. The whiskeys included in this blend range from two to fifteen years old. Paraphrasing the sell sheet provided with the sample (and quoting where appropriate) here are the blend components and what they say each brings to the final blend:

2-year-old Kentucky Straight Bourbon: It “comes off the still and goes into the barrel at a lower proof delivering a whiskey that’s complex and balanced.” This whiskey contributed a creamy mouthfeel and sweet grain flavors.
3-year-old Malted 100% Rye Whiskey: This whiskey brings in peppery notes and toasted grain/cereal notes with a hint of nuttiness.
5-year-old Kentucky Straight Bourbon: This whiskey brings in hints of vanilla, corn sweetness on the nose, and a smooth finish “that help to balance the flavors from the younger whiskies and the 15-year-old bourbon.”
15-year-old Kentucky Straight Bourbon: This brings heavier barrel flavors and adds complexity to the final blend.

That’s what Beam had to say, let’s see how it tastes.

Little Book Chapter 5: The Invitation

Purchase Info: This sample was provided by the producer for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $124.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price Per Drink (50 mL): $8.33

Details: 58.4% ABV. A blend of 2-year-old Kentucky Straight Bourbon, 3-year-old Malted 100% Rye, 5-year-old Kentucky Straight Bourbon, and 15-year-old Kentucky Straight Bourbon.

Nose: Bright ginger and cinnamon, toasted nuts, milk chocolate.

Mouth: Hot and spicy. Notes of vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, and a generic nuttiness.

Finish: Warm and long. Notes of baking spice, chocolate, leather.

Thoughts: This is really good. I don't know that I'll be paying $125 for this, but I might check out Total Wine to see if they carry it for a little cheaper. But if you don't see a problem dropping $125 on a special release then add this one to your list. I like it.

George Dickel Bottled in Bond No. 3 (2021 release)

Kids…

IMAGE: 13 year old George Dickel Bottled in Bond, Number 3. 2021 release.

Kids. Pull up a chair and let Old Man Eric tell you a story.

It all started way back in the late twenty-aughts to early teens. I was first getting into whiskey and it was a lovely time to be doing so. You’d walk into a store and sure, most of the time there wouldn’t be a lot of American Whiskey on the shelf, at least by today’s standards. The stores I frequented here in Minnesota didn’t usually offer a full aisle dedicated to just Bourbon and its brother from Tennessee. But what you didn’t have in the number of brands, you’d make up for in quality of the whiskey. Well, some of the time. I mean Jim Beam White was outselling everything not named Jack back then too. But age statements were everywhere and they were used to entice you to buy a bottle not to price it out of the range of affordability.

It was by no means the Golden Age that our memories and nostalgia make it out to be but you could be pretty sure that the bottle you were buying probably contained good bourbon if you saw an age statement. And it wasn’t unusual to see double-digit age statements at a relatively low cost.

Tonight’s whiskey is a bit of a throwback to that time. 13 years old. 100° proof. Bottled in Bond. Rich and thick in the mouth. And, at least compared to others in its age range, a relatively low price. This is the third edition of George Dickel Bottled in Bond and, according to Whisky Advocate, it is the biggest batch yet. Now, the price did go up some. The suggested retail price was in the mid-$30s in 2019 and is in the mid-$40s now, but it is still a remarkably good value. Especially when compared to others in its age range.

So instead of me blathering on anymore, let’s see how it tastes.

George Dickel Bottled in Bond No. 3 (2021 release)

Purchase Info: $40.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Apple Valley Liquor, Apple Valley, MN

Price per Drink (50mL): $2.73

Details: 13 years old, Spring 2007 distilling season. 50% ABV. Distilled at DSP-TN-2. Bottled at DSP-IL-58.

Nose: Honey, mixed berries, nutmeg, and a slight mineral note.

Mouth: Spicy in the month. Nice mouthfeel. Honey, mixed berries, cinnamon, leather, and tobacco.

Finish: Medium in both length and warmth. Lingering notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, and tobacco smoke.

Thoughts: This is damn good whiskey. I am really enjoying it. Rich and thick in the mouth with delicious notes of pipe tobacco smoke on the finish. Note, this is not a "smokey" whiskey, it just carries the flavors of tobacco smoke. I'm a big fan. Really, really like this one. I think I will be stopping off on my next trip out of the house to see if I can find another bottle to have for after this one is empty.

Post-Script: So, after I finished writing this, I had to go grocery shopping. I thought that I might check my local corner liquor store to see if there was another bottle to be had, as mentioned above. There was, but there was no price on the shelf. I grabbed a bottle thinking that I knew what it should be and that these guys are usually really good about just charging a set margin on items. I was beyond shocked when it rang up at $69.99! While talking with the poor guy behind the counter I mentioned the price I got it for a couple of suburbs over and that the suggested retail price was $45. He told me that, apparently, there is a local distributor in my area who is doing a little price gouging on items like this and that, unfortunately, they must have gotten it from that one. He apologized for the inflated price and the trouble. So keep an eye on the price of this one. Sounds like there might be some foul play in the Twin Cities metro on it. I’ll be paying around MSRP on this one or I won’t bother buying it. I suggest you do the same.