Valentine Distilling Co. Mayor Pingree 9 Year Straight Bourbon

VITALS:
- $80
- 117.2 Proof
- 9 Years
- Region: Indiana (bottled in Michigan)

This is another one of those bottles that my wife randomly surprised me with following a recent success at work. As I've mentioned in the past, she enjoys bringing home bottles that I haven't had before. She knows it makes me happy!

It's worth noting right off the top that this whiskey, bottled by Valentine Distilling Co. in Detroit and named after its former mayor in the late 1800's, Mayor Hazen Pingree, is an MGP-sourced bourbon. It is a well-aged MGP bourbon, though, and as a general rule, it's going to be decent. Whether it's worth the $80 price tag is always a question with these NDPs, though.

On the nose I get a lot of soft caramel and brown sugar. It smells sweet, and I also get a lot of corn, which is a bit surprising from an MGP bourbon. It has minimal burn on the nose and promises to be a tasty pour.

On the palate I get a lot of caramel and just a light amount of cinnamon. Up front it does not come across as very complex. It's easy to drink but not exactly dynamic or interesting.

However, on the finish it develops some appreciable complexity. The sweet caramel (which is clearly the most prominent takeaway flavor from this bourbon) continues from beginning to end, serving as the foundation upon which all the other flavors are added. However, on the finish (much unlike the front end) I get a light nuttiness, but not the more bitter walnut kind. Rather, it's kind of a cashew nuttiness, a sweeter kind that lingers for a bit. I also got a lot of warm amaretto notes that seem to stick around at the back of my throat forever.

After the bottle being opened for a few weeks, the bourbon seemed to open up quite a bit. Despite being a caramel-bomb from the beginning, it somehow managed to get sweeter and added some light baking spices towards the back end.

This bourbon really turned into a delicious and sweet (but not too sweet) bourbon. Despite the first few pours being somewhat mundane, towards the middle and end of this bottle, I found myself wanting it more and more, and by the end I was disappointed that it was gone. At first the $80 price tag seemed like a complete bust, but at least toward the end it was palatable (the price, that is--the bourbon was very good!).

Grade: B+