Boone County Distilling Eighteen 33 12 Year Straight Bourbon

VITALS:
- $65
- 90.8 Proof
- 12 Years
- Indiana

This is another bottle that was muled back to me when my buddy made his trip to Liquor City Uncorked in Covington, Kentucky this past Summer. Sadly, this bottle was the last of the goodies that he brought me. For a long time it was one of my desk whiskeys at work, but as I got toward the end, I brought it home to give it a proper send-off.

I don't know much about Boone County Distilling Co., but I do know that what he brought back for me was a 12-year bottling of MGP bourbon, and I have yet to see this for sale anywhere here in Illinois.  While it comes with a nice backstory dedicated to the hard working individuals working for the distillery in Petersburg, Kentucky, including William Snyder. The label says it was "Made by Ghosts." My guess is it was actually made by Greg Metz, but that's neither here nor there, so long as the whiskey is good.

I got a lot of fruit-forward notes on the nose, certainly some ripe cherry off the tree (as opposed to that fake cherry note I sometimes get and tend to hate), as well as a red grape note. Along with these fruit notes, I also got a rich vanilla, along with sweet bready notes and even a little bit of cinnamon. All of this combined to remind me of the smell of a rich, cherry danish.

I didn't find the flavor to be anywhere near as sweet as the nose, however. Although it still had some of those fruit-forward notes, notably the fresh cherry and even a bit of plum and raisin, it lacked in the sweetness that reminded me of a Danish.

I did get some graham cracker notes, which carried a hint of honey with them. I also got the bread notes that I got from the nose, but the flavors were more on the yeast side, and definitely not that pastry-type of bread flavor.  The cinnamon came through as well, and altogether it tasted a bit like that raisin bread you can by pre-sliced and by the loaf at the grocery store.

The age did shine through a bit in the flavor, as there were some wood notes that came through, carrying with them the slightest bit of tannic bitterness. I also noticed from time to time a distinct amaretto note that, quite frankly, I wished were more prominent, because it seemed to really work with everything else that was going on.

Interestingly, though not thick in texture, and certainly not high in proof at just above 90, this bourbon nonetheless carried a lot of complexity and rich flavors. It even had a decently long finish that retained the cinnamon and raisin flavors for quite a while, certainly far longer than I would have expected. All in all, I was impressed by how flavorful this whiskey was, and the flavors all seemed to work well together to make a very delicious bourbon, albeit tempered a bit in sweetness and spice.

Grade: B+