- $55
- 110 Proof
- 9 years
- Warehouse S
- Kentucky
Recently we took a Spring Break trip with the kids down to Louisville. My wife and I have been there a couple times, and, since we had no other Spring Break plans, we decided to do an impromptu family vacation to Louisville. What didn't occur to us, however, is that there's not a whole lot for kids to do in Louisville, and even less for them to do when everything is shut down by a pandemic.
While we struggled to provide entertainment for our kids, I still managed to sneak away one afternoon to get to Liquor Barn and peruse their offerings. After scanning the shelves of their various store picks my eyes landed on a Russell's Reserve pick. I haven't seen any of these around me recently, so without hesitation I made my choice. These are always solid and at a very reasonable price, and even as I was walking to the register one of the clerks gave his unsolicited approval of my choice. So, of the bottles that I brought home with me from that trip, this was the first one I opened.
On the nose I got a lot of cinnamon, more than I can recall ever experiencing from Russell's Reserve. It was almost a fake cinnamon, like Big Red gum. It seemed to mix with a pecan pie, as I was getting the corn syrup, pecans and even pie crust. Between the pie crust and the Big Red, it was really kind of an odd mix.
The flavor, however, didn't strike me as odd at all. In fact, it was quite good! The first thing I noticed was a smooth salted caramel note, and even a butterscotch note, like a Werther's candy. The cinnamon was there, but it came across a bit like a cinnamon liqueur. I also got a sort of cherry flavor, and I noted that it was like cinnamon candied cherries (not that I've ever had such a thing, but if I did, I'd imagine this is what they'd taste like).
On the finish I got a lot of almond, and with that liqueur note, it came across a lot like amaretto. Interestingly, it was on the finish where the pie notes really started coming through as well. The graham cracker crust note was the flavor that seemed to linger the longest, even after the cinnamon spice had gone away.
All in all this bourbon just had a bunch of delicious, almost comforting notes. Like a warm pastry topped with a creamy caramel icing and just a touch of cinnamon baked in. Whenever I'd go into my basement to stare at my whiskey shelves for a while trying to decide what to drink that particular night, I found it very hard to pick something else while this bottle was sitting there. It was yet another excellent Russell's Reserve pick, and I hope to start seeing them more often by me again soon.
Grade: B+
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