Jeppson's Binny's Select Cognac Finished Cask Strength Single Barrel Straight Bourbon

VITALS:

- $45

- 119.3 Proof

- 5 Years

- Barrel No. C1

- Indiana

These Jeppson's bourbons are interesting to me. Around Chicago, people are very familiar with Jeppson's Malort, and usually for all the wrong reasons. Despite that negative association, though, CH Distilling elected to release a bourbon that is branded almost exactly like Malort. So, even though it's a completely different spirit, it nonetheless has that association.

That said, what I've had of Jeppson's bourbon so far I've enjoyed. It is MGP bourbon, after all (though they've also sourced from Tennessee), so I guess that's not entirely unexpected. And when Binny's got a cask strength single barrel finished in Cognac casks, of course I was going to give that a try. I do love cognac finishes, and I certainly love them at cask strength!

The aroma was very nutty, full of a pecan or walnut type of note. It also had a sweet and rich cooked peach note as well as a bit of a cinnamon spice. It was kind of like a cobbler. I also got notes of fig and raisin, as well as a bit of a bready note that, with the cinnamon and pecan, gave it a sort of raisin bread aroma.

The flavor very much followed suite, particularly with the cobbler notes  Right up front I got sort of a brown sugar and butter note, sweet and rich. I also got the baked peach as well as some baked pear along with some cinnamon and pecan. It was very much like a warmed up dessert, the kind that would go great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

At times I also got sort of a burnt orange note, perhaps better described as a muted orange note combined with burnt sugar. I also got a pretty good amount of raisin throughout, again following suit with the nose.

On the finish I got orange liqueur and even more cinnamon. I also got a bit of a peanut note, certainly different than the nutty notes I was getting on the nose. This was a bit less woody and a touch sweeter. I also got the raisin that persisted throughout.

I love Cognac finishes because of that rich, dessert-like quality they add. While it's sweet, it's not sugary like rum finishes. Rather, they tend to have more depth and richness along with a ton of different flavors to be pulled. This bottle was no different. Once I finally opened it, I made my way to the bottom of the bottle fairly quickly.

Grade: B+