Chattanooga Whiskey Bottled in Bond Straight Bourbon

VITALS:

- $50

- 100 Proof

- 4 yrs

- Tennessee

Who loves free whiskey??  I do!!!  Last November my wife took me out to celebrate my birthday, including a great dinner at RPM Steakhouse followed by drinks at one of my favorite whiskey bars in Chicago, Untitled.  She even invited a few close friends to meet us there for drinks, and we enjoyed some fine pours and good times.

My buddy brought this bottle along with him as a birthday gift for me. He grabbed this particular bottle because he knew it was one that I had never had before. That, right there, is the greatest consideration anyone can give when buying a bottle for a whiskey drinker. Quite frankly, good, bad or otherwise, I always love getting something I've never had or tried before. So, I was very excited to get into this one!

On the nose I got sweet and woody notes of cinnamon and walnut. It also had a sort of sugary sweetness to it, perhaps like a burnt sugar, as well as a brighter honey sweetness. Notes of oak and vanilla seemed to come through as well, which I particularly noticed on my last few pours.

As for flavor, my initial impression upon my first sip is that this is definitely on the sweeter end. Oddly enough, I got a bit of an agave note, kind of like a sweeter tequila note.  That was a new one and it threw me off a bit, though I didn't dislike it. That was accompanied by notes of cane sugar and pear to kind of round out that experience.

That note really was only noticeable on the first few pours. After having this open for a bit, the profile seemed to change significantly, and it got well-away from that tequila note. It always maintained that sweet, cane sugar-like profile, but it also developed an earthy, more nutty note. It was kind of a mix of peanut and walnut in that sense.

On the finish it was the walnut note more than the peanut note that seemed to really stick around. The finish was actually dryer than expected, too, with much of the sweetness subsiding. I even got a bit of a graham cracker note on the end.

Of course, in the end I do love free whiskey! This one was good, but at times a bit weird and nothing that ever blew me away. That said, I'm certainly never going to turn down a pour.

Grade: B-