VITALS:

- $90

- 100 Proof

- 10 Years

- Barrel N. 5651821

- Kentucky

This is a bit of a re-visit to this bottle.  I was given the chance to grab a bottle of Rebel 10 years, and I knew that it had been some time since I last had it. Additionally, this bottle was being sold to me in the year 2023, yet it had a fill date of 2009. So, while I was never able to confirm the age, I had a pretty good feeling that what was in the bottle was actually a couple years older than the 10 year age statement on the label.

Additionally, I went back and realized that the last time I had a bottle of Rebel 10 Year was in 2016, when it first came out under the name "Rebel Yell"! I had no clue that it had been that long, so even for that reason alone it was worth the re-visit. That's not to mention that it's a single barrel product, giving me all the more reason to try it once again and put my thoughts to paper. 

The nose was full of rich, sweet notes, like dark chocolate mixed with cinnamon. It even had a bit of an espresso note to it as well, but more so in flavor. It didn't seem to have bitterness that comes with dark chocolate or coffee.  There was also a good brown sugar note, and in a way it smelled a bit like chocolate chip cookies.

The flavor was a bit of a different profile. Right up front I got some sweet oak notes (again, none of the bitterness you so often get with oak notes), as well as a good amount of sweet vanilla bean. It definitely leaned toward the sweeter end of the spectrum right away.  

In fact, at one point I was even getting caramel popcorn notes. Now, it wasn't quite that sweet. My teeth weren't sticking together or immediately developing cavities or anything like that. But that was the kind of sweetness that it had to it. The oak and vanilla definitely gave way to a prominent caramel note, that verry much carried forward from that point.

The finish, however, brought me right back to the nose. That's where the chocolate notes came in, though perhaps more on the milk chocolate end. It's also where the brown sugar and cookie notes came through as well.  

The only thing really missing from this was a spicy note to help balance out all the sweet notes. But other than that, this was a delicious bourbon, one that I've clearly been sleeping on!  And I still find myself giving it the same grade I gave it 7 years ago, which is saying something for the product's consistency!

Grade: A-