Yellowstone Flights Tap Room and Cask n Cellar Private Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon

VITALS:

- $60

- 109 Proof

- 5 years

- Barrel No. 7544564

- Kentucky

There's a chain of liquor stores in Northwest Indiana called Cask n Cellar.  Occasionally I find myself going to Hammond or Schererville for work, and I almost always make it a point to stop in the one I pass on my way home. I do so solely to see what private picks they have in.

I've had a couple from them in the past, and they've all been very good. What I love most, though, is that they have an entire section of their store devoted to displaying their private picks, of which they always have many. And, it's right inside the door as I go in, allowing for quick perusal and selection while I'm trying to get home as quickly as I can.  This particular bottle intrigued me as it's a collaboration with a local taproom, Flights Tap Room and Whiskey Lounge. I've never been, but it's a place I feel I need to find and check out!

The nose was sweet and rich, but also balanced by earthy, more savory notes. I got a healthy amount of toffee up front, but that was balanced out immediately by a dark chocolate note. I also got notes of leather and even some sweet tobacco leaf. It was sweet, but that sweetness was certainly tempered on the nose.

The flavor followed that same trend to some extent.  I definitely got the toffee up front, but it was accompanied by more of a milk chocolate note, leaving behind the bitterness and even adding some sweetness. I got a light coffee note, however, that still brought a bit of bitterness to keep it from ever going too sweet.

Towards the middle I got a tangy amaretto note, sweet and savory all at once.  There was also a certain spice to it, which made its appearance on the back end and lingered long through the finish. It initially was kind of a black pepper spice, but seemed to evolve into more of a chili pepper spice. That seemed to pair with a candied cherry note, which had me absolutely loving the finish. 

This bourbon seemed to work really hard at giving balance among the sweet, savory, spicy and even bitter notes. At times it seemed to simply be all over the place rather than providing a cohesive flavor. However, it all seemed to come together on the finish, which is what had me going back for that next sip.

Grade: B

Yellowstone 2019 Limited Edition 9 Year Kentucky Straight Bourbon

VITALS:

- $100

- 101 Proof

- 9 years

- Kentucky

Limestone Branch had really been hitting homeruns lately with their Yellowstone bottlings. I've enjoyed every one of their annual limited edition releases, though I haven't tried this year's release. And the single barrel picks that only hit the market recently have all been very good, at least the ones I've tried. 

This bottle, however, is the cream of the crop, as the cool kids would say. There is no finishing to this whiskey. Instead, they just bottled some very delicious 9 year Kentucky straight bourbon.  It's not clear who actually distilled this bourbon, but it is clear that they didn't go with any gimmicks or other variants in the whiskey for this limited release, and what they gave us was an outstanding bourbon.

On the nose I got rich and delicious notes of toffee and dark chocolate. There was also a light cinnamon spice to it. In addition to that, however, I got a sort of a blackberry note that somehow seemed to go perfectly with the chocolate and toffee notes. Perhaps that's some kind of candy combination I need to try, because it was really good.

While the cinnamon was light on the nose, it was much more prominent on the palate. I got some nice, warming cinnamon spice as well as a sharper black pepper spice immediately on the tip of my tongue, and it lasted through the finish. 

As to actual flavor, the cinnamon spice came with a cinnamon flavor (if that makes sense), which was sweetened by vanilla bean and milk chocolate flavors--the kinds of flavors that are sweet but never too sweet. There was also something nutty and roasty, kind of like a hazelnut note.

At times it did go a touch sweeter, kind of like a caramel icing note. There was also a doughnut-like pastry note to it as well. However, again, it was never allowed to get too sweet, and even these notes were balanced out by a macchiato flavor that provided more of that roasty note and even a touch of bitterness to keep things even.

The finish was almost all sweet warm cinnamon and that vanilla bean flavor that seemed to work so well together. And the cinnamon and black pepper spices lingered long enough to keep me wanting that next sip.

When this was first released, I got to try it side by side with the Van Winkle Lot B 12 year old bourbon, and the consensus among the group of us was that this bourbon beat out the Van Winkle, and it didn't seem all that close. So when it suddenly hit the shelves again a year later, I had to have one. And then I had to drink that one. And now I have none, which makes me sad. But, I really enjoyed what was an incredible bourbon, and hopefully they'll go back to doing a simple but great bourbon in future Limited Edition releases. 

Grade: A

Yellowstone Liquor 'n' Wine Private Barrel Select Single Barrel Kentucky Straight Bourbon

VITALS:

- $35

- 93 Proof

- 4 Years

- Kentucky

I'm a sucker for store picks.  And I'm even more of a sucker for very affordable store picks. That's why my whiskey closet is always stocked with at least one Buffalo Trace, Elijah Craig, Eagle Rare and Knob Creek pick at any given moment. They are all solid bourbons on their own, and I love the possibility and hope of getting something phenomenal at a great price. While it doesn't happen every time, it happens often enough to make it well worth the spend.

I don't come across Yellowstone picks nearly as frequently. But, when I was meandering through the aisles of my local Liquor 'n' Wine a couple months back, this one caught my eye, and for $35, it was an easy decision to buy it. Generally speaking, to me regular Yellowstone has been good but not necessarily great. But, I figure the odds were in my favor that whatever was in this bottle was not likely to be any worse, and there was a good chance I'd get something better and at a great price.

On the nose I got a lot of brown sugar and caramel. It was certainly sweet, but that richer sweet. Interestingly, I got a light bitter note, almost a tannic note, which was surprising given the relatively young age of the whiskey. It also had a light black pepper and cinnamon spice to it, as well as a touch of almond.

My initial impressions of the flavor were that the sweetness was there, but it came across as muted. It was almost as though it had the caramel flavor but without the caramel sweetness. It was kind of odd in this respect.

I also got some funky flavors as well. I noted at one point that I got a bit of mustiness, and from time to time that mustiness came across as a leathery flavor. Either way it had an earthiness to it that, if this were a sweeter bourbon, would have been fine. Here, however, I wasn't a big fan.

Throughout the bottle, at least up until the last couple pours, the flavor remained a bit muted. I did get some more interesting notes, like a bright, citrusy orange note as well as a toasted almond type note. I even got a sort of a coffee note, perhaps that bitterness I was getting on the nose. It reminded me of a macchiato.  I really felt like this drank like an older bourbon, one with 15+ years, given the amount of wood and bitterness I was getting. 

Interestingly, ad I've had this happen before, so it shouldn't be much of a surprise, but the last two pours from the bottom of this bottle were absolutely outstanding. They were sweeter, had a bit more cinnamon spice, and were absolute caramel bombs. A lot of the bitterness completely subsided.  If the entire bottle struck me the way these last two pours did, this would have easily been an A+ bottle. They were that good! I only wish every other pour could have been as good. That said, funky notes aside, I'll still be keeping my eye out for more Yellowstone picks, even if just to relive the experience of those last two pours.

Grade: B

Yellowstone Select Kentucky Straight Bourbon

VITALS:
- $50
- 93 Proof
- NAS

Yellowstone was one of those brands that I just did not see around my parts for quite a while, despite hearing good things about it. Then one day, I look at the bottom shelf of one of my regular liquor stores, and there was one lonely bottle sitting there. So, I made the decision to give it a good home. Since that time, Yellowstone has been making regular appearances on my liquor store shelves, but I wasn't taking the chance that that wouldn't be the case.

Upon popping the cork I couldn't help but notice just how damn good the nose is on this one. As far as the way a whiskey smells, this one ranks probably in my top three of all time, it's that good! The nose is smooth and full of caramel, reminding me of Werther's Originals, perfectly mixed with vanilla bean and sweet tobacco leaf. Seriously, if Yellowstone packaged this as a candle, I'd buy a case.

Unfortunately I found the taste to be relatively simple, though, which after enjoying the nose as much as I did, was a bit of a let down. It's very one dimensional, having the traditional vanilla and caramel bourbon notes, but in a watered-down format. It really lacked any boldness or complexity.

A few pours in I began to notice hints of other flavors, including cherry and cinnamon, mixing with the caramel tone on the back end. The most noteworthy flavor, though, and the only thing that really sets this bourbon apart from Jim Beam White Label, for example, is it also had a distinct malted barley flavor, almost as though it were finished in Scotch whiskey barrels. It had that light, earthy flavor I traditionally associate with Scotch, the flavor that really sets Scotch apart from bourbon. It was at least interesting in this respect.

In the end, though, regardless of the nose, I found this bourbon to be pretty one-dimensional. It compares to many base-line bourbons of the big brands, such as the aforementioned White Label, perhaps slightly better.  Yet, it commands a much higher price that, in the end, is likely going to make me stay away in the future.

Grade: C+