Elijah Craig Barrel Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Batch B522

VITALS:

- $70

- 121 Proof

- 12 Years

- Batch B522

- Kentucky

I feel like it's been a while since I've written a review on Elijah Craig Barrel Proof.  It's not as though I stopped buying them (though I have held off on buying the last few releases).  Rather, it's just that I have a backlog, with three more to go after this one. And, it was almost paralysis by analysis.  I wouldn't know which to open, so I'd just open something else. 

But, I've been making it a point to have at least one open to enjoy. It is still, after all, 12 year cask strength Heaven Hill bourbon, which means, quite frankly, it's really good. That's pretty much regardless of batch. Some just turn out to be better than others. But, when I finally landed on that plan of keeping at least one open, I've been glad that I did, because it's an easy go to when I'm just in the mood for a good bourbon.

The nose on this one was absolutely delicious, which is good considering how quickly it filled up the room when I popped the cork. I was immediately hit with rich and sweet vanilla and toffee notes. There was also a touch of anise to keep it interesting (and just a touch, which is fine by me as I'm not the biggest fan of those anise notes). 

Interestingly, it wasn't the sweetness that hit right away, but rather the oak. I've found I don't typically get a lot of oak on the Barrel Proofs, but on this one it hit me right away. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't over-oaked or anything, just noticeable right up front is all. 

The rich dessert notes came through immediately after, though.  I was getting hazelnut and dark chocolate, as well as rich vanilla bean notes. I also got the toffee, but it wasn't nearly as pronounced as it was on the nose. It provided a great balance of rich and sweet and oak that kind of hit all the hallmarks of what I love in a well-aged bourbon.

The finish allowed the dark chocolate notes to linger most noticeably. The oak faded a bit, and the toffee seemed to find its way forward a bit more on the finish. There wasn't much spice to this one, but I didn't even miss it. Everything else was pretty great!

Grade: A-

Talisker The Distiller's Edition Single Malt Scotch Whisky - 2023

VITALS:

- $90

- 91.6 Proof

- NAS

- Isle of Skye

Though not an Islay distillery, I've still come to love the great, peaty notes I get out of Talisker Scotches. Granted, I've only had the pleasure of trying a few bottlings, but what I've had I've certainly loved.  So, with the demand for these releases apparently dying down to the point that they are just shelfies now, I couldn't help but grab this bottle when I came across it.

This particular bottling was matured in Amoroso Seasoned American Oak. I think the use of the word "seasoned" gave me a second pause, as I wasn't really certain what that meant. As best I can tell, they re-charred an American Oak barrel, filled it with sherry, dumped it, then put the matured whiskey in the barrel for finishing. I could be way off here, so take that with a grain of salt.

The nose certainly comes across as fruity, and slightly citrusy. I got notes of orange and cranberry, kind of like a wintery potpourri.  There were more earthy notes as well, however, as I got some leather and oak as well. There was a light crackery, malty note also, along with a light sandalwood note, kind of like wood shavings.

I loved that the orange I got on the nose also came through on the palate. That paired nicely with a rich amaretto note. This combination alone made for an absolutely delicious, and somewhat unique pour.  There were some richer notes as well, with some brown sugar and cocoa notes coming through.

There was definitely a spice to it, but unlike other Talisker's I've had where the spice came across as peppery, this came across as more of a cloves spice, and maybe even a bit of a chili spice.  The peat smoke wasn't prominent, but was always there, lingering in the background, ready to make its appearance when called upon.

In fact, it was on the finish that the smoke was most noticeable, along with a sweet chocolate malt note. I also got a very tasty peach tea note that I wish had been present throughout.  That chili spice also added a bit of a tickle at the back of my throat, causing me to dive in pretty quickly for that next sip.  

I thought this was a delicious pour, and it was one of those bottles that once I opened it, it didn't last very long on my shelf.  I think I need to drink more Talisker.

Grade: B+

Templeton 4 Year Rye

VITALS:

- $28

- 80 Proof

- 4 Years

- Indiana

Okay, this is one of those whiskeys that is just always available at nearly any place (at least by me) that sells whiskey. I grabbed this off the shelf at Meier for the simple reason that it was a bottle I've never had before. After all, it's a four year old rye from a smaller distiller, it's sourced from MGP, and it's bottled at only 80 proof. It doesn't exactly scream, "Buy me!" 

But, I wanted something new, and, quite frankly due to requests from visitors at my house, I needed some lower proof options. So, I picked this up at a very easy to swallow price of $28.  I figure, at the very least, it will set the record for the shortest blog post title.

The nose on this one was surprisingly fruity. At different times I got all sorts of different notes from apple to pear to plum.  But, it wasn't all sweet. There was a slight resin note that added some earthiness, as well as a bit of a cinnamon spice, I'm sure coming from the rye. It was kind of like an earthy fruit salad (which sounds really weird). That said, those fruity notes did make it smell a bit young.

Not surprisingly, the first thing I noted when I took a sip was that this was thin and watered down. That tends to be the case with 80-proofers. However, after a moment the flavors tend to make their way to the front, and in this case that charge was led by a fresh pear note. There was a bit of spice to accompany it, like cinnamon and perhaps a little bit of chili powder, but this was all fresh pear.

The finish, despite the watery texture, was actually surprisingly long.  Here the cinnamon spice seemed to take much more of a foothold, leaving a spicy note at the back of my throat.  Coupled with the pear or even apple notes, I did find a cinnamon apple combination that I wish was more prevalent throughout, even if it gave of those "young" vibes.

This is one of those whiskeys where I knew what I was getting when I bought the bottle. And, both good and bad, it was exactly what I expected.

Grade: C

Benchmark Top Floor Kentucky Straight Bourbon

VITALS:

- $17

- 86 Proof

- NAS

- Kentucky

I do love a value bourbon.  And I've already sung the praises of Benchmark Full Proof and Benchmark Single Barrel, two in the Benchmark line that recently got a brand overhaul, and even more recently became available here in Illinois.  There's certainly a place for good bourbon at bottom-shelf prices, and I thought both those products filled that void very well.

So, I felt that it only made sense to go down the line and try the next one -- the "Top Floor."  This one bottled barrels that had matured on the top warehouse floors. Presumably those would be the hotter portions of the warehouse, thus giving the bourbon more interaction with the wood over time. In theory, it sounds great!  And for the price, I had very little to lose in trying it.

The nose had the traditional notes of vanilla and toffee. It also had a bit of a corny note, like that of a young whiskey. While the nose wasn't strong, what was there was "sharp." There was a bitterness on the nose that seemed to prevent nice, rounded notes of caramel and vanilla that I would hope for. There was a bit of oak tanins, which surprised me given that this is not a significantly aged bourbon.

Those sharp edges carried through in the flavors as well.  It had a young note, and while not necessarily "corn," it did have those notes of over-ripe apple that I get in young, craft bourbons. It just tasted young, and that seemed to highlight those same sharp edges I got on the nose.

The wood note was also there, but it was kind an odd oak note. It wasn't the type of note you get from a bourbon that spent too much time in the barrel. Rather, it had a sort of a damp wood note to it. There was certainly a touch of oak, but there was something green to it.

There was a sweetness that did, however, punch its way through, and this was most noticeable on the finish. There was a brown sugar note here that lingered, reminiscent of a Canadian whiskey. So much so that I even got a sweet maple syrup on the finish as well. The odd damp oak note faded away, but it left a lingering sweetness that just wasn't what I want in a good bourbon. 

Grade: C-

Clermont Steep American Single Malt Whiskey

VITALS:

- $60

- 94 Proof

- 5 Years

- Kentucky

I'm not going to lie.  I was weirdly excited for this release.  I've done the American Single Malt thing. I've tried some that I've really enjoyed, and I've had some that were clunkers. What excited me about this one was that it was Jim Beam getting into the American Single Malt fray. 

There haven't been too many single malt releases from the Kentucky big boys. And, I'm particularly fond of most Beam products. So, when these finally hit the shelves, I made it a point to grab one right away. I figured, as with most of their other stuff, Jim Beam would at the very least produce a new and interesting and delicious product that would be a mainstay on the shelves.

I was wrong.

The nose was pretty good, and gave me a bit of hope, even if it didn't smell anything like the single malts I've come to know and love. It had notes of pear and cinnamon, almost like baked pear. It had a brown sugar sweetness to it, as well as a sweet tobacco leaf note. It also gave off a sort of brown butter note.

As to flavor, though, the predominant note was Cheerios.  And it wasn't even Honey Nut Cheerios, or Frosted Cheerios. It was just plain old, tasted like cardboard Cheerios.  There was also a fruitiness to it, but it wasn't a light or crisp note, but rather that baked pear note again. From there it seemed to go downhill.

I got a medicinal cherry note that is immediately a turnoff for me whenever I find it in a pour. I love a good cherry note, I hate the cough syrup note I get in some brands. And this was that cough syrup note. It also went beyond the pear note to include other weird stewed fruit notes, perhaps apple and plum. But there was no spice to go with those notes--no cinnamon, no allspice, no anise. It was just a bit weird.

And the finish kind of sealed the deal for me. I never did get that malty backbone that I love in a single malt. I never got any of the bright notes or floral notes or even fruity notes I've experienced in good single malts. Instead, what I was left with on the finish was an artificial sweetness, like corn syrup.  It wasn't even something I'd put on pancakes. It had that fake, syrupy sweetness of hard candy, and that seemed to linger longer than I wanted it to.

I wanted to like this, but I just struggled to find a reason to.  I think I'll just stick to Beam's bourbons from here on out.

Grade: D

Bulleit 12 Year 95 Rye Whiskey

VITALS:

- $50

- 92 Proof

- 12 Years

- Indiana

I've noticed what I hope is a growing trend in the rye section of my liquor store lately.  I've been seeing more and more ryes with age statements in, or at least approaching, double digits.  There are still only a handful out there, but Knob Creek has recently released its 10-year age-stated rye, and shortly before that Bulleit released this, their 12 year rye.

I'm an absolute sucker for aged rye, so this was a bit of a no-brainer for me to grab, particularly at a very approachable $50.  The proof isn't particularly high, but I'm willing to look past that when they're putting out products that were given a bit more time in the barrel.  Even if it is MGP rye, which is still somewhat plentiful, there still just isn't a whole lot of well-aged rye on the shelf, and I hope this is a sign of a trend in that direction!

The nose was fairly standard of what I've come to expect from MGP rye. It had a great cinnamon spice to it, as well as a sweet and soft vanilla undertone. And, of course, there was a bit of mint on the nose to tell you this came from Indiana. That said, these are all welcome notes that I've come to love in a rye.

Perhaps it's due to the lower proof, but when I took my first sip my impression was that this is sweeter than most MGP ryes I've had. Sure, the cinnamon spice and even a little bit of black pepper spice were there. It also had a familiar mint note to it. But, the sweetness took center stage. It had almost a vanilla icing note to it that, while not bad, kind of surprised me. 

That sweetness is what seemed to linger the most on the finish. Any cinnamon spice seemed to vanish, leaving just that sweet vanilla note and a hint of that initial mint note. The finish was fleeting, however, and didn't leave even those sweet vanilla notes to hang around very long.

All in all, I thought this was a very tasty, albeit sweeter rye. While I wish it were a bit more robust, I really enjoyed the flavor, and I feel like the age allowed those flavors to meld and work together more than they otherwise would have at a younger age.

Grade: B

A. Overholt Monongahela Mash Straight Rye Whiskey

VITALS:

- $40

- 95 Proof

- 4 Years

- Kentucky

I love finding new products on the shelf. I have a tendency to visit my local liquor store with considerable relativity, to the point that when something knew makes it on the shelf, I notice mostly due to the fact that something has changed, there's a new face in the crowd so to speak.

Even more exciting is finding something from one of the big boy distilleries that I wasn't even aware was coming out. Such was the case with this A. Overholt rye. Jim Beam's Overholt line has been around for quite some time now, and though it's made in Kentucky, does not state on its front label as such, as it seeks to re-create the traditional Pennsylvania rye. Such is the case here, which uses a Monongahela Mash of 80% rye and 20% soft malted barley. So, it's really an introduction of a new mashbill.  But still, it was something new and the price was reasonable enough.

On the nose I got notes of cherry cola along with a light black pepper. It's an interesting combination, but in a weird way it worked and I kind of liked it. There was a sweetness, but one that was tempered, kind of like a burnt sugar note. And behind that was a cedar note, like the cedar chests my grandparents used to have. It kind of swung both ways from me really liking it to me not being much of a fan, sometimes all in one sniff.

The 20% malt really showed up in the flavor. This had a malty backbone to it that provided a kind of breadiness, with notes of yeast and wheat bread. It certain made this a softer rye, what I would call a more approachable rye.

But, it had those rye notes as well.  Notably, I got a sort of fennel note that, while not a dominant note, was certainly a prominent note, one that you couldn't help but notice each sip. I also got notes of ginger and, while similar to fennel, different enough that I picked out a slight anise note.  This all provided a certain "bite" which contrasted with, and didn't necessarily complement, the strong barley tones.

The finish, however, was oddly quite enjoyable. There I was left with notes of cooked pear, providing almost a cinnamon cognac flavor on the finish. It came off sweeter on the finish than anywhere else, and those fennel and ginger notes seemed to just fade away. 

If the whole experience had been what I got on the finish, I would have loved this. But, The nose was a bit odd, and I didn't feel like the balance between the barley and rye notes was there. You could certainly pick out the notes from each, but it lacked a bit of cohesion.

Grade: B-