Color: Orange blossom honey, medium amber with very thin legs.
Nose: First wave is loaded with butterscotch, soft caramel and toffee. It's sweet, thick and chewy. After allowing it to air for a short time the nose evolves with rye driven aromas: cloves, allspice, vintage furniture shop and toasted oak. Pickles, fresh mint leaves and eucalyptus. Getting really balanced with time... Adding a few drops of water cuts the tartness a little. Sticky toffee pudding, quince jam and candied orange peel.
Palate: Very rye forward... Spicy and hot. Cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. Burnt caramel and hard toffee. Adding water works great here: Vanilla, rock candies, toasted sesame seeds and tahini. Towards the end some odd paint thinner notes got sneaked in which threw me off a little but it's easy enough to neglect.
Finish: Long with dry oak staves, nutmeg and cinnamon.
Overall: This is a great bourbon... But I have to admit that it doesn't taste like any other MGP bourbon I had before. It is very Four Roses like, very rye heavy on the palate. It's hot, spicy, tart and bittersweet with a good amount of wood influence. It looks like it is taken out of the barrel just at the right time... Another great example of why store picks are always better options when it comes to taking chances on new whiskeys. Always reliable. It is hard to go wrong... Many thanks to Josh Hodas for the sample.
Price: $80
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