From the BourbonGuy Archives: What's With All the Weird Faces? Why I Don't Rate Whiskeys Like the Usual Whiskey Person

Folks I seem to have picked up a little tummy bug that has kept me from doing any tasting notes this week. So instead of leaving you hanging, I’m bringing back a reminder of what our ratings mean from the archives. It’s been a few years so this will help out all the new folks. See you next week!

What the hell is with all the funny faces? Why can’t you do something useful like give a whiskey a number score? You know, even a 1-10 would help us know if this whiskey is better than another whiskey.

This is just a small sampling of the sentiments I get in my email now and then. Don’t get me wrong, I love the passion that it takes to take the time to write to me. Hell, I just like to know that people are reading this. But as it has been…five years (?!? where has the time gone?) since I last wrote a post like this, I thought it might be time to explain my silliness to all of you who are new.

By the way, if you arrived in the last five years, WELCOME! The bar is in the corner, please pour yourself something nice from the fancy shelf.

So. Why don’t I use numerical scores? Well, everyone who writes about whiskey approaches things differently.  Some reviewers like to use numbers. Numbers make a review feel scientific because you've done some math. Some reviewers like to use stars. Stars are easy to visualize and are familiar to Amazon shoppers everywhere. I like to use various cartoon faces and hearts because I'm silly. Probably too silly for my own good. The point is that any and/or all of these are correct. They all adequately represent how much or how little a reviewer liked any given whiskey. But no matter how a writer presents it, we as readers need to remember that the rating is still just a subjective opinion. Whiskey is subjective. There is no objectively bad whiskey. Someone out there likes everything that has been produced and they should not be shamed for that, even if you don’t agree with them.

It probably goes without saying, but I like Bourbon, Rye, Canadian whisky, craft whiskey, Irish whiskey, Gin, and a lot of cocktails. As a general rule, I don’t really like Scotch Whisky, though there are exceptions. Am I wrong that I don’t care for Scotch? No. My taste buds apply only to me. This is what I mean when I say there is no objectively bad whiskey, just whiskey that I don’t like. I’m not here to tell you if you should like a whiskey, only if I do or don’t. I judge whiskey, not people.

So, I like bourbon. I enjoy it in many different ways. Sometimes I enjoy thoughtfully tasting bourbon. I pour it into a nosing glass, sit down, concentrate, and try to tease out all the little smells and tastes that are hidden inside the glass. And if it is interesting, I'll probably like it. Other times, I want to enjoy bourbon in a rocks glass while playing cards or watching tv or conversing with friends. I'm not paying a lot of attention to it, but if it tastes good and it's acting as a social lubricant, I'll probably like it. Sometimes I enjoy it in a cocktail. Even if it isn't great neat, if it makes a killer Manhattan, I'll probably like it. And if I like it, then I'll tell you I like it. And then I'll put a little smiley face next to my thoughts on it. 

Sometimes I find a bourbon that doesn't taste good and isn't all that interesting. Needless to say, I don't like these. I've gotten pretty good at knowing what I like, and since I buy a good percentage of the whiskey reviewed on the site, the odds are that I'm not buying too many duds. But occasionally one slips through, or I buy one specifically for research purposes. When that happens, I'll tell you I dislike it and put a little frowny face next to my thoughts.

Of course, some whiskeys are just...meh. There is nothing offensive about them. They don't taste bad. I don't dislike it, but I don't like it either. I can see why others might like it, but it's just sort of in the middle there for me. Just not to my tastes. In such a case I'll just drop a neutral face on it.

Very occasionally I'll drop a heart on something. This means I love it. No ifs, ands, or buts. I'd take this whiskey over almost any other. 

So to recap:

A heart means I loved this whiskey. I'd have to pause and think (briefly) if forced to choose between it and my wife. (shhhh... don't tell her)

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A smiley face means I liked the whiskey or I found it interesting while tasting it. Or I enjoyed myself while drinking it. Or I enjoyed the company I drank it with. Or I was having fun. Most bourbons and ryes will be in this category because, on at least some level, I like most bourbons and ryes I've tasted.

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A neutral face means meh. I didn't particularly like this whiskey, but I didn't hate it either. It wasn't for me. But you might like it.

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A frowny face means I really disliked this. I probably dumped it out or at least thought about dumping it out.

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We all have different life experiences that color our perceptions. If you drink moonshine exclusively and you age it to a young age, that young whiskey may taste amazing to you. If however, you gave that very same whiskey to a person who exclusively drinks 12-year-old bourbon, they will probably vehemently disagree. The same thing goes for tasting notes. They are each informed by our own life experiences. I taste JuicyFruit gum when I taste Four Roses. Other people might taste Jackfruit, but I've never had a Jackfruit, so I say JuicyFruit. Some people might taste almond in a whiskey. I'm allergic to nuts, so I only have an academic idea of what almonds taste like. If I use it as a tasting note, it will have come from my wife (we do the notes together). The point is that everyone will like different things and has had different experiences to inform their tastes. And that's ok. In fact, it’s pretty cool. It gives us whiskey lovers something to talk about aside from the weather.

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Old Grand-Dad 16 Year 100 proof

Well, friends, I’m back from vacation. At 17 days, that’s the longest one I’ve ever had. And let me tell you, it was also the most relaxing—yet frustrating—vacation I’ve ever been on. Relaxing because I love the Redwoods. If my entire life was just sitting under the trees and listening to the birds, I’d be content. Add in the fact that my campsite was across the street from the cliffs that were towering above the coastline, where you could hear the waves crash and the sea lions bark, and well, you’ve got yourself a heck of a good time. The trip was only frustrating because, as always, I packed too much into the itinerary and couldn’t get to most of it. Especially when an RV was our only source of transportation for most of the trip (though we did rent a car a couple of times when we stayed in one place for a few days). And so we didn’t hit many of the places we wanted to go. But all in all, it was a great trip, and I’ve already booked an Airbnb—owned by the campground owners and somehow even closer to the coast—for next year so I can finally see the little places we missed this time.

On one of the days we had a rental car, we decided to go shopping at a few little shops in the area. One was, obviously, a liquor store. And in that little liquor store in the little city of Fortuna, I found something I’d only ever heard about.

See, last year about this time, Jim Beam put out a one-time-only limited release of their Old Grand-Dad bourbon. It was sixteen years old and 100 proof. Sadly, it also had an MSRP of just shy of $200 ($194.99 to be exact). Now, that’s a lot of money, and I fully expected to pay through the nose if I ever got lucky enough to see it. Well, this lovely little liquor store in the lovely little city had exactly one bottle in their locked case. One bottle that was actually under MSRP. This is the sort of thing I’d heard about but had never seen before—a liquor store having a one-time-only, limited release still sitting on the shelf a year later and for less than MSRP. I knew it was my lucky day. And since I was on vacation, I felt no guilt about splurging on it.

Now, I’m not going to go too far into the details of the bottling itself since, honestly, we all know Old Grand-Dad. But if you’re new, here are the Cliff’s Notes: Old Grand-Dad is the (until recently) long-neglected high-rye bourbon produced by Jim Beam. You’ve probably seen its signature garish orange label. The same juice is also used in the company’s Basil Hayden bourbon. This bottle is that juice, aged 16 years and bottled at 100 proof. Let’s see how it tastes.

Old Grand-Dad 16 Year 100 proof

Purchase Info: $190.00 for a 750 mL bottle at Fortuna Liquors, Fortuna, CA

Price per Drink (50 mL): $12.67

Details: 50% ABV. 16 years old. Jim Beam high-rye mashbill.

Nose: Caramel, vanilla ice cream, cinnamon, and a light fruitiness underneath.

Mouth: Thick and rich in the mouth. Follows the nose with a hefty dose of oak and spice. Notes of vanilla ice cream, cinnamon spice, and oak.

Finish: Medium/long and warm, with lingering notes of oak, vanilla ice cream, and cinnamon.

Thoughts: I love this. It’s absolutely the best Old Grand-Dad I’ve ever tasted. That said, it’s still Old Grand-Dad, and if you aren’t a super fan, I’d recommend skipping this one on price alone. But if, like me, you really enjoy OGD, then this is a splurge that will make you very happy. Thick, rich mouthfeel with caramel and vanilla ice cream layered over those classic Old Grand-Dad flavors. I’m in love.

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Remus Repeal Reserve Series VIII

I’d like to thank ByrnePR and Ross & Squibb Distillery for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

Went to the doctor this morning for my yearly physical with labs. So far, everything's come back clean, except I need to lose a little weight and exercise more. That last bit, I already knew. I mean, I’m a middle-aged man in the Upper Midwest who loves bourbon, BBQ, beer, and pizza—comes with the territory. But still, I guess it's important to get everything checked out. You never know what might turn up in the labs, and once a year isn’t too bad, I suppose.

Unless you’re talking about the yearly fall bourbon releases, that is. Then, one could hope these things would come out more often. Especially tonight’s bourbon. I’m going to spill the beans right now and let you know this one is delicious.

This year, the team over at Ross & Squibb blended together three bourbons ranging from 10 to 17 years old. The blend includes 9% of the 17-year-old 21% rye mash bill bourbon and 24% of the 10-year-old 21% rye mash bill bourbon. But the majority of this (67%) blend is a higher rye, 36% rye mash bill bourbon. They also upped the proof by one point from previous years, going from 100° proof to 101° proof.

“We wanted to push the boundaries with this eighth edition by doing several things differently than in the past,” said Ross & Squibb Master Distiller Ian Stirsman. “We increased the proportion of the high-rye recipe bourbon compared to previous editions and returned to non-chill filtration to keep the viscosity and mouthfeel intact. We also blind-tasted the final blend at different proofs and found the 101 proof to be the favorite. These changes, along with our history of using the best barrels to create award-winning annual releases, are sure to make Remus Repeal Reserve Series VIII a memorable pour.”

And he isn’t wrong. I had a bottle of Series VII to sip on while on vacation, and this is distinctly better than last year, which is no knock on last year at all. But let’s just jump into the tasting notes before I finish my thoughts on this one.

Remus Repeal Reserve Series VIII

Purchase Info: This 200 mL sample was provided by the producer at no charge for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $99.99 for a 750 mL bottle.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $6.67

Nose: Floral and sweet with notes of caramel, vanilla, oak, chamomile, and almond.

Mouth: Caramel, vanilla, cinnamon, oak, and almond.

Finish: Medium length and warmth with lingering notes of cinnamon and oak.

Thoughts: As I said up top, this is delicious. I sipped on a bottle of last year's release over vacation (which was delicious and certainly added to the fun of a week on the Maine coast... and apparently is extremely available in Bangor—just FYI, I saw five bottles on the shelf), and this is even better. I love the sweet and floral nose. The mouth is sweet and rich, and the finish is warm and spicy. I'm a big fan and hope to find a bottle to put on my fancy whiskey shelf. This one gets a heart. I love it.

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Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, B524

I’d like to thank Heaven Hill for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

Ok. So I use ChatGPT to write the Alt Text description for the cover images because I am always a bit amazed at what it pulls from the photo that I don’t think about mentioning. I don’t need to count the words, I just say “Summarize this photo in 150 characters or less” and it spits out something that works. (If you were unaware, Alt Text is the short bit of text that is included in the website code so that the image is adequately described for those who use a screen reader. I mean it’s an easy thing to include, why would I want to alienate someone from reading my writing just because they don’t see as well as I do?)

So I was doing that and, as I often do, I asked it to come up with something on the fly. I’m old enough that these Large Language Models are basically magic to me (much like VCRs, personal computers, the internet, and streaming video were before it). Because I will spend much of the weekend moving eight cubic yards of mulch from my driveway to our garden, I asked it to write something lamenting that fact that then transitions into the intro to this review. I didn’t expect the AI to write anything that I would use, but it was the thing on my mind. I learned a long time ago that as a creative person, sometimes you need to work through a bad idea so your brain can give up on it in order to move on to a good one. In my puny human brain, I thought that maybe I could outsource that step to the AI. But then the damn thing wrote a poem. And for some reason, I found that mildly amusing. And so, since we’ve been covering Elijah Craig Barrel Proof three times a year since 2019, I figured, I would share that poem. I mean, you guys know what is going on with this product by now.

A Mulch Mover's Lament

In the sweltering heat of June, I toiled,
Eight cubic yards of mulch, sweat-soaked and soiled.
With every shovel's lift and wheelbarrow's haul,
My weary muscles strained, yet stood tall.

The sun bore down, unyielding in its glare,
Each mound of mulch seemed a mountain to bear.
Blisters formed and my back cried out in pain,
Yet onward I pushed, again and again.

The scent of fresh earth filled the air around,
A bittersweet reminder of the task so profound.
As hours stretched on and shadows grew long,
My strength began to waver, though my will remained strong.

But as the final pile was spread and laid,
A sense of accomplishment gently stayed.
Exhaustion gave way to a quiet pride,
In the garden's transformation, far and wide.

A Well-Deserved Reward

After such a grueling day of laborious care,
A moment of respite was beyond compare.
I reached for a bottle, rich and profound,
Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, a treasure to be found.

With its deep amber hue and robust grace,
This bourbon promised a sensory embrace.
At 130.6 proof, it stood bold and tall,
A spirit to savor as evening began to fall.

Join me as I uncork this barrel-aged delight,
And journey through flavors, rich and bright.
From mulch to masterpiece, the day's work now done,
Let's explore this bourbon, sip by glorious sip, one by one.

Ok. See? This shit is weird. Which is why I like to play with it. I honestly didn’t even consider a poem. And by the way, because I drink a lot of bourbon, the pain it references will be there, but muscles standing tall? Not so much.

Anyway, let’s see if this beast of a bourbon is any good, shall we?

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, B524

Purchase Info: This sample was provided at no charge by the producer for review purposes. The suggested retail price is $74.99.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $5.00

Details: 65.3% ABV. 11 years, 2 months.

Nose: Vanilla, caramel, cinnamon, cherry, chocolate, and oak.

Mouth: Vanilla, caramel, cinnamon, chocolate, nutmeg, oak, and a hint of mint.

Finish: Long and warm with lingering notes of nutmeg, allspice, and chocolate.

Thoughts/Comparison to last time: The noses are very similar with A124 showing the same notes, just more pronounced. B524 is sweet, spicy, and very hot. A124 feels almost cool by comparison and shows more cherry/fruit in the mouth. B524 is very "stereotypical bourbon” in the best possible way and I am loving it. Both are delicious but give me B524 if I get to choose.

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If you want to support our work at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, t-shirts, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com. Use code BOURBONGUYREADER at checkout for 5% off any order of $50 or more.

Old Forester 1924

Well, they did it. The sonnuva guns actually did it. Not a week after I mentioned in a comment on an older Old Forester post that Old Forester only has one mash bill, they went ahead and released a whiskey with a different mash bill. This is what I get for acting all high and mighty and like I know something: I get new 10-year-old bourbon…

Wait.

Ok, so that’s a good thing…I might need to act like I know everything more often.

Funny story about this one. I saw this sitting on the shelf when I was wandering through Total Wine, looking for a non-alcoholic beverage I could enjoy during Dry January. (Yes, just because I wasn't drinking alcohol for the month doesn’t mean I wasn't buying it.) So I picked up a bottle and stuck it into the closet. Well, the next week, my wife went to a different Total Wine. There was a sign informing customers that they were out of an entire list of Buffalo Trace products (we are pretty heavily allocated here, even for the standard Buffalo Trace). At the bottom, there was a handwritten addition to the list: Old Forester 1924. Of course, the Minnesota Whiskey Snobs™ were out in full force.

Now, this might happen everywhere, but in my almost 20 years of living in Minnesota, I’ve found that there is a particular brand of uppity snob that lives in the Twin Cities Metro. They are usually well-off professionals, often lawyers or upper management at a small company. I’ve had one or two of them for bosses over the years. They are the kind of people that like to get people looking at them. They think it is because others are jealous, but in reality, most people are ashamed for them. They loudly proclaim in stores things like “Oh honey, look! They are out of (some expensive thing)! Good thing we have one at home. Ha Ha Ha!”

So my wife was in Total Wine when this exact thing happened in front of that sign. Only in this case, the lady kept looking at my wife like she thought she would get a reaction. Now, I’d have walked past and whispered, “It’s good, I have two.” It would have been a lie, but sometimes, that’s what it takes to shut people up. But my wife is classier than I am. She just ignored the lady and picked up a box of Maker’s Mark 101 proof, which is pretty close to my favorite bourbon at the moment.

So, what is this new release that was causing the signs and the snobs to come out? Well, it is the latest release in Old Forester’s Whiskey Row Series. In this case, it commemorates a year when Old Forester was putting out whiskey that wasn’t entirely their own distillate. See, during Prohibition, a lot of distilleries closed. The list of those that survived is remarkably similar to the list of distilleries that were still in business in 2008. Well, the folks that still had licenses to sell bourbon medicinally bought up all the stocks of those that couldn't. And since those stocks were all that there was for the foreseeable future, folks didn’t worry too much about maintaining a consistent flavor profile. They just wanted whiskey that they could bottle and sell.

Old Forester was one of those surviving distilleries. And they were buying all the whiskey they could. This meant their mash bill wasn’t what it would have been pre-Prohibition. To commemorate this occurrence 100 years later, they have released Old Forester 1924, a bourbon that once again has a different mash bill from the rest of the Old Forester products. In this case, the mash bill is 79% corn, 11% rye, and 10% malted barley rather than their traditional 72% corn, 18% rye, and 10% malted barley.

Ok, now that I’ve given anecdotes and a brief rundown of the product, let’s get to the important part. How does it taste?

Old Forester 1924

Purchase Info: $119.99 for a 750 ml bottle at Total Wine in Burnsville, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $8.00

Details: 50% ABV. 10-years-old. 79% corn, 11% rye, and 10% malted barley

Nose: Nutmeg, allspice, caramel, vanilla, and oak.

Mouth: Oak, toasted nuts, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and caramel.

Finish: Long and warm. Notes of cinnamon, oak, vanilla, and spearmint.

Thoughts: Wow! This is delicious! Spicy on the tongue with a rich mouthfeel. I wouldn't have noticed the change in mashbill on this one if I hadn't read about it. This really isn't too surprising since by ten years in the barrel, you'll be getting a lot more barrel influence taking over. This gets a heart. I might just be in love.

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If you want to support our work at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com. Use code BOURBONGUYREADER at checkout for 5% off any order of $50 or more.

2023 BourbonGuy.com Bourbon of the Year: Old Forester Single Barrel Barrel Proof, Minnesota Selection #3

Last month, my wife and I decided that we were going to participate in Dry January this year. Not for any real reason, it just seemed like something to kick us out of our rut. Because of that, I needed to look ahead and see what I could find that I could taste ahead of time. I had a couple of things hanging around that I hadn’t gotten around to writing about yet, but that wasn’t enough for an entire month. So I went to the liquor store, set myself a price limit of $150, and bought everything I was going to taste for the coming month. What follows is one of those things that I had hanging around that I really needed to write about.

You know, I have a fondness for Bourbon. This might not be a revelation for most of you, considering I do tend to write about it twice a week. However, it's worth mentioning from time to time, especially when you play the role of a critic. I genuinely love bourbon, and everything I express on this site is rooted in that passion. Now, I won't go so far as to claim there's no such thing as bad bourbon—of course, there is. But, in general, I enjoy bourbon. That's why the majority of products I review receive a 'like' rating. I just genuinely enjoy the stuff.

Occasionally, I come across one that I strongly dislike. It's genuinely bad. And some bourbons simply don't resonate with me. It's not necessarily bad, but it's not my cup of bourbon. This doesn't happen too often because I make a conscious effort to only purchase things I'm confident I'll enjoy. After all, I'll have the rest of the bottle left after the review, and there's only so much prop bourbon I can go through.

However, every now and then, something surprises me. I've been at this long enough to know that when I encounter a private selection of Old Forester, I'm likely to enjoy it. I expect that and have rarely been disappointed. Old Forester is just exceptional whiskey. But this time, I was taken aback by just how outstanding it was. I believe this selection wasn't exclusive to the retailer I bought it from, given that I also found a Minnesota Selection #6 at another store. Unfortunately, #6 wasn't a barrel-proof one; otherwise, it would be residing in my house at the moment, patiently waiting for January to be over.

Old Forester Single Barrel Barrel Strength "Minnesota Selection #3"

Purchase Info: $99.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Village Liquor, Prior Lake, MN

Price per Drink (50 mL): $6.67

Details: 65.95% ABV. Warehouse I, Floor 8

Nose: Rich caramel, dark chocolate, baking spices, and oak.

Mouth: Dark chocolate, rich caramel, cinnamon, leather and oak.

Finish: Long and warm with notes of cocoa and leather.

Thoughts: I. Love. This. Full stop. It is thick and rich in the mouth. It is hot, but it takes water well to tame the heat. It has wonderful leather, chocolate, and oak notes from its time in the barrel. All in all, this is an excellent way to end a year. I wish the store had another bottle. I'd have gone back and bought it immediately.

In fact, I’m going to pull out a very seldom-used award. I declare that Old Forester Single Barrel Barrel Proof, Minnesota Selection #3, is joining an elite group as the third-ever recipient of the BourbonGuy.com Bourbon of the Year Award. I don’t give this out every year. This honor is reserved for bourbons that stand head and shoulders above everything else I've sampled throughout the year. The last time such an honor was bestowed was in 2021, with the one prior to that in 2017. I haven’t had a bourbon that was that much better than every other bourbon since. But this one qualifies. Nice job, Brown-Forman!

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Did you enjoy this post? If you want to support the work going on here at BourbonGuy.com, please consider a one-time donation at ko-fi.com/bourbonguy or paypal.me/BourbonGuy. Or you could buy some merch that I’ve designed and/or built (tasting journals, stickers, pins, signs, posters, and more) at BourbonGuyGifts.com.

Chinola Passion Fruit Liqueur

I don’t know about you, but I hate advertising. I have a visceral reaction to it. So much so that I voluntarily pay for “free” content to remove ads. YouTube? I pay for Premium. Podcasts? I join Patreon to support them. I refuse to listen to the radio, preferring Spotify (which I also pay for to remove ads). If you stop by my house because “you are working at one of my neighbors.” I will shut the door, and if I am handed your info, it immediately gets tossed in the trash bin. Same with the direct mail that lands in my mailbox. That hits the recycling can before I reach the house.

I just really hate advertising. Very probably this is because I’ve spent the last twenty years making ads of one sort or another to the point where I just don’t want to see them or hear them. In fact, the only places where I even see ads anymore are while watching sports on tv…and my email box.

The email ones are insidious. Most of the ones I still get are “newsletters.” You know, the ads where they pretend it is a piece of content. I say they are insidious because they are just good enough at the content part that you don’t quite want to unsubscribe. So, imagine my surprise when I opened my email a couple of months ago and saw a very intriguing thing. It was a liqueur being sold by one of the online liquor stores that I occasionally order from. It sounded delicious. I know that because, much to my chagrin, I actually read the damn thing. Before I knew it, I was searching the websites of my local liquor stores trying to see if I could buy it locally (couldn’t give the online store the satisfaction of a sale based on their sneaky advertising). And it just so happens that Total Wine carried it. I texted my wife a request to stop on her way home to pick some up. And before I knew it I had two bottles in my possession (she misread my text).

So, what is this liqueur that caused me to almost break my commitment to not letting advertising work on me? It is called Chinola Passion Fruit Liqueur. And let me tell you, it is delicious. But before we get into that, let’s see what the producer has to say about it:

Vine to bottle. When we were experimenting with chinola (passion fruit), our ultimate goal was to make an all-natural liqueur that still possessed the aromatic fragrance and taste profile of raw passion fruit juice. As our product came to life, it felt fitting to name the liqueur after this sacred Dominican fruit, to honor its origin and forever create memories of sipping chinola-inspired cocktails on the beaches of the Dominican Republic. CHINOLA liqueur is a handcrafted beverage made from distilled spirits and real passion fruit. Through our unique blend and proprietary formulation, we have created a ‘natural’ liqueur with unparalleled taste and versatility. It can be consumed by itself or mixed with any base spirit into top quality cocktails.

Chinola Passion Fruit Liqueur

Purchase Info: $29.99 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine, Eagan, MN.

Price per Drink (50 mL): $2.00

Details: 21% ABV

Nose: Passion fruit, pineapple, and citrus.

Mouth: Thick and syrupy with tart passion fruit notes.

Finish: Tart and tangy and warmer than I had expected.

Thoughts: This is my new favorite cocktail ingredient. It adds depth to any drink that calls for citrus juice. It tastes good enough to drink straight, but it is a bit too thick for my tastes when on its own. But as far as a cocktail goes? I’ve tried it with every spirit I can think of and it works wonderfully with all of them. I started out with the Chinola Daiquiri that is on their website. That was tasty enough that I needed to send my second bottle home with my daughter when she and her fiance visited because they loved the cocktail. Then I added it along with the lemon juice in a Whiskey Sour. I’m not usually a fan of Whiskey Sours because I find them a bit thin in the mouth. But the Chinola added both depth of flavor and a nicer mouthfeel. Last night, in preparation for this post, I added it to a Margarita on the Rocks for my wife, and she loved it. I added some to a Gin Ricky, and it paired very nicely with the floral gin. All in all, if you like passion fruit, buy this. If you like citrus cocktails, buy this.

I think I’m in love.

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Elijah Craig Barrel Proof, C923

I’d like to thank the folks at Heaven Hill for providing this review sample with no strings attached.

I admit it. I don’t get very worked up by Elijah Craig Barrel Proof. And yes, I am not like most people. I get the privilege of trying every batch. And while I don’t take that for granted, you could accuse me of being a bit blasé about it. It comes out three times a year, like clockwork. And honestly, whichever bottle you can get your hands on will be really fucking delicious.

But as I said, I am not most people. Which I found out as I did a little searching online. See, I lost my copy of the press release that came with the sample bottle of Elijah Craig Barrel Proof C923 that I received. I like to include any interesting notes in there on these posts if I can. And I always need to verify the current asking price. But when I did a quick search to see if I could find the press release? Wow. A lot of folks get very passionate about this particular release. There are entire websites that are dedicated to just tracking them. And, oh, so many videos showing a guy making an odd face next to the words “Best Ever?” I was honestly a little shocked.

See, I never look online for other people’s reviews, especially not for something I’m going to review myself. To be perfectly honest, I just don’t care what anyone else has to say about a whiskey. I’ve been doing this long enough that I trust my palate. I know what I like. And that is enough for me. And at the end of the day, all I do here is tell stories and tell you if I liked a particular whiskey.

Though, I have been chastised for that in the past. Case in point, I received a comment on the last Elijah Craig Barrel Proof review stating:

B523 is fantastic, look up other reviews.

All I said is that I liked A123 more. And if that isn’t a sign of the passion that this release engenders, I don’t know what is. And hell, I love the passion. If we weren’t all passionate about bourbon, I wouldn’t have been writing on a silly little blog for over a decade now.

But at the risk of earning the wrath of other passionate fans, let’s get on with the important part. How is this new release?

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof C923

Purchase Info: This bottle was provided by the manufacturer for review purposes at no charge. The suggested retail price is $74.99 (as reported by the WhiskeyWash on Sept 30).

Price per Drink (50 mL): $5.00

Details: 66.5% ABV. 13 years, 7 months

Nose: Strong notes of cocoa, vanilla, and oak with touches of cinnamon and mint underneath.

Mouth: Hot in the mouth with notes of dark chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon, and oak.

Finish: Long and warm with notes of cinnamon, almond, caramel, and oak.

Thoughts: Right off the bat, the nose is fantastic. I'd be happy just to nose this all night. Luckily, I do not have to do that because the mouth is also delicious. It's hot, as is to be expected at over 130° proof, but it takes water very well. It tames the heat but doesn't seem to affect the flavor much. This is one hell of a bourbon.

Comparison to B523: The nose for C923 is much sweeter, showing more chocolate. The mouth on B523 is hotter, and C923 is a lot sweeter. The finish on B523 is much warmer. I'd choose C923 in a heartbeat if given the choice. Both are delicious, but C923 offers more of what my chocolate-loving self wants. I love it.

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