Week 21 of sample moutain is Russell’s Reserve week! Featuring a warehouse E pick(one of my favorite warehouses) and two picks that got a lot of social media attention down here in Texas. So let’s see ho this ‘random’ E sample stack up against the hype bottles. For my “would I buy this?” question this week I am comparing trying to get one of these picks vs just grabbing an arbitary Russell’s pick from a local big box store ie Total Wine.

 

J Squared Barrel #1

Warehouse: E

Floor: 4

Neat

Nose: Rich caramel, nuts, warm spices

Taste: Starts with more caramel and nuts(Cracker Jacks?) with spice and oak building toward the end. Great mouthfeel on par with what I’d expect from a Russell’s pick.

Finish: Long spicy finish.

Buy this bottle over a random big box Russell’s “pick”? Yes

PIE 314 ‘Raiders’

Warehouse: T

Floor: 6

Neat

Nose: Turkey funk, something sweet and fruity(jam? jelly?), warm spice and oak.

Taste: More classic Turkey with caramel, baking spice, funk and oak. Similar mouthfeel to the first one.

Finish: Medium length finish with a nice balance of caramel, oak and spice.

Buy this bottle over a random big box Russell’s “pick”? Yes

The OG’s The Green Jacket

Warehouse: F

Floor: 6

Neat

Nose: Subtler and oakier than the first two with rich oak, rye spice and fainter vanilla extract.

Taste: Rich oak, lightly salted caramel, vanilla, baking spice and more oak. Very nice mouthfeel, best of the bunch there.

Finish: Long with fading caramel and lingering spice.

Buy this bottle over a random big box Russell’s “pick”? Yes

Conclusion

The J2 pick was 🔥 and the only complaint I have was that the finish was a little one note and spicier than my preference. I really like the nutty notes that I am getting from some of these warehouse E picks. For me this was the winner but I can see some folks not wanting the Beam/Heaven Hill style notes cropping up in their Russell’s.

The PIE 314 pick had a really nice fruity note on the nose that reminded me of Four Roses. Otherwise it was a solid Russell’s pick and in line with what I want from Turkey.

The Green Jacket was good as well. It had a little bit of salinity which I usually don’t get from Turkey(I’m not sure it added much here though) and a really nice mouthfeel. The finish was long and well balanced. Is it the best Russell’s pick I’ve had? Definitely not. Was it about the mid point? Probably yes.

 

TL;DR: Warehouse E wins again for me but the Raider’s pick was a close second. The Green Jacket was solid too but I prefered the first two.

 

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Dime Box Distillery out of Giddings, Texas has been releasing a lot of well aged MGP recently. I am pretty unclear on who they are or how they got all these barrels so I might head down there and see what’s up but in the meantime I’ll just drink them. One of my local groups, the Austin Dead Liver Society, picked this 9 year barrel. I was on the pick group but this barrel was my second choice. Let’s see how it holds up now that it’s bottled.

 

Sixth Street Rye Whiskey

Age: 9 years

Proof: 119

Price: 115

Neat

Nose: Sweet and spicy with vanilla frosting, rich oak and baking spice notes

Taste: Starts sweet with caramel and vanilla then spicier with baking and rye spice with some oak notes toward the end. Very viscous mouthfeel.

Finish: Long dry finish with fading vanilla then all oak and baking spice/

Conclusion

Overall I am a fan of this rye and most of the older stuff Sixth Street has been putting out. Hopefully they have plenty of barrels and keep it up! That said, these picks are about the same quality as the 7 and 8 year MGP ryes coming out of Nashville Barrel Company.

On another note I am not a fan of these guitar shaped bottles. It’s harder to pour and doesn’t fit well on my shelves. It’s unclear if the guitar pick medallion can actually be used as a guitar pick.

 

No score - I was on the pick group

TL;DR: Another great MGP rye but didn’t stand out vs the various 7-8 year NBCs ryes I have

Scale

 

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I missed two weeks (18 and 19) and will be posting make up Sample Mountains but here we are in week 20 and I am finally going to try Weller Single Barrel! Also a Baby Saz pick. I’ve not had either of these before so I am pretty excited to see if the Weller SiB lives up to the hype and surprisingly high review scores I’ve seen for it!

 

Sazerac Rye Washington Spirit pick

Age: NAS

Proof: 90

Neat

Nose: Sweet and herbal with vanilla and herbal liqueur notes with subtler oak and rye spice.

Taste: Caramel and rye spice notes followed by herbal and oak notes. Nice mouthfeel for the proof

Finish: Short, clean finish with quickly fading caramel and herbs.

Buy a bottle? Yes at something near retail + shipping, not worth hunting/overpaying

Weller Single Barrel

Age: NAS

Proof: 97

Neat

Nose: Fainter than I expected with honey wheat bread and cinnamon notes.

Taste: Wheat bread and baking spice with subtler cinnamon, dark fruit and butterscotch.

Finish: Medium length with cherry syrup and faint cinnamon.

Buy a bottle? Maybe? I mean it’s a 🥔 so I’d pick it up at retail but it’s not worth it.

Conclusion

The Baby Saz pick was surprisingly nice. I haven’t had Baby Saz is a while so maybe it is better than I remember or this pick is just particularly good. Either way for a cheap low proof rye this is hard to beat. If I see a pick in the future I’ll definitely grab one.

These are all single barrels so maybe I just didn’t get one as good as some of the big review sites but I am shocked that folks gave this such positive reviews. Is it a unicorn? Definitely not. Is it a solid $50 bottle? Sure. Does it make sense in the Weller line up? Not to me. I’d drink Weller Full Proof over this all day. Still I was very happy to get a sample and cure the fomo!

 

TL;DR: The Baby Saz pick was surprisingly good. Weller SiB was enjoyable but I’d rather have Weller Full Proof, 107 or even Weller 12.

 

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I got vaccinated, went out of town, got a sinus infection and then started a new job so bourbon social media has taken a back seat but now I am back and can smell things again! I picked up Blood Oath Pact 7 a few days ago and I’ve had a few(small) pours so let’s see how it holds up.

 

Blood Oath Pact 7

Age: Blend of 8-14 years

Proof: 98.6 (human blood temperature)

Price: $130

Neat

Nose: Rich oak, sweet white grape jelly, caramel and subtle spice notes.

Taste: A rush of caramel and grape sweetness followed by oak, more caramel and warm spice. Good mouthfeel for the proof.

Finish: Long with fading sweet vanilla and fruit notes then lingering slightly dry oak and warm spice.

1 Star - Good whiskey: I would choose to drink this over readily available whiskies

Conclusion

I am enjoying this bottle but the finished bourbon and rye market is getting more competitive and Blood Oath is just holding course. With things like Magnus Cigar Blend and Bardstown Bourbon Company Collaborations like Chateau de Laubade out doing Blood Oath on the high end and new releases from Thomas S Moore’s, Peerless and Nulu on the other end it it’s harder for me to justify the higher price, lower proof and lack of transparency from Blood Oath. If this was cheaper or it was higher proof and told us where the whiskies and finishing barrels were from it that would be a good step towards staying competitive in the finished bourbon market. This is the 4th time they have used a wine or wine distilled spirit finish and doesn’t offer much that Pacts 2, 3 and 6 don’t. If I had to choose between this bottle and a Bardstown collab I’d be grabbing the Bardstown or if I was price sensitive I’d be reaching for the Thomas S Moore instead. That said if you are a fan of the series, like I am, this one lives up to the bar set by those releases and when I compare it to some of the ‘shelfie’ finished bottles like Whistle Pig 12 year or the weird Barrell releases I am definitely picking the Blood Oath.

 

TL;DR: Another good release from Blood Oath but it’s starting to struggle with increasing competition in the finished bourbon market.

Scale

 

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Week 17 of Sample Mountain is rare Turkey week featuring a 1996 101, the legendary Russell’s Reserve 2002 and Master’s Keep Revival. I’ve had the Russell’s and Revival before as bar pours at Moonshine but this will be my first taste of ‘96 101.

 

Wild Turkey 101 1996

Age: NAS

Proof: 101

Neat

Nose: Sweet with heavy caramel notes backed by vanilla and faint spice.

Taste: Caramel, salted nuts, faintly perfumey floral notes and hints of spice and oak. Enjoyable but unremarkable mouthfeel.

Finish: Medium length, slightly dry finish with a fading salted caramel and lingering oak.

Buy a bottle? No - dusty Turkey is too crazy

Russell’s Reserve 2002

Age: 15 year

Proof: 114.6

Neat

Nose: Caramel, leather, dark cherry and baking spice with subtler vanilla and oak.

Taste: More caramel and leather, more oak and spice than on the nose. Great proof integration bu unremarkable mouthfeel.

Finish: Long, slightly bitter, dry and oaky with some vanilla extract balancing the oak.

Buy a bottle? Anywhere near retail buy, pass at secondary

Wild Turkey Revival

Age: NAS

Proof: 101

Neat

Nose: Dark fruit and heavy oak notes dominate. Simple but nice.

Taste: Dark fruit and vanilla give way to bitter oak. Oddly thin mouthfeel.

Finish: Medium to long with lingering dried fruit, baking spice and too much bitter oak.

Buy a bottle? No - glad I passed on this back when it dropped

Conclusion

Honestly I didn’t love any of these samples. The Russell’s 2002 is very good and almost there but the finish just isn’t quite right for me and I was hoping for a little more given the price and scarcity. If I am going to chase down a big Turkey bottle I’d rather go after a SCN bottling or just grab a hyped Russell’s Reserve pick. The ‘96 101 is better than the modern stuff but not by enough to justify the wild markup on dusty Turkey. As for the Revival I tend to enjoy finished bourbon but this one was a miss for me with too much bitterness and not enough classic bourbon notes. Decades still reigns as my favorite Master’s Keep release.

 

TL;DR: The ‘96 101 and RR2002 were tasty but these are all going to be a pass from me

 

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In the precovid times one of the last non work trips I went on was to Charleston South Carolina where I picked up a Four Roses I hadn’t seen before: a pick that wasn’t barrel strength. I’ve been meaning to blind it against an off the shelf Four Roses Single Barrel for quite some time and today is the day! I tasted these blind and then sat down to write more detailed tasting notes.

 

Four Roses Single Barrel

Age: NAS on the bottle (7-9 years according to their website)

Proof: 100

Price: $43

Barrel: 69-1O

Neat

Nose: Dried fruit, rich oak and a strong vanilla note.

Taste: Simple but enjoyable with caramel, fruit and warm spice notes. Pleasant but unremarkable mouthfeel.

Finish: Medium length finish with fading dried fruit and lingering oak, spice and vanilla notes.

1 Star - Good whiskey: I would choose to drink this over readily available whiskies

Four Roses Single Barrel South Carolina

Age: 7 years 4 months

Proof: 100

Price: $40-50 range

Barrel: 19-6R

Neat

Nose: More spice and more oak than the non-pick with the same dried fruit but less vanilla.

Taste: Fruitcake with dried fruit and holiday spice alongside a nice oak note. Couldn’t really tell a difference in mouthfeel from the non pick.

Finish: Shorter, cleaner finish than the non pick with fading fruit and vanilla and bit of spice.

1 Star - Good whiskey: I would choose to drink this over readily available whiskies

Conclusion

I think Four Roses Single Barrel is an good whiskey and better than most shelf offerings at that price point but it’s not something I am regularly going to pick up a bottle of anymore, especially with the Small Batch Select being readily available here and my deep bench of their barrel strength picks. The South Carolina pick was a little better but not enough to bump it up, especially since the finish was a step back. I’d probably grab a different Single Barrel pick if I came across one but wouldn’t go out of my way to find one and don’t feel like I needed a back up here.

 

TL;DR: The pick was slightly better, both great shelf bottles but not worth hunting/hoarding

Week 16 of Sample Mountain is bygone ryes week featuring 3 ryes that they don’t make like they used to anymore. First up is 2012 Michter’s 10 Rye, then High West A Mid Winter Night’s Dram Act 1 and wrapping up with Smooth Ambler Old Scout 12 Year.

 

Michter’s 10 Rye 2012

Age: 10 years

Proof: 92.8

Barrel No: 2337

Neat

Nose: Rich and dark with oak, leather, herbs, vanilla and warm spice. No proof sting.

Taste: Surprisingly sweet with more oak and vanilla cream, leather, chocolate, warm spice and caramel. Excellent mouthfeel for the proof.

Finish: Very long slightly hot finish with linger oak, spice and caramel.

Better than the modern stuff? Yes - I hope I didn’t ruin my taste for modern M10 Rye

Worth tracking down? Please no, I don’t want to go on an old Michter’s rabbit hole…

A Midwinter Night’s Dram Act 1 Scene 1021

Age: A blend of 6 and 16 year

Proof: 98.6

Neat

Nose: Not as much port influence as the new ones but inviting with rich herbal and spicy notes back by subtler oak and red fruit.

Taste: Warm and sweet with holiday spice and herbal notes balanced by sweet fruit. Very pleasant mouthfeel.

Finish: Long and sweet with dark fruit, vanilla and warm spice.

Better than the modern stuff? Maybe? It’s different and I like the modern MWND quite a bit. This was great though.

Worth tracking down? No - these are super rare, super pricey and not worth it.

Smooth Ambler Old Scout 12 Year Rye

Age: 12 years

Proof: 110.4 proof

Barrel No: 15334

Neat

Nose: Tobacco, baking spice, caramel and faint herbal notes.

Taste: Rich oak, leather, caramel, baking spices and herbal notes(including a bit of dill) toward the end. Excellent, viscous mouthfeel.

Finish: Long and warm with lingering oak, caramel and warm spice.

Better than the modern stuff? Yes, definitely.

Worth tracking down? Maybe, this was amazing but they are single barrels so finding this specific one would be hard and expensive.

Conclusion

The Michter’s and SAOS were unquestionably better for me than their modern counter parts. The new M10 ryes are great but they don’t stack up to this bottle. It seems a little unfair to compare a 12 year MGP to a 4 year in the case of the SAOS 🤷‍♂️ When I compared it to modern well aged ryes like Kentucky Owl, Redemption 18 or Rocky Mountain Rye I am not as impressed. I saved half the sample for a blind with some modern ryes to see how it stacks up. The MWND the older one is different the carries a lot more of the old Barton rye profile than modern MWND. That said I really like the heavy port influence on the modern ones, especially Act 6, so this older one wasn’t better for me though it was quite good and I can understand why folks who really loved the early Acts were disappointed with the more recent releases.

In general I try not to go too deep on older releases but that M10 rye is a tempting rabbit hole.

 

TL;DR: These old ryes were great especially the SAOS and M10.

 

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Week 15 of Sample Mountain is Four Roses O week with 3 samples of O yeast strain recipes 2 OESO and 1 OBSO. Unfortunately on one of the samples I wasn’t able to find out where it was from or what the proof was. Going in I expect to like all of these as I tend to be a Four Roses fan and particularly like the O yeast.

 

Mystery OESO

Age: 13 years 10 months

Proof: ??

Neat

Nose: Bright and fruity with cherry and plum notes backed by sweet vanilla cream and subtler oak.

Taste: Fruit and spice notes at the front followed by vanilla and oak. Like a fruit cake with some tannic red wine splashed in. Pleasant but unremarkable mouthfeel.

Finish: Long dry finish with prominent oak and subtler vanilla extract and warm spice notes.

Buy a bottle? Yes at the ~90-150 Four Roses picks can go for from shops, No at the insane secondary.

Bourbon Street OESO

Age: 10 years 11 months

Proof: 105

Neat

Nose: Darker fruit notes than the first one with a richer caramel sweetness.

Taste: Floral and fruity with sticky caramel and warm spice notes. Thick, luscious mouthfeel.

Finish: Big, warm finish with spice, oak and fruit leather notes.

Buy a bottle? Yes and more open minded on the price than the first one.

East Bay Members OBSO

Age: 9 years

Proof: 110 proof

Neat

Nose: Similar to the Bourbon Street but with more vanilla than caramel.

Taste: Rich oak, dark fruit, warm spice and sweet vanilla. Very nice mouthfeel that coats the tongue and roof of my mouth.

Finish: Long and slightly dry with dried fruit and oak notes.

Buy a bottle? Yes and OBSO secondary is more reasonable than OESO AFAIK

Conclusion

From the nose the 13 year seemed a lot younger than it was but the age (and oak) showed up big for the finish. I had a lot of hype for the 13 year age but I actually preferred the other two.

With its floral notes the Bourbon Street pick was almost like a cross of an O and a Q which was fantastic. It was my favorite of the bunch.

The East Bay OBSO was also great but didn’t stand out quite as much as the Bourbon Street pick. Based on my previous experience tasting through all 10 recipes I had thought the OBSO would win, it was the youngest of the 3 though so that may have hurt it.

At or near retail prices Four Roses picks are pretty much an auto buy for me so no surprises here. I do like to keep one of each recipe open so if I needed to track down a backup OBSO that East Bay Members would be a good one.

 

TL;DR: Bourbon Street OESO was the champ. No losers here. Buy at retail, secondary on OESO is crazy

 

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A while back I went through a big 1792 craze and bought entirely too many bottles of their whiskey. I’m slowly catching up on reviewing them.

1792 Sweet Wheat

Age: NAS

Abv: 91.2 proof

Color: A medium amber

Neat

Nose: Vanilla, oak, butterscotch, citrus and banana

Taste: Very sweet with butterscotch, vanilla, oak and spice a little thin on the mouthfeel but solid for the proof

Finish: Medium length finish with vanilla, oak and light spice

Conclusion

I am a big fan of wheaters in general and this is solid entry that category so it’s no surprise I liked it. I’d put it over a readily available offering like Larceny, Maker’s or even Weller Special Reserve that said it falls a bit short of something in a similar price/scarcity range like Weller Antique 107. Maybe it would be able to compete if this were bottled at a higher proof? I’ll never understand why 1792 releases most things at less than 100 proof 🤷‍♂️ That said this is a super accessible drinker with great flavors so if you are in the mood for sweet, smooth and easy to drink this is checks all those boxes.

1 Star - Good whiskey: I would choose to drink this over readily available whiskies

Scale

 

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Week 14 of Sample Mountain is Angel’s Envy Cask Strength Week! I was in Kentcuky this week picking barrels for a couple local stores when I trolled self by buying 4 1oz samples of Angel’s Envy Cask Strength from their gift shop effectively setting my sample clearing project back by a week :/

Angel’s Envy releases a cask strength version of their port finished bourbon once a year but they have a deep library of samples for sale at their gift shop. I picked the 2013 because it was the oldest, 2020 because it was the newest and then 2 in between based on the provided tasting notes. All I know for sure if that this is Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey finished in port casks and that Angel’s Envy sources from multiple distilleries. I’d guess there is at least some Heaven Hill in the blends but who knows?

 

Angel’s Envy Cask Strength 2013

Proof: 123

Neat

Nose: Sweet with vanilla and dried fruit notes with hints of nuts underneath. Gentle for the proof.

Taste: Similar to the nose but with more of a caramel sweetness. Same dried fruit and nuts balanced with some oak. Nice mouthfeel as I would expect for the proof.

Finish: Medium to long finish with a sticky sweetness and some bitter oak.

Buy a bottle? No

Angel’s Envy Cask Strength 2014

Proof: 119.4

Neat

Nose: Deep and rich with dark fruit, sweet caramel, rich oak and bit of chocolate.

Taste: Almost like an armagnac with dark fruit, oak, leather and sweet caramel plus that bit of chocolate from the nose. Great mouthfeel.

Finish: Long and lingering with rich oak, dried fruit and faint spice.

Buy a bottle? Probably if I’d found it at retail back in the day

Angel’s Envy Cask Strength 2017

Proof: 124.5

Neat

Nose: Very similar to the 2013 but a little nuttier and more potent.

Taste: Nice caramel sweetness, nutty notes, warm spice and fainter but present dried fruit. Good mouthfeel in line with the proof.

Finish: Nice, long finish with sweet caramel and slightly bitter oak.

Buy a bottle? No

Angel’s Envy Cask Strength 2020

Proof: 120.4

Neat

Nose: Dark and rich with dark fruit and vanilla cream notes.

Taste: Holiday spices, dried fruit, sweet vanilla and oak.

Finish: Long sweet and spicy finish with just a little bit of bitter oak.

Buy a bottle? No

Conclusion

To start with the positives all of these had great proof integration and were surprisingly(dangerously?) easy to drink for being around 120 proof. They also all tasted like bourbon with port influence so good job doing what it says on the label. Otherwise for the most part these were enjoyable but nothing special especially given the limited nature and high price point. The one possible exception was the 2014 which reminded me of Bardstown Bourbon Company Chateau De Laubade and of Blood Oath 6 in a very nice way. That said I am a fan of both of those releases and they were cheaper and easier to get 🤷‍♂️ On another note the 2020 reminded me a little more of Four Roses also in a good way but not enough to justify the cost and hunt.

 

TL;DR: 14 >> 2020 > 2017 > 2013. They were all enjoyable but 2014 was the only one I would have considering buying.

 

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