The main advantage to having family in Utah is somewhat reliable access to High West special releases including this year’s distillery only release of a Rendezvous Rye finished for 8 months in Jamaican Rum barrels. I am usually a fan of sweet finishes for rye whiskey and of High West’s barrel selects so I was very excited to get a bottle of this release! After having Blood Oath 5 and Dovetail earlier this year I am also pretty hyped on rum finishes in general. Let’s see if this lives up to all that hype.

High West Rendezvous Rye Barrel Select Rum Finish

Age: NAS

Abv: 103.6 proof

Price: $79.99

NCF: Yes

Neat

Nose: Rich and inviting with an herbal medley and sweet notes of vanilla and something fruity.

Taste: Warm herbs and spices are balanced with subtle oak and sweet vanilla notes backed by a nice, viscous mouthfeel

Finish: Long, warm and sweet with fading herbal notes and lingering sweet fruit, oak and warm spice.

Conclusion

Well that was delicious. I often find that MGP ryes can have a bit too much dill for me but a sweet barrel finish on a well selected barrel tends to clear that right up. The 8 month rum finish here added some nice oak and sweet fruit notes compared to the regular offering but didn’t overwhelm the signature MGP herbal notes. The higher proof and extra time in a barrel definitely help add some more complexity to the taste and viscosity to the mouthfeel which is what Rendezvous Rye is lacking imo. I poured a glass of regular Rendezvous Rye to taste side by side with this release and it was a big step up.

After drinking this, I’m definitely looking forward to the next Rendezvous Rye barrel select and this years MWND!

TL;DR: Awesome release, sweet finishes on Rendezvous Rye tend to be my thing, not quite at the level of the 4 year port finished release

9 - a favorite I’d like to keep on my shelf

Great - A great deal, I’d buy it again

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Joseph Magnus Murray Hill Club is a blend of older bourbon ranging from 11-20 years depending on the batch and a younger light whiskey ranging from 9-11 years. So far both special releases were finished in Pineau des Charentes casks which I had not heard of before this bottle. Apparently it is a wine fortified with Cognac eau de vie. As I enjoyed the regular Murray Hill Club quite a bit and tend to enjoy wine and brandy finished whiskies I was very excited to get a bottle of this! So let’s see how this finish either adds to or takes away from the regular MHC.

Joseph Magnus Murray Hill Club Special Release Batch 2

Age: NAS

Abv: 112 proof

Price: $149.99

Neat

Nose: Bright red wine and sweet cognac notes with more traditional bourbon notes of caramel, vanilla and rich oak.

Taste: Cognac forward with more caramel and vanilla as well as oak and leather with a thick, luscious mouthfeel.

Finish: Long and lingering with sweet cognac and warm, rich oak notes

Conclusion

All in all this was a small step up from the regular Murray Hill Club. The finish did add a bit of sweetness and fruit notes but all in all didn’t make the whiskey much better. It started and ended as excellent whiskey and for me it was fun to try a new type of finish and continue to explore blends of bourbon and light whiskey.

It can be hard to give a value rating to a whiskey like this. I really enjoyed it but it was significantly more expensive than it’s already pricey shelfie counter part and probably not enough better to justify the price increase. All of that said I did got back and buy another bottle haha.

I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for the third batch and will be sipping on Cigar Blend in the meantime.

TL;DR: A great whiskey, the finish is nice but doesn’t add all that much

9 - a favorite I’d like to keep on my shelf

Fair - Worth the money, happy with my purchase

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I’d tried New Riff a couple times at meetups shortly it came out and I found it to be decent but overhyped. Then things started to calm down a bit and I was able to pick up a Bottled in Bond and Single Barrel while I was in Minneapolis for work and just recently got a store pick from The Party Source and a few samples from other picks from a friend who went to Kentucky. The store picks definitely changed my mind on how good New Riff could be.

In preparation for this month’s r/bourbon pick at New Riff I decided I should probably get a review up of some of their bourbon so here’s a 3 in 1 vertical of the bottled in bond, single barrel and store pick.

New Riff Bottled in Bond Spring 2015

Age: 4 years

Abv: 100 proof

Price: $40

Neat

Nose: A little weak with faint caramel sweetness and a hint of grain.

Taste: Vanilla, caramel and corn notes with a little bit of baking spice and ethanol. Nice, viscous mouthfeel.

Finish: Short to medium finish that starts with a vanilla sweetness and fades to baking spice.

0 Stars - Poor to Fine: I would not specifically choose to drink this

New Riff Single Barrel Fall 2014

Age: 4 years

Abv: 112.2 proof

Price: $50

Barrel: 14867

Neat

Nose: Oak, spice and vanilla in a nice balance

Taste: Very similar to the nose with a touch more baking spice, especially clove, with a nice thick mouthfeel

Finish: Medium length spicy finish with just enough vanilla to balance the spice.

0 Stars - Poor to Fine: I would not specifically choose to drink this

New Riff Single Barrel The Party Source Pick

Age: 4 years and 5 days

Abv: 111.2 proof

Price: $60

Barrel: 15-3153

Neat

Nose: Softer nose with sweet vanilla and oak notes.

Taste: Butterscotch, vanilla, rich oak, rye spice and subtler baking spices alongside a viscous mouthfeel.

Finish: Medium length, warm, dry and balanced finish with sweet vanilla, warm spice and faint oak

2 Stars - Very good whiskey: I would want to have a bottle

Conclusion

The Bottled in Bond was honestly pretty disappointing. There was nothing wrong with it but I was really hoping for more. I’d take something like a 1792 Bottled in Bond over this and if you factor in price something like an Early Times BiB.

The single barrel was significantly better and while it is clearly still young it has great flavors, a very nice mouthfeel and shows a lot of potential. I’m happy I bought this but won’t be getting a backup until they get a little older.

The Party Source pick was excellent. I really enjoyed it and it even stood out against a Cork and Barrel pick.

This isn’t exactly surprising given my understanding of how New Riff does things. I’ve heard they taste each barrel and set aside the good ones for single barrels, the best ones for picks and the rest get batched into the bottled in bond product. Hopefully we’ll be able to learn a lot more about how they do things on the pick trip.

TL;DR: Skip the BiB, the SiBs are solid but keep an eye out for a good store pick.

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I’m still a fan of 1792 even though my initial 1792 craze has subsided now that I’ve tried them all so when I heard they were releasing a 12 year I was excited then I heard it was only going to be 96.6 proof which seemed like an odd choice but it was close enough to 100 that I was still game to try it.

1792 12 Year

Age: 12 years

Abv: 96.6 proof

Price: $50

Neat

Nose: Oaky with some of that classic 1792 caramel and vanilla sweetness lurking beneath the oak.

Taste: The palate starts somewhat sweet with vanilla and chocolate notes then transitions into a heavy, dry oak.

Finish: Dry and oaky finish with mere hints of vanilla.

0 Stars - Fine: I would not specifically choose to drink this over other readily available options

Conclusion

As expected for the first high age statement product released under the 1792 label this was very oaky. I still enjoyed it and this made me understand why Barton 1792 tends to release younger bourbon. I’m still glad I picked this up but I won’t be getting another. There are too many good 1792 Full Proof and Bottled in Bond picks out there to justify hunting this down and if I am going to hunt 1792 I am looking for Sweet Wheat over this guy.

I’m surprised how well balanced Cream of Kentucky is in comparison and I can sort of see why the price point on that bottle is so high now. Barton must have parted with some of their best well aged bottles.

TL;DR: Oaky but good, stick with store picks or Sweet Wheat for 1792

For my first attempt at a Poor Man’s Whiskey I’m going with the classic recipe of Poor Man’s Pappy. This is a blend of 40% Weller 12 and 60% Old Weller Antique which is supposed to tone down the rough edges of OWA and add more complexity to it while upping the proof and punch of the somewhat mellow Weller 12. There are a number of spinoff recipes that add all sorts of other things to the blend but let’s start with the classic.

Poor Man’s Pappy

Recipe

60% OWA; 40% W12

Neat Tasting Notes

Nose: Strong with sweet butterscotch, cherry and oak notes

Taste: More cherries, slightly tannic oak and some warm spices

Finish: Lingering butterscotch and slightly tannic oak with hints of baking spices

Results

Accuracy: Vague

Value: Fair

Conclusion

This was fun but I’m honestly not convinced this recipe is even better than OWA and definitely not better than a decent OWA pick. I do prefer it to Weller 12 but that doesn’t really surprise as I think W12 is just ‘good’ but not particularly great. This didn’t taste anywhere near Old Rip Van Winkle which was the closest thing to Pappy I had on hand.

TL;DR: Fun, relatively good, not exactly worth it

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Scale

Accuracy

Perfect: effectively could not tell them apart

Close: good enough for a Poor Man’s Whiskey approximation

Vague: it sort of tastes similar?

Not at all: what?

Value

Great - A great deal, I’d blend it again

Fair - I don’t feel like I wasted the components

Poor- Regrets

Joseph Magnus Cigar Blend was a bourbon that eluded me for a long time and then in a matter of a few months I ended up with 3 bottles ranging from a dusty find in Granbury Texas to a retail hookup from my local spot to a friend finding one in Chicago. Batch 12 clearly stood out among the even in a blind tasting.

Joseph Magnus is a somewhat controversial label out of Washington DC that primarily sources MGP bourbon and finishes it sherry and Cognac casks either enhancing the flavor or ruining it depending on who you ask. I tend to be a fan of finished bourbon and to enjoy their products. The Cigar Blend varies from batch to batch but uses the same basic approach. It is a blend of regular Joseph Magnus finished bourbon and older MGP that is then finished in vintage Armagnac casks. For this specific batch is approximately 20% regular Magnus, mostly a 13 year old MGP bourbon and ‘some’ 20 year old MGP as well.

Joseph Magnus Cigar Blend Batch 12

Age: NAS on the label but this batch is a blend of 12, 13 and 20 year old MGP

Abv: 104.2 proof

Price: $169.99

Neat

Nose: Rich and complex with dark fruit, brown sugar, tobacco, leather and baking spice notes

Taste: More brown sugar and dark fruit alongside rich oak and more pronounced spice notes than the nose. The mouthfeel is nice and viscous.

Finish: This finish goes on forever with rich oak, tobacco, sweet dark fruit notes and just enough spice to make you want the next sip.

Conclusion

Damn that was good. It had everything I like from well aged MGP and more including one of my favorite finishes of all time. I’ve also had this bourbon with cigars several times and the bold flavors, sweet start to the taste and the very long finish make it an excellent pairing. I don’t smoke all that regularly though (1-2 a month) so I mostly just drink this neat.

For long time readers I previously reviewed an old Smooth Ambler Old Scout SiB from MGP and gave it a 9/10 citing the slightly unpleasant cinnamon heat on the finish as the only thing holding it back from a perfect 10 and this bourbon has everything I liked from that with more complexity and an amazing finish.

To be clear the 10/10 rating is for specifically batch 12 of Cigar Blend. I’ve had other batches and they’ve all been in the 8-9 range other than this one. The 8/10 ones feel a little bad at this price point so don’t go splurge on a batch 8! I did end up getting a second bottle of the batch 12(pictured) after killing the first one I got way too fast.

TL;DR: Amazing bourbon, legendary finish, great with or without a cigar

4 Stars - Extraordinary whiskey: An all time favorite

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I recently drank a fair amount of this Boone County Single Barrel at an ABH meetup and even got to take home a sample to review! Boone County primarily sources from MGP and has picked some excellent single barrels such as this one. It’s hard to go wrong with 10+ year age stated, cask strength MGP but I feel like these folks have been doing an especially good job picking barrels.

Boone County 12 Year Single Barrel Cork and Barrel Pick

Age: 12 years

Abv: 118.8 proof

Neat

Nose: A potent herbal medley with strong vanilla and sweet caramel notes behind the herbs

Taste: Caramel and vanilla notes backed by cherries, herbs and baking spices, especially clove, alongside a rich velvety mouthfeel.

Finish: Medium length with rye spice, herbal and faint caramel notes.

Conclusion

This is one of the best unfinished MGP bourbons I’ve had. I broke out my remaining SAOS SiB and my Joseph Magnus SiB from OLC. This was just generally a bit better than my current low proof SAOS and had a better nose and mouthfeel than the OLC Magnus but not as good of a finish.

I very nearly gave this a 10/10 but the finish left me a little on the fence so I got down my trusty, sadly low, bottle of Old Rip Van Winkle to remind myself of a 10 and the Boone County fell just short due to the finish. I would love to try a 14 year old version of this or couple other 12 years and see if one can hit that 10/10 bar.

TL;DR: Phenomenal MGP bourbon, excellent

9 - a favorite I’d like to keep on my shelf

Great - A great deal, I’d buy it again

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Smooth Ambler is bringing back MGP sourced straight bourbon but it’s a lot younger than it used it be. I’ve heard that it is a blend of 4-6 year old bourbon with an average of 5 years and their website claims that it approximately 5 years old. It is NCF and 99 proof which are pluses for me. The old SAOS bourbon was amazing, the American Whiskey wasn’t great and the Dickel sourced juice was very polarizing so I’m a little nervous to see where this lands.

Smooth Ambler Old Scout Straight Bourbon Batch 6

Age: NAS on bottle, approx 5 years according to their website

Abv: 99 proof

Price: $45

Mashbill: 60% corn, 36% rye, 4% malt

Bottled By: James

Neat

Nose: Sweet and grainy with brown sugar, vanilla and a bit of corn.

Taste: Butterscotch, cornbread and faint warm spices. Middling mouthfeel.

Finish: Medium length soft finish with faint sweetness and hints of baking spice.

Conclusion

First off I really wanted to give this a better review but it’s not quite there yet. I’m not surprised with how this went after reviewing Mic Drop 3 and I will say this was definitely better, if lower proof, bourbon at a lower price.

All in all it was good but a little young and a tad underwhelming though it had hints of the things I really enjoyed about the old releases. I’m glad I got the bottle but also glad I didn’t buy a backup. This bottle does give me more hope for SAOS going forward and much like New Riff I can imagine a well chosen single barrel of this being very good. Hopefully as MGP catches up on demand we can see SAOS get back to the 7-8 year range in the not too distant future and maybe one day see a return of the 10 year single barrels.

TL;DR: Good, if a little young, high hopes for future releases

6 - a good whiskey I’m still happy to drink

Fair - Worth the money, happy with my purchase

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I got a bit caught up in the tater hype for a new Mic Drop as the previous two releases were amazing even though this one was only 4 years old. I ended up driving around a bit to find one but thankfully only paid retail.The bottle looks awesome, the previous releases were great and the price was right so let’s see if the taste lives up too!

Mic Drop 3

Age: 4 years

Abv: 112.2 proof

Price: $59.99

Mashbill: 60% Corn 36% Rye 4% Barley

Neat

Nose: Sweet with tropical fruit and banana notes but also some young, slightly harsh grain notes.

Taste: Starts with sweet caramel and tropical fruit then corn and floral honey come in.

Finish: Medium length finish with more the sweet caramel and fruit notes but also with some linger spice and ethanol some burn

Conclusion

Well that was disappointing for Mic Drop but on the other hand it was great for 4 year old bourbon. The sweet and fruity notes remind me of some of the Tumblin Dice bottles I’ve tried but the rest of the profile with the grain notes, harshness and lack of complexity was disappointing. Overall I hoped for more but this was a well as I could have expected it to turn out. It beats out Pinhook, the other young, similarly priced MGP bourbon I’ve had.

As far as value goes I don’t feel bad about what I paid for this but it would be hard to justifying buying another one vs something like Belle Meade Cask Strength which is more available and only a few dollars more or better yet Remus Repeal Batch 2.

Releases like this are making me nervous for the future of sourced MGP bourbons but hopefully there are just holding back the good stuff for their own labels and great MGP will continue to flow.

TL;DR: Top end of 4 year old bourbons, still 4 year old bourbon.

6 - a good whiskey I’m still happy to drink

Fair - Worth the money, happy with my purchase

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After my review of Blanton’s Gold fellow r/bourbon member u/supercondriac traded me a bottle of Straight From the Barrel, the only regular Blanton’s release I hadn’t been able to taste yet. As the name indicates this expression of Blanton’s is uncut and unfiltered. I’d read a lot of really positive stuff about this one alongside a few, quieter remarks about it being a little harsh. I was a little nervous about a NAS straight from the barrel bourbon but I was also excited to try it. Let’s see if it was better than the Gold!

Blanton’s Straight from the Barrel

Age: NAS

Abv: 127.3 proof

Dump date: 7/11/18

Barrel: Warehouse H Rick 12 #797

Neat

Nose: Sweet with vanilla and caramel notes. Reminds me of regular Blanton’s.

Taste: Starts sweet then gets a little harsh with caramel sweetness, oak, some spice and a bit of ethanol. Nice and oily mouthfeel.

Finish: Long and wonderful with warm spice, tobacco, rich oak, sweet caramel and vanilla notes.

Conclusion

When I first nosed Blanton’s SFTB I was a little uncertain and slightly underwhelmed, next I got to the palate and it was very good but a little hot for me making me think Gold was my Blanton’s but finally I got to the finish and understood what all the fuss was about. The nose is good but pretty similar to Blanton’s single barrel whereas the palate had noticeably more oak and spice notes. The finish was phenomenal and is only matched by Joseph Magnus Cigar Blend for me. A little time to open up in the bottle and a couple drops of water sorted out the harshness and left the brilliant finish intact. That said the harshness, likely from being a bit young youth, and simple nose held this back from being a 10/10 for me.

Overall this has become my favorite mashbill 2 expression and possibly my overall favorite rye bourbon from Buffalo Trace. I’ll need to get a sample of a good year of GTS to do a side by side and see!

On another note I added a bit too much water on the first attempt and quenched the finish but eventually dialed it in. I was talking to a fellow bourbon drinker about this later and he suggested cutting it with a splash of regular Blanton’s instead of with water to help preserve the finish but tone down the heat a bit. It worked very well but so did adding just a couple drops of water.

I also ended up with 2 samples of other barrels of SFTB a 130.3 proofer and a 136.6 monster. I’ll just say I’m glad I got the bottle I did an not something with almost 10 more points of proof!

TL;DR: Great bourbon with a truly amazing finish; I prefer it with a couple drops of water or a splash Blanton’s SiB.

3 Stars - Excellent whiskey: I would be willing to hunt down a bottle

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Bonus tasting notes

SFTB with a splash of Blanton’s SiB

Nose: Unchanged, more sweet vanilla and caramel.

Taste: Slightly sweeter and smoother though a bit of the oak and spice are missing as well.

Finish: Just as long and delicious as it was without the splash.