Review #29: George T. Stagg Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, 2013 release, distilled 1997,128.2 proof, OB

oh no, a lower proof.

Let's open the Stagg first.

I wish I understood how the barrel proof gets higher than the entry proof. That water evaporates faster than alcohol at high temperatures doesn't make sense to me. I thought about coaching my kid to write into the local paper's 'Ask a Scientist' column, but that might end up being more trouble than it's worth.

I thought last year's was a little disappointing. Good, no doubt. It had so many flavors -- the rye spices seemed unusually prominent to me -- and they were all very powerful. It was impressive, but I didn't want to drink it all that often.

This one is delicious. I want to drink it all the time, and it's not going to last long. It doesn't have quite the same power, but c'mon, it's still 64.1%. And it has depth -- it has that old whisk(e)y nose of overripe fruit, spring blossoms, and mellow wood, and everything intermingles. And it still has power: at first I thought it seemed like barrel proof Eagle Rare, but it does have some intense fruit.

nose: butterscotch, corn roasted on a grill, milk chocolate, pipe tobacco, sawn oak and cloves, maple sugar, dulce de leche, lilac and poached orchard fruit, even a little bit of a nutty rancio note -- noses well even neat

palate: corn pudding, tiramisu', cinnamon red hots, leather, red Lifesavers, rye, caraway, orange zest

finish: spicy vanilla pudding, lasts forever

score: 93

much better than last year's! indeed, stunning by any measure.

Review #28: Eagle Rare 17yr, OB, 2012 release, 45% abv

just in time

I've been nursing this bottle for 13 months now, which is longer than I had planned. Just when panic was setting in, I found a bottle of the 2013 release, though. And panic was setting in! This is/was my most irreplaceable bottle -- I don't have and can't get anything else quite like it, which isn't true even of bottles that I in some ways like better.

Nose: every kind of tannic flavor (leather, oak staves, assam tea, tobacco leaves) plus every kind of corn flavor (corn freshly cut from the cob, roasted corn, corn pudding, popcorn) plus creamy vanilla. The first striking thing for me was how fresh the corn notes were in comparison with the mellow old wood.  And after the first impressions, there's a beautiful old-whisky perfume: cherries, honeysuckle, peaches poached in syrup, vanilla custard, and a little cinnamon stick and barrel char -- I have an old Glen Grant a little like that but oakier.

Anyway, it holds up well on the palate -- it's a dry flavor profile but the vanilla and spices keep it all together -- and the finish lasts forever, starting with the vanilla and ending with that ethereal old-whisky flavor. When I first tried this, I thought the proof should be higher, but I think any higher might cover up some of the flavors. It's pretty close to perfect just as it is.

score: 92