Doc Swinson's Alter Ego Triple Cask Straight Bourbon Finished in Sherry & Cognac Casks

Neat. Neck pour. Release 21-006. Sucker for finished MGP, so here we are. At $65, it was worth a gamble for the Sherry and Cognac combo. That price point typically means 4 to 5 year old MGP though, which can be hit and miss. No age statement on this. On the nose, I would say this has quite a bit of four year MGP in the batch. The finishing is hiding the bite but not the grain. I think the youth / finishing combo also gave this MGP a nutty undertone which is atypical for MGP. I am getting this white chocolate too, so combined with that nutty note is like a white chocolate peanut butter cup. Very buttery with a bit of dark honey. Hint of graham cracker. Blast of cherry preserves. This is a fun one to break down. It has layers. Mouthfeel is light and fluffy, oily too. Holds up despite the lower proof. Immediately the finish shines through from the moment it hits the tongue. Sweet preserves, swaying towards strawberry now. Bright vanilla. Brown sugar. Mid palate is this cool blast of grape soda mixed with dark honey. Graham cracker emerges there too. For the most part, there is no break or transition between mid palate into the finish. Those same flavors just carry through. There is a moment when you think the finish will die but it comes roaring back (same flavors as before though). This is a nice, fun easy sipper. The finishing elevated this young leaning MGP and pretty much dominates the experience. The flavors are driven by the finish but the MGP still does well brining that honey into the mix. I need to compare this to Joseph Magnus. Top of mind the Magnus would be superior (though $20 more). You never feel the youth on Magnus like you do here. With that said, I really enjoy the flavors from the finishing here. I feel like those are more subdued on the Magnus despite Magnus being 100 proof. I’d be tempted to get another one, especially if the blends are comprised of more 6 to 8 year on average.

This will be an interesting one. Nose - Oddly high alcohol notes coming through, this is 47.9. A buttery kinda creamy wine cask element. The predominate element is this berry note. I'll go back at some point on this but really cool fruity and sweet casks, but you can already tell this has young MGP bourbon in it. I know zero about the ages here but it's got MGP that's not old enough. Taste - Ok so a bit thin. OK so nice PX sherry comes in, nutty XO, and young bourbon. I like the wine casks, I like the creamy mouth feel. But god you can't get past that MGP needs 10 years of age. I really think the wine casks here do a great job of hiding some of the youth, but this comes up short. All and all if you were to compare this to jos Magnus, this is comically worse, but this is a nice and offers a more creamy easy drinking offering. The real question on this is how does it do with ice? And like all MGP that's too young, gotta love how it takes on ice. What's fun is the wine casks start giving me oloroso elements. It's much more enjoyable. All and all this would be great 50 bucks, it's 65. It's fun and different. But god I wish they'd used older MGP. That would make all the difference as I think they used really fun casks. 1.75. Not a guilty pleasure at all. But I hope you normally drink better.

Let sit for about 5 minutes. 👀: Rich coppery-red tones with some sparkly hues, nice thick legs, tears after a little agitation; 👃: If you didn't know it you'd think you were sniffing a nice cognac (very strong influence here and we're not talking Hennessy here lol), no bourbon scent whatsoever, beautiful sweetness; 👅: Immediately the bourbon influence shines forth, thick and chewy, caramel corn sweetness abounds, spicy at the back end with sweet peppery notes, then the chocolate sweetness takes over, honestly the flavors change from taste to taste; 🏁: Beautiful finish, you can still feel the thick texture of the oily bourbon, this is one beautiful chameleon 🦎

NEAT NOSE - Caramel, Honey, Blackberry/Raspberry Jam PALATE - Decent mouthfeel but leans towards being more thin than viscous if that makes sense. No oak presence. The main notes here are caramel and honey supplemented my faint notes of berries. It’s pretty sweet and very smooth. FINISH - Short. BUY? - I’m torn. I like this, but I don’t love it. I think at a higher proof I’d like this much more. However, if you really enjoy bourbons finished in these casks, I’m sure this will be right up your alley. In my opinion, the proofing down of this one hides too much of the influence of the finishing casks. BUY AGAIN? - No, but maybe at cask strength.

Highly Spivey nose with a dark fruit undertone. Cognac dominates the palette up front with that spice. Some light sherry undertone. The finish flattens quickly. Some spice tones longer, but it lacks complexity. Not a bad outing if they were trying to save some bad distillet with multiple finishings, but certainly not a home run.

I may be a sucker for cognac-finished whiskey (Jos A Magnus, Sagamore Cognac, Glenlivet 14yr, Brenne), but this stuff is VERY good! Layers of complex flavors from both the sherry and cognac finish gives this an extraordinary amount of depth. Hell of a deal at $50 found at Costco.