Fable & Folly 14 Year Whiskey

Oh Diagio and their never ending marketing dollars. What oh what have I done this time? So this is some old heaven hill distillate with god knows what...but likely some MGP something. So it isn't a bourbon. It is bottled at a hateful 45% and chill filtered to hell just to spite anyone who may still love whisky. But hey...that's some really old whisky and it's got 20+ year old heaven hill in it....and at 160, I guess I'm dumb enough to gamble. Nose - And inviting classic bourbon nose right off the bat. Clean, extreme vanilla, touch of oak, and some caramel character. Deeper inspection will yield a hint of oak smoke, a surprising touch of rye spice, but not a lot more. There's some fruit, but you really couldn't better describe old school proofed down bourbons that used to contain older whiskies than they stated but were chill filtered and watered down from decades of the past. Taste - So there's no character here, the chill filtering and low abv killed that. Still let it sit and sit and sit in your mouth and some spice will come out, good vanilla, good caramel, and yeah there's a nice rye spice on the finish (that isn't the heaven hill). It even leaves what you can call a pretty good finish. Overall this is the most boring orphan barrel I've had, but it's quality whisky at the base that's been just ruined by terrible decisions from the company. 2 stars, great quality spirit that has been forced down to an average whisky by the insanely low abv and the down right idiotic chill filtration. Seriously guys 50% and NCF and you've have a winner on your hands and you could ask more for it without a blink of an eye from anyone. Is this neck pour closed off? Maybe...but I'm not seeing any qualities to make me think that. Sorry big question? Do you buy it? If you want to try old school style whisky and don't mind the low proof and the lack of oils and fatty acids, yeah, buy 3 or 5. But if you think something like what's in my glass right now, the new riff 6 year malted rye is great...pass. This is just too dulled and stripped of character. After further review and tasting. I'm moving this up to a 2.75. The rye spices are coming out more and those are giving it more body and bite. It's hiding the youth and it isn't hiding the older bourbons. Overall, I really appreciate what they got here. It isn't epic and it's a gimmick beyond belief but the whisky is actually good.

Yikes. I was fortunate enough to be near a liquor store that carried Orphan Barrel offerings. Overall, I have thought they were outstanding. Personally, I have had 4 bottles of Barterhouse, 4 bottle of Forged Oak, and Rhetoric 21, 22, 23 (2 bottles), and 25. I also had a bottle of Entrapment. I have also sampled Lost Prophet (yum) and Gifted Horse (limited as a mixer). All were unique and good, except Gifted Horse, which was average at best. The Fable and Folly is disappointing. Admittedly, I had heard that orphan barrel used old stocks of rhetoric and barterhouse and maybe some other offerings as well as an MGP rye. When I found out about this project, I immediately ordered two bottles. I just opened my first and am sorely disappointed. While the whiskey itself is good and above average, all I taste is MGP Rye. It overwhelms the palate and I don’t get any of the older whiskies in the nose or palate. It’s nice and has a nice finish, but you wouldn’t convince me I was drinking a whiskey that had forged oak, rhetoric or barterhouse unless you told me because those notes are not distinguishable within my first glass. I’d like to see the % makeup, because I think you’d be looking at 70%+ in younger whiskies, and not enough of the older stocks. It’s good, but it’s not $150/bottle good. Not even close.

Finally opened the bottle that was staring at me for several months. On the nose, I recognize a note that I normally relate to Rye... a little grassy and minty. This was surprising, as according to various sources, the blend contains whiskeys that with mash that were about 6% Rye. I got a little oak, but not too much, some vanilla, or brown sugar, and maybe tobacco or leather. On the palate, the mint was there, but lightly; species and peppery (maybe), but with a sweetness that smooths things out. The finish was smooth, but a little light and short for me. At 45% ABV, is not too harsh, nor too warm, so it's easy to sip. The whiskey coated the glass very well, Does this means anything? I don't know, but sometimes you hear about "coating" and "legs" and other terms that push people to believe that thicker legs is a characteristic of a good quality dram. Overall, I am not disappointed with this whiskey, considering the price tag. I think is different, good, and easy to sip and what else can I ask for. If the finish was a little longer, it would have been a 4+ for me.

Finally cracking this bottle. Tried neat. Beautiful light amber. On the nares it’s spicy and sweet with notes of red pepper, pencil shavings, plastic candy wrappers, pecan, vanilla, butter pecan ice cream, candy ginger and as I sit here and continue to pull out the aromas I get fruit and blue raspberry candy. Upon first sip it’s initially smooth leaving a slightly hot finish on the palate with notes of fruit, spice, vanilla, oak, and with char being the finishing touches. What a lovely and complex bourbon.

This one is interesting. On my palette, not the typical vanilla and caramel flavors, but oak and some citrus on the nose, the front palette is like sweet, followed by some apricot. Clean profile, not very complex as I did not pick up too much on the mid palette, but a super long and dry finish with more sugar and orange. There are a lots of tannins in here. Fun pour, maybe it will change after sitting open for a few months. After sitting the barrel char is more prominent

Neat: The nose hit me with vanilla, oak, and then followed with a light fruit sweetness, maybe apple or pear. The palate is all leather and barrel spices turning into a strong tannic note on the backend which lingers on the tongue for a long time. Ice: Tried it with an ice cube as well just to see if it would tease out the bit of sweetness that was present on the nose. Stayed pretty oaky just slightly muted.