George T. Stagg Bourbon (Fall 2015)

Pours a deep, dark golden amber, almost brown color, nice legs. Smells fabulous, rich caramel, vanilla, oak, notes of spice but this is clearly the low rye recipe. Not that it matters, as this nose just keeps opening up, the sort of bourbon that you can savor for hours on end. After a little water, the caramel softens a bit, feels more molassesey or something, still amazing. Taste hits the rich caramel, oak, and vanilla up front, some spicy, earthy notes too, lots of booze. Water mellows it out some, brings out some sweet notes. Mouthfeel is rich and full bodied, coats your mouth with a long finish, is naturally very boozy, but somehow not as harsh as some bourbons that are much lower in ABV. A little water smooths it out some, at the cost of a little intensity (though you kinda have to at some point, and it’s still pretty amazing). Overall, this is pretty spectacular stuff… Beer Nerd Musings: For all the hype about Pappy barrel aged beer, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Stagg barrel aged beer. They exist, of course, but they seem few and far between. Evil Twin made a Stagg barrel aged Belgian Pale Ale, which seems like a tremendous waste. In fact, I can’t seem to find any of the more prized BA styles like stout or barleywine, but it does seem like a ripe market for the taking. I guess you could say these are just “Buffalo Trace” barrels, which might work. These are definitely used a lot with beer, and usually turn out quite good, as evidenced by the win in the FiftyFifty Eclipse horizontal tasting. Also pretty tough to beat Buffalo Trace Barrel Aged Black Magick (though the Pappy Black Magick did, I think). Personally, I don’t think I’d use this for homebrew. Seems like a crime to do anything but drink this whole bottle, neat (and, you know, with a little water).

Finished the bar bottle at Frank Grisanti's in Memphis 6-17-16. Big but not HUGE like W Larue W. Nose was brown sugar and almost cedar instead of oak. Light on citrus with surprisingly little red fruit. Taste was full with expected burnt molasses and nutty almond. Hint of tangerine and light baking spice. Long and strong finish with white pepper sprinkled over caramel pie w/chocolate. Drank neat because I was searching for certain familiar flavors that never surfaced? Below the 14 on my score and no match for the 14 WLW. I'll do a 88 only because I paid so much! :)

This was my second pour at Chimes and did not disappoint. Despite the high proof, the nose was loaded with vanilla, brown sugar and the perfect amount of oak. I can't say enough about the nose, it is was wonderful. The mouth feel is just about as good as it gets, thick and chewy loaded with heat and pepper. Great bourbon. Paid $26, asked for a single pour, the sweetheart at the bar gave me a double +!!

I could never give my location to this amazing bar because bartender just won some amazing award, crap. Tried neat. Hot on the palate. But delicious. I’ll come back to it. Does anyone else struggle with being at the fanciest place and hanging with friends? Can’t rate this right now. See ya!

Neat, this whiskey will f*ck your face. Dry oak blankets the show, but plenty of standard bourbon notes are also to be found: vanilla, caramel, toasted corn, and brown sugar. This is a superb American whiskey, bumped down to four stars because the price is laughably high.

Hot hot heat. I actually really liked this years version though not quite as much as 13. Just the hype and price keep me away, and either 01 or 03 bookers 2015 still wins (and is 60$ and no hassle)