Heaven's Door Redbreast Master Blenders' Edition

The nose starts with a rich butterscotch caramel then fruits of chocolate covered raisins, cherries jubilee, caramelized white peaches and candied orange peel followed by peanut brittle, light barrel spices of cloves, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, leather and polished mahogany with medium ethanol burn. The taste is a viscous mouthfeel starting with rich caramel and fruits of figs, sour cherries, orange zest and lemon meringue followed by peanut brittle and bubble gum before a medium pepper spice comes in mid palate that slowly fades revealing dark chocolate and light barrel spices of ginger, cloves, nutmeg, leather and polished mahogany with medium ethanol burn. The finish is long with chocolate covered raisins, orange push-pop, peanut brittle, gingerbread cookies, a light spice, leather and polished mahogany. This is a complete masterpiece and manages to combine bourbon, Irish along with slight sherry notes to create a balanced and complex whiskey. From the first nosing of this you are greeted with bourbon notes up front, but can tell there is something different about it with the Irish whiskey adding a subtle lightness to the normal bourbon profile. The taste is similar to the nose with the bourbon notes blending harmoniously with unique Irish notes until that spiciness I get from Redbreast 12 cask strength appears in a lighter form mid palate that then fades away revealing some sherry influence with dark chocolate and balanced wood that finishes with all those wonderful bourbon, Irish and light sherry notes that linger and continue to reveal additional flavors for minutes after each sip. These cost $100, which might seem like a lot for a 10 year bourbon, but this comes together with more complexity and depth than their $500 Heaven’s Door Bootleg Series Volume 2 which was a 15 year bourbon aged in older rum casks. If you’re a fan of bourbon and Irish whiskey, you will want to grab one of these before they sell out as I grabbed two based solely on the review from @dubz480 and wish I grabbed more. Huge thanks to @dubz480 for putting this one on my radar, as I never would have purchased this otherwise and would have missed out on this incredible whiskey.

Rating: 17/23 N: Light and kind of tart. Some woodiness builds, but it's still kind of light. More dusty funk starts coming out of the wood. Some dried granny smith apple chips. P: Wood, spices, somewhat dusty. It's a bit lighter than I might have expected without smelling it first, then a little oil and some sweet, light fruits including plenty of apples, Some light vanilla notes and light caramel sweetness. A little bit of a rye spice character too. It's not as light as I.W. Harper 15, but it isn't as full as George Dickel Bottled In Bond or Resilient 15 Barrel #124. This tastes more complex and mature than Russell's Reserve 10 does, the Russell's is richer, and I don't really consider it to be a very rich whiskey. I get a bit of rye tartness that makes me think of Belle Meade Reserve, but I prefer the Belle Meade. F: Numbing wood spice with some dustiness and some of the fruit overlay with vanilla, but less sweet and tart than it was before. It's lasts a long time and showcases the maturity here. Some papery vanilla goes well into the long finish. - Conclusion - This strikes me as inferior to Resilient Barrel #124 and more in the range of the first release of George Dickel Bottled In Bond, but better than Russell's Reserve 10 and I.W. Harper 15. There's quite a bit of complexity here and it's very good, but it seems kind of like a a fight between the mature bourbon and fruity, tart finishing cask a lot of the time. I'm looking at a 15 to 17. It might push an 18 at moments, but I think I'd generally take Wild Turkey Rare Breed over this. The shame here is that there's some great complexity but the marriage is wanting. I'd love to leave a half-full bottle of this on my shelf for a year or two and see how it develops. My guess is that it would be substantially better at the end. I'm going to go with a 17 right now. This was a really fun one to try and it was darned tasty, but I don't think it's quite hit the mark for me. Thanks @pkingmartin for the sample!

N: Toasted corn, burnt wood, dark red fruit, an orchard in fall (dying leaves and fresh fruit), chalky minerals/vitamins. Bit of an ethanol burn to this one. Caramel, toffee, buttered corn all released on a hard swirl. P: Sweet corn, toasted oak, vanilla, red fruit. Very spicy, and in a way that feels like a mix of a hot bourbon and Irish pot still spices - it's an angry cinnamon candy that's being (barely) restrained by rounder baking spices. Big, thick caramel/brown sugar note develops after a few sips - it's like sucking one of those Werther's candies. Hint of butterscotch there too. Lot's of rye-like grain and herb notes too: some mint, tarragon, anise, and some others. Finish starts with those herbal notes, but quickly returns to that biting heat once the herbs fade. There's a dusting of dark chocolate with some bitterness just before the hot cinnamon candy closes this out. I actually found this one kind of uninspiring. I had hoped for a bit more from the Redbreast casks. The Irish notes are there, but I think they're largely overpowered by the big bourbon barrel spice of the underlying juice. I don't know exactly what I should have been expecting, but I was hoping maybe a bit of that classic RB coconut would get through. I also find this a little tough to assess because I don't know the Heaven's Door line - this is the only one I've tried thus far. Last word: I can't really think of any of the "finished" whiskies I've tried that have justified a huge price increase. I'm not sure what the standard 10 year HD runs, but this feels like one of those bottles that gets a fancy finish, doubles its price, but just can't bear that uptick. Either way, I think this is an okay to good bourbon that costs way too much.

A timely pour sent by @jonwilkinson7309 , which I took with me on a 10 day hiking trip through the Utah National Parks and Grand Canyon. This was such a welcome treat after a few days of going down the rim of the Grand Canyon. I’m sure having this at the bottom of the Canyon after a tedious hike, looking at the Colorado river, adds to the positive experience and scoring. Probably a top 5 bourbon of the year—-and priced relatively affordable at about $100. It’s not cloyingly sweet, but you do get sugared cookies on the nose, followed by sweet plums , oranges and berries on the palette. Really well balanced. I shared a small portion of my pour with a fellow hiker at the bottom of the Canyon. He put aside the Jim Beam he was having and asked me if he can buy my entire sample. ( not selling...it’s all mine !) Goes to show how good this is. Buy a bottle while it’s still priced around $100...you won’t regret it. Thanks Jon for the treat, which turned out a much needed respite after a 12 hour hike down the Canyon.

If you're wondering the answer is yes - it tastes like someone took a robust Tennessee whiskey and mixed it with an Irish whiskey. So on the palette, you've got the Heaven's Door heat right in your face, with wood/spice notes. but as it goes down the hatch... The heat dissipates quite a bit and you get the Redbreast smoothness (and if I had to guess, this would be a Redbreast 12) with a hint of vanilla. But to me it came in waves and not all at once which was interesting. Ultimately I imagined this would be some new and insane tasting profile; a happy marriage with little heat/spice. But no it literally tastes like someone mixed bourbon and Irish whiskey in a barrel then bottled it. I imagine if you did that at home it would taste fairly similar. Didn't hate it at all, just saying this isn't a new bold frontier of whiskey.

1/4 of the way down and the bottle has been open a few days, poured into a Glencairn. On the nose, one of the more complex bourbons I have had, definitely notice the redbreast influence. I'm getting almost a walnut, red apple, butter cookie with classic bourbon notes in the background with a little funk, which I like. I agree with the expert review on the palate being full and rich and almost a sweet and salty bread, but not as sweet as I was expecting. The finish is a long cinnamon spice with a slight drying feel on the tongue with each taste, kind of like when you have dark chocolate. I am very much enjoying this and love having such a unique bourbon in my collection. My wife enjoyed the nose and palate but thought the finish was too spicy, but she loves Irish more than bourbon anyways.