Larceny Barrel Proof Bourbon Batch A120

Whiskey night October - enjoying an evening on the porch with a friend, a fire pit, a few blind tastings and a few new bottles. All samples from a Norlan glass. Tasting order: Murray Hill Club, Batch 7 The Gifted Horse, Orphan Barrel *Larceny Barrel Proof, A120 Lux Row Double Barrel 12y Garrison Bro. Cowboy Bourbon, 2019 Blinded pour #2. How can this be?? My nose completely deceived me... at first I could swear there was rye bread and clove. I never would have guessed what I was drinking! Color: Medium amber with sparse, medium speed legs. Nose: Tons of brown sugar, rye bread, clove, possibly pralines. Body: Medium to heavy, coating, building warmth but not bite and warm finish in the chest. Mildly drying. Palate: Flavors galore. Up front some vanilla frosted cinnamon roll, clove, brown sugar and then a transition to round 2 with some earthy tea/tobacco and mint Tums before flipping back to toffee sweetness and pumpkin pie spice on the finish. Finish: This was a 3-course meal! Nice evolution of flavor profiles and a coating, satisfying finish for over a minute. Verdict - the first time I saw this it is a price tag of ~$100. Needless to say I passed but knowing what I know now there would be no hesitation in grabbing one at that price. Would be steep (but easily justifies $80 in today’s market) and is an absolute steal at the $50 MSRP. I can’t believe this is a wheated mashbill either. At first I thought this would be a high-rye MGP and still can’t understand how this batch is remotely related to 92 proof Larceny. I’ve been humbled for sure!!

Neat. Opened 6 months. Been a long time since I had this one. I know my first impression wasn’t strong but then it seemed to open up as weeks went by. Time for a more official deep dive with this opened bottle. Getting a lot of cinnamon roll, even down to the vanilla frosting. Little raspberry too. Hint of mint. That’s about it though. Not much depth, not many angles to explore. It’s crisp and nice though don’t get me wrong. Nice creamy texture, total cinnamon vanilla bomb. Being equally assaulted with the spice and sweetness. It is really nice up front. Blast of cinnamon throughout the experience and on the legs. So much cinnamon. On the tail end of the finish there is a second blast of vanilla that is absolutely delicious. One of the best vanilla notes on memory. Those raspberries are starting to come through on subsequent sips. Even getting some Heaven Hill nuttiness on the finish too. The taste won me over. That cinnamon and vanilla one two punch with over the top sweetness is delightful. Geez, I’m going to go back and reread my first impression to see if it’s still the same notes. I think the cinnamon has been persistent but this sweetness and vanilla feel new. I avoided B520 but maybe that was a mistake...

Nose - (w/o water) Oaky vanilla, caramel, charred cinnamon, hint of cherry twizzler, toffee (w/ water) not much change Taste - (w/o water) Bit hot, numbing mouthfeel, buttery vanilla caramel, hint of sweet cherries, gentle cinnamon (w/ water) Greatly reduced heat, slightly more fruit, not as buttery mouthfeel Finish - (w/o water) Lingering hot cinnamon spice, buttery vanilla caramel (w/ water) Reduced spice, cinnamon caramel Score - 86/100 Final Thoughts - This was a good overall bourbon, bit hot as expected, but handled a bit of water quite well. Standard flavor profile, nothing too extreme one way or another. I think it'd be a bit hard to peg this as a wheated bourbon unless you added a bit of water, & that's where I get that nice softer mouthfeel. Otherwise, it was good, nothing off putting, standard "bourbon" profile but nothing complex or amazing about it. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Maybe Would I buy a bottle? - Maybe NOTE - All reviews are done without factoring in price.

On a trip to Florida and four of us are trying four high proof wheated bourbons: Lanceny barrel proof batch A120 and B520, both bottom third Makers Mark barrel stave program with 6 French mocha staves 109 proof, top third Boone County 7yr SiB 122 proof, top third Pretty stiff competition with very close scoring We all appreciate sharing thoughts. One will say "I get ---" and the replies vary from "Yeah, now that you mention it" or, "No not at all" . Nobody is offended by any opinion. A great way to spend the afternoon with ribs on the smoker. This one starts out really hot and took a few minutes to settle out. While it's mostly traditional bourbon fragrances, it's strong on burnt marshmallow and brown sugar. The palate is of pecan pie with bitter edges. The finish is hot and leaves a pleasant brown sugar, marshmallow for a good while. I put this one at fourth and actually rate it more of a 3.9 but there is less than a half point difference across the lot. Two other tasters placed this higher.

The nose is so somewhat hot, full of charred oak, smoke, dark chocolate, and touches of vanilla and molasses. It is very full-bodied and unmistakably wheated, giving you a very tempting invitation. The proof immediately comes across but that is not a distraction whatsoever. The palate is semi-dry and chewy, and starts with a burst of cinnamon, followed by charred oak in just a little bit of cherry syrup. The flavors all pretty much meld together, coming across as slightly astringent. But there is flavor there to discover with each sip in each chew. The finish is long, spicy and hot. The spice lingers and lingers, as the oaky and astringent notes very slowly fade.

Whoa, not the sweetness that I was expecting/hoping for. Instead quite spicy, young dry splintering wood chips. Aggressively dry, small hints of corn bread but hardly worth mentioning. Needs to be said that this is the first pour from my first (and probably last bottle) so no oxygen has been able to mingle inside the bottle. I typically enjoy bourbons more with some time after ‘opening them/up’. I’m sad to say that this is not something I would seek out again. I often suggest regular Larceny to people new to whisky and bourbon but this just doesn’t have the flavor profile that I enjoy.