Larceny Barrel Proof Bourbon Batch B520

N: Butter and caramel. Huge butter scent, actually: toasted butter in a cast iron skillet, buttered corn, buttered bread... Lavender, shaving soap, wood stain, strawberry, bacon soaking in maple syrup, black licorice, caramel coated red fruit. Plenty of ethanol, but doesn't feel quite up to the proof. Some wood scents: fresh cut lumber, sawdust, very distant campfire/burning wood. A really nice raspberry note develops after it's been in the glass for a bit. The raspberry tends to merge with the butter and maple syrup, soften it, and turn it all towards a raspberry vanilla cream. That, in turn, is punctuated with black licorice hits - which I would not have expected to be complementary to the raspberry, but it is here. It is an incredible nose. It comes across a little young and mildly harsh at times, but it really keeps giving and giving and giving. P: Caramel and vanilla first. Oak tannins, then both wood and ethanol burn. Straight drinks a bit too hot for my taste. Has that melt on the tongue feeling (ECBP has it too). Rocks glass, two cubes, just enough whiskey to float them, and then wait for them to melt - this seems to be where the palate works for me, but it blunts the nose, unfortunately. Cubes are good and melted now: caramel and vanilla are still there. Honey is added. A very raw feeling cinnamon joins - it's like how a cinnamon stick smells before it's ground down: full of potential. Raspberry returns, but all by its lonesome now. Black licorice, mint and menthol, some herbal tea notes. Still lots of oak flavor and bitter tannins. Letting it sit on the tongue a very long time - long enough to warm up - adds some baking spices, some bready, baked goods notes, a healthy dose of chocolate powder, and a hint of coffee. Finish is very long with cinnamon burn and tannin pucker sitting on the sides of your tongue for what feels like a couple of minutes after your last sip. Hint of chocolate and honey in there too. Almond and peanut are suddenly noticeable as the spice fades. Last note is a hoppy, herbal bitterness. Picked a big one for review #99. No idea what's going to be #100 yet. I have to say, on the whole, I don't really like this whiskey. The nose is incredible, but drinking it takes effort, planning, thought. If you ice it, as I did, then you lose a lot of the nose. Maybe experimenting with varying amounts of water would yield better results for both nose and palate, but I've got other whiskies to drink - I don't really care enough about this one in particular to try and draw out all its nuances. Neither do you, probably. I love uncut, cask strength, barrel proof, untouched, unadulterated, whatever-you-want-to-call-it whiskey. But this is one that probably could be improved if someone in-house, with lots of time to tinker (on the company dime, obviously), could find exactly the spot where the nose and palate work together as a cohesive whole. Is that cut down to 55%? 50%? 46%? I don't know, because I don't like math that much and, as stated above, don't care enough to figure it out for this one bottle in my collection. The point, ultimately, is that the barrel proof here is not doing this whiskey favors - it needs to be cut, likely at a very specific ratio, and Larceny (Heaven Hill) was kinda lazy in not doing that. Think about Russell's Reserve at 55% - why? Why not just barrel proof it? Because someone took the time to think about it, taste it, test it, and decided it was better when cut to some very specific degree. Same is true here, but Larceny decided to let you do that work (or not). I can see some people appreciating that. I can also see how that looks like an attempt to cash in on the barrel proof trend. Whatever it is, it worked. See Whisky Advocate, Winter 2020, p. 61. On the whole, I would pass on this at what I paid. At normal retail, maybe two bottles gets you a good shot at finding an excellent balance of water to whiskey with just enough left to enjoy. But I'd rather just drink another whiskey than put in that effort.

LARCENY BP B520 *NOSE: Pours into the Glencairn a nice dark mahogany color. Maple. Caramel Praline Peanuts. Dusty Oak. Dry Toast. Hay. Just a Hint of Orange Peel. A little bit of Stinging Heat. *NEAT: I find that standard Larceny drinks hotter than its proof. I wouldn't go so far as to say this drinks hotter than its proof, but it drinks every point of its 122.2. Thick and Clingy Mouthfeel. I get that "Larceny Vegetal Sweet Potato Note" I always get. Brown Sugar. Cinnamon. Dry Roast Peanuts. Much too Astringent Oak. A rather long finish with a nice KY Hug. An Iced Tea Sweetness coats the palate along with some Bitter Tannins. *SPLASH: Brings the Vegetal Note to the nose and amps up the Peanut on the palate. I do think this will do well with a large cube of ice or paired with some Angustoras for an Old Fashioned. *VERDICT: This has some faults (overly hot/overly tannic) but is overall a decent Bourbon. My issue here is that I don't care for it any more or any less than the standard offering, whereas I find Maker's Mark Cask Strength, WT Rare Breed, ECBP, Booker's, etc. to all be significant upgrades to their proofed down siblings. For a Cask Strength Wheated Bourbon, I'll take the MMCS for the same $50 over this one every time.

On a trip to Florida and four of us are trying four high proof wheated bourbons. About half way through, I was reminded how I sometimes have difficulty with the high proofers with my taste buds and nose adversely affected. The Larceny pair were first tasted but I went back to re-try MM and BC. The rankings held but I still feel the BC will improve. The tastings: 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. Mildly hot on the nose but there's sugar wafers and maple in the background which evolves with open time. The palate is heavy on vanilla but there's maple and brown sugar and little alcohol. The finish is but moderate length with maple and oak The group was unanimous that this was the favorite. There was a great nose and palate, well balanced with a good finish while drinking below its proof.

Larceny BP 520 has a fantastic nose. It has several different scents all the way from vanilla to worn out leather and tobacco leaf. There is Carmel, sweet butterscotch, apple peel and cherry on the nose as well. The palate is quite complex and somewhat spicy for a wheated bourbon. The palate starts with nutmeg and cinnamon which I normally get in the finish on most bourbons so it’s interesting. Then carmel, toffee, salted peanuts and maple syrup take over before a finish of leather and vanilla with some slight barrel spice and a warming Kentucky hug appear. The experience is enjoyable and unique in that it’s not near as sweet as I thought and gives off a great nose. The finish is pleasant and strong like you would expect but the mouthfeel is excellent! The oak tannins on the back end are present but held in check to my preference.

Larceny Barrel Proof is a wheated bourbon limited to three releases per year (A-January, B-May, and C-September) by Heaven Hill Distillery. It is a non-chill filtered bourbon botted at full barrel proof. In the case of B520 it was 122.2 proof/61.1% ABV. The tasting was hot throughout but the sweetness from the wheat mashbill evens it out. Its not the greatest wheated boubon, but a good alternative to the hard-to-find Weller series. Color: Dark sepia On the nose, the alcohol aromas are clearly present from the beginning but after some time nosing notes of maple, honey, butterscotch, caramel, and brown butter arise. The palate is very spicy but with nice notes of caramel, brown sugar, cinnamon, and charred oak. The finish is long and heated with some fading sweetness and toasted oakiness.

It’s definitely big. Kinda reminiscent of the Elijah Craig BP that just blew my doors off, but not quite that intense. On the nose, it’s very bright and fresh, floral, giving some copper and cherry notes as well as a steady stream of ethanol. On the palate, there’s a lot going on. Ethanol first, then cherry and oak spice, some mint, a slight breadiness, more of that freshness from the nose with some herbal notes, more ethanol. Then from the tail of the midpalate on through the finish, drying cinnamon (a la Hot Tamales intensity), some slight chocolate notes, and then ethanol reverberation. I’d be interested to try once it’s oxidized a bit.