NULU Single Barrel Straight Bourbon

Neat. Neck pour. Party Source pick. 5 year and Toasted Barrel finish! Okay, I don’t need any more 5 year MGP. Aside from OKI and Old Scout, 5 year MGP in 2020 kinda sticks. Just too young and not ready. But this one is toasted barrel MGP and I am a sucker, so here we are... Oh yeah, nice toasted marshmallow. Wow, flashback memory. When I was a kid, my grandma bought these Pinwheel cookies and dipped them into her coffee. They were a marshmallow wheel with a chocolate cookie base covered in a chocolate shell. This smells like those cookies. The marshmallow is there, the dark chocolate cookie is there and the lighter milk chocolate sweet shell surrounds it. Still a young MGP note but it’s really beaten down by the finishing. Little butterscotch but it lacks a typical MGP signature. Nice thick, syrupy mouth feel. Very dark on the tongue, dark chocolate. Little cinnamon. Toasted marshmallow and even toasted coconut for days. Transitions to a nice caramel and then into the chocolate cookie. The legs go back to the toasted marshmallow and that hangs for quite a while. This is yummy. Nice butterscotch and leather coming through on subsequent sips. It’s more identifiable as MGP on the taste, very very slight hint of youngness but the toasted marshmallow and rich chocolate from the finishing is new for a MGP. Well done, worth the $65. Better than Down Home Toasted Batch 1. This finishing not only makes a young MGP more drinkable by sawing off the rough edges, the toasted marshmallow and chocolate add something new to the MGP. That is all I hoped for. I really wish someone would toast a 7 year MGP. I’d pay 80 for the two extra years!

When I was notified I was going to be getting a bottle of some new distillery in Kentucky that I had never heard of and can’t get my hands on other than being in Kentucky, I was pretty excited to find out more about this one. The bottle just arrived and upon further review this is a 6 year 2 month old single barrel # A83 from MGP that comes in at 119.4 proof. Time to crack this one open and find out if it was worth my excitement. On the nose it’s it doesn’t smell hot at all very light starting with notes of poached pears, peaches, apricots and caramelized banana leading to fresh bandages then roasted chestnuts, light oak, leather and barrel spices with light nail polish ethanol burn. On the taste it’s a very light mouthfeel with similar notes from the nose of poached pears, peaches, apricots and caramelized banana with fresh bandages, before some roasted chestnuts, light oak spices and medium nail polish ethanol burn flavor that finishes short with the same notes as the taste. So this is a disappointment, I poured it next to my George Remus single barrel that cost 40 dollars compared to this that cost 80 and it destroyed this. Hopefully this distillery does better with their own distillate in the future but I would pass on this high priced MGP barrel selection.

Nose - pecan, apple, banana bread, cherry, vanilla, caramel, rubber, marshmallow, orange zest, leather, acetone, dense oak, black pepper, brown sugar, cinnamon, clove, cocoa, moderate to high ethanol burn. Taste - sour oak, brown sugar, rubber, apple, toffee, vanilla, clove, leather, lemon pith, allspice, chili pepper, cocoa, cinnamon, moderate to high alcohol bite, finishing medium short with brown sugar, sour oak, and baking spice flavors. Wow, what an anticlimax! The nose is rather pleasant, greeting you with banana bread, juicy fruit, and a rich nuttiness. There’s a rubbery acetone note in the background, but it’s not overwhelming. I was really expecting to like this one. And then I took a sip. That rubber note starts to play a larger, more distracting role. There are still some good flavors that come through, but it’s just so hot and so sour. My mouth actually puckers while drinking it. It’s a bit like sucking on a lemon peel and a chunk of stained oak at the same time. It’s just really disappointing, because this could have been so much better if the quality on the nose continued onto the palate. Thank you to @pkingmartin for the sample, and for giving me an early warning about this one.

Neat. Neck pour. Bourbon Junkies Baking Bread pick. 6 y 2 m. In the nose, Cinnamon toast - sour dough toast. The bottle is called Baking Bread so maybe that is stuck in my head. Powdered sugar. Apricot preserves. Vanilla extract. Lots of rye. There is a hint of fresh grass, but it’s not MGP youngness. It’s the rye I think. Keep getting a nice milk chocolate undertone too. Mouth feel is average. Powdered sugar and vanilla on the tongue initially. Wow, that packs an unexpected punch. The cinnamon sugar and rye spice are so balance and just comes out punching hard. Lots of vanilla. A very nice butterscotch. So sweet. Baking spices and bread notes on the finish. Hint of chocolate and mint linger. Finish stays for a long time, getting a big Kentucky hug. So much butterscotch. Slight nuttiness coming through. This is an intense MGP pour. Mid-palate it just escalates and punches with flavor. It is very delicious but no stand out quality I can hang my hat on. It’s just a really solid pour that turns up the volume half way through. Among the 4 to 6 year MGP bottles I have, this is close to the top.

This brand was introduced to me by my local shopkeeper. Wax seals and western style labels look fancy on the shelf, but it's the elixir inside is what matters. I bought this and the toasted Rye which was not stellar. The sample my guy poured me was nice of this though so let's give it a proper review. Again this one is an A&B barrel. Nose is much nicer than it's wicked sister rye. Brown sugar sweetness is prominent with just a hint of ethanol. We are off to a much better start than the rye. First sip is full of caramel and pecans. A soft cinnamon burn builds mid sip that gives way to a caramel apple finish. For this proof point this bottle drinks much lower with the cinnamon burn never overpowering the flavors. Honestly this one surprised me with how prominent the caramel apple is and it is really quite nice. Overall this is a really good bottle. The biggest issue here is the pricing on these. At 5 years you are paying more for a fancy seal than the brown water inside. I would feel much better about this bottle at $60 than $80.

Conti's Wines & Spirits Single Barrel 124.4 proof, aged 5 years 10 months. Glass: Glencairn, rested 15 minutes. Color: Medium-dark amber. Nose: Sweet with fruity and floral notes. Palate: Cinnamon and bakkng spice, with some oak tannins. Finish: Long and very warm. Splash: A few drops of water changes this immensely. The spicier cinnamon notes are slightly muted, allowing the baking spice and oak and a hint of chocolate to come through. Overall: 9/10 - This is a heavy hitter, and just a little water allows the more subtle notes to shine. Well done!