Remus Repeal Reserve Series III (2019 Medley)

To change things up, @Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington sent me a series of samples that have either shapes or some code on them to prevent me from being able to know what they are until after I’ve tasted them. Will I mistake a rye for bourbon or completely miss a finish, who knows, but I’m dying to find out so let’s continue this blind challenge with the vial that has a star on it. I wonder if this sample is possibly a favorite as it gets that elementary school teacher’s approval of a well done gold star, but time to open the vial and find out if this project is deserving or not. The nose starts with butterscotch cream cheese frosting followed by fruits of figgy pudding, Granny Smith apple peel, and mandarin oranges that transitions to star anise, cardamom, leather and dusty oak with medium ethanol burn. The taste is a medium mouthfeel starting with creamy vanilla pudding along with cherries jubilee and apple crumble that transitions to dark chocolate black bean brownies along with spices of star anise, dill, saffron, cardamom, leather and dusty oak with medium ethanol burn. The finish is long with cherry flavored red vines, apple crumble, cinnamon red hots, a high percentage dark chocolate, dill, cardamom, saffron, leather and dusty oak that lingers for minutes. Wowza, this definitely deserves that gold star as this is a teacher’s pet project that is damn near perfection!!! There are layers upon layers of flavors that I would find each sip with those classic bourbon notes but with earthy minerality of high percentage dark chocolate and black beans mixed in with exotic spices I never thought to find in bourbon that finishes long and complex. So what on Earth is this masterpiece that got that gold star…… Remus Repeal Reserve III!!! Ok, I am shocked and disappointed in myself for not buying a Remus Repeal now. For the price tag under $100, this is an absolute gem and screaming deal of a whiskey that I now have on my radar for when the next release comes out to make sure to grab one.

Bold statements have been made about this mix of 11 and 12 year bourbons. The bottle isn’t without heart and fancy. The price tag is hearty as well, outpacing infamous 12’ish year bottles of ECBP. First pop of the cork I get cranberry juice and tobacco. In the glass I get dusty leather notes, creamy vanilla icing, cinnamon, fruitcake and still just a hint of pipe tobacco. There’s also a noticeable ethanol singe, more pronounced than what I usually get at 100 proof, but without an associated aroma of ethanol. Oh my, this is leather, an interesting mineral note (different from Dickel, more like fertilizer than flinstones), rich dark fruits, cardamom, a touch of anise and then a long, tingly fade into an oily rich vanilla finish with older, slightly tannic and drying oak notes. This is funky stuff. I’m immediately sold because it manages to do something other bourbons don’t with regard to its spice profile and mineral quality. I’m bastardizing (word?) George T Stagg but if you threw a dusty old quilt atop the fire that is GTS to smother the heat I suspect you’d find something like this! Without the heat this is almost easier to dissect but takes time to do so. I’ve never had a Remus Reserve before. This one sat 3-4 deep for at least the past month on a local shelf and was the lone bottle when I caved and brought it home. I’m incredibly glad that I did. The nose, the texture, the slowly evolving palate and finish are all something special. It drinks like something I’d expect to be older and I intend to work on this bottle over years. If IV is anything like III my hunting spirit is (irritatingly) alive again.

Nose - butterscotch, vanilla, brown sugar, dark chocolate, cinnamon, leather, raspberry, nutmeg, cherry, sweet floral notes, peanut butter, orange, rich oak, moderate ethanol burn. Taste - caramel, vanilla, black cherry, peanut, cocoa, cinnamon, chocolate, clove, apple, black pepper, anise, mint, sour oak, moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium length with caramel, black cherry, and baking spice flavors. Next on my list of George Remus offerings is this third Repeal Reserve release. The nose is very nice with a dense, dark, fruity sweetness. There’s a buttery, nutty chocolate aroma alongside strong baking spices. In short, it’s a solid, rich, fruit-forward bourbon nose. The palate arrives sweet and a bit hot. Many of the same qualities present here. There’s some black pepper, mint, oak, and apple in the mix as well. The mouthfeel is thin and the finish is slightly above average. I wish the palate was as good the nose. This smells so good, but the flavors fall flat and there’s an unfortunate sour note that pervades the experience. Nevertheless, this is good bourbon, but I bet it would have been excellent bourbon at a higher proof and with some older stock in the batch. A big thank you to @Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington for the generous sample! I’ll wrap up the series tomorrow with the fifth Repeal Reserve release.

I should comment on the expert scores but lets just move on. Nose - at first I get some dill, perhaps from the 36% rye mash bill, but thankfully that's fading out. I'm getting cinnamon, heavy vanilla...more like icing on a cake, some fruity notes, hint of tobacco, and some fruity notes. Taste - I need to find a way to explain classic MGP. While I do think there's a touch of dill sour notes. I'm getting all kinds of older whisky notes, the tobacco, hint of leather, a lot of spice, but also younger notes with a bit more heat that you'd expect on a 50% bottle, a bit of youth in the oak, and some funky notes. I didn't love this when I first opened it, but I've gone full circle, this is darn good for the age and I'm pretty happy to have it. I'll let you decide on 85 bucks...that's a bit high for 10 and 11 year old bourbon imo, but we live in strange times with bourbon. 3.5 stars, and extremely high mark for me on a bourbon at this age, but they've really got something here. This is a much more complex bourbon than ECBP or EHT barrel proof, two highly spoken of bourbons. They do have their advantages beyond just barrel proof, but I think MGP really has something with these blends of bourbons and their disclosure.

Even though it was released back in the Fall of 2019, it took me quite a while to find this in my area; quite a few stores still have Series II in stock (which I really liked). The blend changed a bit for this release, with substantially less high-rye bourbon in the mix (only 10% of the blend). Nose -  Classic bourbon notes of caramel, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Also getting some red apples, candied orange peel, black tea, and a hint of dark cherries. There's a little bit of the funky MGP oak note that I like, but it's subtle.  Palate - Mouthfeel was a bit thin. Caramel, oak, baking spices, vanilla lead. There's also an orange note I don't usually find in MGP. Not much in the way of rye spice. Finish is mostly the caramel/vanilla and a bit of cinnamon/nutmeg. It never really hits the back of the palate, just lingers briefly on the front/mid-palate before tapering off. All in all, it's pretty good; but also a bit of a disappointment for me simply because it doesn't live up to my memory of Series II. I'd say it's a softer/sweeter bourbon; more approachable maybe, but it doesn't really have the earthy/oaky notes that I look for in older MGP bourbon.

Taste: Neat, 2 oz. in glen cairn Nose: Black licorice (anise), figs, and vanilla. A very welcoming and decadent nose. Palate: There is a grapiness and sweetness. I get plenty of dark fruit notes, perhaps a black plum flavor coated in caramel. Love the palate. Some will say the sweetness is the flaw, for me it is very pleasing. Finish: longer and warming with a touch of nutmeg and baking spice at the end. The kind of warming that makes you content and not gasping for your lungs. A nice flush in the face feeling. Overall: I did not like #2. It didn't quite fit my profile and I refused to spend 79.99 when so much good cask strength MGP is around. #3 though was different to me. It was sweeter, buttery, coating, and soothing. Everything I like a bourbon to be. Reminded me of dusties. I slept on this one, and my liquorist had to do some arm twisting.....but very glad he did.