Stagg Jr Barrel Proof Bourbon Batch 4

Pours a dark amber orange color, long legs. Smells nice, typical oak, caramel, vanilla notes, some spice, cinnamon, molasses, brown sugar, booze not as nose-singing as Booker’s despite the higher proof. Taste again hits those oaky notes pretty hard, some vanilla and caramel, plenty of spicebox, and ah, there’s that booze. Mouthfeel is full bodied, thick, and yes, very boozy. Again, somehow not as harsh as Booker’s, but still pretty hot (as per usual, take my baby beer palate into consideration here). Overall, this is quite nice, maybe a step up from Booker’s but comparable. Beer Nerd Musings: I’m not aware of any beers specifically aged in Stagg Jr. barrels, but then, as I understand it, Stagg Jr. is just barrel proof Buffalo Trace or Eagle Rare, both of which are frequently cited barrel provenances. As you might expect, I think these barrels would do quite well with beer, and indeed, Buffalo Trace won the FiftyFifty Eclipse horizontal tasting I held a few years back. The concept of a sorta baby version of a more prized beer is something that does happen from time to time, though the differentiator is more about the amount of alcohol rather than the age. Some examples might include Great Divide Velvet Yeti (a lower alcohol version of their Yeti Imperial Stout that’s designed for nitro pours) or The Bruery So Happens It’s Tuesday, a slightly lower alcohol (and thus “more affable”) version of the monstrous Black Tuesday. There are probably tons of other examples.