Widow Jane 12 Year Straight Bourbon

Two weeks in for stay in place, in NJ /NYC, the new epicenter of nCV19, the little virus that made the world stand still. The little virus that bought global supply chains to its knees. The little virus that sunk our portfolios 25-30%. Two weeks in, working from home, with kids doing online schooling, and the wife and I sharing an office. Two weeks in, and I’m still married; 2 weeks in and the kids haven’t killed each other. 2 weeks in, and the 80yr grandpa living with us is still safe. There’s a few other things to be thankful of besides still being married, and the kids not having killed each other after 2 weeks of close quarter confinement. We still have jobs. We still are healthy and haven’t yet the virus. We will come out of this. One way or another, we’ll be fine. The human race has seen WW1, WW2, Black Death, Three Crusades, and much more...so, we’ll be fine. So this week’s celebratory pour is a 12 yr bourbon made by MGP, bottled by Widow Jane, graciously given to me by my King Of American Spirits buddy @dubz480 . I’ve had one Widow Jane before, an apple wood matured one, which was pretty good...but the VFM wasn’t there. This is similar—-pretty good, but $100 for a 12 yr MGP is a bit high, especially considering you can get a Barrell bourbon for a bit less and at CS. This has classic cinnamon roll, sweet corn taste. A bit light, which makes for a great regular sipper. I still preferred their Applewood one, but this was a welcome pour after another rough week of shelter in place and working the front lines of corporate nCV19 response task force. Thanks @dubz480 for the pour!

Widow Jane 10 was awesome. So what will an extra two years, 4% ABV, and make it a single barrel release do? Quick stats: Barrel#: 19103; Bottle#: 81; Year Bottled: 2017. Let's get into it. Nose: Apple, caramel, brown sugar, cocoa, fudge, toffee, and leather. Ginger, clove, and nutmeg. Orange peel and tobacco smoke. Maybe some raisin and plum. Vanilla. Rye notes; rye bread liquorish with a touch of dill. No ethanol, but there is cinnamon heat. Strong oak presence. Great nose. Palate: Caramel and vanilla. Tobacco smoke, black pepper, black tea. Caramelized apple, apple cider, and brown sugar. A maple note. Rye bread and dill. New car leather and rich oak. Honey and green tea. Cherry cola. Nutmeg, clove, and cinnamon. Awesome. Finish: Apple, brown sugar, and leather. Cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and dill spice. Tobacco and barrel smoke. Solid. Medium-to-long. Solid. Stacks up to the 10, of which I'm a big fan. The spirit of the profile is similar, as you'd expect of virgin oak-aged MGP distillate; yet, it manages to distinguish itself from the 10, let alone the rest of MGP distillate-based whiskies. It's absolutely delicious. Your mileage may vary. At a sale price of $73, I find this is well worth it. That's significantly cheaper than I normally see it. Maybe I got a good barrel, at a ridiculously low price. But based on what I've got here--combined with my experience with the standard 10-year--I'm all in with Widow Jane's brand. Can't wait to see what they can do with their own distillate. 4.75/5.

Appearance: Copper, reddish. It has the look you'd expect of a bourbon that aged 12 years. Nose: The oak was inescapable on this pour. Varnished wood shines through. There is a slight sweetness almost hidden in the nose, but that varnished wood, that dark charred oaky note mixed with pepper and spice are just inescapable. Taste: For my taste this whiskey is over oaked. I prefer aged whiskies that balance spice and oak with sweet vanilla, butterscotch, toffee and maple flavors. For me the Widow Jane 12 brings flavors of raw varnished oak to the table with no sweetness to balance. Finish: Medium. More oak...the oak never stops with this one. Sampled this one in a flight neat in a glencairn. I imagine people who prefer over oaked, dry, tannic whiskies will love this one. It's not for me.

Neat. Opened for quite a few weeks now. Wasn’t planing to leave a review but the nose really grabbed me on this. Tons of honey and graham cracker up front. Then get vanilla and pepper. Salted caramel. Hint of oak balancing it out. Hint of mint on the nose as well. Nice thickness on the texture. Sugar and maple up front. Hits you quick with the honey, vanilla and hint of pepper again. Slight hint of rye. Delicious, dessert MGP. Really good pick by Party Source.

Neat. Party Source pick. Apples, cream and vanilla off the top of the nose. Nice, bright nose. Hint of oak and spice. The type of nose that gets you really excited for a sip. Definitely recognize the MGP of it. Nice mouth feel. Apples and brown sugar initially. Apples and vanilla gives way to that oak and spice. Hint of chocolate on the legs. Nice job Widow Jane and Party Source. I should have grabbed this long ago. Really good MGP.

Had neat. This is powerful, rich in brown sugar, spice and almost a little heavy on the oak...to the point that this tasted like a much older bourbon. The oak makes this a little hotter and heavy in alcohol profile than it actually is. The minerality of Widow Jane is present and this is a robust and well executed product. Enjoyed.