Yellowstone Hand Picked Collection Single Barrel Bourbon

Hand selected by/barrel name: Some Things Are Meant to B&V Single barrel number: 7945735 Barreled on: 20FEB2018 Proof: 115 Finally getting around to trying the other Hand Picked choice I brought home last month (any chance to pick up another signed bottle, really). This one has yet another confusing name that seems like an inside reference, but is also a touch higher in proof and about 6 months longer in age, depending on the bottling date (I never understood displaying barreling date but not the bottling date), so I have higher hopes compared to the last. As always, the color is beautiful in the bottle contrasted with the deep black and red label, but this one still remains a dark chestnut-brown even while in the glass. The scent doesn't fill the room like some other Hand Picked bottles, but it's still present in the background. Nosing the glass, it's evident the rye is quite strong here, with notes of spearmint and almost a rich, savory fruitiness. There's a potency here, but it seems to come more from the ethanol than the grain, despite the rye putting forward all those strong flavor profiles. The corn is present and is still pretty young, creating the raw, sweeter, almost citrusy notes that the barrel has not had time to round off. The sweetness of the barrel comes around for the finish, injecting some caramel, butterscotch, and vanilla to create an almost overly sweet, but expected body/finish. The initial flavor starts pretty sweet, and stays that way for a while before the young corn creates flavors of citrus and a touch of florality. These flavors seemingly stick around forever, until the proof really builds in the throat around the same time the rye slowly pulses through the front of the gums. The finish is dry and citrusy, and focuses a lot on the flavor of the young corn alongside the aforementioned burn and spice of the rye and ethanol. This Hand Picked is a much better taste than the other bottle I picked up (which I had a little of last night, and still dislike, but you can't win 'em all), but it's overall quite simple. The tasted flavors are iconic bourbon, with the exception of a lack of barrel sweetness in lieu of the young grain. What's shocking is that this ~5 year bourbon easily has the flavor of a ~2 year, making a little more aging not just a necessity, but a question of how much is needed to round off the aggressive corn note. Of course, with this being a specific single barrel, the opportunity to further this is lost, but it does greatly excite me in looking forward to older expressions to come out of Limestone Branch, especially in the 8-10 year range.

Single barrel number 1541 Aged 4 years Exclusively selected by "Ciao Chows!" on 04AUG2022 One of the many bottles that I picked up recently in a lovely (and expensive) birthday trek through my favorite distilleries, Limestone Branch made for half a dozen of those pick-ups, with no regrets at all. Starting from the lowest proof, this single barrel of the classic Select 93 bourbon was selected by one of the distillery's dogs, or more accurately, the handler of said dog. Ciao, I believe, was the pup named after this barrel, and was alongside a cat's barrel pick at the gift shop. If I remember correctly, the pet barrel picks cycle monthly, or perhaps quarterly. As fun of an idea as this was, it's been quite some time since I've ever seen a single barrel of the original Select 93, let alone owned one, but I blame Ohio for that. A very light color compared to other Select 93 bottles I've had, and even lighter in the glass than the bottle. A powerful nose of malted rye and more ethanol than expected are found alongside young corn, but not as raw and unrefined as younger ages would be. Repeated smelling brings up both chocolate and cherry, with just a hint of a floral finish. The initial taste is light and floral, but soon explodes into chocolate syrup, but the classic Hershey's over a smaller company's gourmet sauce. After a few more sips, the rye spice is tasted but just barely sinks into the gum line. The corn also comes around, and although it still tastes fairly young, it's starting to finally mellow out and round off the edges; another 18 months or so would really shoot this to an amazing level. A little more floral flavor surfaces around the finish, where the chocolate flavor from before starts to fall off. The finish itself becomes more and more young and predictable as far as craft bourbons go, but the rye spice does continue to build and a salted peanut note fades in and out. At the end of the day, there's no way I was going to hate this, but as far as single barrel picks go, this is slightly more complex with different flavor profiles than you would get from the batched Select 93, and would be worth, say, $10 more than the original, but probably no more than that. As I blacked out when I purchased everything at the gift shop, I do not remember how much this costs, but do think it's worth having as both a replacement to the batched version, as well as alongside said version for minor comparisons. Still, for a dog, I think this was a paws-itively good pick.

Hand selected by/barrel name: Blake's Juice Single barrel number: 8036 Barreled date: 27JUL2018 Proof: 102 I skipped ahead to the Hand Picked bottles I got just to stack them up next to my other ones on the shelf. While I was at the distillery recently, I tried a huge flight of some past Hand Picked bottles, and while this was on said flight, my palate was shot to hell after something like a dozen plus samples while I was there. So, I picked up both the available Hand Picked bottles at the gift shop so I could try them again here. Having just had a single barrel of the Select 93, I had wondered what the difference was between that and the Hand Picked Collection. Having bought a few of the Hand Picked bottles already, I would guess that it's the same mash bill of the Select 93, just presented at cask strength. With a lower 102 proof and just shy of 5 years aged, I'm guessing this will both showcase fresh grain from the mash while not being too light or raw to be distracting or overpowering. The color is a little light, yet still a tad darker than the Select 93. Cinnamon, fresh rye, toffee, and caramel sauce on the nose paint a fairly classic bourbon picture, but the sweetness really dominates. The small amount of rye in the mash balances the nose well, though, while the ethanol reinforces the spiciness but remains approachable. The initial flavor has a medium heat, with notes of a sour earthiness and burnt toffee. The rye begins to penetrate and fuel the burn through the gums, with the earthiness still present but with notes of unwashed, unshucked corn still on the ear. The finish is incredibly hot, with a combination of cracked black pepper, grass, and cinnamon from the rye, while the body turns slightly dry. After repeated sips, a hint of spearmint appears around the finish. A simple iteration of a classic bourbon mash turns into an end product that simply isn't that good, to my own palate. The earthiness seems out of place here, and is even more off-putting with the strong burn throughout. Even with this upset, it almost increases my love for the single barrel concept, because you can't win them all, and barrels like this mean that there will be good ones on the horizon. Here's to the pick anyway though, Blake, despite your abhorrent use of the world "juice."

VA ABC Store pick, that my wife gifted me for a birthday or christmas one year. The nose has a nuttiness and slight banana to it. Behind this is a dark caramel and a hint of vanilla. The taste shows its full character bringing in a full body of the nuttiness and baking spices behind it. After a few sips I pick up some buttery notes with the banana quietly lurking in the shadows. The finish isn't as long as I would expect from this high of proof. It screams with the nutty flavor. Overall, the nuttiness is a bit overwhelming to the rest of the offering here. It is pretty complex as it goes which a really good thing to have behind that punch of the nut. It doesn't get sweet enough for my sweettooth but it is a good overall.

2/1/23 - Sam’s Special Edition, Single Barrel #7850848, 115 Proof Nose is sweet, typical bourbon, but also has a fairly prominent alcohol presence as well. Not enough to be off-putting though. Sweetness continues on the palate, and turns into a tongue-numbing cinnamon red hot as things finish up. No ethanol this time around, and the flavors in this bottle seem more rich and full. Mouthfeel is medium-heavy, and coats well. Still get the cinnamon in the finish, but it's less numbing and feels more balanced. Very solid bottle! 3/4/23 - Came across this again this weekend, apparently on clearance, @ $26 each! Couldn't pass it up in that price range, so I picked up two!

Barrel # 7849651 115 proof Not much on the nose at first. Burn. Graham cracker. Some sort of burnt fruit I havent completely pinned down. The initial sip had heavy oak. As time went on, it became less noticeable and more came through. Cinnamon. Orange. That orange became more present on the nose. Some cherry as well. Bubblegum. Nice spice notes throughout. The oak appears again on the finish which stays with you. Along with more spice and a malty note. Theres a nice color to it and thickness. It gets better the more you drink this and more flavor comes to the surface. Im especially impressed as the base bourbon is incredibly lackluster.