Alight, this wasn’t a tough decision and I’m at Belle Meade all the way. Noses are all pretty similar except U/U smells a bit grainy while the Redemption has a weird savory note to it and Belle Meade is all tobacco and oak. Palate, U/U a little hot and sweet, Redemption oakier and weirdly meaty, Belle Meade balanced with cola and tobacco. Finishes were all pretty similar except a little more oaky on the Redemption.
The U/U is pretty clearly the youngest of the bunch and I can see why the early no-dash Belle Meade CSR bottles are pulling the most on secondary. I also poured a little Remus Repeal II at the end and would generally say you’re best off grabbing one of these for $77.99 at TW instead of chasing any of the bottles in the pic.
Semi-blind tasting coming up between a 2018 shelf turd (batch 15 Belle Meade), the U/U hype machine and the easiest to find barrel strength MGP (Redemption 10 yr). Put your bets in now.
Yeah, I missed on the 99.0 barrel but grabbed a pair of these. Traded one off and almost wish I’d kept both. Older, relatively low proof stuff is on a bit of a hot streak with my tastes currently.
Did some great smoking on pork belly burn ends and Costco prime brisket that I finished off with Boutique-y 24 year Heaven Hill, Widow Jane Lucky 13 Spec’s, Woodford 128.3 and a fresh crack Blue Note 17 year Dickel single barrel from Alamo City in SA. It’s barrel proof 94.5 and surprisingly tasted nothing like any Dickel I’ve ever had. I was calling it a cherry note and my neighbor went with plum, but either way more like a Sazerac product and less like vitamin sadness. A bit steep at $150, but no regrets on opening it with friends to celebrate America.
I don’t mind the regular version, which is somehow roughly equivalent to 4-5 year MGP. Not sure it would rise above mixer in the collection at cask strength so I doubt I’ll pick it up.
Bowman single barrel is so damn good. If you can’t get Blanton’s or Blanton’s Gold you’re really not missing much if you grab a $48 bottle of this off the shelf.
Nothing is more distasteful to me than sitting in lines with flippers. Even waiting for a club drop for ER store picks left me feeling a bit sad about humanity.
I’m not sure it would be worth buying just samples from Still Spirit in the UK, but if you’re just rounding out another order it’s kinda fun. I grabbed the Wm Heavenhill 3rd Edition, 2017 Birthday and 2016 FRSmBLE. The bottles are like scale models with heavy bases and everything. Anyway, the Heavenhill is very nice with a brown sugar nose and just a little nuttiness with an amazing oily mouthfeel.
Completely striking out on the Russell’s 13 year. Almost got a bit stabby today just trying. I really wanted to do a 13 yr showdown with the Widow Jane and a 13 year SAOS sample I have sitting around.
Is there a mercy rule if you’re up by 10 after 6 1/2 and also have 10 HBP even if it’s the tournament? Maybe give it a catchy name like the Fairfield Rule.