APW #4: The Search

Glass: Glencairn, rested 15 minutes. Color: Medium amber. Nose: Sweet with abundant dark fruit. Palate: Clove, baking spice, some oak tannins. Finish: Long with medium heat. Splash: A musty note appears. Overall: 8/10 - This is difficult to rate given the available details. It's a 10-year-old Kentucky distillate from an unnamed distillery, bottled at 107 proof. For some reason, it's sold in 200 ml bottles and is quite pricey per ounce. I wouldn't have risked buying it at full retail, but the monthly whiskey club offered a significant discount. Even at approximately $65 for 400 ml, it remains challenging to rate, so it's assessed without considering the cost. If someone handed me this with absolutely no information, how would I rate it? A solid 8/10. I suspect it will evolve over time and could score even higher. A few drops of water reveal a flavor I can only describe as funky or musty. What is this mysterious 10-year-old Kentucky spirit? I'm sure we'll eventually find out.

Nose: Quite a good aroma. I detect some maple, pecan syrup, stone fruit, a little orange vanilla, and some warmth. Palate: A little dark fruit, chocolate; mid-palate, I get a fleeting moment of scotch smoke that surprises me. I wonder if there's some Dickel in this. The finish is pleasant, dessert-like and sweet with some oak. There's simply no way I can justify the cost of these two 200ml bottles. I wouldn't pay that even after drinking and liking it. It was part of a subscription from Seelbach's.