Heart of Mystic Single Barrel Straight Bourbon

Barrel Number 50 No Age Statement (reportedly 4-5 years) 59.3% alcohol by volume; 118.5 proof Opened 2 years Smell: Dry malt, musty cellar, sharp grain, smoked corn, black pepper, faint caramel, charred marshmallow, moderate oak, and strong ethanol. Taste: Charred wheat, charred corn, charred malt, black pepper, light brown sugar, and oak extract. The finish is moderate with tannic oak, musty grain, and sharp ethanol. This is simply not good, and the price is too high. I bought this before relocating to Cincinnati as a memento of a North Carolina produced whiskey. I clearly made a misstep; I should have purchased a cask strength wheated bourbon from Southern Star. Their farm-to-glass method using local grains from their own land is praiseworthy, but the final product is lacking. It is excessively harsh, spicy, sharp, grainy, and young. It contains virtually no sweet or fruit notes, which is a major drawback with bourbon. There is no age statement like there was on earlier bottles. It used to be 2-3 years, and they eliminated it. Now it is supposedly 4-5 years. The explanation provided by one of the distillers was not very coherent. Why would they remove the age statement for a product that is nearly twice as old as their initial releases? I would strongly avoid this.

Nose: Strong Caramel Butterscotch Earthy notes A creamy quality, reminiscent of plant-based milk Taste: Mouldy Dirt Brown sugar A touch of medicine Barrel 18, bottle 80, 56.3 abv. A curious bourbon. It lacks depth in its variety of tastes, yet the prominent flavors are uncommon for a bourbon. Decent for its likely young age of 2-4 years. It's frustrating that they're not transparent about its origin. I suspect they produce it, but since the label says "bottled by", I'm unsure.

This particular bottle (barrel 13, bottle 70, 57.7% ABV) presents with mottled mint and butterscotch, accompanied by wood and nut characteristics right from the start. I recall a different bottle from last year being significantly better after some time to breathe. I will try this one again.

Barrel 72, bottle 381, 113.9 proof. Very vanilla on the aroma with some charred oak. The flavor consists of cinnamon, vanilla, corn, and oak.

My initial purchase was so satisfying I went ahead and got another. This one is from a different cask, however, and lacks the same deliciousness.

A powerful floral aroma hits the nose first. It finishes smoothly, leaving a gentle warmth at the end.