Hotel Tango Classified Series Bourbon Brandy Barrel Finish

N: This is not what I anticipated. It's neither particularly sweet nor especially bold. It's oddly vegetal and pepperminty with a hint of white pepper. Not much is happening here. Perhaps a whiff of alcohol. P: This is definitely vegetal. I suspect this is quite young and the brandy barrels are meant to mask that. It has the vegetal flavor of young distillate. It doesn't burn or taste artificial, but it certainly tastes too young to be bottled. I also detect some funkiness that reminds me of PX sherry, but I believe that might just be the vegetal flavor of the young distillate. There is a sweetness here, though, that brings in a fruitiness on the back end with some woody tannins that don't end up too astringent. There's a bit of caramel mixed with orange, but also some funky sweetness that I'm not sure whether to attribute to the distillate or to the brandy (it could be an American brandy, after all). There's a fair amount going on here, but it's peculiar and flawed. This is an unfortunately challenging palate that needs age and refinement. F: The distinct funky flavors fade out, leaving more of a tingling woodiness with hints of orange oil and some mild squash. Perhaps a touch of caramel. Less challenging than the palate and not exactly dull, but still not that great. - Conclusion - This has a bit more flavor than the Hotel Tango Bourbon Ready-To-Drink, but I believe this is simply not as good. The BRTD doesn't have the same youthful flaws, making it a superior product overall. Another dram is also clearly better than this, though it does have more alcohol bite. A third dram has more of an alcohol bite, but it's sweeter with nicer fruity flavors. Side-by-side with this, I'm slightly preferring the third option for the first time. I might be able to justify a high rating for this, but I'm not confident. A fourth dram is more lacking in character and age than this, but it doesn't have the same vegetal funk. Both taste young, but in different ways. I think they're similar in quality, so I'm giving it a high rating. I've gone back and forth, so I believe the rating is spot-on. Revisiting this, the funk is so strange that this might actually be a lower rating. I'm getting this kind of unpleasant vegetal buckwheat flavor that reminds me of a specific Corsair whiskey tried on a tired palate. Still, the fourth dram really does show a lot of alcohol. Maybe I should stick with my original rating. I don't know. This is rough. It's an active struggle to drink. I think that the fourth dram is slightly better, but is this bad enough to be lowered to a lower rating? Perhaps, but I'm not confident enough to make that change, so it will keep its current rating. It's quite borderline, though. Actually, on the final sip, I'm going to lower the rating. I can at least swallow the fourth dram and forget about it, whereas this lingers. Thanks for the sample from a friend!

Subtle sweetness from brandy barrel aging. Pleasant aroma, smooth finish. Is it worth the price? That's for you to decide…