u/vicelordjohn

I love this stuff, been drinking it for years.

The flavor profile on SRW is baked goods and honey. I love it.

Anybody else have a thing for this stuff?

I was chatting with someone earlier about these two and which one is better. Which tastes like pickles, etc.

Willett 4-yr green top eye I bought last year at Costco for about $65. It has a nice nose

Nose: call me crazy but this one smells like liquid brown sugar or creme brulee. I get caramel syrup from the dispenser at Golden corral vibes.

Palate: instantly comes across as bright and fruity but turns into a mess of vague vegetal and pine flavors. After a moment on the back of the palate I get dark sugar marshmallow. It's a roller coaster for me.

Finish: it's shortee than I'd like and there's a weird moment of pineapple and green apple.

Overall: I don't hate this whiskey but it's a bit all over the place for me. I love it then I hate it, repeat. I would buy this again at Costco price.

Smokeye Hill 5-yr blow corn rye. This one is about $80 at the local Total Wine.

Nose: needed to open this guy up a bit to really get a good feel. The first few nosings were sharp but after 10-15 minutes it turns into an oaky vanilla pickle. I dig it.

Palate: hits me with confectioners sugar, rye spice, some drying qualities and then some pickle. The first three sips were very harsh, very drying and quite bad. 15 minutes needed for this to open up. I like it quite a bit.

Finish: the pickle finally wears off and I start getting an Italian seasoning note. This is a pretty good finish that sits in a candied pickle like state.

Overall: this is a really interesting pour and I like it more for the fact it's unique than it is good, I think. Don't get me wrong, it's good and worth ordering at a bar to see if it fits your palate but at the MSRP it's likely to fall flat for most people.

Winner: for me it's the smokeye because it's such a unique vibe and the nose, palate and finish are consistent with a very long finish.

Meanwhile Total Wine is still holding this stuff back for grand reserve members to wait in line in a parking lot.

Allow me to introduce my newest RC bottle from Flagstaff, AZ.

This is the first HRC I've seen in the wild, it's also not on their barrel breakdown so I'm a little lost. I do know a few things:

$110

10 year 9 month MGP high rye - 60/36/4.

A friend who lives up there picked it up for me and I've been waiting a month to get it. Needless to say the stoke level is high.

The nose on this one is creamy. Cream soda. A lot of sweetness from molasses and creme brulee. It's fantastic and I can't wait to taste it.

It's very sweet on the palate. Those bold, dark sweetness notes come through as a pancakes with syrup note to me. It's quite good. There's oak tannins on the back.

Finish is very long. The flavors get pretty intense, to be honest. The cream soda eventually made a return.

I buy almost every Rare Character I see and out of the 24 (current count) this one is probably top 5.

I love what these guys are doing.

What's your favorite RC bottle?

The much loved TKO is great but I dig the K13 and HF13 bottles most.

Three of us there at opening, this probably will sell out quick.

11-Year Green River. The cellar's and Sam's BRW picks were great, excited to drink this one!

Nevermind my girlfriend's Subaru 😂

First time seeing this new Buffalo Trace product. It's pretty good, kind of on profile for BT. It's a little more caramel and oak than ER but otherwise it seems like a really similar product.

Bought a Charter Oak today so I had to make room on the BT shelf.

RIP and thank you for your service.

I have three bottles from Dream Spirits and they all have this in the bottom. When it floats around it dissipates a bit, there's a lot of it.

17-year age stated Diagio blend with a great label and a bullshit story about finding these long lost orphan barrels.

Widely believed to be Barton and Early Times. This one smells nice enough, kind of an old dusty. I get this weird minty thing on the palate and a lot of oak. It's heavy on the oak.

To the guy earlier asking if this is a good buy I am here to tell you no. No, it is not.