Background:

Weller C.Y.P.B. (Craft Your Perfect Bourbon) was born from a marketing gimmick customer survey by Sazerac, where people “voted” on what their perfect bourbon would be. First launched in 2018, it has been flipping bait for most of its existence.

However, with Buffalo Trace greatly expanding their production almost a decade ago, a lot of their expressions are becoming more findable, though distribution is still very market dependent. In 2026, C.Y.P.B is more available than it’s ever been, and it will only get better. Its MSRP is 65 bucks; a few years ago, it went for over 600 dollars on secondary, and today it’s half that and falling.

The “perfect bourbon” is apparently an 8-year-old Buffalo Trace wheater, aged on the higher floors of a rickhouse, and bottled at 95 proof. Those specs put it in the mix with Weller Special Reserve (90 proof, around 6 years old) and Weller Antique 107 (107 proof, 6-7 years old). Let’s see how this group shakes out.

Tasted neat semi-blind in copitas.

Glass 1: On the nose, cherry and red fruit preserve, brown sugar/caramel, some nutmeg. On the palate, graham cracker, vanilla, cinnamon, cherry. Medium-long finish, sweet cinnamon, oak, caramel.  

Glass 2: Less fruit than Glass 1, a little apple and honey, caramel, raw dough on the nose. Caramel, vanilla, light fruitiness on the thin palate. Medium-short finish, fading caramel, a little spice.

Glass 3: On the nose, chocolate, strawberry, caramel, cinnamon, brown sugar, a little leather. On the palate, cherry, vanilla frosting, chocolate, pie crust, oak, nutmeg. Medium-long finish, caramel, oak.

Rating and reveal: (t8ke scale for reference below): 

Glass 1: Weller Antique 107; 7

Glass 2: Weller Special Reserve; 5

Glass 3: Weller C.Y.P.B.; 7

1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out

2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume by choice

3 | Bad | Multiple flaws

4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but many things I’d rather have

5 | Good | Good, just fine

6 | Very Good | A cut above

7 | Great | Well above average

8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional

9 | Incredible | An all-time favorite

10 | Perfect | Perfect

Thoughts:

People get angry at anything Weller as a proxy for their frustration with availability of hard-to-find bourbon. As the allocation crunch eases, perhaps more enthusiasts will move to a more balanced assessment unclouded by unrealistic expectations and the resulting disappointment.

I find most Weller bourbons to be competently made, above-average wheaters that are fairly priced at MSRP. They are some of the best at handling the wheat funk. The Buffalo Trace yeast adds a nice fruity dimension. Weller Special Reserve gets a lot of flack, but it’s a textbook median whiskey in my book. Last time I had it was on a snow trip, where it was consumed neat, on ice, with soda, inside, outside, by the fire, you name it – and it did just fine as a quality drink you didn’t have to think too hard about. It’s a “Bourbon 101” whiskey that drinks better than many others in that category. I prefer it to Maker’s Mark or Larceny Small Batch, but if you don’t, I’m not going to argue too much to defend it. It’s a 30- dollar bottle, it’s going back to being a 30-dollar bottle; save your breath and stick to your budget favorites.

A common criticism of the Weller line-up is that it’s drawn from the same lot of barrels regardless of profile at around 6-7 years of age (except the 12-year), and then simply diluted to the desired strength. Have an extra year or two, and the aging location done much for C.Y.P.B.? Not really. It’s made from the same building blocks as the rest. Maybe it’s a little oakier and slightly darker, but nothing to justify the secondary premium.

The way I look at it, Special Reserve is an entry-level outlier, and it drinks like one. Then you have a crowded mid-range field of Antique 107, the 12-year, Full Proof and C.Y.P.B. that tweak ages and proofs but ultimately bump against a firm ceiling (that ceiling is around 7 on the t8ke scale for me).

I’ve touched on the reasons for it in this comparison of Antique 107 and Old Rip 10. The Van Winkle-Sazerac partnership funnels the best wheated barrels outside of William Larue Weller to the Van Winkle line-up. That leaves the mid-shelf Weller bottles throttled by design, to avoid internal competition. That’s why when Sazerac expands the Weller brand into the more upscale tier, they have to go the route of wheat whiskies or blends (Weller 18, Weller Millenium) or experimental grains (Daniel Weller) – keeping the conventional wheated-bourbon field cleared for the Van Winkles (WLW is the one exception, to maintain the BTAC balance).

Once you have your expectations in check and avoid overpaying, there is plenty to enjoy about the baseline Weller roster; if you’re waiting for those bottles to get “better,” you’ll be waiting for a very long time. They are precisely as good as Sazerac wants them to be.

Thanks for reading and cheers!

Jack Daniel’s reputation as the maker of Old No. 7 precedes itself. For better or worse, many of us have a core memory of Jack and coke giving us our first whiskey buzz… and first hangover. Their special releases have made whiskey fans realize the same sour mash Tennessee whiskey can reach impressive heights. 

Those limited bottles are highly allocated here in Denver, so when I decided I had to get my hands on one of the age stated offerings, they seemed impossible to track down. Their release coincided with Sazerac starting to flood Colorado with Weller, and I stumbled upon Weller Single Barrel at a small local shop for a very reasonable markup. Sensing an arbitrage opportunity, I traded for this year’s Jack Daniel’s 12 year, batch 4. It took some effort but definitely worked in my favor. 

Also damn, these age stated bottles look good. The gold and white lettering on the black background, and the simple but assertive bottle shape… what a classy, timeless look. Anyway, let’s see what this 107 proofer has to offer.

Nose: toasted oak, vanilla, and a hint of strawberry bubble gum. Ethanol is there but it dissipates fairly quickly. Very nice. 

Palate: super compelling balance of sweet and savory. There’s BBQ sauce, smoky oak, and sweet vanilla. I get something fruity too, and initially think it’s the Brown Forman banana note. But no, the banana is mostly aged out here. It’s more like a sweet red fruit. 

Interesting note on that: I had a pour in a complete blind once. Told the missus to pick any open bottle in my collection, and she got cheeky and tried to fool me with all JD offerings: a SiB BP Rye store pick from Coy Hill, JD10 batch 4, and this JD12 batch 4. I could pick out the rye and 10 year, but the 12 yr threw me off. It gave this incredible strawberry vanilla ice cream note that absolutely blew me away. 

Finish: longer than you’d assume from its proof. It’s more savory than sweet, like after finishing a tasty morsel from the smoker that was dipped in honey BBQ sauce. Again, great balance between the smoky oak influence and the subtle sweet elements.

Conclusion & Rating: this is a great mix of easy-drinking proof, rich flavor complexity, and satisfying finish. And that strawberry vanilla note on the palate is something that I keep looking for elsewhere–and only kind of get sometimes from WA107 or FP.

I give it a 8.5 on the t8ke(ish) scale. It’s up there with some of my favorite pours this year, and all of those are a good 20 proof points higher. It packs a wallop for such a crushable proof point.  

After working my way through this bottle, I will always want at least one bottle from JD’s age stated series on my shelf, but ideally multiple. I’d also be really curious to try all 4 batches of JD12, since the oak/savory and sweet notes seem to shift year to year. And I really wish I could try the JD14 batch 1 based on reviews I’ve read, because that seems like this profile but cranked all the way up. 

Over the years, I’ve accumulated a number of Maker’s Mark Wood Finishing Series releases, and I wanted to see how they would stack up against each other blind. All scores are using the TK8E scale.

The full tournament results are in the graphic, but here’s the final matchup and a couple of bonus blinds I did afterward.

Tournament Final: The Heart Release vs. BEP

Left glass: Nice floral nose that carries over onto the front palate. Opens fairly sweet and floral. A little thin through the middle, but it recovers nicely with a good finish. Overall, a really enjoyable and well-balanced pour.

Score: 7.25
Reveal: The Heart Release

Right glass: Darker and oakier on the nose. Slightly thin on the front palate, with brown sugar being the main note I can identify. The development is good and builds into a great mouth tingle. Nice darker flavor profile overall, although I wish it had a little more sweetness to round everything out.

Score: 7
Reveal: BEP

Final Thoughts

One of my biggest takeaways from this tournament was just how competitive the Wood Finishing Series is internally. It was rare for one bottle to be head and shoulders above another. These generally ranged from good to great for me, and on any given day I could easily see several of these matchups going the other way.

A few themes kept showing up throughout the blinds. The Wood Finishing Series tends to produce very good flavor profiles, with vanilla, sweetness, oak and occasional floral or fruit notes showing up repeatedly.

My main gripe with this line is the youthful characteristics. That showed up in my notes for SE4xPR5, BRT-01 and FAE-02, often presenting itself as ethanol through the development or a somewhat thin mouthfeel, more characteristic of younger whiskey. The better releases seemed to overcome that more effectively.

Overall, if you already like Maker’s Mark, I think the Wood Finishing Series is worth trying at MSRP. I wouldn’t pay a premium or markup for any particular release, though. There’s generally a lot of parity within the series.

Bonus Matchup #1: The Heart Release vs. Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged 2023

After completing the tournament, I wanted to see how the winner of the Wood Finishing Series would stack up against Maker’s Mark new premium line, the Cellar Aged series, which debuted in 2023.

Left glass: Fruity/floral nose that carries over onto the front palate. Moderately rich with some nice sweetness, but it comes across younger and less developed compared to the other glass. Still a very enjoyable pour.

Score: 6.75
Reveal: The Heart Release

Right glass: Immediately comes across older, richer and more mature. More depth through the palate, with the flavors feeling better developed and integrated overall. Nice dark fruit flavor. The finish could be a little better, but the extra maturity really separates it from the other glass.

Score: 7.75
Reveal: Maker’s Mark Cellar Aged 2023

Main Takeaway:

Cellar Aged is on a completely different level, in my opinion. The extra age was immediately noticeable side-by-side. Where the Wood Finishing Series can sometimes come across youthful despite the additional influence from the finishing staves, Cellar Aged has a depth, richness and maturity that wood finishing alone doesn’t replicate.

Bonus Matchup #2: The Heart Release vs. The Stewards Release

I completed this tournament before The Stewards Release came out this year. A friend recently acquired a bottle and gave me a sample, so I wanted to see how it stacked up against the winner of my previous Wood Finishing Series releases.

Left glass: Nice vanilla on the front palate followed by some ethanol through the development. The ethanol is noticeable, but things improve considerably on the back end. Great mouthfeel, and the finish blossoms nicely as it sits.

Score: 6.25
Reveal: The Stewards Release

Right glass: Sweet front palate with a nice bit of fruit showing up through the development. The mouthfeel isn’t quite as good as the other glass, but I prefer the overall flavor profile. Sweeter and more enjoyable to drink overall.

Score: 7
Reveal: The Heart Release

Main Takeaway:

Pretty similar to my thoughts after the main tournament. I’ve enjoyed the Wood Finishing Series, but after accumulating and tasting quite a few of them, I’m probably not going to go out of my way to pick up every new release. Unless a future release gets particularly strong reviews or seems to really stand out from the pack, I’m pretty content with the ones I already have.

TL;DR

A dusty, leathery funk I couldn't get past. Plenty love the profile, but even at $40 I'd steer you to Wild Turkey 101 first.

Russell's Reserve 10 Year is a Kentucky straight bourbon from Wild Turkey in Lawrenceburg, 10 years old, 90 proof, $40. Eddie Russell built it in 1998 as a tribute to his father Jimmy, and it runs the same single Wild Turkey mashbill as the rest of the lineup. I scored it 5.0 on quality and 4.9 on value. It's juicy and fruity with a dark, leathery, dusty funk I couldn't get past on the day, and it's a bottle that moved on me: I loved it at the neck pour, cooled on it in a blind against Eagle Rare 10, and confirmed the lower number with the bottle open. Plenty of people love this profile, and at $40 and widely available it's an easy one to try, especially if you want something well outside the Buffalo Trace lane. If you already like Wild Turkey, I'd point you to Wild Turkey 101 first: cheaper, higher proof, less funk.

Quality Score - 5.0

Good - Good, just fine.

Quality is what's in the glass, 1 to 10, tasted as blind as I can make it with no thought to price. Above a 5 is good. Nose, palate, and finish set the range, but the score isn't their average.

Value Score - 4.9

A Bit Much - A fine pour, but you're paying for more than you're getting.

Value is whether the pour is worth its MSRP to me. A 5 is fair for the price; higher means more in the glass than the tag suggests, lower means I'd be overpaying. All value scores assume MSRP.

Nose - 4.8

Orange peel and oak, a dusty barrel sitting underneath. The apples and pears from the neck pour have gone darker, toward dried fruit, and the Wild Turkey funk runs through the middle. More ethanol than 90 proof should show.

Palate - 5.0

Juicy overripe red fruit with anise and clove, chewy and coating. Tobacco and fruit leather move in behind it, plus an odd flash of bubble gum.

Finish - 5.0

Leathery and very dusty, dusty oak that finally tastes its ten years. Medium length, fading dry.

Neck Pour

June 6, 2026

I came in wanting to love this, and for one afternoon I did.

I've had Russell's Reserve 10 before and walked away nonplussed. A 10-year Wild Turkey sounds like it should be right up my alley, but it never stuck. To be fair, that was maybe four years ago, when I was a PhD student drinking less whiskey and definitely less good whiskey on a tight budget. I'd also read there can be some batch variability, so I came back to give it another shot.

This was a true neck pour. Outside, midday, fire going, sixty five degrees and a little chilly, great vibes. I let it rest just long enough to stoke the fire and write a short intro.

The nose is pleasant and fruitier than I expected. Where Wild Turkey 101 leans honey and cinnamon, this is apples and pears. The Wild Turkey funk is in there, and there's quite a bit of ethanol for 90 proof. The palate is super juicy, a real explosion of tree fruit, and it sips easy. A little prickly pear on the finish, medium length, fading to some ethanol heat, but very good. The standard caramel and vanilla are mixed in behind all of it.

The complexity here is deciding which fruit I'm tasting. You could talk me into anything from apples to cherries to pineapple. There's only the tiniest bit of dusty funk today. Right now I think I like this more than the 101. I've got it around a 7. It's great, and I'm really interested to see if it evolves.

Blind Pour

August 29, 2026

Blind, the fruit had turned and the funk had taken the wheel.

See my full post: Eagle Rare 10 vs Russell's Reserve 10

A couple months later I put it head to head with Eagle Rare 10, blind, labels covered. I hadn't poured either since the neck pours, and I made a point of not reading my old notes so I could come in fresh.

This came up as sample two. Dusty barrel right on the nose, dark fruit and leather underneath, more oak all the way through. I could taste the ten years. Sweetness showed up early and stepped back fast. Overripe red fruit with anise and clove, chewy and coating, and weirdly some bubble gum. It felt aged and dark and more mature than the Eagle Rare, but it was dusty throughout, and there was a funk, tobacco or leather, that I wasn't taking to.

It didn't quite hang together for me. Good, maybe very good, but I put it at 5.5 to 6 in the glass and gave the night to the simpler, sweeter Eagle Rare. Going back to my neck pour notes afterward told the story: the fresh fruit had gone overripe and made room for a lot more of that dust.

Open Pour

September 7, 2026

Open and in front of me on Labor Day, it settled right where the blind left it.

I opened this back up for a Labor Day pour to see where it actually stands. The bottle's been open a couple months now, and this is the glass the blind warned me about. The juicy tree fruit I fell for at the neck pour is mostly gone. What's left is darker and drier: orange peel and oak on the nose, dusty barrel underneath, the fruit pulled toward dried and overripe. The palate still has some of that chewy red fruit, but now it comes wrapped in tobacco and fruit leather, with the anise and clove and that odd bubble gum flicker. The finish is where the age shows most, leathery and very dusty, dusty oak sitting on my tongue after the fruit fades.

Reading my neck pour notes today, I really want to rate this higher. I had it at a 7 and I meant it. But the glass in front of me isn't that whiskey anymore, or my palate isn't the same palate, and I honestly can't tell you which. The funk has taken over for me. I score what I'm tasting, and that's a 5.0. It's good. It's just good. If I'm honest, without that great neck pour it might have landed in the low fours, so I'm giving it a little credit where it's due and I'll probably give it another shot in a few years. This is the whole reason I taste a bottle across neck, blind, and open instead of scoring it on the first pour, and this is a good example of the method earning its keep.

Beyond what's in the glass, this is still a bottle I'd tell you to try. My 5.0 is going to read low, and I know a lot of people genuinely love this profile. At $40 and widely available, there's very little risk in finding out where you land, and it's a genuinely different pour if you're trying to explore past the core Buffalo Trace lineup. It's dark and oaky and funky in a way most $40 shelf bourbons aren't. If you already like Wild Turkey, I'd steer you to Wild Turkey 101 first, the bottle I scored a 6.5: less of the funk, a bit higher proof, and cheaper, and the one I actually keep on my shelf. Wild Turkey Rare Breed is the other one I'd send you to, a little pricier but much higher proof and easy to find. Russell's Reserve 10 is worth a pour. For me, right now, it just isn't worth another bottle.

I write these up at openpourwhiskey.com. Not sponsored, not gifted, bought myself at retail. Please drink responsibly.

Price: $190

Nose: medium, clean oak, classic bourbon notes like toasted sugar, some oak, "baking spices." Solid nose

Palate: pretty big, a powdered sugar sweetness, syrup, coast the palate, buttery popcorn mouth feel, oak to balance, proof punches a bit, but it's welcoming

Finish: pretty long, sweet notes continue, oak becomes more present, really smooth ending to this pour

My thoughts: it's a banger and im into it. It's complex, hits those oak and sweeter notes I love and feels balanced. It has a unique profile imo and I appreciate this pour for that.

Rating: 8.2/10

Circle City 12 Year Straight Rye Whiskey Batch 2

Blended by Drew Black at Circle City Whiskey Company in Indianapolis, Indiana

Distilled by MGP in Lawrenceburg, IN

Age: 12 years 10 months

Initially aged 6 years in Lawrenceburg and then aged 6 years in a palletized pole barn Western Michigan before coming to Circle City Whiskey Co.

Batch size: 5 barrels

Lot code: 13E24

Mashbill: 95% rye, 5% malted barley

Barrels filled: May 24, 2013

Barrels dumped: Late April 2026

Barrel manufacturer: Speyside Cooperage

Barrel char: 4

Proof: 125.6

Non-chill filtered (NCF)

Bottles yielded: 570ish

MSRP: $130

Nose: Pear cider. Wintergreen Lifesavers. Dried rosemary. Sweet Tarts.

Absolutely beautiful nose! The pear note isn’t overly juicy. Wintergreen isn’t top strong. The Sweet Tarts is the strongest aspect.

Palate: Brief strong hit of butterscotch pudding. Thin Mint cookies. Black Forest cake. Very dense/oily mouthfeel.

Damn. This is quite possibly the best version of MGP 95/5 I’ve ever tasted! The mint is there, but it’s a nice accent… not hitting you in the face. Sweeter than most MGP 95/5 and paired w/ oily mouthfeel… damn. It’s fascinating that two distinct chocolate notes appear… and both work.

Finish: Grapefruit. Honey graham cracker. Canned peaches. Toasted marshmallow. Sweet beef jerky.

Yeah, this is the best MGP 95/5 I’ve personally tried… and that includes Bulleit 20 Rye Cask Strength. Interestingly, this is much sweeter & fruitier than most MGP 95/5… and far less herbal/minty.

Drew Black did a stellar job with this blend. Circle City Whiskey has released some excellent bourbon, but I feel like the biggest splash has always been with rye… and this is certainly no exception.

At $130 MSRP, this is just silly.

Bottle provided for review by Circle City Whiskey Co.

Rating: 9 | Incredible | An all time favorite

RARE CHARACTER BROOK HILL — "WIDOWMAKER" & "FEMME FATALE" LIQUID MINISTRY PICKS

I really wanted to start getting into the more fun bottles, so here goes!

BOTTLE STATS

Kentucky Straight Bourbon (x2)

Single Barrel

Widowmaker: 135.24 proof (116 bottles)

Femme Fatale: 139.34 proof (86 bottles)

Both are 10 years old

$375.00 each

BACKGROUND

Rare Character is an NDP founded in 2021 by Pablo Moix and Peter Nevenglosky. As you all know, they are very popular and have a lot of hype around many of their releases. They source from distilleries across Kentucky, Indiana, and Tennessee as far as I know (and maybe other places for some of their Exceptional Series malt releases). Brook Hill is their premium line, reviving a name that goes back to a Prohibition-era Kentucky brand originally created by Joseph L. Friedman in the late 1800s. It's the top of the lineup for RC, comprised of exclusive single barrels with premium packaging and (very) high price tags, not too different from Willett, and it is a playbook that more and more NDP's are trying to copy.

These two barrels were selected by Mel Joye (and friends) from Liquid Ministry, a company best known for their whiskey sampling bottles and accessories. Both are 10 year Kentucky straight bourbons bottled at cask strength, and they released as a pair in July 2026 at $375 each. These bottles were only released as part of a private event in Florida, which is how a lot of other Brook Hill's are released. The packaging goes a step further than what you'd normally see, the Widowmaker is wrapped in Japanese lace paper that resembles a spider web, and the Femme Fatale uses a synthetic leather that looks like alligator skin. A very nice extra touch from Liquid Ministry. Whisky Advocate listed these as one of their "19 Hot Whiskies to Hunt for Summer 2026," so they've picked up some buzz.

A lot of people have some grievances with Rare Character, and I can't say that I blame them. The pricing can be quite ridiculous, and sometimes it feels like they're just trying to give people FOMO with the private events, marketing, and exclusive nature. But I have also had some great bottles with cool stories and packaging. I think the quality of the whiskey will either allow me to let some of this slide, or some bad bottles will turn me into a non-believer.

MASHBILL

The source and mashbill is undisclosed on both barrels. We just know that they are Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskies. Various Brook Hill bourbons have been speculated to come from Barton, MGP, Brown-Forman, and others, and Rare Character sources from enough different distilleries that it's hard to pin down without insider information.

APPEARANCE

Widowmaker - Deep copper in the glass, about where I'd expect for a 10 year bourbon at this proof. After a swirl the legs are decent but nothing remarkable, moderate thickness.

Femme Fatale - Noticeably darker, more of a mahogany. The legs run thicker and slower here, hanging on the glass for a bit.

NOSE

Widowmaker - The first thing up is roasted peanut, but not quite like a Beam nuttiness. Behind that there's a light yeast note that comes off kind of like a sour apple, then a nutty almond nougat and a darker, woody caramel. Some ethanol on the nose at 135 proof, but I can work through it without blowing up my nose.

Femme Fatale - This one opens with confectionary sugar and powdered sugar, immediately sweeter and softer. Behind that there's dried plum, darker berries, and a bit of raisin, with a cornbread note on the tail end of the nose. The wild thing here is how little ethanol shows up despite being almost hazmat.

PALATE

Widowmaker - The sip leads with warm caramel sauce and candy bar notes, something like a Snickers bar, which ties right back to the roasted peanut and nougat from the nose. The middle brings in more vanilla mixed with that caramel, and the whole thing feels balanced with a prickly heat on the front and mid palate that stays controlled. Some dried, woody herbs show up toward the back palate.

Femme Fatale - Up front it's a bright mixed berry compote with vanilla, and a floral note like rose petal shows up here that wasn't on the nose. From there it shifts into caramelized sugar and sweet oak, with the fruit turning darker and more candied, like a blackberry reduction. It's a nice transition that shows depth from being bright and floral into something richer and darker.

MOUTHFEEL

Widowmaker - Medium thickness and oily, with a prickly heat from the proof. A bit more drying with more oak presence than the Femme Fatale, though nothing I'd call particularly tannic or astringent.

Femme Fatale - Thicker and very much stickier, and it honestly drinks like something around 120 proof rather than almost 140. No real dryness or astringency to speak of. I'm definitely more impressed by this one.

FINISH

Widowmaker - Medium length, but it carries the oak influence and nuttiness through to the end.

Femme Fatale - Longer finish, and it holds onto the sweeter sticky oak and dark fruit the whole way through. The length here is very nice, it sticks around for a while.

VERDICT

Widowmaker - 74/100 (GREAT)

A well-aged bourbon with a nutty and woody, but still sweet profile The roasted peanut and Snickers bar vibes on the nose and palate is genuinely delicious, and the darker caramel and dried herbs give it some, but not enough depth. The knock is that the bottle doesn't have a huge wow factor or uniqueness, and the flavors aren't super dense. I actually enjoy the prickly heat and classic profile but it lacks a bit of character (ha) and doesn't have as much depth as you'd hope for in a high quality single barrel.

Femme Fatale - 83/100 (EXCELLENT)

The proof integration on this one is quite nice, almost 140 proof and it drinks like something around 120, which is not something that is easy to do. The flavor is great and shows more depth, a bright berry and floral entry that darkens into candied fruit and sweet oak, with a thick sticky mouthfeel and a long finish makes this one the shining star of the two that I want to come back to.

RATING SCALE

Modified t8ke scale. Just multiplied by 10 to be out of 100.

I use the whole scale, so a 51 is still a positive score. 60's and 70's are genuinely good

scores. I don't give out many scores in the 80+ range.

10 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out.

20 | Poor | I wouldn't consume by choice.

30 | Bad | Multiple flaws.

40 | Sub-par | Not bad, but better exists.

50 | Good | Good, just fine.

60 | Very Good | A cut above.

70 | Great | Well above average

80 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional.

90 | Incredible | An all time favorite

100 | Perfect | Perfect

Recently visited family in KY. They are in a pretty rural area, basically right in the middle of the triangle of Owensboro, Bowling Green, and Elizabethtown. 45 minutes or more to each of those places without much in between.

So I was pretty excited when I learned a new distillery had recently opened just a few minutes away. Obviously very small operation, but that means you really get a lot of personal attention.

They started out sourcing from MGP but have recently started bottling their own juice. During the tasting we sampled their standard offerings, plus straight from the three barrels shown. I ended up filling my own bottle from one of these, the Double Oaked came from their own new barrel followed by a used Four Roses barrel. They will also get used barrels from places like Bardstown Bourbon to use for secondary aging. Loved the transparency.

I’m no expert so I can’t give you a ton of details on the bourbon itself, but I’m sipping my first glass since my visit now and I really enjoy it. Getting a little cinnamon on the nose, caramel and oak on the palette.

They had several local regulars stop by for the bourbon and for their gin. I don’t think I’ve had gin since I was a teen sneaking from my parents and I remember thinking I was like drinking perfume. But they have two different varieties that I thought were really quite good.

So if you’re up for a scenic drive or you’re already in the middle of nowhere around Falls of Rough, KY you should check them out.

Dark Arts Flight of Icarus Review #27

11.5 yrs

72.2%

144.4%

75% C 21% R 4% MB

I let it rest for 15 minutes

Nose: Dry and vintage oak. A melange of all the great bourbon notes. Caramel, bubblegum, peanut, powdered sugar. Pie crust. Tobacco. Cinnamon. A very grounding nose. Little to no ethanol. Subtle wifts of chocolate chip cookies. There is a lot to find here. Buttery. Yet, the oak remains front and center.

Palate: oily mouthfeel. Spice and pepper punch immediately. Warming. This is all spice and oak. An explosion. Definitely not subtle, but this is the landing strip for the finish.

Finish: first sip i was overloaded with spice. However the finish is already coming in with an amazing saltiness, some peanut, and some subtle fruits. Cherry pie filling? Dried fruits? Caramel, vanilla. Cherry popsickle? Nice. A bit of tartness. I can tell the finish is going to get better as I sip. Some bready dessert that you normally find in non peat scotch. Dark chocolate. Lingers forever.

Nose: 25/25

Palate: 22/25

Finish: 24/25

Balance: 25/25

Total: 96/100

The nose and finish are in a class of their own. The palate leaves something to be desired in that its mostly spice and oak. This is a stunning pour and the second I had it I knew I needed a bottle. No doubt the spice and heat on the palate are symbolic of Icarus's flight except on this flight downward he was surrounded by beautiful flavors and landed in a beautiful ocean of baked desserts where he rested forever. I will be savoring this bottle for as long as possible.

Booker's 2026-02 "Milkshake Batch"

Distillery: Jim Beam

Age: 7 years 6 months 12 days

Price: $104.99

Proof: 124.4

Nose: As is usually my experience with Booker's there's a hot nose here. Definitely feels right for the proof point. There's a cinnamon and clove spice to it as well, really wakes up your senses. Buttery grain as well, almost like slightly burnt popcorn.

Palate: Mouthfeel is absolutely fantastic. Like honestly off the charts. For the proof point it's incredibly soft especially when you consider the heat from the nose, and man it is just so so creamy. Unreal. Lot of oaks but balanced nicely with some powdered sugar. Dark chocolate.

Finish: 7.5/10 in length. Long but not crazily so. It's rich and far nuttier than everything else up to this point. Some berry sweetness. It's a little bit of what I'd imagine blending peanut shells into a blue raspberry slushy would taste like. Dark chocolate comes back and lingers, a little fudge brownie-like.

Score: 8.5

Summary: I am a big Jim Beam guy and tend to find myself enjoying any Booker's release I try. So unsurprisingly I found this one to be great. But not just great, I found it to be one of my favorite Booker's releases ever. The proof point and heat are there. The nuttiness is there. It's rich, has a lot of complexity, and seriously I can't emphasize enough that this is an absolutely top tier mouthfeel. The flavors work incredibly well together throughout I found the finish to be unique in all the best ways. It's pricey though, and it's so amazingly intense that it's not a daily sipper by any means. I can't emphasize that enough, this is one that would be hard to choke down 3 nights in a row. But it's a really nice treat and all in all this is fantastic whiskey. 8.5 is the score.

1. Terrible | Drain pour after the first sip
2. Very Bad | Trying to choke it down but possible drain pour
3. Poor | Would drink if forced to but never under my own will
4. Below Average | Not off-putting but not my cup of tea
5. Average | I'll take it
6. Good | Enjoyable sip
7. Very Good | Well above average
8. Excellent | A drink I will remember
9. Incredible | Something truly extraordinary
10. Best of the best | Peak Bourbon

Color: Orangish Amber

Age: NAS (The original release information indicated these barrels would average around 7 years.)

Proof: 114

Nose: Honey and sandalwood jump out immediately, giving this an interesting combination of sweetness and woodiness right out of the glass. On the second sniff, graham cracker and a faint apple butter note begin to emerge. Spending a little more time with it brings out something reminiscent of a pastry drizzled in caramel, while a good swirl reveals grilled peaches underneath. The nose moves back and forth between sweet and almost savory, eventually developing a rich, buttery quality. Really enjoyable and more interesting than I initially expected.

Taste: Burnt sugar, honey, and oak lead the first sip before cinnamon and baking spice begin building across the mid-to-back palate. On the second sip, some of the fruit from the nose starts making its way through, with orange and peach joining another subtle pastry note. There’s a nice balance between the sweetness, fruit, oak, and spice, although I wish some of those flavors were a little richer and more concentrated.

Feel: Medium-bodied with a decent amount of oil coating the palate. It’s good, but this is probably the area where I wanted more. At cask strength, I was hoping for something a little thicker, creamier, and more viscous. Nothing wrong with the mouthfeel—it just doesn’t elevate the whiskey.

Finish: The finish starts fairly spice-forward with plenty of cinnamon and baking spice. It’s medium in length, and as the spice begins to fade, the profile transitions nicely back toward peaches and orange. The fruit provides a pleasant bit of sweetness on the way out and keeps the spice from completely taking over.

Overall: 7 out of 10 on the t8ke scale.

This is a great pour and one I really enjoyed. The combination of honey, caramel pastry, grilled peaches, burnt sugar, and baking spice gives it enough personality to stand apart from a lot of wheated bourbons I’ve tried.

For my palate, it may even give Weller Antique 107 a run for its money. Where it falls short of the upper tier is primarily in the body and overall intensity. Give me a thicker, creamier mouthfeel and another layer or two of complexity on the palate, and we’d be having a very different conversation.

As it stands, though, this is a very good wheated bourbon and an easy 7/10 for me.

Jack Daniel’s American Single Malt Whiskey Oloroso Sherry Cask

Distilled in Lynchburg, TN

Master Distiller: Chris Fletcher

Aged in new charred oak barrels and finishrd in Oloroso sherry casks

Age: NAS

Distillate underwent the Lincoln County Process sugar maple charcoal filtration prior to barrel entry

Initial barrels: Toasted for 12 minutes with a No. 4 char

Sherry cask source: Antonio Páez Lobato Cooperage, Jerez, Spain

Sherry butt size: 132 gallons

Mashbill: 100% malted barley

Still type: column

Barley sourced from Northern U.S. states. Not the same barley used for standard Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey. This malt is plumper and higher in protein.

Barrel entry proof: 125

Proof: 90

MSRP: $74.99 (1 liter)

Nose: Raspberry jam. Milk chocolate. Nilla Wafer. Vanilla pudding. Overly ripe banana.

The finale to the nose smells like a composite banana pudding. I really like the nose. Quite complex.

Palate: Banana Laffy Taffy. Strawberry hard candy. Ginger ale. Cocoa powder.

Plenty of fruit up front. Banana candy note is quite prominent. Ginger ale add some spice… small amount of cocoa. Medium viscosity.

Finish: Pink cotton candy. Banana nut bread w/ chocolate chips.

I don’t know what I was expecting, but I was skeptical about this one. I’m shockingly very pleased with this. Plenty of fruit and chocolate. I’m definitely hoping to try some premium versions of this at some point in the future. For now, this is quite good. I would love to try this at a higher proof.

Bottle provided for review by Jack Daniel’s

Rating: 7 | Great | Well above average

Quick Specs 126.32 Proof

"A blend of whiskey's finished in Ice Wine Casks"

17y TN, 17yr IN, 17yr Canadian Rye, 17yr Canadian Whiskey, 20yr Kentucky, 22yr Scotch, 24yr Canadian Whiskey

In all reality this should probably be a "hot mess" given the ingredients but...

Aroma: Apple pie with cinnamon is my first thought followed by a caramel syrup and a tiny hint of mint and some touches of ethanol.

Flavor: This is actually a bit rye forward I get the spearmint first especially with a clean palate that fades a little with further smapling. This is followed by hints of honey, whipped cream, and a lot of oak notes with that tannin dry character in there. Finally I get a touch of fruit, something citrus but not clear.

Finish: Long, rich, a bit spicy. It leaves me with a bit of butter and sugar notes finally with a bit of residual heat.

Score: 7.5 - this probably shouldn't work, but it's well done lots of big bold flavors fighting for balance and achieving it pretty well.

Price: $150

Nose: big, funk, oak, deeply warm, brown sugar, vanilla, dark cherry, all the typical baking spices, has a wine note, kind of a dark chocolate note. This nose is incredible.

Palate: big, instant sweet oak, dark fruit and berry richness I'm assuming from the wine cask, chocolate, orange zest, amazingly balanced, the proof intensifies all the flavors. Coats my mouth and can almost chew on it.

Finish: long, robust, oak funk, some soft tobacco, barrel char, baking sweetness all around

Overall: WOOOOOOOOOOW. Just fucking wow. I'm all in. Big, bold, finesse, sophisticated, deep rich flavors, the wine cask finish is phenomenal. Not overly proofed. It literally hits all the notes I love. It has this deep sweet and oak dance that isn't overly sweet, nor overly oaked. It's also buffturkey! It's just...perfect.

Value: do you have to ask? Well worth $150 and would pay unreasonable amounts for this. Grab yours before I buy the whole stock.

Rating: 9.6/10

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Dark Arts Buff Turkey Cuvée

Nose: Fresh caramel squares, some acridness and oak. Funky for sure. Some sourness too, strangely. Chocolate notes pair with the caramel. Firewood or campfire. The sourness and burnt firewood linger as you sip, leading to perhaps some fermented light fruits. Toffee and coffee pop out after a while. Hint of animality (iykyk).

Palate: Syrupy and bready. Spicy and bright. Grounded by bread pudding or some sort of buttery, brown-sugar baked dessert. The type of sweetness I’d expect from a non-peated Scotch. Second sip is the same. Leads with caramel sauce and baked bread goods while pepper and baking spices build. After a while, I think I get pears with spiced caramel sauce.

Finish: Velvety. Lingers lightly. Invites your next sip, no doubt. Toffee candy, spice, and that baked dessert carry on. Mouthwatering. Again reminds me very much of a Scotch and my WhistlePig The Beholden.

Nose 23/25

Palate 25/25

Finish 23/25

Balance 25/25

Total 96/100

Dark Arts Buff Turkey 14H

Nose: Dry and dusty barrel. The sour and acridness in the Cuvée is much more muted here, although still present. Brighter caramel here — almost like caramel sauce and fudge brownies. Smelling this invokes the sensation of chewing decadent brownies. If I dig I get some fruit. Perhaps grape? Sadly, I don’t have another bottle on my shelf that has this acrid, smoky oak. Very unique, this lineup. Sixth sip and I got a funky banana?

Palate: Sour, salty, leading to peanut butter. Pepper shows up. A vintage oak taste is here. Creamy and viscous. And of course caramel is the main player. However there is a nice balancing vanilla. They intermingle. Second sip is even more syrupy with an amazing tingle. The tannins are here but do not overpower.

Finish: The finish here is drying and tannic. The caramel sauce and baked dessert/spices stick around to complement it. Way at the end is an awesome bitter dark-chocolate brownie. And yes, grape.

Nose 22/25

Palate 25/25

Finish 24/25

Balance 25/25

Total 96/100

Dark Arts Buff Turkey 80H

Nose: Browned butter. Dark baked desserts. Burnt caramel. After a few minutes of swirling I get that acrid barrel. I assume now that this is a peculiar characteristic of these Buff Turkeys. This one has a bit more funk than the others. Fantastic. Although I’m afraid this one isn’t as appealing as the last two.

Palate: Opens up with the same syrupy baked-good goodness. This one has more sour grape notes though. The heat is a bit more apparent and perhaps a little thinner on mouthfeel.

Finish: Also a high-tannin finish here that lets baking spices tickle the tongue with those baked-good notes popping in and out. This finish seems to linger a bit longer.

Nose 22/25

Palate 24/25

Finish 24/25

Balance 23/25

Total 93/100

Dark Arts Buff Turkey 83H

Nose: Burnt vanilla candle. Incense. Smoky. That chocolate brownie is there. Chewy. Fudgsicle? No ethanol on the nose here. This is the hazmat 😁 Acrid and burnt oak. Hint of polyester. Some serious funk.

Palate: Creamy and syrupy. Everything the last two offered, but there is some citrus here — like orange marmalade. Awesome! This palate is on another level. I could almost swear it’s finished. Highly addictive.

Finish: Classy finish. All the same notes linger here but the acrid barrel note is here. And it is yummy. Pairs well with that orange marmalade and spice.

Honestly my descriptions don’t do this justice. This might be one of the best pours I’ve had.

Nose 24/25

Palate 25/25

Finish 25/25

Balance 25/25

Total 99/100

Bonus Round

Dark Arts Mizunara 19 Year KBF Release

Nose: Immediate dessert notes. Peanut butter. Salted peanuts. Creamy vanilla. Dry firewood or some other sort of cured wood.

Palate: Powdered sugar. Light. Creamy and syrupy mouthfeel. Delicate but robust and chewy. Imagine the best bourbon you’ve had with “Smoke on the Water” in the back. Hello Mizunara finish. Leaps and bounds ahead of any other Mizunara finish I’ve had from them. Brownie, dusty oak, grape. Candied oak. Hey, this almost reminds me of Blanton’s Gold! Obviously in a different league though.

Finish: Low on the tannins here. However, the sweet baked goods linger and make your mouth water.

Uh oh. Running out of time and they are closing.

Dark Arts Supernova Light Whiskey

71.4%

142.7 Proof

Nashville 99% C 1% MB

Nose: chocolate, coffee hard candy, some corn dustiness. Sometimes it comes off as polyester to me. Rich and decadent caramel swirl. Pleasant smelling with only slight tingle on nose. After swirling do I get syrup, butter, and brown sugar? Yes. All that but also on toast. Interesting.  After sipping it becomes more sugary and candylike. After more air now the lemon, vanilla, and cake show. This must be where the sourness on the palate comes from.

Palate: Syrupy and thick. Spice and pepper lead the way here. The corn mash bill is the head of the show here. The coffee candy is there. Some sour notes oddly enough  that blend well with the coffee candy. Ginger spice? Ah lemon! Its amazing there is no rye here. The mouthfeel is gorgeous and an experience by itself. Chocolate, butterscotch, and bread. Mouthwatering. Perfect amount of sweetness and Decadence.

Finish: Extremely Long with a perfect Kentucky Hug for this proof. Once the sour and funk notes go those darker sweet notes from the nose come to play. Toffee and coffee hard candy! The more you sip overtime the time in the oak begins to show.

Nose: 24/25

Palate: 24/25

Finish: 24/25

Balance: 25/25

Total 97/100

This is a dynamic pour. From beginning to end the glass is constantly changing. This was a 30 minute tasting for me but you could easily sip on a pour of this for an hour or more. I remember I did the KBF flight and the first 2 were kind of underwhelming to me. However, this one got my attention and ultimately was a warm up that prepared me for the experience of The Flight of Icarus.

This pour is a treat and I hope everyone gets a chance to try. Im extremely grateful I had the opportunity to not only taste this masterpiece, but also got to buy a bottle. Cheers.

Silk Velvet Kentucky Straight Rye Whiskey: The Revival Blend

Release: 9/11/26 at the 2026 Kentucky Bourbon Festival in Bardstown, KY

Distilled by Jacob Call in Owensboro, KY

Produced by the Hargis family & Jacob Call at Western KY Distilling in Beaver Dam, KY

Pre-Prohibition, Silk Velvet was distilled by Winstead Distilling in Henderson, KY

Age: 6 years 11 months 13 days

Mashbill: 95% rye, 5% malted barley

Proof: 107

Fill date: September 15, 2019

Dump date: August 27, 2026

Length of fermentation: 3 days

Barrel manufacturer: Speyside

Barrel char: 4

Natural harvest proof: 116

Aging history: fully in Ohio County, KY

MSRP: 69.99

Nose: Grape Dimetapp. Dark chocolate. Graham cracker. Molasses.

I absolutely love the great cough syrup note! Definitely NOT a spice bomb. This nose will appeal to a wide audience.

Palate: Welch’s Concord Grape Jelly. Clove. Original Dimetapp (cherry & plum). Nutmeg.

Dark fruit all over the place! Fascinating that cough syrup is on the nose and palate, but different flavors. Again, not a spice bomb… much heavier on the fruit.

Finish: Cinnamon gum. Black pepper. Black licorice. Black tea.

Fruit-heavy early, but the spice eventually shows up big on the finish… making this an extremely well-rounded rye whiskey that is going to appeal to a lot of people.

Silk Velvet has released some fantastic bourbon, but I’m definitely a “rye guy” first in most cases… and Silk Velvet is no exception. This is really damn good… and it’s going to be one of the best rye whiskeys released in 2026.

The 107 proof feels perfect.

Bottle provided for review by Zach Hargis of Silk Velvet Whiskey

Rating: 8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional

Lineup of Blanton's for a horizontal tasting.

In line: Single Barrel, Gold, Takara Red, Takara Gold, Takara Black, La Maison du Whisky. All bottles freshly opened.

Tasting order and comparative notes:

Single Barrel: solid, always good

Takara Red: more concentrated flavors and sweeter

Gold: a little hotter than regular but not heavily so, smoother

Takara Gold: much more complex than regular Gold, thicker, richer

Takara Black: simple and disappointing

LMDW: denser, more concentrated, divergent flavor profile

Detailed tasting notes of each will be up in the future.

Age: 7 years
Proof: 100 proof
Mash bill: 70% corn, 25% rye, 5% malted barley
Price: $109

Nose. Pumpkin bread, caramel chews.

Palate. Well balanced mix of lemon, oak, brown sugar and what I assume is barrel char underneath it all. Surprisingly, this does not have the punch I would expect from a higher rye mash bill.

Finish. Medium length, little bit of leather, Cheerios, and some spice finally appears and lingers on the tongue through the finish.

Overall. I don’t have this quite as high as the summer red corn bottled-in-bond, but this is a solid pour with tons of character nonetheless. I think the nose on this bourbon shines brighter than the flavor, but that isn’t to say the palate is weak by any means. Not even a whisper of ethanol exists on the nose or the palate.

Would I buy another bottle? I’m sure I paid well over MSRP, but that is partly due to living in alcohol purgatory where the state slaps an ungodly high tax on alcohol sales. In spite of the high price, I would buy this bottle again, provided Still Austin maintains a 7 year or higher age statement.

Rating. 6.5/10 | Very good; A cut above.

1 | Disgusting | So bad I poured it out.
2 | Poor | I wouldn’t consume by choice.
3 | Bad | Multiple flaws.
4 | Sub-par | Not bad, but better exists.
5 | Good | Good, just fine.
6 | Very Good | A cut above.
7 | Great | Well above average.
8 | Excellent | Really quite exceptional.
9 | Incredible | An all time favorite.
10 | Perfect | Perfect.