A very old bourbon indeed, both in the way that it is 17 years old, which is very old for an American whisky, and that it was distilled 40 years ago. Bottled before we even had Euros.

I got a wee sample of this recently from buddy Nils, and decided to not wait a long time before trying it. I still have the plan to get through all my samples this year. It’s not going well so far, of course.

Anyway, again, this one was bottled by Kentucky Bourbon Distillers, which means that it was sourced from another distillery and they blended and bottled it. They didn’t have a distillery in 1983, after all. Interestingly, this isn’t something you have to be overly clear about in America. So, if you want to try something from a specific distillery and not from a bottler that sourced its spirit, you’ll have to do a bit of research with some brands.

Sniff:
Quite intense at cask strength-ish (I assume) with a lot of age behind it. Not old, just mature. Dry leaves, oak shavings and a minty freshness.

Sip:
The palate brings a bit of a punch with an interesting combination of sweetness and dry notes. A chili peppery heat comes right after, with oak shavings and fresh black pepper. Cherry syrup, some hazelnuts, old popcorn.

Swallow:
The finish reignites a little bit, but mostly just leaves a bit of a nice heat. A very long finish that leaves me warm and smiling.

I am always a bit apprehensive with older bourbons like this. Not all American whisky ages well and they tend to go bitter after too much time in oak. Of course, I like bitter notes, but not when they’re overpowering everything else. Luckily that’s not the case here.

It’s a lovely and mature bourbon with lots of autumnal notes. It really makes me think of sitting on a porch in September, when the leaves have just started to turn. Now, how to get a porch, and enough trees for that? (My wife would suggest buying less whisky, for starters…)

89/100