Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Barrel Proof 19-15045

This is a barrel proof Jack Daniels bottled for Freeland Wine and Spirits in Freeland, Maryland, and an online barrel proof whiskey group I am in. It made the journey from Middle Tennessee, to Maryland, then back to Middle Tennessee on my shelf. (We weren't allowed to pick it up at the distillery since a store elsewhere was helping sponsor it.) As a nice bonus the master distiller signed a few.

This was selected from about 6 different barrel samples. It rested on rick R-20 and was bottled on July 31st, 2019 at a whopping 133.4 proof. And let me just say it's a monster. Bottle has been opened 5 months and is a little over half full. Neat in a glencairn.

Nose: Heavy doses of wild clover honey, cherry, old leather that has just been treated, wood varnish (in a good way) and pecans. It's definitely Jack with all that leather and cherry. Despite the proof it doesn't singe the nostrils even with a good solid whiff.

Palate: Whoa Nelly! This horse kicks. It's impossible to take it all in on first sip. There is heat now too. Let's try to pin some of this down. Dark cherry, burnt brown sugar, banana and clove now...lot's of banana. The longer I hold this, it almost reminds me of a Hefeweizen beer as crazy as that sounds. Lot's of banana bread and clove. Yeah now on the third sip, lot's of vanilla, cherry, banana bread and clove. Those would be my big four flavors for this barrel. And I mean big. This comes out rearing for a tussle.

Finish: More nutty/oaky on the finish. Pecans, oak, leather comes back. Good transition from what I would consider less "heavy" notes on the palate to more "heavy" notes on the finish. Lingers for a long time. Honey shows up again at the very end.

Overall: This beast can't be caged. The nose and finish present more of the "heavy, dark" flavors while the palate is actually pretty refreshing, if you consider flaming bananas refreshing in any way. I wouldn't blame people for adding water to this one, although I prefer it without. I also think I slightly prefer my other JD BP to this one because it had more of those "heavy" notes (it rested on rick L-34 so I might keep an eye out for similar warehouse spots.) That's not to take anything away from this one. It's different but delicious in it's own right. I think I need more of these.

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