Thomas H Handy Sazerac bottled 2010

Nose: Very juicy maraschino cherries, incredibly sweet oranges, spicy cinnamon, iced tea, butter pecan syrup, clove in the form of Peychaud's bitters, sugary wood, toasted marshmallows, spicy ginger snaps.

Taste: Lots of sugary wood, nutmeg reminiscent of egg nog, spicy cinnamon, clove, apple pie, and even some pine needles. The sweet spice is once again very similar to Peychaud's bitters. Very assertive.

Finish: Initially spicy, some orange, peel and all, settling on toasted wood.

Once again a member of the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection wows me. This collection of whiskey is simply fantastic. This one, and the William Larue Weller from the same release, prove to me that American bourbon and rye can be just as engaging and complex as single malt Scotch whisky and in some cases, more so.

I find the notes of Peychaud's bitters to be interesting and humorous given that Peychaud's bitters is produced by the Sazerac Company here in New Orleans, which happens to be the company that owns Buffalo Trace. It may sound silly, but I take a certain amount of pride knowing that this exceptional whiskey was produced by a distillery owned by a company in my hometown. The whisky industry often feels so far removed from me as, often, attention is given to Scotland. It's nice to drink something that has a local story in mind, even though it was distilled in Kentucky.

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