Thomas H Handy Sazerac bottled 2010

During my recent trip to Helvetica, our local whisky bar, my wife, my brother and sister in law and myself all got a chance to try the Thomas H. Handy Sazerac Rye.

It was nothing short of brilliant.

However this is not that whisky.

Now that's not to say that this isn't a great whisky, I just want to clarify that there will be two reviews on the Thomas H. Handy in the coming days.

The Thomas H. Handy that I tried at the local whisky bar impressed me so much that my brother in law and I both decided that we each needed a bottle of this bad boy for ourselves.

As soon as I could I went straight to my favorite whisky store in Perth, the International Beer Shop, which carries the entire Sazerac Antiquities Collection from Buffalo Trace, and picked up my first bottle from said collection for myself.

It only ran me $250, but I felt that it was worth it.

Today my brother in law and I cracked this bad boy open and gave it a spin around the block!

The nose is cracking! Nothing short of that.

Complex and delicious!

Rye, big, beautiful, lovely rye!

Then hints of vanilla, oak, at times a hint of marshmallow, caramel, spices mainly nutmeg and cinnamon, and after about an hour of nosing a lovely tea aroma, I swear it's Earl Grey, but I can't be 100%, but it's definitely tea.

Absolutely lovely and mind boggling complex at times.

I swear at times it's the nose alone that makes me fall in love with the big boys out of Buffalo Trace.

Thick, juicy flavors pond the palate as I take a drink.

Wood, rye, lots of powerful spices of cinnamon and nutmeg, extremely spicy at times with what feels like peppers and with just the faintest hint of a hint of chocolate.

The finish is long and fairly intense with lots of rye flavors and the faintest hint of chocolate at the very end.

This as I said isn't the bottle that convinced me to spend $250 to buy a bottle of the Thomas H. Handy, but I'm still very glad that I bought this.

This whisky is in the same series as the George T. Stagg and the moment the liquid touches your lips, you know it's the same distillery that produces all these bad boys.

I've had the George T. Stagg before, I've had the Thomas H. Handy (obviously) and I've had the William L. Weller (Buffalo Traces Wheated bourbon) and while it can be extremely difficult to find in Australia and the price point is ALWAYS high over here (expect to spend $250 to $300 and up to $400 a bottle, they're worth that $250-$300 price.

I'd previously purchased the George T. Stagg for my brother in law's birthday, because he had really wanted to try it, but wasn't prepared to spend $300 on a bottle of whisky.

He now is.

And after trying the Thomas H. Handy, he's now prepared to spend that $300 again on another whisky.

If you see and can afford it, Buy it!

Find where to buy Thomas H. Handy whisky