Aged in the cask for 9+ years before being bottled exclusively for Milroy’s. Distillate went into the Barrel on 26th February 2013. The barrel then rested in warehouse P, Floor level 4, Rick No. 48, Barrel Number 173 Bottled 2022.
Appearance: Light caramel with an orange hue. A thin beaded tide mark with slow-forming long teardrops. After some time all beading morphs into small teardrops too. Not so much a film as sporadic trails and droplets scattered around the inside of the glass.
Nose: Noses higher than 45%, quite a punch initially. Quite vegetal on the nose, with not much sweetness at all, at first. After a while, some caramel and cinnamon notes emerge, albeit subtly. Used teabag and burnt buttered toast next. The typical bourbon notes do make an appearance one by one.
Palate: A fairly thin mouthfeel, but with miles more sweetness than the nose let on. Plenty of brown sugar, caramel, chocolate and cherry flavours. The chocolate note really intensifies as more sips are taken. Aniseed and/or hot cinnamon bubbles up after some time. There’s a noticeable heat as we get towards the finish.
Finish: Medium to long. The trailing heat from the palate lingers for a while, becomes a mild chilli tingle and then fades slowly. The chocolate, caramel and teabag also take their time to fade away.
Overall: I much preferred the palate to the nose on this one, and it was the palate that saved the day. The nose was too vegetal for me, but the sweetness when drinking was very nice. A good set of well-balanced flavours too. Nice.
