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Today I will be raising a glass to Betty White (1922-2021) with a review of Barrell New Year 2022 Bourbon. I'm also sharing some of the runners up from my Top Whiskeys of the Year and why they didn't quite make the list for 2021, including Larceny Barrel Proof (C921), Russell's Reserve 13, Jaxk Daniel's 10, Doc Swinson's Alter Ego Rye, Old Scout Port Cask Finish Rye, and Laphroiag Cairdeas. Questions or comments? Reach me at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) Chat about this week's episode on the Bourbon Bytes Whiskey & Gaming Lounge Discord server at http://www.BourbonBytes.com Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BourbonBytes Subscribe on YouTube for live streams and more: https://www.YouTube.com/BourbonBytes (https://www.youtube.com/BourbonBytes)
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On today's episode of the Bourbon Bites podcast, I'm reviewing Barrel New Year 2022 and talking
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about the runners-up to my top 10 whiskeys of the year. Hello everyone and happy New Year's Eve
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I'm actually recording this on the same day I'm putting it out, mainly because I wanted
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to get through my absolute favorite stream that I do every year, which was last night
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I counted out my top 10 whiskeys of the year. That was over on YouTube, so if you missed it, you can check it out at youtube.com slash bourbonbites
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It was a fun list to make. There are some absolute hitters on it, but there are a few that, you know, I did not include this year for various reasons
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So I wanted to take a minute to talk about those that were left off this year and review Barrel's New Year 2022 bottle
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Because the brand sent me this and I knew I wanted to save it for a special occasion
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so what better day than New Year's Eve to review this whiskey. So I actually have tried a little bit of this already
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but I'm going to go ahead and pour some more so we can get into the review. So Barrel New Year is an annual release they put out each year
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I had a sample of 2021 that I did on my New Year's Eve stream last year
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which happened to fall on the same night as my normal stream, plus 2020 kind of deserved a stay-at-home kind of celebration
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But the brand actually sent me a bottle this year, So big shout out to Barrel Craft Spirits who sent us for a review
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Barrel has done some incredible stuff this year. Several of their products made my top 10 list
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And some of their products are making my runners-up list as well. So they're doing some incredible stuff there
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So this 2022 release is a blend of 5, 6, 7, 9, and 14-year-old straight bourbon whiskeys
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Now these were distilled all over the United States. They are from Tennessee, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Wyoming, New York, and Texas
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so I don't know exactly the match feels of each of those. I'm not going to spend 20 minutes going over them on this podcast
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but just know that Beryl is incredible with their blending, and they like to source from a lot of different places
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so at least they're transparent, but dang, that's a lot of different places. This one comes in at 115.34 proof, which is cast strength
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and of course it was aged in American white oak barrels. Now, this is labeled as a bourbon whiskey, so we do know it's at least 50% corn
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Not saying that all of those that were blended in were a bourbon, but it definitely ends up being a bourbon at the end result
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So on the back of the bottle, they say, New Year, new traditions. To toast the new year, we've crafted this limited release bourbon by marrying barrels of different ages and mash bills
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We hope you'll enjoy it with us. Well, that we will. Let's go ahead and give it a nose
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Ah, that's really nice. Getting off of Christmas, you know, so many Christmas dinners I went to while I was in South Carolina visiting my family and my husband's family
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I had so many desserts that this on the nose is screaming a dessert, which, you know, is a great note in a bourbon
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It has a nice little toasted note and toasted oak as well
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So it's a mix of like the marshmallow from the toasted aspect of it, but the oak is still dominant
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It's not overly sweet, but it has some nice baked characteristics as well
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Yeah, but lots of vanilla. Like it's like a vanilla frosting on top of some kind of baked good
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It's a little fruity. Um, I'm, I'm thinking like a wild berry kind of note
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I'm not necessarily picking out certain berries, um, but there is some nice fruitiness that's
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kind of baked into the nose, maybe a little bit of cherry
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It's, it's kind of like a, um, bit of a sour aspect to that fruit
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Um, but it's, it's balanced really nicely with the toasty oak, um, that this has given me
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So before I take a sip of this, I do want to give a toast to the legend herself, Betty
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White, who passed away earlier this morning. I am so sad to hear of this, but I know she will live on as a Hollywood icon
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She was a legend, and she'll live on in our hearts, because, I mean, pretty much most of us grew up watching her in some capacity
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So, cheers to Betty White and her legacy. Oh, man. So, this is my first drink of the day
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I did my stream last night, so jumping off the deep end with Castron. So, kind of caught me a little off guard, but it's 115.34 proof, so I appreciate that
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But, you know, around noon, I don't know if I'm ready for that
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So let me have another sip now that I know what to expect. Yeah, it's a really sharp wood up front
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It's like a blend because it kind of reminds me of some of the younger wood-shaving
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sawdust kind of notes that I gotten on some whiskeys but there a pronounced richness and heftiness to it too So it nicely balanced We know this is a blend of so many different whiskeys i think what i getting is some of the younger whiskey because the youngest whiskey in here is five years old
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so i'm getting a little bit of that brightness that bright fresh wood from the five-year-old
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but that older 14 and nine-year-old that's in here too i think i'm really getting the impact
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of that because it's it's sharp in a way that it's dominant but it's not um unbalanced dare i
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say. It's a weird balance between new oak and, you know, again, I always use this, but saturated
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oak. They're really rich, old oak, like a Rick House. So it's an interesting combination. It's
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weird that that's so up front. Usually I get that more on the finish. So let's see what's behind
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that. Let's dive a little bit deeper. Yeah, right behind that oak, it brings out the sweetness
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the vanilla that I was getting on the nose. I was thinking it might express itself a little
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differently on the palate, but this is still vanilla, like vanilla ice cream up front. Then
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it gets like a little tart and maybe that's what I was getting as cherry earlier on but this time
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it's a little more like a lime tart I'm trying really hard not to like you know use their notes
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that they used on this because I like to try to form my own before reading them but I did see that
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there was a note of key lime pie and that's actually what I'm getting the the pie note from
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it's like it's like a lemon meringue more so maybe it has like that creaminess that vanilla aspect
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really really sweet you know toasted marshmallow but there's like a little bit of tartness and to
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me it was like a lime so I see why they say key lime as a note I think that's definitely you know
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You know, if you're looking for it, you can find that. The end of the palette to me is like super like coffee, espresso
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Like you just, you know, finished a cup of coffee and it's kind of lingering on your palette
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I'm getting a lot of that on the back end of the finish. But it's not as rich, I guess, as I would say espresso
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To me, it's like lighter. Maybe even like some sort of like a black tea kind of finish or like a chai tea
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It's got the creaminess, the milkiness of like a, you know, or like a Thai iced tea or something like that
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I know I'm talking over the place, but I think this has a really unique kind of tea leaf note that I don't usually get on the finish
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Well-rounded. I mean, dang, this is a pretty freaking good expression. Now, I don't have the 2021 to compare to, so I'm not entirely sure, you know, which one's better
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But for around $100, I think this is a very deserving bourbon to be sold at that price
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Beryl is, you know, known as a premium brand, so you would expect the higher price
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But I don't think they took any shortcuts. I mean, there are some younger whiskeys in here, the 5, 6, 7-year-old, but I don't think that it's, you know, it doesn't taste young
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I think those are more of balance, you know, normally with, like, an older 9 to 14-year-old bourbon
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Sometimes it gets a little too oaky, a little too tannic. I think the 5, 6, and 7-year-old really balance that out
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Now, I'm not sure, you know, where they're sourcing from. I mean, Ohio, Wyoming, New York
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There's a lot of distilleries that whiskey could be coming from. So I definitely don't think you can break this down and be like, oh, I can taste the, you know, Tennessee note
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I can taste the Indiana whiskey. I just think it's a really solid, balanced bourbon
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And, you know, it's not distinctive enough to tell me, like, where I think the dominant whiskey is from
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But that doesn't mean it's bad. And I think for $100, this is a winner. So cheers to the new year
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And thank you, Beryl, again, for letting me try this. This is a great way to ring in the last day of 2021
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This has already kind of been dulled by Betty White's passing. But, you know, this is a great whiskey to drink in her memory
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So cheers again, Betty. Thank you for being a friend. so this episode is still going to be a little shorter than normal i'm still kind of recovering
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from the holidays i just got back uh in town two nights ago so it's been really busy so i promise
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that these are going to go back to the regular length the regular format uh next week but this
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one i want to take some time to really dive into the runners up to my best of 2021 list
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i noticed there were a lot of interesting reactions to my top 10 over on youtube
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Like I said, if y'all missed that stream, you can watch the replay now. I think the biggest thing is a lot of items on my list were very much everyday bourbons and everyday whiskeys in general
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There were very few limited edition releases. And I made that decision this year because I found myself not really hunting for the hard-to-find bottles as much this year
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And I don't know particularly why. I didn't tell myself not to do that
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to me, I was more impressed by the new releases that were in the less than $100 price range
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I had very limited access to some of the LEs this year
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I didn't get sent, you know, I'm not on a lot of distribution lists, so I didn't get to try a lot of them
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But some of them I did get to try, and as much as I wanted to include them on the list
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I knew that I couldn't recommend them in a way knowing that no one could get their hands
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on them. That's kind of why I made that decision this year. You know, sometimes people include some, you know, Buffalo Trace Antique Collection bottles in their best of list
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You know sometimes there some limited extremely limited release whiskeys But the only one that was really super limited on my list um which spoiler alert if you haven listened to it is uh Ardbeg Scorch which is the committee release of that So that was very very limited Um but everything else I mean blue spot was
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also limited. Um, but most other things on that list were things that you could find in the stores
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at least at some point this year, you would have been able to find them, but I did want to take a
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moment to go through some of the whiskeys that I would have absolutely included on the list
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if I didn't restrict myself to things that I was able to pick up myself
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And I think the biggest one, the one that I wanted to talk about the most, because it kind of feels unfair
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I basically had this whiskey in my top three, and it wasn't until last minute that I realized, you know
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I can't fairly recommend that, because I've gotten a sample from the distillery that they sent me to review
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but they just sent it a few weeks ago. I mean, I think someone said they saw it on the shelves, but nowhere near me has this bottle been available
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and that is Larceny Barrel Proof C921. This is the last batch of the year. It usually comes out in September, but this year it came out super, super late
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I'm talking end of November, early December. So I know there were lots of delays and totally understandable why it was delayed, but this batch of Larceny just absolutely blew me away
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I was so impressed by it. I still haven't done a blind flight of all the batches of Larceny
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I do hope to do that early next year, but this C921 is absolutely incredible
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it makes me excited for Larceny Barrel Proof again, because for the longest time, a lot of
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those are just kind of falling flat. And I think not just for me, but for other, you know, I've talked to Perry from This is My Burn podcast. He kind of agreed with the other batches. They just
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were kind of lackluster, but this one really impressed me. So I want to, you know, shout it
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from the rooftops. Like, if you see this bottle, pick it up. It's great. But to include it on my
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best of 2021 list felt a little unfair because I have not seen it. I don't think I'll be seeing it
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anytime, you know, remotely soon. But I do know for those of you that are listening to this podcast
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please know that that's an absolutely incredible bourbon. And if you see it, pick it up because it's definitely the best larceny barrel proof I've ever tried
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Speaking of ones that I couldn't get my hands on, I was actually blinded with a sample of Russell's Reserve 13. I actually unknowingly tasted that and gave my thoughts on a Twitch stream
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which, you know, there were like not very many people watching it, but that ended up being
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russell's reserve 13 and i just absolutely loved it i i saved the rest of that sample because i
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wanted to get into it um on a either a video or a stream or something like that because it was so
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good um but again i i searched for that bottle i tried my hardest to find that bottle in 2021
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um but could not find it so i i would have included that on my list absolutely if i were to get my
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hands on it um but it was kind of elusive to me same way with the jack daniels 10 year i mean i
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just reviewed a sample on this podcast last episode and it was absolutely incredible I wasn't
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expecting it to be so good it would have earned a spot on my best of 2021 list for sure but again
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just had a sample of it I did not have a chance to buy a bottle of it so both of those were absolute
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winners I mean they would have absolutely made my list if I didn't have that caveat of being able
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to purchase the bottles another one that's kind of like you know people are like why you tried this
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this year why isn't it on your list that is barrel's gold label the 500 bottle of barrel bourbon
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i did a youtube video on it reviewing it you know saying is 500 bourbon worth it absolutely if you
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have the money and it's not gonna you know it's not gonna make you think twice about it um but
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people like me you know i'm not gonna go buy a 500 bottle of bourbon on a whim um so while it was
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probably one of the best things i've ever tasted probably the best i mean it's the the most expensive
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a bourbon and probably one of the best bourbons I've tried, I didn't feel like I could put
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it on this list and be fair to the other things that I would actually buy. So that's the reason that one wasn't on the list
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But there were some other ones that I really enjoyed this year that were true runners up
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and that would have been on the list if it was like a top 20, but it was a top 10
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So I had to limit myself. So some of these, I actually have one here to drink today, and that is Doc Swenson's
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Alter Ego Rye. So this is a bottle that I've actually picked up multiples of
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And that's because I enjoy it so much. And I really, really wanted to include this one on the list
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If you're unaware, it is a rye whiskey. It's an Indiana rye whiskey. But it's been finished in rum casks
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So it has some nice sweetness. It's 95 proof. I don't think it's as sweet as Angel's Envy Rye
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Because I think, to me, that was a little too sweet. This one that I think is absolutely..
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That finish impacts it so, so nicely. And it was really a toss-up between this and Stellum Rye
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Both of them are mostly Indiana Ries. And this one did have the unique aspect of the finish
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However, you know, when side-by-siding them, I think the Stellum was a better blend
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It had such a rich mouthfeel that I had to put it in my list and leave this one off, unfortunately
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But since this would have been my number 11 if I were to extend the list I going to go ahead and pour a little bit of it and you know just drink along while I the rest of these runners up for you guys So this isn age dated They do say it been aged for up to six years I imagine it probably a good bit younger than that being
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Indiana Rye and the price point. I mean, it was actually, I think it was like 50 when I first got
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it, but it went on clearance at my local liquor store and I picked up a second bottle for $28
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I'm like, oh my gosh, that's so cheap. Y'all know I like different. And to me, this one is very
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different um it's got the younger the brighter notes from the rye but it has that sweetness that
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i think is coming from the rum and i think it's just super balanced i mean i know this one kind
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of got mixed receptions from other people but for me from for a 40-ish 40 to 50-ish dollar
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um rye whiskey i think this kind of beats a lot of the other younger mgp ryes i mean
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there's a few out there there's you know dickle rye which is my first entry into rye really
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um but there's you know knob creek rye i think knob creek's a little bit older a lot more you
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know bourbon-esque in its flavor palette but this one definitely drinks like a rye but i think that
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that sweetness from the rum really rounds it out and makes it a you know worthy number 11 if i were
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to make the list even longer speaking of you know mgp another one that i've been raving about this
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year y'all have heard me mention on the podcast a couple times that's old scouts um port finished
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rye um i just have to think for finished mgp ryes i don't know maybe i'm weird but i think it being
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younger and being you know brighter it latches onto these darker finishings or even like you
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know sweeter with the the rum I think it latches onto and it meshes so well with it so that was one
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that also you know I've shouted it out several times on my podcast and on my streams it would
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have definitely been in my top uh you know 15 20 whatever if I would have made that list even longer
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although we ran overtime last night so definitely didn't want to make it any longer but that was
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another you know highlight of my year um and lastly this is one that came up on our after
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party hangout last night um which if you don't know that's what i do for all of my patrons that
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are ten dollars and up we do an after party after every thursday night live stream where we hang we
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talk about the stream we talk about other things as well um and one came up that my friend swan and
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donnie the linux cat were talking about and that was um lefroy cargis the 2021 release that one
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absolutely was a highlight of the year it you know it's the one that was the px cask finish
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I did a flight of it and the compass box three and then the Johnny Walker high rye and um or
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there's also we had another do we have another look for you on there I don't remember but the
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car just was you know to me one of the best scotches I've tried this year and if that list
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were you know any longer I would absolutely have included it it's a it's a stand out
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Lafroix it's probably one of the best Lafroix I've ever had um but you know I had to I didn't
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want to overwhelm the list with a lot of scotches because I know a lot of you guys here are only
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here for the American whiskey, which is fair. But y'all know I experiment with other types of
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whiskey, Scotch, Irish, Canadian. So I hope you understand why I included mostly bourbons, but
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there's a lot of variety on my list. I'm happy about that. I'm glad I didn't limit myself to
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just the best bourbons of the year. But I made sure to hit pretty much every category. I didn't
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name a Canadian. So if I were to pick a best Canadian I tried this year, it would probably
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have to be that 23-year-old Cast Strength JP Weisers. I had the 35-year-old, which is even
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older but it's not it's it's 100 proof i believe but those were a toss-up i remember doing on the
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stream thinking i'd like the cast strength version better but going back and forth between the 23 and
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35 both were incredible whiskeys so yeah if i had to pick a best canadian whiskey would be either of
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those two um jp wisers especially higher proof is really really great and thank you donald rance for
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the recommendation on those um but i think that about does it for my runners up um i hope this
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gives you a little bit more insight into why i picked the ones that i did and why i left certain
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ones off not that they weren't worthy um i just wasn't able to get more than just a sample of some
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of them and some of these you know were really really good but i think there were items on the
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list that were um just just a little bit better so let me know what you guys think if you had a top
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whiskey of the year please let me know on discord or send me an email i would love to know what you
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guys picked up this year what's your favorite and what you hope to uh hold on to and share in the
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next year and thank you all for tuning in whether you're listening to this on new year's eve or you
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listen to it in 2022 the future um hopefully you had a fantastic new year's weekend i know i'm
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keeping it pretty low-key i did a lot of celebrating over christmas so this year i'm just gonna be
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chilling at home maybe pop into a few other streams tonight depending on who's going live
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so thank y'all for listening until next time this is bourbon bites cheers and i will talk to you next year
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