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This is the most expensive bourbon I've ever tried
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Hey everyone, welcome to Bourbon Bites Whiskey Reviews with a gaming twist
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I'm Clifton and today we are trying Barrel's new Gold Label Bourbon
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As you saw in the intro, this is the most expensive bourbon I've ever tried on this channel and in real life as well
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Not considering like secondary prices, but this one has a $500 MSRP
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Now I've actually seen this locally for $450 so you can maybe find it a little bit cheaper depending on where you are
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But Gold Label is a blend of 16 and 17 year old bourbons that have been picked for four unique characteristics
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So for this release they targeted cherry forward barrels, oak forward barrels, high proof high complexity barrels, and barrels with a milk chocolate note
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They then take some of those and finish them in a new toasted oak barrel. So all of these aspects sound like a really fantastic bourbon
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And I do want to say a huge thank you to Beryl, who sent me a sample to review today
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So this one is 113.54 proof, and it's been distilled in Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee
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So age-wise, this is also one of the oldest bourbons I've ever tried
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with the exception of Orphan Beryl and a couple of others that I've done on the channel. But 16 years minimum in the barrel
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And you can definitely tell that on the color. This is a very dark whiskey. Let's go ahead and give it a nose
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Oh man the first thing that jumping out of the glass is that older oak And it a little bit different than I seen that expressed previously It actually reminds me a lot of an orphan barrel release that I had It a bit different from like a older Knob Creek which is one of my favorite bourbons
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This is more of like a dry oak versus like a very like saturated sweet rich oak. This was more of
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like a vintage style note. It kind of reminds me of like opening an old book or going to like an
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old library. It has a little bit of that, like I said, vintage quality, but also tobacco, maybe a
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bit of leather. You can tell just based on the nose alone that this is a very, very well-aged
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bourbon. There's a little bit of sweetness, but with this being so high proof, the big thing to
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me is the oak. So I think I'm going to have to give this a taste to find out where those cherry
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forward barrels are. So here's to the most expensive bourbon I've tried on this channel. Cheers
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wow the first thing is that is bursting with flavor there's so much going on um i love that
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this is high proof a lot of times when you have an older whiskey that's you know this old they
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usually either it's either naturally a lower cast strength or they proof it down a bit this though
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like i said comes at 113.54 proof this thing drinks like a flavor bomb i feel like i can tell
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that this whiskey has been waiting a really long time to be drank. It has so
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much depth and richness that it takes a second sip to really uncover what this is giving me So let try it again I want to say that this whiskey is super rich super creamy and super just decadent in kind
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of like a dessert-y kind of way. There's a bit of a toffee, kind of like a praline kind of note
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There's some nuttiness. There's definitely some chocolatiness. I definitely get that on this
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especially the finish. I mean, the finish is like a pure Reese's cup, that nutty peanut butter mixed
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with a milk chocolate note, this just finishes and just keeps going and keeps going. It's not
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often we see high proof combined with high age. So seeing it done well in this whiskey gets me
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really excited. Like I said, it's Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee. So the question is
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you know, can you tell there's Tennessee whiskey in it? I would say yes, but not in an off-putting
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way. You can definitely tell there's a little bit of that Tennessee whiskey, I call it minerality
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but it's not overpowering. And honestly, to me, it just has that like kind of similar mouthfeel
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and it kind of rests on the palate the same way, but it doesn't have an off-putting taste
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And then placing like the Kentucky or Indiana, I honestly can't pull out a specific, you know
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guess as to where the majority of this whiskey is from. It's just an overall solid bourbon
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Not just that, but like, I'll be real, one of the best bourbons I've ever tried
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which I would hope you would expect from a $500 whiskey. So that's where the real question comes
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in. You know, is it worth $500? Quality wise, I mean, this is a fantastic whiskey. One of the
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best things I ever tried So yeah I think it is worth Now worth is a very personal decision Would I personally pay for this No because I don have that kind of money but do I see that there is a market for this absolutely and are you better
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off buying this than paying secondary uh for some other whiskeys that may not be as old or high
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proof absolutely this is an absolute must buy as long as $500 you know doesn't break the bank if
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you're like me and you're like $500 what else could I get for that you know how many bottles can I get for that, then yeah, of course, skip it. But if, you know, you got a raise, you are
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celebrating a big birthday, this is absolutely worth the price. They've done a fantastic job
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blending it, not necessarily making it over-oaked because that oakiness really does blend well with
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that nuttiness on the palate. And again, I'm so, so thankful to Beryl for sharing this sample with
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me. Like I said, I mean, 100% honest, one of the best whiskeys I've tried in my life. So quote me
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on that. So thank you all for watching. If you enjoyed this, make sure to hit the thumbs up
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button down below and subscribe if you want to come back for more whiskey reviews. Also check
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out my Bourbon Bites podcast, new episodes every Friday and Twitch for my gaming streams. But until
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next time, this has been Bourbon Bites. Cheers and I'll see you next video. I don't want to finish it
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I just want to cherish this forever. Maybe I should buy a bottle. Become a patron at patreon.com slash bourbon bites
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Then maybe. Otherwise, yeah, I will just enjoy this bottle on special occasions
