Tag: BTAC

Rating 6/ 10
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George T. Stagg BTAC 2018 62.45%

Nose: Flat old cherry cola, fresh lumber and intense oak, acetone, and caramelized figs. Brown sugar and vanilla. Candied pecans. Sweet apple cider vinegar based bbq sauce. Blondie brownie. This bottle has been open for a few years now and only about a quarter full, nose is more muted than I recall.

Palate: Woody beast front and center, vanilla/amaretto extract including on the mouthfeel. Crushed almonds and bubble gum on the long finish. Same goes here, a bit less gusto than I recall.

Rating: 6 / 10 – This is right on the edge for my upper limit on wood intensity I can enjoy. I remember doing the go stand in line for the allocated bottle thing for this. It’s good, especially at the retail price, but if I could go back in time, I’d probably trade up.

Rating 7/ 10
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William Larue Weller 2020 67.25%

Nose: I made zucchini bread two nights ago. Ad libbing with the recipe, I poured a hefty dollop of young Hampdens, white pepper and a swirl of molasses. Both savory and funky with hints of sweetness. My favorite leather belt. Touch of graphite or the whiff of a soldering gun when working on circuit boards. The oak tannins hit me as black tea. I quite like this nose, but I like oak bombs more than most.

Palate: Blackberry hard candy, bourbon soaked cherries, licorice root, grapefruit peel, spearmint, ginger and white pepper. A profoundly concentrated experience. My favorite treat on earth are my wife’s molasses cookies, basically a Pfeffuernusse in disguise, but they end up more spicy and savory than sweet. The big oak and spicy bite is my jam. I’d probably swear this had some rye if I was tasting it blind.

Rating: 7 / 10 – This is a hell of a bottle although the nose lacks the full punch of the palate. I wish I had another year open to try them side by side as I remember being blown away by both the complexity and approachability of the 2014 in a way that isn’t here in the 2020. Still, money very well spent.