Peggy Noe Stevens

Nose: Vanilla and honeysuckle. Corn pudding and biscuits. Apricots and peaches.

Palate: So, THERE is the spice, it truly fools you on the nose. Cinnamon and allspice, then black pepper. The vanilla stands back.

Finish: After a big blast of spice, it wraps the back of the tongue and settles in developing some oak notes and sweet cherry.

Comments: I would mix this in an Old Fashioned with brown sugar to balance out the big, bold spice.

Score

8.0

---

Susan Reigler

Nose: Caramel candy and vanilla fudge, whiskey-soaked cherries, dried lemon peel, and cinnamon. Some mitigating oak soon surfaces.

Palate: Vanilla doughnut, caramel icing and candy sprinkles. A little oak. Cherries hover around the edges. 

Finish: Caramel at the start, supported by fruit with some modest oak.

Comments: Water increases the whiskey’s complexity and encourages some impressive balancing of flavors too.

Score

8.8

---