8.4

Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8.5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 9

500mL bottle from Holiday Market, drunk 5/11/25.
Dark amber with garnet highlights. Clear. Slight bubbles on the edge.
Rich toffee, raisin, vanilla, caramel, red fruits and easygoing bourbon. Moderate oak/barrel though would have expected more from the Woodford. But I'd rather it be mostly malt, yeast and bourbon character, so I'm not complaining. No alcohol noted initially. Reminds me a good deal of Barreled Souls!
Soft, succulent, malty, with immediate spiciness from the Heaven Hill emerging. Cuts the rich, toffee maltiness nicely and balances the beer, leaving rich malt lingering alongside flavorful spirit. No huge oakiness, though, of course, there is some oak lingering. Heavy black pepper, very dry molasses, and even a touch of licorice linger, as well. Rich, slightly syrupy, big-bodied, but never cloying. Spicier than I remember Choros being, but maybe not as elegant, and a touch sweeter. Kind of splitting hairs here, but I wish the spiciness was more black pepper/lead/bourbon and less licorice/ginger/molasses. Still, hard to find too much fault here and it's done quite well, with zero indication of the 15%.