Stagg Jr. Bourbon
Stagg Jr., Take Two, 64.35% Batch
0 988
Review by @Victor
- Nose23
- Taste22
- Finish22
- Balance21
- Overall88
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Distribution of ratings for this:
- Brand: George T Stagg
- Type: American
- ABV: 64.35%
I found the first released batch of Stagg Jr to be unacceptably bitter, despite its having an excellent nose. The sample for this review is compliments of @Nock, and represents a later batch, probably the second batch, but I have no documentation for that
Nose: huge in intensity but medium in width of flavours; a ton of wood flavours of vanilla and natural caramel; lots of sweetness from the oak. The pitches are almost all high and medium in range. Spice is light here, reflecting the low (approx. 8%) rye content of Buffalo Trace Mash Bill # 1. With this second release of "Buffalo Trace Sr." the strength of the wood flavours makes it hard to taste corn flavours in the whiskey. This differentiates Stagg Jr. from standard Buffalo Trace Bourbon, one of the very few bourbons in my book in which you can actually taste corn. In Stagg Jr. there is enough oak influence to make that very difficult
Taste: as Jim Murray occasionally likes to say: "That's more like it!" The nose flavours translate well to the palate and do NOT go strongly to the bitter, as did those of the first batch of Stagg Jr. The only real shortcoming here is the absence of bass notes from wood to give this more balance
Finish: strong, long, and consistent
Balance: good but not great balance here. This batch of Stagg Jr. is still not in the same league with George T. Stagg, but I don't think that this batch would elicit groans from some of my Connosr friends (in Toronto), as did the first batch of Stagg Jr., when I served it to them. In my review of the first batch of Stagg Jr. I said that I saw no reason why Stagg Jr. couldn't and shouldn't be much better whiskey in later batches. The process of improvement is already underway. I place a high value on intensity of flavours. If I did not, this batch of Stagg Jr. would probably rate 84-86 from me, rather than 88.(and the first batch would have rated 81 from me) Thanks again, @Nock, for giving me this sample which restores my faith in Stagg Jr.
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@Victor. I just purchased the 66.06%ABV. I think its amazing, at least a 92 bourbon rating. Can you tell me what batch it is from? Is it an earlier batch or the latest batch?