Jack Daniel's Single Barrel 14-5822

Welcome to the continuing saga whereby I try various different Single Barrels of Jack Daniel's. Yeah, yeah I know, y'all hate Jack Daniels but I don't care, for me this is fun. So suck it. Here we have Barrel No. 14-5822 from Rick No. L-19 and bottled Oct 1 2014. Within this review, I'm going to compare it to the last JD SB I reviewed here, 14-1241.

The colour is a deep dark bronze. On the nose, more maple syrup than I've noticed in a JD SB before; plus freshly ground black pepper, rich oak, shoe leather, dusty bookshelves, black liquorice and, of course, toffee and vanilla. Overripe peaches. Lots of cloves. Wood smoke with water. Deep, rich and spicy.

On the palate there is much more vanilla, and still some maple. This time it's overripe banana rather than peach. Smoked paprika, pepper, walnuts and mouth-watering oak. A little oily, but enjoyable nonetheless - especially with water, which thins out the oils and adds even more spice.

The very long finish is full of rye spice, white pepper, burnt sugar and BBQ rub. This is a big, bruising JD full of richness and character, more so than the previous 14-1241, which was lighter and more subtle. Generally, I prefer this one but if you want something closer to the Old No. 7, perhaps the 14-1241 is for you (if you can find it).

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