Jefferson's Presidential Select 18 YO

The reviewed sample is courtesy of @Pudge72. Thank you, @Pudge! I had previously done a review of Jefferson's Presidential 18 yo Batch # 31 (posted under the JPS 17 yo heading). This review is of Batch # 16

Jefferson's Presidential Select is a procured brand, or Independent Bottler, using the famous Stitzel-Weller distillate used for Pappy Van Winkle bourbons until recently. I passed up opportunities I had to buy the Jefferson's Presidential 17 and 18 year old bourbons because I had tried one of the batches which just didn't measure up. This is a bourbon using wheat INSTEAD of rye as the "flavoring grain". Only on the order of 5% of bourbons are made using wheat

Nose: Fabulous! Rich, with lots of vanilla, crystalline and confecioner's sugar, and that marvellous melding which wheat alone does with oak wood. High-pitched, strong, penetrating and pointed. Outstanding. (Excellent with water added also, though it is certainly not necessary)

Taste: good translation of the nose flavours with abundant flavours of both wheat and oak. The corn in the background gives a thick rich creamy body. This is quite nice, though not as impressive as the nose. I don't recommend adding Water.

Finish: long, moving toward the sour and slightly bitter

Balance: this batch # 16 is quite a good one with an outstanding nose. I am still wary of the differences in batches of Jefferson's Presidential Select, but at this point I wish I had picked up some when I had the chance. I wouldn't pay the big bucks for this one, but at $ 70 it would be a nice buy. Yeah I know, this one is not likely to cost $ 70 now, but that's what I passed up

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