Parkers Heritage Collection

Drank a glass of this one last night in a bar. I wasn't blown away by it. Personally, I like Bookers more and the Parkers was $22 a glass. Here are my notes:

Not sure which year this was. I think it was the 2013 if I'm not mistaken.

Nose: Butter scotch, artificial cherry cough drop flavor, vanilla, figs, all spice.

Palate: Luxurious thickness and mouthfeel; butter scotch, bitter oak that smoothed out with time in the glass and a touch of water; maple syrup, toasted Challah bread, butter, rye.

Finish: fairly long; cactus syrup, caramel, oak.

This bourbon exemplifies the reason I tend to favor scotch. It just didn't deliver for me. I would have enjoyed even a Highland Park 12 year, Aberlour 12, Glenfarclas 10 or 12, or a Clynelish 14 year more than this premium bourbon. Sorry, it's just one man's opinion.

This said, I really do love Pappy's 15, Bookers, and a few bottles of Buffalo Trace that were absolutely amazing over the past year. So I'm not a complete bourbon "heathen."

This said, I've tasted more Buffalo Traces that disappointed over the past year than enchanted my senses because of a few freakishly good bottles that were as tasty in the basic midrange palate as Bookers although not nearly as complex or lingering in the finish, of course.

Those bottles spoiled me. I'm sorry to say that I didn't own either of them. I came across them in bars in my neighborhood. Last winter/fall seems to have been a very good time to buy B. Trace, at least in Oregon.

As for the Pappy's, well, I will always try to get my hands on a bottle of that, so long as it stays almost as good as the 2011, which blew my socks off. It seems to be slipping a tad in terms of overall bombastic greatness, but not too much.

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