Well, hey there! I’m back from vacation and ready to roll.
Roll into bed, that is. Although I had a great vacation, I did bring a little something back home with me. And that something would be a couple of cases of Covid for my wife and I. Apparently, I’m just about the last person in the US to get it. I heard that our soon-to-be Octogenarian-in-Chief told a news outlet that the pandemic was over while I was away. Really wish someone would have told that to the virus that lodged its way into my head and chest. It might have saved me some coughing.
But even with getting a case of the VID, this was possibly the best vacation I’ve ever been on. I love seeing new places and experiencing new things, and this trip had two weeks filled with nothing but places I’ve never been before. It was heaven. I really liked California. My wife, not so much. Well, she liked it enough to visit, but not enough to stay. Which is fine by me. After almost 20 years of living in Minnesota, I’m finally coming around to the idea that there are so many worse places to live than here…I mean, where else do I get semi-yearly temps that are cold enough to freeze 80-proof bourbon?
Heck, even the whiskey I drank in California was new to me. While visiting Monterey and their world-famous aquarium, I stopped at Total Wine and picked up a new (to me) bourbon. I’m still too sick to do too much research on it, but here is what the press release had to say:
Cabernet Cask Reserve is a Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey aged for four years in new charred American oak barrels, then perfected in luxury California Cabernet Sauvignon casks and bottled at Stitzel-Weller Distillery, one of the true cathedrals of the American Whisky industry. This spirit takes the distinct character of fine Cabernet wine and pairs it with the brand's bold bourbon to create a clean, dark fruit and wine-like aromatics, along with an exceptionally complex flavor.
Luckily for you, I decided to write down my tasting notes a day or two before I started to show any symptoms. Because my taste buds, while not gone, are very messed up right now. If they don’t come back soon, we may be looking at re-runs of old “educational” articles next week instead of reviews. So in the meantime, let’s see what I thought of this one sometime last week.
I. W. Harper Cabernet Cask Reserve
Purchase Info: $55.99 at Total Wine, Monterey, CA
Price per drink (50 mL): $3.73
Details: 45% ABV. Four years old. Finished in Cabernet wine casks.
Nose: Cinnamon, brown sugar, dark chocolate, and a subtle dark fruit note.
Mouth: Cinnamon spice, nutmeg, red fruits, toffee, and chocolate.
Finish: Warm and sweet with notes of oak, then cinnamon, toffee, and chocolate.
Thoughts: This was a very good bourbon. We had a pour of it quite a few nights while on vacation, and it is possible that beautiful or fun settings may have colored my enjoyment. Be that as it may, I still really liked it. I’d buy it again.
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