His & Her Reviews: her review of Stagg Jr. Batch 13

We had rare cause to celebrate on Saturday night, so to quote John Hammond, we spared no expense. This was the Lovely Assistant’s first ever pour of Stagg Jr., and her review follows.

Nose: This thing leaps out of the glass. There’s a brief jab of jet fuel that gives way to a dense, decadent caramel and chocolate covered cherry. If you stripped the malt out of GlenDronach and exchanged it for chocolate and napalm, this is what you’d get.

Palate: For a brief second, I get a forest-dense note of mint accompanied by little staccato spice note of nutmeg verging towards clove. At this point the countdown timer hits zero and a warhead of cinnamon and autumnal baking spices vaporizes everything. It’s a drier, oakier A’bunadh at this juncture. As the blastwave subsides, a beautiful fallout coats your mouth. It’s a complex, layered presentation of toasted nuts, cherry, caramel, and vanilla that slowly unfurls and evolves. I’ve never had a bourbon this complex or nuanced, and even wilder that this is also simultaneously the most furious, aggressive bourbon I’ve tried by a very wide margin.

Finish: I am told this is the Stagg Hug. I get it. This is a glacial finish — I counted off at least 4-5 minutes after my second and third sips that the finish was still going and giving me a gorgeous weaving together of cinnamon sugar and baking spices. There is also a deep, abiding warmth that builds across your chest as you sip.

Summary: This was billed to me as the best bourbon in the cabinet and it did not disappoint. I would easily call this the best bourbon I’ve ever had, and it easily deserves a place of equal peerage among my beloved bottles of single malt. This is simply fabulous whisky. And while I don’t think there’s a bottle of whisky/wine/whatever out there that’s really worth that much more than $100, I see why Stagg Jr. is so ardently sought. I did good work giving this as a gift.

Image courtesy of Jon who also writes on Low Class & High Proof.

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