Muted oak | Vanilla | Brown sugar | Crème brûlée | Tingle of ethanol makes you do a double take of the proof

Crème brûlée | Light oak | Brown sugar | Baking spice | Hints of apple | Green peppercorn spice | Sweet yet thin

Sharp spice | Leather | Wet oak | Brown sugar | White pepper | Tannic | LIngering spice

Bib & Tucker 12 Year Single Barrel is the oldest aged and highest proof bourbon that the company sells. Being a single barrel, the end result will of course always vary. Hopefully this was an off barrel, since it was head scratching to see this fall into the barrels that were allowed to be selected. While the sip offers flashes of really good bourbon, specifically around its brown sugar and crème brûlée flavor characteristics, it also has noticeable flaws. The ethanol in the nose and thin palate combined with overly sharp spice in the finish is hard to ignore. These traits paired with a $100 price tag results in a disappointing pour.

The bourbon being reviewed is bottle number 142 out of 182 and comes from barrel number 102174 and was bottled for the Brightleaf Collection.