I’m on my second to last glass of my Eagle Rare 17 bottle distilled in ‘87. You don’t need two paragraphs of its history, it’s now Buffalo, it used not to be, blah, blah, blah (Wikipedia the rest if you care). It’s so good, and so sad. It’s ashamed I’m not sharing, but at the same time happy to be a greedy bastard. Guess I gotta compare to a fresh 17 before it’s killed off too.

I’ve been thinking of doing a “donkey tasting” where I get some friends that think Bourbon is like scotch but will hold this one aside for a fun post after I rip someone a new one. I will post the Donkey tasting results too. I can see it now: “This Michter’s Sour Mash is like that time when I was siphoning gas and it went in my mouth.” Or, “This Van Winkle 23 stuff tastes like an ashtray but its wierd - it’s like good ashtray!”

Anyway, the review. I’m having this with an Innis and Gunn Highland cask oak-aged beer. They have a great rum cask and others too. They will bring out the flavors of your bourbon. At least the stuff that doesn’t suck will. (I’m not doing the ER in order; order is for guys with pocket protectors and too much order!)

Cherry. Yup love me some cherry. Cherry taste , cherry smell and for those that need more, I’ll lie to impress - Orchard Cherry, maybe Bing, but not Rainer. At 17 years, smooth with a little wood on the finish. Not bitter at any point. After some glass time, it’s faded a bit, and not getting better. Maybe soapy. Strange, as glass time usually improves a good Bourbon. Still, I’m going with my first thought, as its not the booze’s fault its not gone. It’s stuff like this when one might ask, “What’s a Stagg”? I’m liking this with a 4.25 of 5 rating. Wait, I’m now getting buttered popcorn, oddly enough. Really, no shit. I swore if I ever used a tasting note like that, I’d drop dea