George T Stagg 2017

Thanks to /u/xile_ for sharing this dram at a recent tasting.

So jump back a few years. And my father, who figured out that bourbon is his drink (after decades of being a rum fan and not remembering the exact type of whiskey he loved). Someone tells him about BTAC.

Specifically someone tells him about George T. Stagg. Turns out the years were some of the good GTS years. As some people know, the BTAC changes each year (though some options are vatted and stayed consistent). The years had been good for GTS.

However I kept trying them, and found some weren’t the legends that their names were based on. Thus I don’t hunt down George T Stagg 2017. Also I’m not rich enough to, and live in Canada, where it’s a bit tougher.

So to finish off our tasting we try this years GTS. And we don’t know what to expect. So let’s see how it tastes, shall we?

Price: Most of your net worth

Region: Kentucky

Abv: 64.6%

Colour: 7.5YR 6/10

Nose: Birthday cake, Trillium, orange sherbet, cardamon, leather, grass

Grassy and orange. Big sweet nose right off the bat. And yes, I hate writing Birthday cake when eventually we had a Birthday cake tasting (this one, it turns out). However that’s exactly it.

And yes, I had many glasses of water after having a tiny piece of Birthday cake. I also make a Zucchini Chocolate cake that I made that was stronger than the Birthday cake.

Lots of floral, orange, and grass notes. This is a different George, that’s for sure. I don’t quite know if I’ll love him and pet him and stroke him (that’s a joke from Loony Tunes).

Taste: Red licorice, brown butter, sweet grass, basil pesto, first time trying an Orange Julius (orange and creamy drink that’s shocking)

Alright, so let’s go to memory time: You’re a young child. You live in Montreal. It’s before the Internet, and the sharing of various cuisines. Your parents bring you out to the giant Orange. You’re excited because… well, duh, it’s a giant Orange.

And you’re bought an Orange Julius. Turns out in order to make it into Montreal, the Minnesota based company made a big ass Orange. So I drink it. I both enjoyed it and didn’t. It’s a creamsicle.

This dram was so powerful, strong, and had that perfect mixture of non curdled milk with orange that it brought me back there. Lots of grass and buttery notes to, this needs time. It’s subtle. At first, at least.

Finish: Buttered corn, Snickerdoodles, cashew brittle, orange sorbet

More complexity. If the taste was teasing at this complexity (and then hitting it with orange), the nose being sweet, yet eventually subduing, the finish stops beating around the bush and gives you those complex caramel flavours.

Conclusion: So yeah, buy this years George T. Stagg, basically. It’s complex, tasty, interesting, the right amount of orange (I’m not the biggest orange fan, Fuck you Florida), and overall a caramel bomb.

Honestly, what else can I say? It’s not better than the 2012 one, however… when are they ever? That year was pure legend. This year? Really, really good. Worth telling your son about, at least.

89/100

Bourbon review #225, Kentucky review #144, Whiskey Network review #1415