by TNbourbon » Sun Jul 30, 2006 9:36 pm
Here's my take on the Fall '05 Stagg from first tasting back in February. I can't find a listing for it in the review section. When available, if Mark, Chris or Bob will move it -- or request that I do -- that will be fine with me:
Name: George T. Stagg, Fall 2005 version
Proof: 141.2 (barrel proof)
Cost: $56.80, after tax, in Middle Tennessee
Distillery: Buffalo Trace Distillery, Frankfort, KY
Bottle: The elegantly tall, straight-sided Antique Collection bottle, highlighted by the stag-horn stencil.
Nose: Well, the alcohol can clear your sinuses, but it's a sense, not a smell. Corn husks with underlying vanilla lead, followed up quickly by freshly-opened orange -- the fleshy center, not the peel. Give a couple of minutes, and the expected cinnamon/Red Hots take a turn. (Swirl, swish!) More, richer vanilla, and -- yep, bananas (just right this time, usually they're overripe), I always sense bananas in Stagg! Power of suggestion, or just a slippery slope? (After letting the empty glass sit a few minutes, it's all fresh, husked corn, newly-cribbed.)
Taste: The corn is first, followed by a blast of alcohol heat, then more definite corniness. Ah, there's the leather, about mid-palate (now in the nose, too -- hmmm, do we smell what we taste, or taste what we smell?). The leather softens and lingers.
Finish: No blast furnace here. No "I'm not leaving!", in-your-face attitude. Pleasant, medium, fresh. Lightly tannic, but without sourness. Virtually no aftertaste. Ready, set, again!..
Conclusions: Some of the earlier Stagg issues have been EVENTS! Big, bold, complex flavor packages that become almost a hodge-podge of sensory enfilade. GTS has matured. The Fall 2005 is a 'nice' bourbon. I suspect that will disappoint some. Even though I like it, I'm a little disappointed myself -- despite its uniform pleasantness, I'm still looking for the slap across the face to make me notice it. On the other hand, I DO like it. There are no 'off' notes, no unpleasant sensations. I can see its versatility and value -- diluted 2:1, I have a bottle-and-a-half of 94-proof bourbon suitable for drinking 'neat', mixing a Manhattan, or backboning a vatting. But, then, there are plenty of other bourbons with which to do those things. So, I leave you to your own conclusions. And, I'll just see where this bottle of Stagg takes me.
Postscript: I diluted a second pour 2:1 (whiskey:water) -- to about 94 proof -- and discovered Elmer T. Lee! Not an exact match, mind you -- the latter is a single-barrel -- but I couldn't tear myself away from the comparison. So, I popped the top of my open bottle of (90-proof, of course) ETL, and nosed. Similarities. I did what may be a first-ever for me -- I took a swig of the ETL right from the bottle. Then the diluted Stagg. I wonder how Elmer feels about this version of Stagg?
(Point of information: This review is original to me -- e.g., I wrote it -- but this is not its original posting.)