Rare Character Whiskey: Obliteration

MSRP: $600

Mash: 75% corn, 21% rye, 4% malted barley

Proof: 143.80

Age: 14yrs

Nose: dark rich cherry, dried charred barrel staves, vintage aged leather, dark plum, sweet oak, whipped vanilla cream, dried tobacco, old library books, it's so beautiful and complex. The proof is obviously there but not nearly as in your face as it should be.

Palate: a ribbon of caramel washes over the palate, the dark plum and cherry from the nose are muddled together with brown sugar, fine leather, and aged tobacco follow through to the palate as well. The oddest part of this pour is that there is a definite lack of spice. You have well aged notes, dark berry, loads of underlying sweetness, but none of the baking spices you might expect.

Finish: Insane. The oak char and dark fruit just stay on your palate until the end of time.

Rating: Hoard It (Out of Hoard it, Buy it, Try it, Pass)

Thoughts: Picture this, you're sitting in a library in an old manor. The leather chair you're sitting in has been around for ages. Beside you is a glass of bourbon, an unlit aged cigar, and a bowl of dark fruit with cream on top. Imagine what that smells like... And that's what this pour is. The palate follows through with much of the same, adding a bit more sweetness to the overall picture. This pour is incredible. The proof somehow doesn't come across nearly as hot as it should. You could easily drink a heavy pour of this without even realizing what happened. It's a beautiful bouquet of everything you could want on a night you want to kick back. I wish this bottle would last me forever. It may be the best whiskey I've experienced.

This is probably the only time you will ever see me give a bottle this expensive a Hoard it rating.

What's the Deal?: The story behind Rare Character's Obliteration, is that Pablo Moix was offered the chance to buy barrels of MGP bourbon that were aged solely at a California winery. And then the wildfires came. The winery had lost almost everything, but they said Pablo could buy barrels if any were left. They were able to find one, and it had a whopping 36 bottles left within. This barrel essentially toasted itself from the outside in. And that profile comes across in the final product. This is truly a special barrel that will never be able to be repeated.