The New Woodford Reserves Master's Collection Is...

[indyrider]

I picked up a bottle of this yesterday, and have sat down to a couple of short sessions with it. By far, my favorite of the WR Master's Collection. Robert is right, this is seriously dark whiskey. The notes of dark fruit, bittersweet chocolate, and sweet caramel mentioned by others, are there for me, too. A nicely extended and dry finish. I really like this bourbon. But, I'll issue a warning. The signature WR nose (which has seemed to be magnified in the Master's Collection Series, BTW) is prevalent. If you have a dislike for it, you might be disappointed with this.

(Some call it "copper/penny" I think it's more cantaloupe rind, myself. And, I don't mind it. Actually, I appreciate the "Signature Distinctness" it gives, much like the signature distinctness of an Islay scotch. But like Islays, it definitely ain't for everybody.)

All in all, I think they did very well with this. This is the only edition of the Collection that I would consider buying another bottle of. But, at $99 it's pretty steep. Maybe, I'll wait until I get back to The Motherland, to pick up another.

I concur. Best bottling of the Master Collection by far. I love the nose of MC's and just wished the copper palate on the 4G wasnt so prevalent, as I really wanted to enjoy that offering.

That said, I really appreciate the copper nose and the sweet succulent start, the creamy caramel mid, and the long dry finish of the seasoned oak...I will definitely bunker at least one or two of these...Well worth the c-notes...

Indy

[BourbonJoe]

Opened a Batch 5. The nose was all candy Red Hots and not much else. The taste was all candy Red Hots and not much else. I agree that it the darkest bourbon I have ever seen. I did not care for it, especially for the $100 I had to pay to get it. Liked the Sweet Mash much better.

Joe :usflag:

[loose proton]

...Liked the Sweet Mash much better.

Joe :usflag:

[spun_cookie]

:27:

crap...its a WRMC....

That's very closed minded of you, Em. Have you tasted it or are you just letting prior prejudices taint your judgment?

(yes, I used taint in a sentence)

after purchasing the first 3 for a mint... my mind has become closed to their stabs in the dark... I do think my response was harsher than the humor I was going for... but then I remember sucking on those old penny bottles and I just do not have teh stomach to try a 4th... got me once, shame on you, got me twice, shame on me... got me the 3rd time and I jus ain’t that bright... ... but I'll be damned if I go for a forth...

We're on page six of this thread and no one else has said what they think of this whiskey, except in theory.

I'm dying to see some other tasting notes.

...but if you want to send me a sample... I'll write up some notes for ya... I promise not to use baby diapers to discribe it

OK, thanks to Scott, the Birdman, I got a 60 ml sample today....

First quick taste right out of the bottle was sweet and char… almost a dryness to go with the sweet… very odd. And a hint of copper. Interesting

I went ahead and let this sit alone for 20 min before I touched it to let it open up.

Nose:

Lots of leather. Its like I just walked into a leather store with the fresh cut leather and the smell of copper. The copper is minor and not a turnoff in this case.

There is some sweetness, almost like that of sweet cream at Bask and Robins. There is also this resin type smell almost like that of pine tree sap, not oak so much, but pine (Douglas Fir).

Taste:

Leather up from and some of the copper is standing out now. Far better than the previous bottles, but there is an off taste that is not perfect here… takes away from the good notes unfortunately… like that same resin from a Douglas fir, almost bitter in nature.

Finish:

Some leather and nice oak and char with a slow role to earth and sweetness. The sweetness is like Dark chocolate… 98 % type with a smooth long tail …

The finish is definitely the best part of this one. I with the nose and taste were as good.

Not sure I have ever had a whiskey that had this much disperse between the nose/taste and the finish….

Fresh pour notes:

The nose and taste are much closer to the sitting version of the finish and the finish remains the same.

Overall:

I have to admit, this is not bad juice. I have been very hard of the first 3 bottlings, but this one is good. Not $100 good, but good none the less.

I like this one. I recommend you pour small 1 oz or less pours and drink it in a shorter time period to savor some great leathers and earth tones with a really nice long finish….

[TheGentleman]

I'm extremely fortunate to have a relative who has some awesome bourbons. Last night, in celebration of finding out my wife is pregnant, I was treated with a pour of Pappy 23 yr which was phenomenal. I followed it up with a pour of this Woodford Reserve Master's Collecition. I thought it was quite a disappointment. I almost didn't want to drink it. I KNOW part of this was my palate was already acquainted to the wheated Pappy, however, this bourbon does not justify the pricetag! $90 bones! It might be a semi-complex bourbon that's def a step up from their regular offering, but it doesn't command it's current price tag. Here's my quesion...would anyone who's tasted this bourbon actually pay ~$90 for it again??

[birdman1099]

not me....

[p_elliott]

I'm extremely fortunate to have a relative who has some awesome bourbons. Last night, in celebration of finding out my wife is pregnant, I was treated with a pour of Pappy 23 yr which was phenomenal. I followed it up with a pour of this Woodford Reserve Master's Collecition. I thought it was quite a disappointment. I almost didn't want to drink it. I KNOW part of this was my palate was already acquainted to the wheated Pappy, however, this bourbon does not justify the pricetag! $90 bones! It might be a semi-complex bourbon that's def a step up from their regular offering, but it doesn't command it's current price tag. Here's my quesion...would anyone who's tasted this bourbon actually pay ~$90 for it again??

[jburlowski]

I'm extremely fortunate to have a relative who has some awesome bourbons. Last night, in celebration of finding out my wife is pregnant, I was treated with a pour of Pappy 23 yr which was phenomenal. I followed it up with a pour of this Woodford Reserve Master's Collecition. I thought it was quite a disappointment. I almost didn't want to drink it. I KNOW part of this was my palate was already acquainted to the wheated Pappy, however, this bourbon does not justify the pricetag! $90 bones! It might be a semi-complex bourbon that's def a step up from their regular offering, but it doesn't command it's current price tag. Here's my quesion...would anyone who's tasted this bourbon actually pay ~$90 for it again??

I would... and have.

[BigRich]

I thoroughly enjoyed this at WhiskyFest NY this past November and I'd a bottle. Would a I horde a few like the Four Grain? No, but it's still good.

[IronHead]

I thoroughly enjoyed this at WhiskyFest NY this past November and I'd a bottle. Would a I horde a few like the Four Grain? No, but it's still good.

Rich, if you're hoarding 4 grain I have an unopened one I'd happily trade.

[BigRich]

Rich, if you're hoarding 4 grain I have an unopened one I'd happily trade.

I was but unfortunately it's all gone now. I drink much more effectively than I horde. I was even generous enough to let a bottle slip away for a gift for my brother-in-law. Of course after the debacles that were the Sonoma Cutrer and Sweet Mash I'm really thinking he would have been just as impressed with a good Van Winkle or something. Oh well.

[Ruby K]

I think this thread is a perfect example of different strokes for different folks. It seems every single iteration has now been either loved or hated by someone on this thread, no?

[Ruby K]

Mine came today, despite UPS's best efforts to deny me. Pulled out what was left the cork and replaced with a clean one. trying to wait till the tasting to have a nip, but it keeps staring at me...

[ErichPryde]

...interesting stuff.

Because it is a photo I might never get to shoot again-

Believe it or not, the seasoned oak is on the left in both pictures. It is insanely dark, but the other stuff... that gives RC cola a run for its money.

On to the WRMCSO.

Hospital Needles. The copper notes are unmistakable, and are masking something that I find somewhat interesting. Joe absolutely nailed it on the canteloupe, and there's a hint of banana bread here, too. My wife and I used to make a lot of banana bread with overripe bananas, and this reminds me of that. It doesn't smell like bananas... but it does remind me of the bread I made with them.

The hospital needle/copper nose has calmed down a bit. It's much more approachable stuff now, and the nose is very beguiling. It helps also that I've picked out a familiar scent, because initially I found this to be very unapproachable stuff.

Taste: Strange. The oak is not at all doing what I expected... This is a maybe 8 year old that reminds me of a 17 year old, in some ways. As others have mentioned, it is insanely dry. The moisture has been sucked out of my mouth, especially around the upper and lower gums. There's an over-roasted, over-aged coffee bean quality here as well (Try yawning. You'll get coffee beans)

It's not exactly unpleasant. It's very different. I say not exactly unpleasant, because there are some contradictory things going on- it's almost unclean, but then it isn't. It's not quite bitter, but it's close.

Unsweetened chocolate. Also, I don't know what being in a tanners might be like, but there's unmistakably some well tanned leather in here. Somewhere in there there's a flash of penny, and then it's gone.

A caramel hiccup in the middle, and the finish rolls in. Wow. What exactly is going on here? Okay, the yawning on the finish- Again, I'm strongly getting coffee beans, but this time they were dark-chocolate encrusted. It was a long day, and I didn't expect to wind it down with such a complex whiskey.

Even after taking a sip of water, this finish is STILL here. Absurd. I was almost expecting dry oak boards, and I got dry but the oak just isn;t coming across in the withering manner I was expecting.

There's a low level spice going on here as well, nothing like a typical tingly-rye finish, and not like the baking spices I get out of some others. This is different.

(is it weird that for a fraction of a second, I got well-aged cheddar finish going on here? It's completely gone now but the connection was there for a flash).

Overall: Not in any way, shape, or form what I was expecting. It is very complex stuff that deserves a lot of thought, but is not something I'd recommend drinking on a regular basis. I enjoyed the pour I had, and I'd have another, but I'm not sure I'd purchase an entire bottle.

Sorry for the disjointed notes. I'm completely exhausted and falling into bed as we speak.

[birdman1099]

Great notes.....

but what I want to know is......

Whats in the other glass????:skep:

[OscarV]

Great notes.....

but what I want to know is......

Whats in the other glass????:skep:

but the other stuff... that gives RC cola a run for its money.

um,... RC Cola?

Not trying to be a smartass, don't know if he referred to RC Cola as an example of something dark or if that really is the soda pop.

[ErichPryde]

um,... RC Cola?

Not trying to be a smartass, don't know if he referred to RC Cola as an example of something dark or if that really is the soda pop.

The other glass contains a 12 year old Ezra brooks from 1969, and it is the darkest stuff I've ever seen. :cool:

[BourbonJoe]

The other glass contains a 12 year old Ezra brooks from 1969, and it is the darkest stuff I've ever seen. :cool:

I have one of those. It is great stuff and reminds me of english walnuts. It too is very dark.

Joe :usflag:

[bigtoys]

After reading through this thread, I grabbed a bottle from Binny's Express in Hubbard Woods. Mike said to try it right away in case I wanted the only other bottle he had left. When I called him the next afternoon to tell him I wanted it, he said he was expecting my call. He might have said he was already holding it.

Oh, and an extra Pappy 20 for the bunker from Highland Park Binny's snuck into the picture.

[Halifax]

I have a half-full bottle of this in my cabinet that I purchased months ago for $89.95. yesterday I stumbled into an ABC store that had 2 bottles clearanced priced at $79.95. They now have a new home. A lot of different opinions regarding this bourbon, but I love it. :grin:

[Gillman]

I was thinking of buying this and this thread and the taste notes have been very helpful.

I actually remember buying Ezra Brooks in the late 1970's that looked and tasted as described (RC Cola in colour, English walnuts). My guess is it was much older than 12 years, even factoring that many bourbons seemed darker then. There was a certain "old" bourbon taste then that was different to today's, just as the mid-aged profile often was different (of course the former is related to the latter!). I think that Brooks tasted too like those 1970's merchants' bottlings with a stated 20 years age or other very long age, I can't recall the names now but one had a large white label full of close script. These were extra-aged stock that the merchants seemed to specialize in selling occasionally.

And just to enlarge on Chuck's comments in this regard, please give taste notes. It really almost equals the experience of trying this for those who won't be able to taste them. Erich, you have a good palate and I'd like to see a formal taste note on the '69 Brooks if you are minded.

Gary