Thomas H. Handy 2016

Brisbane seems to have the luck of being a place that both gets decent bourbon distribution, but hasn’t been majorly touched by the bourbon boom yet. I’m sure the Australian spirits prices are a part of it, but it means that the entire BTAC can sit on the shelf in a bar for a year at reasonable prices without it disappearing. A full pour of this was $33 (USD), and given that bottles of THH are priced at around $480 standard here, that price is damn good. The same bar does half pours as well, which makes it even more affordable.

Source: Poured at The Gresham, Brisbane, Australia.
Setup: Unblind
Drank: Neat, in a Glencairn-style stemmed glass. Rested 5-10 minutes.

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Nose: Fudge, dried dill, cucumber, cut funnel, sweet cherries, blackcurrant, with a veil of dusty old shelves over the lot. Woah.
Palate: Creamy. Black pepper deepens to cherry.
Finish: Black pepper forever. Capsicum, dill, basil, caraway. Amazing length. Some tannins.
Overall: Crazy complexity. I totally see where the hype comes from here. I did a double take when I saw the proof, it doesn’t taste so high.

Rating: 7

Thoughts: Considering how little rye I got from Sazerac, it’s pretty amazing how much showed up here, they seem like completely different mashbills. I really wish I had a way to taste this properly blind. I loved this and would love to own a bottle. But I won’t be paying the Australian retail prices any time soon ;)