Lee W. Sinclair Vs. The Mattie Gladden

Since these bottles from The Spirits of French Lick are becoming more available, I thought it would be good to decide which one I would spend my money on… They are both Bottled-in-Bond, aged 4yrs, and around $50. I love the bottle art!
Fancy Glencairn gravitates to the more traditional bottle. Let’s see if she made a wise choice!

Lee W. Sinclair) Mashbill of 60% Corn, 17% Wheat, 13% Oat, 10% malted barley.
-The Nose starts with strong grains of wheat and oatmeal, along with brown sugar, dates, tobacco, cardamom, anise, and some peach fruitiness. The nose is very promising!
-The Palate is a little disappointing with a light mouthfeel, and fairly simple flavors of sweet vanilla, oats, some tobacco, and a little cardamom. the complex nose does not really translate to the palate for me.
-The Finish is short with a little heat, black pepper, and some charcoal.
Overall, this one does develop more flavor as it rests, and it is definitely a unique dram with a great nose, but the light palate and short finish keep it back from being a great pour.

The Mattie Gladden) “high-rye” mashbill of 55% corn, 35% rye, 10% malted barley.
-The Nose is lighter on this one, with sweet corn, vanilla, cherry, anise, dry grass, and slight oak.
-The Palate is more flavorful with a pleasant, slightly oily mouthfeel. The flavors start with mint, anise, and rye-spice, and moves into sweet dark-cherry and vanilla, grassy rye spice and clove, and then some black pepper.
-The Finish is medium in length with lingering cherry, some black pepper, clove, tobacco, and a good Kentucky hug.
Overall I was surprised how much I like this bourbon. For a 4yr product it’s remarkably complex and flavorful. The weakest link is the light nose.

VERDICT) Fancy’s traditional mashbill choice pays off and she scores a victory today! The 4-grain bottle is interesting, but will probably not be something I buy again. I will be very interestes to see how The Mattie Gladden does with extra age in the next few years! Strong early work by The Spirits of French Lick!