This was the winning matchup in my poll of what to put Pappy 23 up against, and I think it’s actually a very good matchup. These are both old and oaky, both similar proof, and both pricey. Of course, only one has had ridiculous hype and insane secondary prices behind it… Fancy Glencairn has bought into the hype, let’s see if the elder Pappy lives up to it!

Master’s Keep 17yr BiB) $170, 100proof.
-The Nose is strong and amazing with funk, cherry, leather, old oak, light vanilla, and maybe some anise. Amazing nose!
-The Palate starts out with a tad thin, but builds with dry flavors of cherry, anise, leather, musty oak, and some herbal notes. Some sweetness creeps in at the mid-palate.
-The Finish is medium-long, with lots of herbs, some black pepper, and a drying tannic end. However, the tannic dryness has really lessened the longer this bottle has been open.
Overall this is a very interesting, unique, complex pour that has improved a LOT the longer it has been open. I’m really enjoying this one!

Pappy 23) $350 retail (I won it in a raffle), 95.6 proof.
-The Nose is beautiful and soft with no alcohol heat. There are massive notes of sweet vanilla, oak, and some baking spices.
-The Palate is oily, with dominating flavors of oak, leather, and tobacco. There are some faint notes of sweet caramel and baking spices.
-The Finish is long and oak dominant, with hints toasted sugar, and a little bit of lingering lemongrass.
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised how good this bottle is. It could never live up to the hype, and it could use more proof, but it’s a good, oaky, very old, pour.

VERDICT) Pappy suffers from insane hype and ridiculous secondary prices, and in the end I would gladly pay $250 for this very decent bottle. But I honestly don’t think it’s even worth retail price, let alone the prices people pay. The Pappy wins on the finish, but I actually enjoy the Master’s Keep more, and for less than half the retail price it is BY FAR the winner here.
Fancy is sheepishly sliding away to hide in the dishwasher.

What do you guys think of these??