Peerless Bourbon Whiskey

Color: Auburn-orange color.

On the nose: There’s a very clean purity about this. A topnote of freshly-squeezed lemon juice and maple syrup plays against freshly cut flowers, white bread dough, pink pencil eraser, and a hint of pine needles. More tenacious sniffing yields brown sugar, eucalyptus, chocolate milk, and a whiff of ground nutmeg. All throughout, the aromas are fresh and crisply delineated.

In the mouth: Similarly clean and pure. Starts out with more tart lemon flavor, with a piquantly woody accent. Transitions to the midpalate on another wave of sharp wood and lime juice, where it evolves the smoky heat of ground chili pepper. The chili-accented flavor of Mexican chocolate persists through the finish, where it is joined by a soapy texture, the tannic accent of strong black tea, some more eucalyptus leaves, and the curious residual flavor of cigarette ash. This does not pulsate vigorously but instead sits quietly, never truly disappearing up to a minute after the final sip, with a whispering flavor of chocolate-covered cherry.