Old Carter has come out with Batches 11 and 12, with these small batches being sourced from Cascade Hollow in Tennessee. This straight bourbon is not aged stated, but is likely a blend of older barrels that were then re-barrelled at Old Carter. It is bottled at 110.8 proof, and my bottle cost $150.

The color on this bourbon is a deep and slightly ruddy amber. Thin film on the swirl with big legs. Very traditional bourbon nose but with a ton of caramel, with undertones of vanilla, oak, dark fruit, and raisins. On the palate, this bourbon has a very rich mouthfeel, with the caramel taking a back seat to rich vanilla, cherries, raisins, baking spice, clove, and perique pipe tobacco. On the finish, the cherries and raisins become candied but with subtle clove and oak in the background that starts to crescendo and then decrescendo as it lingers.

I had my wife try it, and she is not a Dickel fan, at all. But she agreed this is an amazing whiskey. While this bourbon has had some controversy with Old Carter departing from the confines of Kentucky and Indiana for the hills of Tennessee, this bourbon is indeed top shelf and lives up to the Old Carter brand.