I have really enjoyed Hokus Pokus’ barrel picks of Heaven’s Door, which have been low rye mashbill Tennessee bourbons. For Christmas, my daughters got me the Heaven’s Door Decade Series, which is a ten year old twenty percent rye mashbill bourbon that has NOT undergone the Lincoln County process of charcoal mellowing. They have bottled this ten year old bourbon at 100 proof.

The color is a nice medium amber; not particularly dark or red. They probably added a good bit of water to proof this down, given that there single barrel cask strength bourbons are over 120 proof. Nice thick film and legs on the swirl. On the nose is very traditional bourbon caramels and vanilla, with some herbal tea and cedar notes. On the palate, the vanilla asserts itself against the caramel on the nose, along with some fruitiness of cherries and green apples and notes of mellow oak. On the finish the rye asserts itself with herbal notes along with cinnamon and allspice. Nice mouthfeel and very easy to drink for a 100 proofer.

Overall, this is a pretty nice bourbon and I am glad to have it in my collection. The flavor profile makes me think of this as a nice spring and summer kind of bourbon, with the cedar and herbal notes on the nose and the green apple flavors on the palate. This is definitely one I will share with friends who don’t regularly drink cask strength bourbon but want to try something special and different. Given its age this had to come from Cascade Hollow/Dickel, and if they have barrels lying around like this what other treasures does Diageo have in those warehouses, and it is stupefying to think they are just selling these barrels to other bottlers rather than doing something with it themselves.