Ambassador 12 Year Old Straight Bourbon Barrel Proof

This is another bourbon brought to market by David Schmier of Dynamic Beverages who brought us the Redemption Rye and Bourbon series. The Redemption line was sold off and now David bottles the Dead Wood Series of Bourbon and Rye. The ambassador bourbon represents a new venture in a higher end direction.

The bourbon itself is sourced from MGP in Indiana and is following a number of other remarkable and very noteworthy Bourbons actually that Mr. Schmier has found in the long rows and archive that make MGP an overlooked treasure - it represents a beautiful merchant bottling of Bourbon. The barrel selected for this bottling represents some of the finer Bourbons available on the open market for bottling.

The Ambassador is a straight Bourbon whiskey at barrel proof (105.7 (or 52.85 %) and 12 years old, which is where the sweet spot for a lot of bourbons is. Bourbon can get very woody beyond 12 to 15 years old depending on where it is stored and under what conditions.

The production run of this bourbon is very limited. If you want a bottle of this you better grab one now while you can as availability is extremely limited.

Appearance: Clear, lovely mahogany red color, promising a lovely aging process has taken place before bottling.
Nose:  Fantastic bouquet reflecting a bottle at the peak of aging. Mint, vanilla, cinnamon,  pipe tobacco, hints of corn sweetness, with some spiciness of other grains. The bouquet of this whiskey is well integrated, indeed exciting in a Pavlovian way, to aficionados of bourbon as a delightful set of aromas holding much promise.
Taste: Wonderful mint, toffee and vanilla notes with a nice background of char, tobacco and a lovely caramel toffee with hints of spice finish to drying wood.  Earthy notes of mushroom, alkali, and loam almost from an interesting backdrop to the more aromatic notes. Slightly oaky medium long finish with aromatic notes that linger.