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I love the Hard Truth whiskeys. This bottle is a new version of their Four Grain Bourbon and the bottle was given to me by Bryan Smith, the distiller, while I was on a tour of the distillery with Matt. I knew it would be an excellent whiskey since Bryan gave it to me and it is. It is a sweet mash Bourbon with four grains, 78% corn, 9% rye, 9% wheat 4% malted barley. This is a small batch of 38 barrels and Bottled-in-Bond. Matt and I sat down and tasted it the other day and here are our tasting notes.

Hard Truth Four Grain Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon

Proof: 100

Age: Five Years Old, Made Fall 2021, Bottled Fall 2026.

Nose:

• Mike: Caramel, brown sugar, blackberries, baking spices and oak wood.
• Matt: Caramel, milk chocolate, orange zest, baking spices and oak wood.

Taste:

• Mike: Caramel, blackberries, cherries, allspice and oak wood. Tasted with a dried cranberry and cinnamon and nutmeg join the party. Tasted with a pecan and milk chocolate comes out and the blackberry is enhanced.
• Matt: Caramel, cinnamon, red pepper and oak wood. The dried cranberry added red delicious apple to the flavor. The pecan brought out milk chocolate, cinnamon, red pepper, nutmeg, apple and oak wood.

Finish:

• Mike: Long with oak wood, caramel and lingering cherry. The dried cranberry added cinnamon to the finish. The pecan made the finish very long with oak wood, milk chocolate and blackberry.
• Matt: Long with oak wood, red pepper, cardamom and lingering caramel.  The dried cranberry added cinnamon to the finish. The pecan added lingering apple to the finish.

I would pair this fine Bourbon with a cigar that has a lot of dried fruit notes in the smoke. I would reach for a Fuente Between the Lines cigar.

Photos Courtesy of Rosemary Miller