John E. Fitzgerald Larceny

John E. Fitzgerald

Larceny
Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
"Very Special Small Batch"
46% ABV
Approximately $25/bottle (this mini was attached to my bottle of EC12)

Color: light amber, slight hint of orange. Also, very clear (no cloudiness).

Nose: Sweetness. Not "corn sweet" or "dusty sweet," just...sweet. I think of imitation maple syrup. Not much else jumps out at me here. It's not a terrible smell; it's just one-dimensional.

Taste: initially, not a whole lot on the palate. A little sweetness and a little tingle of alcohol heat, but in an unbalanced jumbled mess of an entry. Surprisingly, the back palate/aftertaste is where Larceny pulls it together for me somewhat. I got a nice hit of dusty corn sweetness on the way down, and then that same pancake syrup note creeps back in with a little hint of cinnamon/spice after the swallow.

Overall: meh. It's sweet and it's easy to drink, but there's little else of note. Stylistically, it reminds me quite a bit of Evan Williams Black, but EWB is, in my opinion, a better bourbon and - luckily - is also much cheaper. It could be the case that my mini bottle doesn't contain Larceny's "A" game, but I'd be surprised if any bottles contain much more complexity than this one. It's fine as a mixer, as well as a pretty cheap and one-dimensional (sweet) intro for a non-bourbon drinker, but there's too much great stuff out there for me to recommend this with any conviction.