Forged Oak
Batch WL-CF-2
45.25% ABV (90.5 proof)
~$80 (sample provided)
Color: Medium brown
Smell: Wow, really nice. Lots of red fruit and vanilla sweetness. First thing that came to mind for me was a Four Roses private selection single barrel I had recently. Nice perfume-like sweetness. As it sits, oakiness also comes into the picture. I get a little bit of ash and a solvent note. Those sound unpleasant, but they're in the background.
Taste: A little bit vanilla sweetness on the palate at first. However, it was also noticeably bitter and tannic from the get-go - the ash/solvent smell unfortunately carried through to the taste. Interestingly, it made up some ground on the medium finish - the fruitiness came back in warm waves upon swallowing (again, strawberry-vanilla combo) with some spice cabinet aromas of cinnamon sticks and black pepper, along with some leather. However, the aftertaste is ashy and a little bitter.Overall: It's not bad, but I'm not impressed. C+/B- range for me. The initial sweet and fruity whiff was a very nice surprise, but this was quickly overwhelmed by funky off notes of non-integrated wood and ash throughout the palate, along with a bitterness that the vanilla sweetness couldn't outshine. It feels old just for oldness' sake, and there's very little complexity.
