A few months back, my wife and my good friend Ben Johnson came in to visit from Vermont.  His company would have been gift enough, but he did us one better: he brought with him a Vermont bourbon named Smuggler’s Notch.  Jen and I sampled it then, but now that the blog is up and running, we went back and tried it again, to see if our initial feelings were the same.  They were – it is great!

Smugglers Notch looks a little lighter than most in color, and to be honest, it is a little lighter.  But something about it is so fresh and clean tasting, it is truly unique.

The nose is sweet and has notes of vanilla, corn, grains and nuts.  The taste, Smooth (with a capital “S”), with a bit of spice but more notably, vanilla, chocolate, even a tiny bit of mint.  The finish is relatively short, but with something this smooth, I say just pour another.

Smugglers Notch moves into my top 5.  Delicious.

Dan scale (1-10): 8.8