I purchased this last year.

Price: $115

Nose: a little ethanol first. Very caramel. Oak. Not too complex, but pleasant. A little peanut. Some mint.

Palate: Decent mouthfeel, caramel and oak forward. Some herbal notes, minty.

Finish: very woody, medium length. Ok finish overall, but nothing special.

Rating: 6.5

If you like very oak forward bourbons, this would be for you. I personally think the oak flavor dominates too much, but it's still a solid pour.

Scale

1.0-1.9 Undrinkable (Gold bar cognac cask)

2.0-2.9 Bad (Gold bar)

3.0-3.9 Poor (High West Prarie Bourbon, Pappy Van Winkle 23yr)

4.0-4.9 Below Average (Old Overholt, Dickel 15 yr, Weller SR)

5.0-5.9 Average (Eagle Rare, Buffalo Trace, Blanton's)

6.0-6.9 Above Average (Jimmy Russel 70th, Redemption 9yr, E.H. Taylor Seasoned Oak)

7.0-7.9 Very Good (Wild Turkey Master's Keep Triumph, Sagamore 9yr rye, Jack Daniel's SBBP)

8.0-8.9 Great (William Larue Weller(2019), Pappy Van Winkle 15yr, Double Eagle Very Rare, William Heavenhill 14yr)

9.0-9.9 Excellent (Thomas H. Handy (2010), George T. Stagg (2008, 2019), Four Roses LE (2016, 2023), Willet Purple Top 14 yr)

10.0 Perfect (Michter's 20)

My friend brought this to share.

Price: $140

Nose: some caramel, mustyness, some kind of old oak note, cherry, apple, a little bit of ethanol, but not much.

Palate: pretty watery, mouth feel is thin. Dominated by herbal notes like mint, dill, etc. some caramel, but not overly sweet. Some spice in the back palate.

Finish: very little finish, short. Mostly oak dominated with some dark chocolate.

Rating: 6.0

The nose is pretty nice on this, and it has decent flavor on the palate. The mouth feel really let's it down along with the lack of a finish. The palate is too watery.

I wouldn't pay anywhere close to $140 for this. It's not bad by any means, but it's overpriced.

Scale

1.0-1.9 Undrinkable (Gold bar cognac cask)

2.0-2.9 Bad (Gold bar)

3.0-3.9 Poor (High West Prarie Bourbon, Pappy Van Winkle 23yr)

4.0-4.9 Below Average (Old Overholt, Dickel 15 yr, Weller SR)

5.0-5.9 Average (Eagle Rare, Buffalo Trace, Blanton's)

6.0-6.9 Above Average (Jimmy Russel 70th, Redemption 9yr, E.H. Taylor Seasoned Oak)

7.0-7.9 Very Good (Wild Turkey Master's Keep Triumph, Sagamore 9yr rye, Jack Daniel's SBBP)

8.0-8.9 Great (William Larue Weller(2019), Pappy Van Winkle 15yr, Double Eagle Very Rare, William Heavenhill 14yr)

9.0-9.9 Excellent (Thomas H. Handy (2010), George T. Stagg (2008, 2019), Four Roses LE (2016, 2023), Willet Purple Top 14 yr)

10.0 Perfect (Michter's 20)

No photos allowed, so I've only attached a picture of the menu.

I got extremely lucky and landed a reservation at this restaurant around 5 days before my last day in Japan. There was only 1 seat, and I was on a solo trip so I took that opportunity.

Price: 58k yen + 8k(booking fee)

Appetizer:

The firefly squid had a sweet and salty sauce with something else giving it texture, but I wasn't sure what it was. Great dish, I liked the flavor a lot.

The grouper was lightly boiled, nothing special for me.

The cockle, pen shell was amazing. It had an unbelievable texture.

The abalone with liver sauce is the most famous dish here I think. It was very good. The liver sauce was thick and extremely umami. After finishing the abalone, the remaining sauce was combined with rice, which was nice.

The rockfish was cooked very well, good dish as well.

Nigiri:

The squid was very good. I usually find squid to have too much of a rubbery texture, but this one wasn't rubbery. It had a nice chewy, but also solid texture.

Both snappers were really good.

The 3 tunas were excellent. My favorite was the fatty tuna. The chef also does something I haven't seen before, use 2 pieces of tuna for each nigiri, increasing the fish to rice ratio. One of the highlights of the meal for me.

The gizzard shell was good, but not too notable.

The uni was prepared in 2 ways in a small tall bowl. On the bottom was uni rice and on top just uni. Excellent quality uni and dish. We were instructed to mix them both, great dish.

The prawn and sea eel were both fresh and cooked well. The prawn was quite large and the sea eel was grilled and had was lightly sauced.

The tuna hand roll was created with all 3 of the tunas. I'm a huge fan of tuna, so I enjoyed this one quite a bit.

I'm not the biggest fan of egg custard, so the last dish was only ok for me.

Yoshitake is a master. This was the best omakase sushi I've ever had my in life, and it's not even close. The highlights for me were the cockle shell, tuna, and uni. And right behind were the abalone and 2 groupers.

Out of the 12-13 Michelin 3* I've been to, this was either #2 or #3, only behind Singlethread Farms and possibly Joel Robuchon. I highly recommend anyone who's going to Japan to try this restaurant if you're lucky enough to secure a reservation.

Has anyone tried the Amex -> Hawaiian -> Alaska recently? I saw other posts saying it's instant to both, but my points only reached Hawaiian and not Alaska. It's been about an hour. I sent 1k points as a test run.

Edit: I'm a massive idiot, didn't realize you need to manually trigger the transfer.

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I tried this at a bar in Japan

Price: $9/15ml

Nose: Much more intense than current Blanton's. Intense caramel. You still get the BT funk. Mix of different fruits on the nose. Like an undertone of red fruit cocktail. I can't believe how different this smells than current Blanton's.

Palate: fruit in the initial palate. Cherry and strawberry. Viscosity is ok, slightly thin like the current Blanton's offerings. It's much fruitier than current Blanton's. More complex. Some slight bitterness in the end palate.

Finish: medium length, dark chocolate. Some oak. Mostly dark chocolate though.

Rating: 6.5/10

I still think this bourbon is nothing special. It's good and significantly better than current Blanton's, but it's not amazing.

Scale

1.0-1.9 Undrinkable (Gold bar cognac cask)

2.0-2.9 Bad (Gold bar)

3.0-3.9 Poor (High West Prarie Bourbon, Pappy Van Winkle 23yr)

4.0-4.9 Below Average (Old Overholt, Dickel 15 yr, Weller SR)

5.0-5.9 Average (Eagle Rare, Buffalo Trace, Blanton's)

6.0-6.9 Above Average (Jimmy Russel 70th, Redemption 9yr, E.H. Taylor Seasoned Oak)

7.0-7.9 Very Good (Wild Turkey Master's Keep Triumph, Sagamore 9yr rye, Jack Daniel's SBBP)

8.0-8.9 Great (William Larue Weller(2019), Pappy Van Winkle 15yr, Double Eagle Very Rare, William Heavenhill 14yr)

9.0-9.9 Excellent (Thomas H. Handy (2010), George T. Stagg (2008, 2019), Four Roses LE (2016, 2023), Willet Purple Top 14 yr)

10.0 Perfect (Michter's 20)

I got this at a bar in Japan.

Price: $13/15ml

Nose: Turkey funk hits hard in the nose from the start. Caramel, melon, cherry, strawberry, mint. Intense Turkey funk throughout.

Palate: sweet fruit from the start. There's something in the back palate I can't describe. It's like a dustyness you don't get in newer bourbons. Palate has a lot of flavor, not super full bodied, but not thin either. Fruit driven in the mid palate by strawberry and melon. Quite a nice palate.

Finish: Good amount of oak present. Medium to long finish. A little by of ethanol in the finish is a bit unpleasant. Some dark chocolate.

Rating: 8.0/10

Nice way to try an old bottling here in Japan. It's significantly better than modern wild turkey 101 bottlings, including the Jimmy 70th.

Scale

1.0-1.9 Undrinkable (Gold bar cognac cask)

2.0-2.9 Bad (Gold bar)

3.0-3.9 Poor (High West Prarie Bourbon, Pappy Van Winkle 23yr)

4.0-4.9 Below Average (Old Overholt, Dickel 15 yr, Weller SR)

5.0-5.9 Average (Eagle Rare, Buffalo Trace, Blanton's)

6.0-6.9 Above Average (Jimmy Russel 70th, Redemption 9yr, E.H. Taylor Seasoned Oak)

7.0-7.9 Very Good (Wild Turkey Master's Keep Triumph, Sagamore 9yr rye, Jack Daniel's SBBP)

8.0-8.9 Great (William Larue Weller(2019), Pappy Van Winkle 15yr, Double Eagle Very Rare, William Heavenhill 14yr)

9.0-9.9 Excellent (Thomas H. Handy (2010), George T. Stagg (2008, 2019), Four Roses LE (2016, 2023), Willet Purple Top 14 yr)

10.0 Perfect (Michter's 20)

Did a 4 way Stagg blind, batch 7, 23C, 24A, 24D

Price: Batch7: free sample from a friend 23C and 24A: $65 24D: $48

Glass #1: Nose: Caramel bomb, sweet, strawberry, powdered sugar, a little ethanol. Small mint note. Distinctive BT funk.

Palate: hit of red fruit, caramel, sugar initially. Mid palate has a lot of flavor. Dark chocolate, some oak. A little hot, but not crazy. Really fruit forward palate in general. A bit of spice, but not too much. Good mouth feel.

Finish: Medium length, pretty oaky, some tannin.

Rating: 8.0/10

Guess: 23C

Actual: 24D

Glass #2: Nose: Lighter nose than glass #1. Bright fruits. Not very ethanol, but it's kind of the only note here. In general, quite a muted nose. After 5 minutes, the nose got a lot better. More dense sugar. After 10 minutes, it got really dense.

Palate: sugary on the initial palate, bright fruits. Slightly hotter than glass #1. Good mouth feel.

Finish: dark chocolate and oak. Medium length. Similar to #1.

Rating: 7.5/10

Guess: 24D

Actual: Batch 7

Glass #3: Nose: more dense nose than #2, but less than #1. Cherry, caramel, darker fruits, some oak, less ethanol than #1 and #2. A bit more herbal than the other 2 as well.

Palate: savory sweetness on the initial palate, with red fruit. Kind of tastes like what #1 smells like, kind of odd. Less hot than the other 2. A little tannic. Some spice. Good mouth feel still.

Finish: medium length. Less concentrated oak flavor in it.

Rating: 8.0/10

Guess: 24A

Actual: 23C

Glass #4: Nose: some peanut, very butterscotch, 2nd sweetest of the bunch. Bright fruit, cherry, strawberry.

Palate: butterscotch hit initially, with a lot of cherry in the mid palate. Not very hot, least or 2nd least hot of the bunch. Some spice on the backend. Good mouth feel.

Finish: medium finish, but worst of the 4. More dark chocolate and spiced finish. All 4 of the finishes are pretty similar.

Rating: 7.0/10

Guess: Batch 7

Actual: 24A

Wow, I messed up every single one. Though they were all good. I'm just glad my favorite 2, 23C and 24A I have backups for. Fun blind overall though. 23C and 24D were a toss up. But batch 7 was the clear worst. Too hot even though it's been open for 3 years.

Final ranking: 23C > 24D > 24A >> 7

Scale

1.0-1.9 Undrinkable (Gold bar cognac cask)

2.0-2.9 Bad (Gold bar)

3.0-3.9 Poor (High West Prarie Bourbon, Pappy Van Winkle 23yr)

4.0-4.9 Below Average (Old Overholt, Dickel 15 yr, Weller SR)

5.0-5.9 Average (Eagle Rare, Buffalo Trace, Blanton's)

6.0-6.9 Above Average (Jimmy Russel 70th, Redemption 9yr, E.H. Taylor Seasoned Oak)

7.0-7.9 Very Good (Wild Turkey Master's Keep Triumph, Sagamore 9yr rye, Jack Daniel's SBBP)

8.0-8.9 Great (William Larue Weller(2019), Pappy Van Winkle 15yr, Double Eagle Very Rare, William Heavenhill 14yr)

9.0-9.9 Excellent (Thomas H. Handy (2010), George T. Stagg (2008, 2019), Four Roses LE (2016, 2023), Willet Purple Top 14 yr)

10.0 Perfect (Michter's 20)

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Edit: Repost, the picture didn't load for some reason last time

Mixed 50:50

Price: $80 each

Nose: Dominated more by the single barrel. BT funk. Notes of cherry, melon, grape. It is kind of like 70:30 the single barrel on the nose.

Palate: Front palate is full of white powdered sugar and bright fruits. Has a solid mouth feel, pretty good. Continues with the fruit like melon, cherry in the mid palate. Light to medium spice in the end palate.

Finish: Medium length, spice and dark chocolate. Pretty enjoyable.

Rating: 7.5/10

I can't believe this is better than the individual pieces. It fixed the palate for the straight rye and added a nice spice hit to the single barrel. I recommend trying this one at home yourself.

Scale

1.0-1.9 Undrinkable (Gold bar cognac cask)

2.0-2.9 Bad (Gold bar)

3.0-3.9 Poor (High West Prarie Bourbon, Pappy Van Winkle 23yr)

4.0-4.9 Below Average (Old Overholt, Dickel 15 yr, Weller SR)

5.0-5.9 Average (Eagle Rare, Buffalo Trace, Blanton's)

6.0-6.9 Above Average (Jimmy Russel 70th, Redemption 9yr, E.H. Taylor Seasoned Oak)

7.0-7.9 Very Good (Wild Turkey Master's Keep Triumph, Sagamore 9yr rye, Jack Daniel's SBBP)

8.0-8.9 Great (William Larue Weller(2019), Pappy Van Winkle 15yr, Double Eagle Very Rare, William Heavenhill 14yr)

9.0-9.9 Excellent (Thomas H. Handy (2010), George T. Stagg (2008, 2019), Four Roses LE (2016, 2023), Willet Purple Top 14 yr)

10.0 Perfect (Michter's 20)

Picked up a couple of these late last year.

Price: $80

Nose: red fruit, strawberry, grape, cherry. Fruit cocktail. Even some apple. Some caramel, but not a lot. Not much of the BT funk.

Palate: sugary on the initial palate. You get the fruit cocktail in this. Mouthfeel is not great. It's a little thin. Makes the mid palate lack flavor. Low to medium level of spice in the end palate.

Finish: medium length finish. Light dark chocolate flavor. Some spice as well.

Rating: 6.5

It's pretty solid, but nothing to write home about. The nose is really good, but the palate is too thin. Finish is decent.

Actual:

Scale

1.0-1.9 Undrinkable (Gold bar cognac cask)

2.0-2.9 Bad (Gold bar)

3.0-3.9 Poor (High West Prarie Bourbon, Pappy Van Winkle 23yr)

4.0-4.9 Below Average (Old Overholt, Dickel 15 yr, Weller SR)

5.0-5.9 Average (Eagle Rare, Buffalo Trace, Blanton's)

6.0-6.9 Above Average (Jimmy Russel 70th, Redemption 9yr, E.H. Taylor Seasoned Oak)

7.0-7.9 Very Good (Wild Turkey Master's Keep Triumph, Sagamore 9yr rye, Jack Daniel's SBBP)

8.0-8.9 Great (William Larue Weller(2019), Pappy Van Winkle 15yr, Double Eagle Very Rare, William Heavenhill 14yr)

9.0-9.9 Excellent (Thomas H. Handy (2010), George T. Stagg (2008, 2019), Four Roses LE (2016, 2023), Willet Purple Top 14 yr)

10.0 Perfect (Michter's 20)