Brown butter | Charred oak | Dull leather | Slight nougat | Aromas come across as lifeless

Cinnamon spiced apples | Baked bread | Vanilla | Cinnamon spice | Brown sugar | Sweet and spicy

Sweet cinnamon spice | Leather | Oak | Light baked spice apples | Brown sugar | Short

Larceny Barrel Proof Bourbon has had quite the year so far. Batch A123 kicked the year off on a slight down note compared to last year's Batch C922 which knocked it out of the park and ultimately became our #1 Whiskey of 2022. Batch B523 drastically reversed course, easily matching the greatness that C922 produced. With the brand on its third and final release of 2023, I was excited to see if it would maintain this ultimate high or fall back to reality.

The sip starts off immediately raising the alarm that it wasn’t going to be matching the maddening heights that B523 attained. The nose offers classic scents of brown butter, charred oak, and leather, however, they come across as lifeless and don’t do much to get you excited for what’s to come. Thankfully the palate pivots, delivering an extremely potent combination of sweet and spicy flavors that gel well together. The finish is all business, presenting its classic flavor notes in a straightforward take-it-or-leave-it fashion. In the end, Larceny Barrel Proof Batch C923 doesn’t come close to upholding the standard that Batch B523 delivered, and in fact ends up being the weakest of the 2023 batches. Knowing what Heaven Hill is capable of with the Larceny Barrel Proof line, there’s no need to raise alarm bells. However, thanks to the success the company has had recently with this brand, expectations are higher and Larceny Barrel Proof releases like Batch C923 need to be an exception from here on out and not the norm.