Creme brulee | Coconut | Caramel sauce | Graham cracker | Cotton candy | Rich, sweet & invigorating

Maple syrup | Creme brulee | Candy corn | Brown sugar | Stone fruit | Sweet | Light spice on the backend

Brown sugar | Maple sugar candy | Touch of dry oak | Light leather | Medium length

Rare Perfection 14 Year is bottled by Preservation Distillery, a small distillery located in Bardstown, Kentucky. Preservation Distillery is owned and operated by Marci Palatella, who also owns Very Olde Saint Nick Distillery.

Rare Perfection 14 Year is a year younger and lower proof than Rare Perfection 15 Year, which made our 2019 Favorites of the Year list. Like the 15 year, Rare Perfection 14 Year was also distilled (and presumably aged for much of its time) in Canada and offers many of the same flavor characteristics, with a focus on the sweeter side. Creme brulee and various sugar notes are most dominant, with hints of stone fruit, oak, and leather adding dimension. At the lower proof point, it’s notably less punchy and unique than its higher proof counterpart, but it does a good job taming that punchiness and providing a more balanced sip. Its flavor profile is more akin to the flavor profile offered by many light whiskeys, but Rare Perfection tempers the astringency light whiskeys often exhibit while also accenting the sweeter notes. At $160 for a 14 year, the price point is surprising since aged Canadian whiskeys are usually lower cost compared to its American whiskey counterparts, but at the same time for a well-executed 14 year old whiskey it’s manageable. Just go into it knowing this is not going to taste like a typical bourbon or rye whiskey, and will be more akin to a whiskey finished in something sweet such as ex-rum barrels.

The bottle in review has a designation code of F-XJ-3.