Butterscotch | Roasted corn | Blackberry | Peanut | Seasoned oak

Pomegranate | Chocolate-covered coffee beans | Walnut | Caramel

Seasoned oak | Tobacco leaf | Leathery oak | Chestnut | Cherry | Dry oak

Many of Remus Repeal Reserve Series releases start off featuring a strong classic bourbon base, and each release offers something unique off of that. Being a Ross & Squibb Distillery (MGP)-produced bourbon, many of the company’s typical flavor qualities are present. With any distillery, that can be a good or bad thing, but in Ross & Squibb Distillery’s case, overfamiliarity with the brand’s bourbon can deter them from diving in. Their Remus brand seems to go out of its way to prove that Ross & Squibb Distillery can be as diverse and complex as any brand. The ninth edition works hard to encompass this.

The aroma is rather complex and offers scents that don’t contradict each other, but stand out from each other on their own. In a lot of ways, the rest of the sip follows this lead. Flavors in the palate and finish are clean and distinct, offering a good deal of uniqueness. The palate, for example, offers pomegranate, chocolate-covered coffee beans, walnut, and caramel. The finish melds its more like-minded flavors better, but is overcome by notes of light bitterness, dry oak, tobacco, and leather before ending on a light, bitter cherry note.

Remus Repeal Reserve Series IX is well constructed and does well to take what you think you know of a Ross & Squibb bourbon and offer something completely new in more ways than one. Though the flavors don’t quite come together to form a greater whole, it somehow manages to be both classic and new at the same time.