Rising Tide Spirits Old Swagger 13 Year Old Bottled-In-Bond Bourbon

Patience defines the absolute best independent bottlers. Ed Bley doesn't just slap a label on a sourced barrel and call it a day. He spent years cementing his legendary status picking flawless single casks before launching Rising Tide Spirits. Old Swagger represents the magnificent culmination of that obsessive curation. This 13-year-old Bottled-in-Bond expression forces you to rethink your stance on Indiana bourbon. The man clearly knows exactly what he is doing. He meticulously blended twelve spectacular MGP casks to construct an elegant, deliberate pour that brilliantly prioritizes mature complexity over raw ethanol heat.

The stringent Bottled-in-Bond requirements strip away any opportunity for distillation shortcuts. You are tasting a remarkably transparent snapshot of a single season. Sitting peacefully in heavily charred American white oak for thirteen grueling Midwestern summers profoundly alters the fundamental flavor architecture of the aging liquid. The brutal climate mercilessly pushed the spirit deep into the staves. This violent interaction heavily extracted deeply resinous sugars while miraculously preserving the vibrant fruit esters hiding just beneath the surface. It drinks like an absolute dream. The viscous liquid acts as a flawless conduit for pure, unadulterated flavor.

Bottling at exactly one hundred proof dictates a sophisticated, velvet-heavy mouthfeel. This accessible, regulated heat elegantly elevates the profound dark fruit notes rather than ruthlessly torching your eager palate with an overwhelming ethanol burn. We absolutely adore this uncompromising profile. Bley deliberately bypassed heavy filtration to aggressively preserve the dense, fatty compounds that give mature bourbon its signature chew. Every single sip feels incredibly deliberate and remarkably polished. Missing out on this highly allocated masterpiece feels like a devastating mistake for any serious collector.