Picked up a bottle of Herman Marshall St Arnold Devine Reserve No 16 at Specs today.
It is Batch 1 and the label says it is aged 22 months in New Oak Barrels. After a quick google search it appears this was bottled in 2019, so it had been sitting on the shelf for 5 years and was marked down to $20.
The best thing i can say about it is that it is not as bad as Acre. Texas distilleries need to learn that unless you are making a bourbon, there is no need to age in new oak barrels, and you damn sure better not use smaller barrels. You can smell the Texas funk on the nose and it definitely carries over throughout the finish. It basically tastes like grain, burnt oak, and a little bit of pear. This is a solid 4/10 and will probably be a drain pour over being drunk.
Anyone near Wylie been to the distillery? have their products improved over the last 5 years?
ps - Specs in Corpus had plenty of ECBP for $73. With as much as HH is raising their prices that was actually a pretty solid deal, if you like it.