Whiskey & Vinyl: Larceny Barrel Proof and Tyler Childers
(photos by Brandon Chesbro: Outsider)
For this week’s Whiskey & Vinyl, we’re spinning our first double. We’ve been known to pour a few doubles, but we couldn’t decide which Tyler Childers album to spin. So we’re spinning two—Purgatory and Country Squire—while we sip a high-proof pour of Larceny Barrel Proof.
Stick around for the highlights.
Larceny Barrel Proof
At a Glance
- Distillery: Heaven Hill
- Location: Bardstown, KY
- Style: Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
- Batch: A123
- Proof: 125.8
- Age: 6-8 years
- MSRP: $60
- Read the Full Review of Larceny Barrel Proof (A123).
The nose on Larceny Barrel Proof opens with medium alcohol, but it’s not overwhelming, especially considering its high proof. Cocoa powder is forefront, with wafts of raspberry (both sweet and tart). A deeper nosedive delivers honeyed wheat—like Frosted Mini-Wheats cereal—and light oak. Very enjoyable.
On the palate, it’s immediate cola—reminiscent of Dr. Pepper. There’s even a little fizz that migrates to the nostrils. The cocoa powder and raspberry from the nose coalesce with baking spices into a chocolate-raspberry cookie (perhaps the new Girl Scout Cookie, Raspberry Rally?). And then there’s definite cinnamon sweetness and heat in the form of Hot Tamales candy, with some charred caramel. Outstanding.
The brief finish (medium-short, at best) delivers more great oak and cinnamon—as well as a hint of molasses. But it’s brief. And I wish it would linger. Oh well, time for another sip, while we load Tyler on the turntable.
Tyler Childers: ‘Purgatory’ and ‘Country Squire’
Purgatory
- Year: 2017
- Producer: Sturgill Simpson, David R. Ferguson
- RIAA: Platinum (1 million units)
- Favorite Songs: “Lady May,” “Feathered Indians,” “Honky Tonk Flame”
Country Squire
- Year: 2019
- RIAA: Gold (500,000 units)
- Producer: Sturgill Simpson
- Favorite Songs: “House Fire,” “All Your’n,” “Creeker”
Instead of individually delving into 19 songs featured across 72 minutes of music from Tyler’s two aforementioned albums, let’s just dig into two of my favorite songs while sipping two glasses of Larceny BP.
First up, “Honky Tonk Flame.” Ah, the timeless tale: Boy is a screw-up. Boy meets girl. Girl helps boy stop being a screw-up. Tyler Childers peppers his albums with songs about his loving wife, Senora May (see also: “Lady May” or “All Your’n”). But “Honky Tonk Flame” from Tyler’s 2017 album, Purgatory, is my favorite. It’s got the best parts of both Merle and Sturgill. What’s more, it’s wholly Tyler as he re-imagines a classic-sounding honky-tonkin’ tune for the 21st century.
Tyler penned “Creeker” after an Uber driver dropped him off at the wrong intersection in Chicago. Hungover and tired, with only a five-spot in his pocket, Tyler Childers crept into the closest bar to regroup and recharge his depleted cell phone. “Creeker,” which was featured on Tyler’s 2019 album, Country Squire, is the result. A fish-out-of-water tale, full of lament: “When he was a kid / Lord, he’d never have dreamt it / All the ways that the city can bring a country boy down.” Here’s hoping Tyler gets stranded by another ridesharing company soon. We could get another gem of a song out of it.