Tastes

This was much better than I expected. A good marriage of dark smoke and light fruit with some toffee. I really enjoyed it.

Dewar's is one of the oldest and most recognizable names in the blended scotch game. So when I saw this bottle with a 15 year age statement for only $40 I had to try it. This whisky is made in much the same style as its younger brother, the 12 year. It is very smooth and easy to drink. The nose is full of vanilla, with some butterscotch, honey and a slight amount of pear. The palate is mild and very sweet, lots of floral flavors with some beeswax before yielding to grain whisky flavors. The grain whisky continue to linger and is joined by some more sweet undertones during the long smooth finish. This may be the most polite scotch I've ever tried. It really goes out of its way to not be offensive. That politeness does come at the cost of any complex or strong flavors. I would like to give this a higher rating, you can tell there are some great malts somewhere in this whisky, but it is just too mild for my taste. But if you enjoy grain whiskies I can recommend this as a good value.

Nose is thick with peat, smoke, dark chocolate, leather, and tabaco. Despite the smokey aroma the first taste on the palate is sweet with dried fruit and caramel. The sweetness fades to a leathery malt finish with pepper that ends on a bitter note like black coffee. I can appreciate this whisky, but I don’t prefer it to Laphroaig.

Apparently William Grant & Sons has recently changed the formula for Monkey Shoulder. The bottle I bought earlier this year was bottled at 43% ABV and blended from three different distilleries (Balvenie, Glenfiddich and Kininvie). The new formula is bottled at 40% and is blended from an "undisclosed combination" of Speyside malts. This review is for the original blend, if you want to try it look for bottles labeled 43% ABV. The nose is light with butterscotch, vanilla, and honey. I hate using wood to describe scotch as all scotch gets 80%+ of its flavor from wood casks, but the palate is dominated by a light wood flavor, like reed. Beeswax, walnuts, and a little pepper linger for a bit before slowly fading away with an oily finish. This is a decent blended malt for the price, but I can't imagine the new lower ABV blend is an improvement. Luckily, there are numerous Speyside single malts available in the same price range which I would recommend over this.

Green Label is a blended malt from four different distilleries (Cragganmore, Linkwood, Caol Ila, & Talisker). Aged 15 years, this blend marries some of the best parts of Speyside, Islay, and Skye. The nose is heavy and complex with toffee, dried fruit, leather, and a slight amount of peat and iodine in the background. Smoke competes with fresh apples, raisins, nuts, and chocolate to be the dominating flavor on the palate with the smoke ultimately winning. The smoke fades into an oily malt finish with a little pepper on the tongue. Johnnie Walker hit a home run with this blended malt, and I think it stands out against their other offerings. If you want to buy a bottle of scotch for someone and don't know what they like Green Label may be the perfect option as it has something to offer for everyone.

This Macallan has a wonderful aroma full of dried fruit, cola, and chocolate. I even get a hint of buttered popcorn. Which may be strange, but somehow blends well with the other rich smells. Palate is sweet with complex spices that change while on your tongue. A couple drops of water bring out more spices. The spices fade as you swallow leaving a sweet desert flavor in your mouth which may be too sweet for some, but I don’t think it’s overwhelming or bad. This whisky certainly taste more mature than other 12 year old scotches, perhaps due to the quality of Macallan’s casks. A very enjoyable scotch which can be recommended to new or experienced scotch drinkers.

The nose is light and complex with lemon peel, fresh cut grass, flowers, honey, raisins, vanilla, and toffee. Fresh apples join the toffee and honey as they come to the front on the palate. The flavors seem to take turns in the spotlight. The finish is smooth and long lasting. The strong complex flavors combine with smoothness to make Green Spot my favorite Irish Whiskey.

When I was younger I used to mix this with coffee, brown sugar, and cream to make Irish Coffee. Perhaps this is how Jameson is best served. The nose is light and tart, lots of lemon peel. This whisky does have a nice dewy meadow like palate, followed by a slightly bitter finish. Not a bad whisky, but you can usually find others that are a better value.

I don’t drink bourbon very often, but I decided to try this since I hadn’t had it in a long time. Nose is dominated by vanilla with some cherry and spice in the background. The vanilla flavor continues to dominate the palate before a long spicy finish.

Nose is dominated by butterscotch with some honey, brown sugar, and banana in the background. Palate is sweet with apples and vanilla. Finish is short and crisp.