Tastes

We'll start with the review, and then get personal...The nose is cleanly medicinal, with peat, brine and iodine masking just the faintest hint of soft apples. The palate is fairly smooth (especially so for a Laphroaig), and the peat mixes nicely with the brine, smoke, and iodine. After a few seconds resting on the tongue I can discern the band-aids and just a hint of the rubber that are both common to almost every Laphroaig. Finish is opened with peat and closed by smoke, which lasts a good two minutes before it's completely gone. All in all, a very, very good whisky. So why only 4 starts? Time to get personal; Laphroaig 15 was my first single-malt over $40 (it was 2004 or 2005 I think, give me a little grace here) and it absolutely floored me. I could not fathom the smells and flavors that were coming out of the bottle and glass. My last original-edition 15 Yr was purchased in 2009, and I actually took tasting notes. The original smelled of creosote, tar and smoldering grass. The palate was rich, very oily, and tasted of smoked meats, charred bacon, pine tar, band-aides, iodine and peat, all cloaked in a heavy smoke that is almost, but not quite, overbearing. The finish was all smoke; thick, heavy, and lasted seemingly forever. Laphroaig can say they made the new identical to to the old, but the resulting product is little more than a shadow of the former's greatness. I guess I can close by saying: If you've never before had Laphroaig 15, you should try this. It's excellent in every way a good Scotch should be. It's balanced, nuanced, displays hints of fruit with iodine, brine and peat, and the finish is very typical of Islay. Unfortunately for those that were lucky enough to have the original, you know it was none of those...there was no fruit, no balance, no gentle smoke...it was in your face, overwhelming your senses, demanding every ounce of your attention and alternating between punishing and rewarding you for daring to open the bottle. And it was extraordinary.

The nose is sweet corn, butter, caramel, a bit of wood and chocolate covered nuts. If the palate carried the nose, this would be stunning, but it simply doesn't make it there. It's fairly one-note, and that note is all sweet corn. A small hint of butter caramel shows, balanced by a bit of spice, but overall it's a letdown after the opening act of the nose. The best thing that can be said for this is that it is incredibly easy to drink, and not particularly offensive in any way. And for less than $30, if you find that you really dislike it, it's not a huge hit to the wallet.

The nose is fairly muted...mostly vanilla and wood, with a hint of anise and clove. Palate starts just slightly sweet and smooth before immediately giving you a blast of cinnamon red-hots and lumber. Not a hint of wood. Lumber. If you grew up heating your house with firewood, it's almost the same as the taste you get from inhaling hours of chainsaw dust as you rip through the semi-seasoned pile of lumber in the heat of summer hoping to get through it before the first snow flies. For anyone else, go to the home store and smell a stack of rough-cut 4"x4" posts. Maybe lick one to get the full affect. If you stick around for a few minutes and let the glass breath you might detect a bit of mincemeat and dark cherries hidden beneath the cinnamon, but the finish is all spice and wood. I had high hopes for this, but at $35/bottle, I'd stick with E.W. Single Barrel or Elijah Craig Small Batch.

A few surprises in this bottle. 1) The beautifully thick and hefty aluminum seal covers a plastic screw-on cap. 2) Opening that plastic cap reveals an aroma much closer to Pinot Grigio than anything from the Scottish part of the globe. After it settles a bit, the nose is light and sweet, losing the acidic aroma of dry white whine, yet retaining the apples, pears and melons. The palate is more of the same, with Fuji apples leading the way (somewhat fitting, no?) and richly supported by a mess of other fruits that commingle so well as to be nearly indiscernible individually. Dig a little and you get lemon rind, sweetened limes, a hint of juniper and coriander, and then rose petals. The finish is brief and clean, leaving just the faintest floral hint as a precursor for the next sip. This interests me greatly. I love Scotch, I'm intrigued by Irish Whiskey, and I enjoy American Whisky. This takes notes from all three, and creates something all its own. Unique, and yet easily associable with a well-liked known. I get no peat or smoke, and while I'm normally a peat-head, I don't miss it here. The balance is amazing, the depth and variety of flavors astounding, and the clean finish make this an easily quaffed summer drink. But really...a plastic cap on a $90 bottle of whisky? :-/

Nose is very mild, just a hint of undefinable sweetness and fruit compote before you get the essence of heat. Not bad, but certainly underwhelming, especially when compared to a few obvious rivals such as Evan Williams Single Barrel and Elijah Craig Small Batch. Fortunately, the palate is much livelier, opening sweet upon sweet with caramel, brown sugar, molasses and vanilla co-mingling to lead the charge. After a few seconds, the rye influence arrives and the mint overwhelms everything else before a pleasant wave of sweetness tempered by holiday spices closes things out. The numbing zing of clove lingers the longest, seemingly coating your lips and tongue and lasting almost a full minute after the last sip. Very, very good whisky. If this was in the $30 range it would be an expetional bargain. At the $40 range (when I can find it) this starts to be less appealing, especially when compared with the aforementioned EW Single Barrel and the even better Jim Beam 12yr. Well worth the time to find it, and just enough different from my favorite bourbons to remain in my whisky rack.

This is difficult; just when I think I've got a scent or a flavor pinned down, it's gone, either into thin air or merged with something else to create a new entity. Most interesting! The nose is very earthy; think damp cave with moss and lichens and a cooking fire in the corner roasting a spit of salted meats while the ocean breeze drifts in. And I'm still missing things. The palate opens thick and chewy, with a bit of rubber tire, smoked meats, vegetals (again) and then peat followed by a short hit of lemon before it transmogrifies (thanks Calvin and Hobbes!) into a campfire. The finish is the best part of this, lasting several very smoky minutes. If you want an ever-changing, never dull, affordable, and absolutely NOT-sweet-in-any-way Scotch, give this a try. I promise the second sip will be different from the first. And quite probably better. I now must find a bottle of Tobermory...

The nose is reminiscent of walking into the kitchen when someone is baking pies; I get apple with raisin and mincemeat, with a handful of fall spices...very unique, especially from a standard bearer such as CR. The palate is another surprise, opening soft and fruity, almost like an unpeated Highland, before moving into a very mellow mint that takes you to a slightly woody, astringent finish with just enough alcohol burn to ensure it's not overly sweet. This is good whisky, and well worth seeking out.

Bold, bright and vibrant; Take Laphroaig CS, cut it to 50% ABV, then take out the iodine and smooth sweetness, and you'll have this wonderful Islay malt. The nose is 100% traditional Islay, which means smoke, peat brine and a bit of wood, but in their own unique proportions that are just slightly different than it's island cousins. The palate opens with a fair amount of lemongrass and a hint of sardine oil, followed by heat, smoke and quite a bit of peat. Root around in here for a few minutes and you'll find eucalyptus, mint and pepper, but it always ends in the warm, lingering embrace of peat and smoke. This is probably just a bit too sharp and forward for an everyday dram, but if you're looking for an Islay that isn't dominated by peat and seaweed, this is the one.

I bought this bottle on a whim, and I'm very, very glad I did. Normally I work my way up a particular product line, starting in the mid-range and going up until the price increases don't match the quality or flavor increases. (I also work my way down, but that's another story). The only CR products I'd ever had are the original, and CR Black. Based on those alone, I never would have thought this was going to be as good as it is. Include the Northern Harvest Rye, which is a decent dram, and I still wouldn't have thought this would be as good as it is. Truth be told, I probably wouldn't have bought it, and then I'd not know how good it is, and that would just be sad all around. Anyway...the review: This smells of a winter morning bakery; French toast, cinnamon rolls, vanilla icing...if you're getting sweet, you're on the right track. The palate continues the sugar-overload, but instead of the breadiness you'd expect from the smell, you get warm and rich, caramel, butterscotch and toffee in a very thick, very rich, mouth-coating drink. A hint of baking spices closes this one out, fading to a pleasant sweet alcohol burn that lingers for a few minutes. Did I mention that it's rich? And creamy? And rich? I'm amazed this came out of Canada, and even more amazed that it's Crown Royal. Incredible. Well done Diageo. Now don't screw it up.

At first pour, I was dismayed at the horrible mistake I'd made in wasting $40 on this bottle. Not one to easily quit, I gave it another go on a different day, and after a bit of work, found I don't actively dislike it as I'd first thought... Very mild and light on the nose; almost delicate. A few hints of the tropics appear, coconut, tropical fruit (think mango and pineapple), a hint of molasses, but it's little more than a background tune to the front-runners of corn syrup, honey, and a bit of earthiness. The earthiness carries into the palate, which is very smooth and creamy, and leads with a very mineral-rich flavor before turning to the traditional Irish flowers and grass. There are hints of citrus, (lemon-grass?) which are complemented by a sweetness that I can't quite put my finger on...maybe light molasses? In any event the tropical flavors are present in the background but never really do much more than pop up from time to time, as if to remind you that it's not just regular whiskey. The finish is short, starts sweet and turns slightly astringent before fading to nothing. If I had to do rum-finish, this would be the way to do it (The Balvenie is just way too funky), but I doubt I'll ever voluntarily do a rum finish whiskey again. If you're looking for a good Irish that isn't overly peaty, go with Green Thumb, Tyrconnel, or Knappogue Castle. If you want peat and smoke, try Red Breast, Bushmills Black Bush, or Jameson 12. All of them do their individual thing better than Teeling Small Batch, and each of them is a better overall Irish Whiskey.