Tastes

Noah's Mill Bourbon 2/25/18 Nose: almond, marzipan. Melanoidins and caramelised lignins from the barrel toast and char. toffe and fresh cream... and chocolate as it opens up. Taste: A great follow-up to the nose. This is the lovechild of an Almond Joy candy bar and a tiramisu doused in amaretto and a shot of mild espresso. Layers of vanilla cake and cinnamon creme, rained on by almond and subtle cocoa roastiness, with chocolate topping. Forward lactones and aldehydes provide the delight of toasted coconut! Finish: It goes on and on... carrying the flavors of the tiramisu, and finally, washing down with the grape-stem notes of a fine grappa to complete the bitter-sweet ending. Overall: This is NOT sweet, but the impression of the dessert flavors is proud, yet refined. The oak's influence is powerful but not domineering or brash. This is a cultured country gentleman. It is neither hot nor acidic, and sulphur compounds, acetates, or grassy hanols are undetectable. I'd compare this to Booker's for strength and profile... but the complete experience of this dram and the depth and nuace trump ANY Booker's I've had... and most barrel-proof offerings otherwise...

EDIT: 2/21/18 Oh man... has this opened up. Still lively, but the youth is soft late spring fruits, herbs, morning dew, and fresh flowers! The mouthfeel seems thicker somehow. The balance of spice and herb and floral with sweet baked honey cornbread is perfect, with both sides of the equation packing punches of flavor. This is a winner of a rye right here. If you like Pikesville, I think you'd like this, though prepare yourself for more of the botanicals and less HH nutty yeast character. Pinhook Bourbon N Rye Straight Rye Whiskey 93.5 proof, Lot 001 2/15/18 Freshly cracked wax top. Should be interesting to revisit in a month. A: Tarnished gold. beady droplets make thin legs that disperse N: Caramel corn and freshly baked honey corn bread, sweet, a bit honey, a bit corn, with some warm toastiness. Air time reveals the rye grain spice. T: Super light! Like apple juice. This must be some young whiskey. Upfront it's grainy in a positive way. The oaky oils manifest in a resinous, sappy feel and flavor, with an almost piney tang. The fruit notes are an assortment of different fresh apples, estery. The profile descents into more familiar rye territory further and further, bringing marjoram, thyme, and caraway to the fore. F: The finish is the lingering herbal bitterness of the marjoram, thyme, and caraway notes. It reminds me like having chewed a seed of bishop's weed (carom seed). Not exactly short, but is only the lingering of those last flavor notes, straightforward. O: Nothing super-complex, but there are enough notes for this to be interesting, and I'd take it as an everyday rye over baby Saz and Bulleit... but not over Rittenhouse.

Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Rye 94 proof, Barrel No. 16-7698, bottled 11/29/16 2/11/18 Time to conquer my fear of J.D.! Figured it was now or never, and "single barrel" and "rye" are just the triggers to convince me to take the plunge, despite the omens of banana runts and my total dislike of Old No. 7 and Gentleman's. A: Caramel dark copper with beady lacing that forms droplets, the larger of which descend to form legs. N: Very sour morello cherry atop a hint of sun-ripened banana peel. Sharp and sour, though not harsh, just very forward. That morello cherry jumps out of the glass. There a bit of caramel creme candy at the tail end if you're looking for it. Grassy or minty notes are nowhere, though there may just be the slightest of a star anise note hiding beneath the dominant cherry pie. T: Spicy lavender and sandalwood, fresh plums, lilac, honeysuckle, and cayenne pepper with a Bubble-Yum bugglegum tail end... Yes, at first, this presents like the infamous banana runts candy. However, dissecting the profile reveals some really special fresh floral flavors that are pretty exciting. The sweetness is like the nectar of honeysuckle and the bitterness balances it just like chewing the petals of a violet. All of the spice is like a ripe chili pepper, a capsacin spiciness and not a phenolic one, with plenty of berry fruitiness along for the ride. The texture does have some oiliness, but like a peanut oil, and it dances in a lively way, pricking your tongue all over as it taps its shoes. F: There's a resiny, waxiness that lightly adheres to the tongue all down the center of the tongue from fromt to back, with light warmth in the sides of the mouth. It finshes like a candy, but like a Twizzler, waxy and cherry. Then comes the barrel, and it's like we have just licked the inside stave of a toasty one, freshly dumped. O: This is a really fun drink. The sweetness is a unique fruity-floral one rather than your standard vanilla and caramel, corn, and maybe honey. Despite banana runts being an adequate descriptor, I do not think this tastes artificial or sugary. OK, you've convinced me. I'm no longer afraid of J.D.

Rittenhouse Rye Astounding value. Nose is sweet cherry jollyrancher (corn syrup and cherry) with hints of ripe melon. Palate is shockingly rich and oily ad then a burst of rye and malt over charred wood, toasty and spicy like mesquite half-way to ignition for smoking some BBQ. Subtle glutamic tang with hints of allspice really complete the imagery of BBQ. Finish lingers on the back of the mid-palate, with a warmed over maple syrup flavor and sweetness, along with the flavor and bitterness of chewing on honeysuckle flowers. Second taste: I smell lots of malt. That malted sweetness. There's a chalky nose as well and an intoxicating raw dough character from the rye. Taste is like crunching into a grain of malted rye. There's that biscuity cookie dough thing, just enough sulfur to suggest the eggs in the cookie dough, toasted flavors like the malt and dough, and a bitter polyphenol kind of bitterness that reminds me like the bitter baking chocolate (may that's the dirt??). The finish is the lingering of that cocoa and the darkened bottom of a cookie fresh off a butter-greased baking sheet.