Tastes
-
Appleton Estate Joy Anniversary Blend
Aged Rum — Jamaica
Reviewed September 26, 2021 (edited October 31, 2023)Background: Showed up for friend’s birthday celebration this past weekend, which started off with a private screening of The Legend of Shang-Chi at a local AMC (the movie was decent but storyline and dialogue seemed contrived in spots. Overall good entertainment value), then back to his place for a hangout with friends. On the drink menu, a “full” bar with some wishlist-level collection. No limit to what you can sample but since I have work the next day, I kept it small and only went with 8 😉. First up, Joy Blend. To the experience we go! Nose: Rich, concentrated caramel syrup, mixed with concentrated vanilla extract. Sweet nail polish. Toffee. Fragrant tobacco. Tropical wood varnish. Palate: Follows lock step with the nose. Oily. Rich. Delicious. The experience of tasting this juice while also inhaling the incredibly fragrant vapors was almost other-worldly. Finish: Long. The wood makes its presence known. Leaves a tobacco oil coating on the tongue. In a blind taste, this could pass for a well-aged, well-made, well-integrated, honey-barrel bourbon. I have to say that I was somewhat on my way to changing my less-than-complimentary PoV on rums after trying Doorly’s 12Yr…and this here pour…pushed it way over the edge. I’m a mini convert! Take me to your [rum] dealer! I mean, I’m not switching teams but I’ll root for some “good” well-aged rum whenever my taste buds call for something other than whiskey. As mentioned, I tried this pour with a few others. See below for my first impression summaries and rough order of magnitude ranking for the rest of my choice lineup for the day… Sláinte PoD! F.I.Ds 1 - Joy Blend: 4.25 - 4.5 stars Wow! Incredible nose, incredible palate, incredible finish…delicious! Completely changed my perception of rum. Wishlist worthy. Buy on sight. 2 - Hakushi 18Yr: 4 - 4.25 stars Refined nose, refined palate, decent finish…classic. 3A - Makers Mark Private Select (LA Whisky Womxn barrel select): Solid 4 stars Balanced nose, balanced palate, nice finish. Possibly a victim of name recognition bias. Could easily be the best of the night in a blind taste. Wishlist worthy (if you can find exact stave combo and barrel select) 3B - Parker’s Heritage Promise of Hope - 3.75 - 4 stars Classic bourbon nose, classic bourbon palate, classic finish…all excellently-executed. 5 - Glendronach 21Yr Parliament: 3.75 - 4 stars Classic sherry nose and palate. Initial taste was so-so but subsequent tastes brought a balanced, well integrated sherry bomb. Pleasant finish. Need more time with this. 6 - Cowboy Balmorhea: 3 - 3.5 stars Intense nose, intense palate, intense finish. [ Acquired taste] flavor bomb. Not for the faint of heart. Hit or miss wishlist worthy. 7 - Parker’s Heritage Cognac Finish: 2 - 2.25 stars Confused nose, confused palate, confused finish…overall came across disjointed, unbalanced and not well-integrated. Possible victim of rushed, end bin tasting for the night. Surprising least favorite of the night. 8 - Michter’s Single Barrel 10Yr: No rating for fairness Smelled, tasted and finished like well-made rye but nothing stood out. To be fair, my palate was prolly tired by this point. Need to try again. -
The second of the 50 ml sample bottles I picked up during a Dallas trip a while back. From memory, corn-forward bourbon-like pour. Pretty tasty but not very complex. Hard to categorize. Tried next to the standard Balcones single malt and liked the single malt a lot better. Wouldn’t recommend getting a whole bottle but worth taking a flier on a sample for the uniqueness.
-
Balcones Texas Single Malt
American Single Malt — Texas, USA
Reviewed September 18, 2021 (edited April 15, 2022)Picked up a 50 ml sample bottle during a trip to Dallas a while back. From memory, rich, thick and flavorful. Reminiscent of a single malt scotch but richer, fuller mouthfeel and with more depth. The American oak cask influence is very present. Felt like being caught between a bourbon and a hard [scotchy] place. Definitely an intriguing profile that I intend to investigate further with the cask strength single barrel somewhere in my stash. Looking forward. Cheers PoD! -
Old Forester Single Barrel Bourbon Barrel Strength
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed September 18, 2021 (edited December 8, 2021)Warehouse 1; Floor 1; 63.85% abv. BevMo store pick Nose: Caramel flavored nail polish. Dense brown sugar. Dark molasses. Palate: Strong alcohol. Oily. Classic bourbon flavor turned up a notch Finish. Long. Bitter tannins mixed with sweet corn syrup and burnt brown sugar. Lingering mint after taste fading away. I need to stop expecting that cask strength single barrel automatically equals honey barrel. This was good but ain’t no honey barrel. Saving grace is the price which I think was priced same as the regular single barrel at approx $40. Not sure if that was intentional or not but who’s complaining. I went back and bought two extra bottles before I tried it cos you just don’t find this type of bourbon specs from a well-established and household name producer for that price but if I had a time machine, would probably have gone back and bought just the one. Don’t leave this one too long in the glass. For some reason, it oxidizes faster than any other cask strength bourbon I’ve had. Turns into an undrinkable mess after a few hours in the glass. Cheers PoD! -
Breaking the fast on my dry month (2nd of the year) and I’m grabbing a…rum? Well it’s been a long time coming. I’ve been taking a hard look at other brown spirits, specifically armagnac and rum. I’ve picked up some bottles based on reviews and hoping to either expand my horizons or renew my whiskey vows 💯. To the experience we go! Nose: I’m hit with a vapor of cherry cola cough syrup mixed with some oaky vanilla and caramel. The sugary/cough syrupy smell has never been my favorite and has been the main reason I haven’t been a rum fan to this point but @ContemplativeFox and others swear by this product so going in with an open mind. I’m now dreading the initial taste but the community’s vote of confidence keeps me hopeful. About 10 minutes in the glass and the nose opens up quite a bit. The cherry cola cough syrup note is now almost gone and what you’re left with is this deep caramel and sweet vanilla goodness, much akin to a well made bourbon. Hope springs! Now to the taste. Palate follows the caramel vanilla nose but now enveloped by a velvet cloud of Molasses funk, which is also surprisingly well-integrated. Like in a cloud frappachino kind of way. There’s a noticeable alcohol bite for a 40% abv. Some oak tannins in the mid palate but it’s balanced with the “sweetness”. Mid to long finish that lingers. The cherry cola now shows up again to remind you it’s a rum but this time it’s complementary and is more amenable to my taste. This drinks a lot ike [american] whiskey finished in rum barrels. It’s pretty good. Factor in the sub $20 price and this is a no-brainer for any whiskey drinkers looking to dip their toes into the rum pool. Not gonna say I’m a full convert but I can see going back to this when I’m a mood for something different that doesn’t stray too far from bourbon or single malt whiskey. I picked up Appleton estate 21yr and a cask strength 25Yr old Kirk & Sweeney, which will either reinforce my apathy or move me closer to expanding my horizons…to rum. Who knew. Cheers PoD!
-
James E. Pepper 1776 Barrel Proof Straight Rye
Rye — Indiana (Bottled in Kentucky), USA
Reviewed April 6, 2021 (edited October 21, 2021)Went through a whole bottle of this but didn’t take any notes. So, this is from memory…as unmemorable as the experience was: Working Title: Young, brash and reckless[ly not great]… ...and in conclusion: All spice and no play, makes James a dull dram. The End. Next... -
Balcones Lineage Texas Single Malt
American Single Malt — Texas, USA
Reviewed March 31, 2021 (edited September 11, 2021)UPDATE: Bottle Status = Half-way mark. Yup, I called it. This keeps getting better. Incremental complexity and richness with each new tipple . More balanced flavors keep revealing themselves with every sip ...pineapple, apple crisps, condensed milk. I still get the “malt” notes but they’re ensconced in yummy delicious flavors that are closer to the sweet side than savory. Just when you think the ride is over, bam, tropical mango. As you’re getting used to that, hello, honey dew melon! And so on, and so forth. I think I’ll get another bottle for the proverbial road! Cheers POD! -
Booker's Bourbon Batch 2020-03 "Pigskin Batch"
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed March 31, 2021 (edited April 6, 2021)As Booker’s slowly but surely enters the realm of hard-to-find and overpriced collectors item, it’s time for my first Booker’s review. I went back and forth for what should be my 50th review and eventually landed on this. That it is coming as my half-century review may be appropo because while it’s not that special of a milestone, as say, my future century mark review, (READ just as Booker’s is NOT a special, once in a lifetime bourbon, by any stretch), it somehow feels like it needs to be acknowledged. You see, I have been collecting Booker’s since 2015. I’ve grabbed a pair of each batch since 2017. I always fancied the classic, yummy-smelling wooden box as a kinda cool packaging that other distillers should emulate. So this review may also be perceived as an ode to the last of the Mohicans because at the rate of price increase, there will come a time in the near future when I’ll no longer be seeking this product. Shame. How did we go from a $49.99 / bottle to now $100+ (and climbing) for a bourbon averaging 6.25 years old? I was able to find this batch at a local retailer for “reasonable” $69.99 and decided to clear the shelf because I thought this was probably the last time I’ll find it for that price. Whaat? Shame. Ok need to remind myself this is not a raving rant medium. Let’s get to the experience shall we? Neck pour Nose: Dry-roasted peanut skins, vanilla-laced ethanol fumes, cherry cotton candy, chocolate fudge, light/low calorie caramel toffee , paint varnish. If you allow yourself some patience, you will be rewarded with a good, balanced aroma that evolves to much greater heights over time. Palate - Follows the nose slightly with classic bourbon notes mingled with corn cereal and peanut trail mix. Water opens it to more fruity aromas but elevates the bitter oak tannins on the mid-palate. Finish is long and clingy. Continuation of the palate with an underlying backbone of wood spice and bitter tannins coming all the way through. You could say the wood influence balanced the finish from becoming too sweet. Warm Kentucky hug to close out. Overall: Not bad. The neck pour wasn’t mind-blowing but was not disappointing either. Follow-up pours after a few days yielded a much better experience. I think this is slightly above average but not sure how I feel about it relative to the “Booker’s hype”. So I’m holding my definitive judgment on the Booker’s line until I spend more time with this bottle + try other batches in my stack. Keeping hope alive that other batches bring something different and unique to the table. Side-by side to Old Forester single barrel cask strength (review coming) and the 15Yr George Dickel 15Yr single barrel cask strength , I give the GD a slight edge over the Booker’s with the OF coming in 3rd place but barely. In fact it’s closer to an interchangeable 2a & 2b. Ranking-wise, for my taste, I would go 1-GD 15Yr SiB Csk strength, 2a-Booker’s 2020-3, 2b-OF SiB Cask strength Cheers POD! PS: Going on another dry month starting tomorrow, as part of my self-imposed “1-dry-month-per-quarter” experiment this year. We shall see how long it lasts. Wish me luck! -
Quick Hit Review: This is pleasant. Displays all the classic notes you would expect from a well-made bourbon, although a bit more on the lighter , sweeter side. Suffers from low proof which keeps aromas and flavors of the nose, palate and finish somewhat muted and nuanced. If there was ever a 7 course whiskey dinner, this would be the appetizer, as it does a great job setting the stage for what’s to come but is definitely NOT a main course. Sláinte PoD!
-
Highland Park Valknut
Single Malt — Islands, Scotland
Reviewed March 20, 2021 (edited April 22, 2021)The overall experience feels VERY formulaic. Not sure how else to put it. It looked, smelled and tasted like someone went in the lab to “construct” a Highland Park whiskey using some supposedly “true & tested” formula. As in... (and here please imagine a John or Jane Doe in a lab coat)... take equal parts single malt distillate, add x parts heather peat, then quarter parts sherry + y liters of water. Then shake and let sit for z hours. Then more purified water, and add 1/one millionth parts iodine + cold tar = Highland Park whiskey. Don’t know the exact formula but you get the point. Simply put, this pour has NO soul. I didn’t know there’ll come a day when I would describe whiskey in such an esoteric way but here we are. Sure it tastes like whiskey. Sure you can pick up some peat. And sure, you can feel the sherry. Then what? I guess HP was counting on the adage that says “if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck”. Except it’s not. More like a plastic facsimile. Luuuucy! Ahem, I mean Hiiigghlaand Paaaark! You got some xplaining to do! Glad I got this on a close out sale for less than $35. I guess that’s why it was discounted. Skip this one. You should have no FOMO on this with confidence 1.25 - 1.5 ⭐️ Sláinte PoD!
Results 11-20 of 67 Reviews