Tastes

I had the opportunity to sample this gem of a bourbon at breakeven price. It smells mild, delicate, and demure, like vanilla cream soda in a musty revered library. But the flavor is incredible: it seems to linger eternal, but it’s mutable and implacable as a chameleon: now searingly spicy, now honey-sweet, now fresh, now tasting of vanilla, now of menthol, always on a sea of oak, oak, oak. It’s a Willy Wonka jawbreaker of a whiskey; you could enjoy it for hours without boredom. Was it worth trying? Absolutely. And while it’s thr archetype of all things bourbon, I don’t feel it ruined future whiskies for me.

I tourneyed this vs. my old middle-shelf favorite, Jim Beam Extra Aged, which beat out fifteen other whiskies (no, I didn’t do this all at once). The Elijah Craig won. Compared to the Jim Beam (which is still a great everyday bourbon, by the way), it’s spicier, has a much longer finish, and tastes somehow both less artificial and less funky/earthy. Spicy even to smell, with a bit of honeyed pear sweetness, it’s zingy but full enough to be more than just “sharp.” It mellows out nicely with a warm blush of vanilla apple. I love its drawn-out finish. PS: I can’t say exactly why I got different flavor notes this time; could be relative to what it’s paired against. But it was excellent on both tries.

This bourbon smells like caramel frosting—and I mean that in the best way possible. It hits like a flashbulb firework of woody vanilla, with a lovely bloom of oak and cherry. Very nice!

Whoa! Unlike most bourbons I’ve tried, which start mild and finish with a throb of spice, this one is super spicy upfront. It tastes strongly of cinnamon and citrus, with a full body and sweet vanilla finish. It has a beautiful smell of maple and perhaps a bit of cocoa. Perhaps I’m a pleb, but I actually prefer the OG Weller for its simplicity and lack of initial kick.

This Scotch has a lovely smell of figs and honey. It would be candy-sweet with just a hint of clove and baking spice, but it has a nice round floral backnote. A little spicy with a decently long finish.

What a delight! The softness of apricot is detectable on both the nose and the palate. It’s fruity, almost tropical, with a coconut and pepper front note. Not too spicy; it blossoms on the palate.

Not terribly complex, but enjoyable neat: mostly sweet like candied ginger or candy apple, but with a peppery kick. I can’t find much depth, but it’s a sort “intermediary” between bourbon and rye.