Tastes

Woodinville *NOSE: Woah! FLORAL! The initial nose is the most floral I've ever encountered. However, though it returns occasionally, it quickly fades to Corn Dust, Lipton Tea, Dry Dusty Oak, and that smell you get when you pop the metal circle out of the tin of Hershey's Unsweetened Cocoa Powder. It's different, but I'm concerned by the dominance of Young Corn. It is interesting how that very strong Floral note comes and goes. *NEAT: Corn dominates the first sip, and not in a good way. The second sip brings in the Lipton Tea from the nose. Light Vanilla turns the Corn into Creamed Corn. Some Tannic Bitterness creeps in. There is a light tingle on the finish with a mild KY Hug. Oak and a mild Corny Sweetness coats the palate. So far, I'm not a fan. *SPLASH: Adds Cinnamon to the palate, however it does not pair well with the dominant corn note. That Floral Note from the nose appears on the coating finish. *VERDICT: Very disappointing. I knew this was a craft distillery, but the fact that they were purchased by one of the big guys and had won some awards I was hoping for something special. I thought it might have some age on it, but it tastes very young. Maybe I got a bad bottle? Maybe it will improve with some time open? If it does, I'll let you know, but I can't give this any more than 2 1/4.

CC Barrel Reserve *NOSE: Pours into the Glencairn a great dark copper color. Lots of Black Pepper Spice initially, but it fades with time to reveal Barrel Wood, Light Florals, Citrus, Burnt Brown Sugar, Vanilla, and Graham Cracker Crust. *NEAT: Very reminiscent of a Value Priced OF1910 or Woodford DO. Thick & Clingy mouthfeel. Big hit of Sweet Vanilla with Lots of Oak. Dark Chocolate, Caramel, Brown Sugar, Cinnamon Oil, all backed by a Black Pepper Tingle. Just a hint of a Bitter Medicinal Note. Despite the 100proof, not much Heat on the finish with a nice Sweet Oak coating the palate, though the more it layers a slight bitterness creeps in. *SPLASH: At first, a couple drops of water had me concerned. It didn't affect the nose much, but the palate became Very Bitter on first taste. Luckily, this didn't last. The deeper sweetness was eventually replaced with lighter Melted Honey Butter. The mouthfeel gets even clingier. *VERDICT: After finishing my initial pour and nosing an empty glass that smells delightfully of unlit cigar and cinnamon, I was vacillating between a score of 3.75 and 4. Am I over rating it because I was so surprised by how much I liked it over the standard CC? It was surprisingly good, especially at the sale price of $29. The scoring of the barrel staves really has a positive effect. It was sweet and peppery and had a great clingy mouthfeel. An Oaky aftertaste that lasted long after I was done with it. It does get dinged just a tad by its adverse reaction to water (I didn't care for it on ice at all as it became bitter, bitter, bitter), but Neat it's as good as any BF product I've had. 4 Stars it is.

JWGreen 15YR/Poured Neat into Glencairn *NOSE: Pear. Apple. Vanilla. Oatmeal with fresh Red Berries and Honey. Hint of Smoke/Peat. Light Floral. Tea. *NEAT: Enters surprisingly Tropical & Sweet. Crushed Pineapple and Mango. Beeswax. Vanilla. Oak. Leather. Light Peat/Smoke shows up mid-palate through the finish with Sweet Tropical Fruit coating and layering on the palate along with some White Pepper, a wisp of Brine, and a hint of Ash. This is all delivered with a great Velvety mouthfeel. *SPLASH: A couple drops of water add Iodine to the Nose. On the Palate, the Peat/Smoke notes become a little more prominent. A little Mint is added to the Fruit notes and the coating gets a little more Tingle. *VERDICT: For a blend that includes both Caol Isla and Talisker, I expected a little more Peat influence and was very surprised by the sweet tropical nature of this one. The fruit notes seemed to "burst" and had an almost "juicy" character. The coating velvety mouthfeel is one of the best I can recall experiencing. At $60, it's decent VFM. I'm tempted to go 4 1/2, but I'll give it a strong 4 1/4.

OldFo 1920 *NOSE: Fruit Cocktail in Syrup, the kind with extra Cherries. Burnt Brown Sugar. Freshly opened pouch of Chewing Tobacco. Raw Almonds. Varnished Oak. A Light Floral note comes and goes. Tread lightly or get admonished with a big hit of Heat. *NEAT: Cherry. Deep Vanilla. Oak. Black Pepper heat. Pretty Basic. Just a tick on the Astringent Side, but not so much it's an issue. Thick Clingy finish with a BIG Kentucky Hug blooming in the chest. Cinnamon, Cherry and Oak layer on the palate with each sip. *SPLASH: Nose gets Gooey, Sticky Caramel. The Palate gains some much needed complexity with Chocolate, Coffee, Sweet Cream and Hazelnut notes. A little added Barrel Char. The finish becomes Super Sweet. Fittingly the empty glass smells just like a Milky Way wrapper. *VERDICT: I finally decided to review something from the Whiskey Row Series. I have a bottle of 1910 that I just can't make up my mind about ,so I haven't put pen to paper on it yet. I really enjoyed this. Pretty basic when consumed Neat, but man do a few drops of water open this one up. I see lots of people who are making "1915" by mixing this with the 1910, and I can definitely see how that would be a worthwhile experiment. I wish that I liked the Old Forester profile better, but I applaud everyone involved in this series for experimenting with batching, barrel placement, entry proofs, etc. to create unique bottlings. This just edges out the Rye as my favorite OldFo so far.

**MOVING MY REVIEW SINCE THEY CREATED A NEW ENTRY** THE AGE STATEMENT IS BACK!! Picked up a bottle of the new Age Stated version of KC Small Batch tonight and decided to test it head to head with the NAS version (I was gifted a couple 375s over the holidays). KC 9YR COLOR: New Penny (Identical) NOSE: Spice. Hay. Old Oak. Fall Spice. Peanut Shell. Light Citrus. A general "gooey" Sweetness. NEAT: Medium Mouthfeel. Vanilla. Oak. Caramel. Cola. A building Pleasant Heat. Long'ish Finish with Oak and Vanilla coating the palate. SPLASH: Made this all Oak and Vanilla. RATING: 4 KC NAS COLOR: New Penny (Identical) NOSE: Spice. Hint of Floral. Light Hay, Citrus. Dry Roast Peanut. NEAT: Thin to Medium Mouthfeel. HOT. Vanilla. Peanut. Spicy Oak. An Immediate Heat. Long Spicy Finish with Pepper, Oak, and Peanut Coating. SPLASH: Tamed a lot of the heat. Becomes mostly Peanut and Oak. RATING: 3.5 Verdict: The NAS had an immediate prickly heat, while the 9 year had a pleasant building heat. The extra age obviously helps. Smooths out some of the rough edges and reduces the signature Beam peanut funk as well. Kudos to Beam for bringing the Age Statement back. My final rating is for the 9YR. It is between a 3.75 and 4, but I'll round up.

I first reviewed this 5 years ago with no Glencairn. Stopped at the ABC Store on the way home just to see what tickled my fancy, and this was it. Let's see what I think of it now... NOSE: Delicate. Leather, Dried Apricot, Black Pepper, Toasted Marshmallow, Spicy Oak, with a little Ethanol Heat. With time and patience you are also rewarded with light Orange Zest and Polished Oak. NEAT: Again, Delicate. Light, Thin and Slightly Oily Mouthfeel. A general Vanilla Sweetness, Leather, Oak, and Orange Zest. Not much (if any) heat on the short finish leaving some Sweet Oak and Black Pepper Tingle coating the palate. SPLASH: Added just a drop or two of water. It does open the nose somewhat, adding some Floral and Dubble Bubble Bubblegum to the nose. The palate, however becomes pretty one dimensional with Vanilla/Maple Sweetness. It actually ups the Black Pepper on the finish, which is nice. VERDICT: I have a soft spot for this one (along with Maker's) because when I got into whisky, family and friends gifted me this a lot due to the fancy recognizable bottle. I purposely didn't reread my original review until I was finished, but they are pretty similar. Delicate, not a lot of complexity, but overall a decent pour. As I'm writing this, I am enjoying a generous pour of this over a large cube and might I say, it is very enjoyable. Just pure sugary goodness. This would be an excellent light summer bourbon to enjoy on the rocks when you are just hanging out. It gets dinged a little by it's $35 price tag, but for an uncomplicated drink to enjoy while reading, watching TV with TWTWIRBM, etc. you could do much worse.

There seems to be some confusion as to what is happening with Jim Beam Single Barrel. It is slowly disappearing form shelves in its traditional form. The Beam website shows a new upgraded sloped shoulder bottle design with fancy cork closure at the traditional 95 proof. However, There are bottles on shelves in certain areas of the country that are the now standard square shouldered Jim Beam bottle with a screw cap. That's not the big news though. It's clocking in at 108proof and going for the low price of between $17 and $25. There has been no official announcement or launch for either new product so it remains a mystery. This has been on my "to try" list for a while, but every time I've looked at it I've thought "Yeah, NAS Beam? I think I'll pass." However, with this being the last bottle on the shelf and not knowing what the replacement was going to be, I finally bit. Let's see what Beam Barrel #JB7214 has in store for us... NOSE: There is a lot of alcohol burn on the nose for a 95 proof even after letting it breathe for 10 minutes. Working around it, you get notes of Nutter Butter Cookies, Dry Roast Peanuts, Caramel, and Vanilla. There is also an unpleasant "Oily" or "Plastic-y" smell that comes along with the burn. NEAT: The Beam Peanut Funk is front and center. After a few sips to get adjusted to it you get notes of Oak, Vanilla, Dark Chocolate and Flat Cola. There is Bitter Oak mid-palate. Not astringent really. Just oddly bitter. It's a tick on the hot side on the finish with a decent building KY Hug. It leaves a thick coating of Bitter Oak and Peanut Funk behind. Let's add a little water and pray it gets better. SPLASH: Not a ton of change to the nose, but the Chemically/Oily note is decreased somewhat and a Sweet Baked Pastry vibe emerges. Still, that stinging alcohol heat is distracting from the good that is there. It really does help the palate. That Bitter Oak is really toned down as is some of the heat. The aftertaste is now Sweet Oak and Sugar Cookie with just a small remnant of that Bitterness. Water is a must for this one. VERDICT: A little Splash of Spring Water saved this one from the land of the 2's. I'll give it a 3, but just barely. Beam had really been on a roll with me lately with the new Knob Creek age stated versions. Hopefully this was just a less than stellar barrel. If it should improve with some time open, I will happily report. I'm anxious to see what the replacement ends up being here. Same old same old with a new bottle, or a 108 proof "Young Baker's". Either way, I won't be sad to see this particular barrel/bottle go the way of the Dodo.

Talisker 10 NOSE: Sweet Smoke. Caramelized Burnt BBQ Sauce or that Caramelized Candied Bacon that has become all the rage. Briny. Dried Seagrass. Leather. Pepper Spice. Fresh Churned Butter. Hint of Light Citrus. Dive in too deep and get admonished with a little alcohol sting. The longer it's in the glass the more the Maritime Notes take over. NEAT: Smoke. Honey. Dried Tropical Fruits like Pineapple, Mango, and Papaya. Vanilla Custard. The finish is amazing. Long and Tingly. Effervescent. It's a quick burst of Heat that tingles and fades, like you've taken a drink of super carbonated water. Ash, Light Citrus, and a Jalapeño tingle coat the palate. SPLASH: A little water and the nose is more Fruit Forward. The effervescent quality is dampened slightly. The finish is still great with a little less Jalapeño and a little more Fruit Sweetness. VERDICT: There is just something here that is hard to describe. Under the smoke is a crave-able sweetness that I get from no other whisky. It's hard to describe, but you just want to return to it over and over. The finish bumps this solidly into "favorite whisky" consideration. A rising tingle that just goes on and on. Plus, hours later and I'm still enjoying the sweet smoky grilled charred fruit aftertaste. This one comes in on the extreme high side of my budget at $72, but I will definitely keep a bottle of this on hand from now on.

Talisker-House Greyjoy NOSE: Another one of those I could nose for hours. Light Peat, Charred Meat, Ash, Fresh Cream, Honey, Leather, Salt Air, Mint, and an underlying General Sweetness (hinting at gooey Toffee at times, and sweet tangy BBQ Sauce at others). Some Tropical Fruit develops with time in the glass. Great nose. NEAT: Medium, slightly Creamy mouthfeel. The first sip is all Ash and Lemon Peel. Subsequent sips offer notes of Malt Sweetness, Salt Brine, Leather, Black Pepper, and a hint of Crushed Pineapple. Not overly hot on the finish, but there is a little burn at the back of the tongue. Citrus/Ash/Salt and a nice Peppery Tingle coat and build on the palate. Just a hint of Sourness. SPLASH: Gives a Floral Note to the nose. On the palate, it now enters with Milk Chocolate. The Peat moves all the way to the back of the tongue. This is Chocolate by the campfire. A real or imagined hint of Graham Cracker and now this is almost like making S'mores. The finish gets a healthy shot of that Milk Chocolate and the sourness noted before becomes Dark Chocolate. The aftertaste lingers for quite some time. VERDICT: This is my first Talisker and might I just say, wow. NAS or not, this is just very good. Picked this one up strictly on a whim and now regret that I waited until the last bottle. Had I tried it sooner, this would've been a multiple bottle purchase at $50. Very much looking forward to exploring Talisker's core lineup now.

I've been interested in this one for a while. Not available here in NC, but the distillery is very near where I lived in SC during the 90's. At that time, a distillery operating in SC would've been unheard of. Hell, you couldn't even buy beer or wine on Sunday! I was dropping off a chair to my daughter's apartment and saw she had a bottle she picked up on a recent trip to Charleston, SC. I poured myself a taste to try and... Not bad. First few sips were Corn Sweetness, Black Pepper Spice, with a pleasant Vanilla/Oak coating after the finish. After a bit though, the lack of age became apparent. You get the hot "White Dog" burn/taste. The Oak became "cardboard-ish". My daughter said she and her boyfriend thought it was too strong, and I said "No, it's not too strong, it's too young". This has some good qualities but I think it needs more time in the barrel. This goes down like a "shooter", but it's priced like a "sipper". Not the worst craft whiskey I've had, but far from the best. It gets an extra quarter point for the awesome looking bottle.