Tastes

Tonight, I revisited Writers'Tears Mizunara Cask side-by-side with the Chivas Regal Mizunara. My initial suspicions were confirmed: comparable whiskies but the Chivas Regal is a $50 bottle while the Writers' Tears was $100. Regarding the Writers' Tears, I notice fruity floral qualities with a woodsy smokiness on the end (maybe there is some sandalwood incense after all? 😅). There's still a harsh quality to this that makes it somewhat unpleasant. I also noticed a cinnamon-esque bite at the end in the finish - but it's an artificial cinnamon in a cinnamon candy kind of way. By comparison, the nose is more mossy and less pleasant on the Chivas - but the mouthfeel and flavor are noticeably better. My wife did this side-by-side with me, and she agrees. The Chivas drinks softer and sweeter. I get a honey quality as well as nuttiness. There's also a slight ocean quality to this that helps round the whole thing out. Honestly, I like this a lot more than I remember liking it in the past.

As promised (for anyone keeping track), I revisited the Writers'Tears Mizunara Cask side-by-side with the Chivas Regal Mizunara. My initial suspicions were confirmed: comparable whiskies but the Chivas Regal is a $50 bottle while the Writers' Tears was $100. First, I will say that the Writers' Tears is better today than I remember from yesterday, for whatever reason. I do notice more fruity floral qualities with a woodsy smokiness on the end (maybe there is some sandalwood incense after all? 😅). As I noted previously, there's still a harsh quality to this that makes it somewhat unpleasant. I also noticed a cinnamon-esque bite at the end in the finish - but it's an artificial cinnamon in a cinnamon candy kind of way. By comparison, the nose is more mossy and less pleasant on the Chivas - but the mouthfeel and flavor are noticeably better. My wife did this side-by-side with me tonight, and she agrees. The Chivas drinks softer and sweeter. I get a honey quality (mirin maybe?) as well as nuttiness. There's also a slight ocean quality to this that helps round the whole thing out. Honestly, I like this (the Chivas) a lot more than I remember liking it in the past.

I have been waiting a long time to get my hands on this bottle and... It's fine. Not worth $99. I'm going to revisit at a later date after the bottle has a chance to open up (and I want to try it side by side with the Chivas Regal Mizunara, which was considerably cheaper), but I did want to highlight one thing... Tasting notes from the box: "Flashes of green fruits, apple and pear, hints of vanilla and clove over a distinctive pot still base give way to the exotic oriental notes of sandalwood, coconut, spice and Japanese incense." ... What a crock of shit! 🤣 "Exotic oriental notes? Japanese Incense?" Yeah, okay 🙄 Someone in marketing was really reaching on this one

Don't sleep on the Dad's Hat Bottled-in-Bond. They are a local (to me) Pennsylvania rye whiskey and they've stepped up their game. The BiB is a 5-year product now, and it is tasty. The last time I tried this, it was only 4 years old. The extra year has added balance, smoothness, and mouthfeel while still retaining the distinct Pennsylvania (Monongahela) Rye character they are known for. The slight dilution cuts through a bit of the (nearly) overwhelming grass, pepper, and spice character of some of the fullproof single barrel releases to create a syrupy mouthful on a smooth brown-sugar syrup flavor base (if you've ever made simple syrup with light brown sugar, you'll know what I mean) with a punch of grass, pepper, and allspice. There is a faint earthiness. It reminds me SLIGHTLY of high quality rum with hints of almond, caramel, and dried apple. The only thing I want from this is a bit more fruit or floral to round it out, but it's hard to complain. There is simply NO BURN. I'll admit that it's a bit pricey for the quality at $56 compared to other products on the market from larger producers but maybe by only about $10-$15, which isn't a big deal I'm the long run to support a craft Distillery. I thought about adding a Luxardo cherry to my glass to see how it would round it out... But by the time I finished this review, my glass (with a top off) was long gone. C'est la vie. Next time, I will try it with orgeat syrup. I'll let you know how it goes

I am revisiting this side-by-side with Hochstadter's Vatted Rye - another 100 proof rye within the same price range. By comparison, the Hochstadter's is absolutely spicier: it has much more of a spicy Pennsylvania rye character than the Old Overholt - but the Overholt excels in approachability. Creamier and more bourbon-like (to be expected with a 51% rye, high corn mash from Jim Beam designed to be a transitional rye). To be clear, the Hochstadter's is still not as spicy as Dad's Hat. It has a mild sweet cream creaminess. By comparison, the Overholt has just a bit more of everything. A sip is mildly sweet with soft notes of brown sugar, oak, campfire, marshmallow, creme brulee and black tea. It's hard to do better for less than $30, let alone $20ish

I am revisiting this side-by-side with Old Overholt BiB - another 100 proof rye within the same price range. By comparison, the Hochstadter's is absolutely spicier: it has much more of a spicy Pennsylvania rye character than the Old Overholt - but the Overholt excels in approachability. Creamier and more bourbon-like (to be expected with a 51% rye, high corn mash from Jim Beam designed to be a transitional rye). To be clear, the Hochstadter's is still not as spicy as Dad's Hat. It has a mild sweet cream creaminess, but not much else. I like it just fine, but it's lacking in flavor and character other than grassiness. I want more from this.

I'm amazed that no one else has written down this flavor note yet, but this tastes like an Andes mint! At first, I thought the spice character reminded me of cayenne or Mexican chocolate, but now I realized it is more of a peppermint/spearmint and mocha/milk chocolate! I wish I had bought a whole bottle of this when I had the chance. What an interesting bottle!

Tasting a 2001 bottling from a sample. Simultaneously soft and spicy. Creamy at the outset but spicy in the middle through finish with an "English tea with one cube of sugar" quality. Tastes well-aged but not terribly complex. Medium long finish but no real development to speak of throughout. A bit disappointing. IMO, this didn't live up to the hype of what I've heard about old dusty WT101s