Tastes

As any genre of liquor there is as much subjective variation on Scotch as to what makes it "good" as any. For me it's about both the spectrum and the finish, I like a Scotch with a nice variety of notes and as importantly it must linger on in a desirable fashion. Blue Label is one of those "wheel house" Scotches for me. The nose on Blue Label is just a smooth dream, it's a bit of fruit orchard and cinnamon bread, maybe some kumquat citrine and also as important, a lack of anything off putting. No ugly over wood barrel bitterness here. Creamy smooth front with bright, light sugars, the bread middle hangs on just a wee longer than the fruit sugars, and then it all just calmly fades leaving you wanting more. This is definitely a top blended Scotch. Yes the price is a bit bearish but if it was any less the supply would be outstripped by demand and we would have yet another BTAC like allocation mess. It's kind of nice to be able to count on not just Blue Label but even an assortment of rarer Blue Labels being available. If I had to put down a complaint it's that Blue Label is just a bit lighter through the middle than the heavy sugared high proof bourbons that I'm used to, but that's really being extra critical. It's not that Blue Label is the greatest thing you'll ever taste, it's just one of those really good things you can generally count on. Cheers!

I found a few of these shooters on the shelf at the local and grabbed them to see what we can see, sorry didnt get a chance to spot the price on full sized bottles. A very Highlands nose of spicy citruses, Glen-maOrangie if you will, really nice if that is your thing. That nose theme follows with some sweet cereals, lemon and orange fruit loops through the middle and ends with only slight smokes. This fruity Highlands dram seems really "approachable" to use that over worked word. What I like, as a novice Scotcher, is the laid back peats and smokes, nothing about the malt side bowls over the nice, sweeter notes, some real balance here. This is a good one for a lot of palates, here is a Scotch that doesn't taste like it's ready to take the paint off the walls. This one isn't going to win any awards for complexity nor are the hard core Islay fans going to be impressed, but a nice bottle for those who appreciate the fruity easy going scotch profile. Cheers!

A really nice Christmas time chocolate orange slice nose awaits you. This comes off as a holiday in a bottle bright sweet orange and slight cinnamon clove with just a nit of the old ethanol. The age and proof really come through on the nose. The front is a bit harsh, amazingly the proof bite is real. As it rolls around on the tongue you get some of that orange and syrup spice melange, it's not a bad bite just a bit of the youth coming through, another few years in the barrel may well have done wonders for Old Bardstowns Estate version. The finish unveils some dusty barn door oak along with some nutty cola, not overly complex yet still appreciably full bodied. For the low 30s this is some pretty well done work. Letting this bottle air out a bit will help unleash some of the packed in flavors. Easy to enjoy. Cheers!

The banana - caramel is most notable, the leather is also apparent, as my sniffer is broken from this cold weather I can't be overly confident of a good report on the nose. What comes through is good though and nothing out of place off the top. Much dryer than what I was expecting, perhaps the extra aging is the reason but not as sweet for a higher proof, the burnt toast and banana effect sticks and while its tailing off with some nibs the apple sweetness makes an appearance. Surprisingly accurate notes from Distiller on this one, while some of the sugars may have aged out the extra aging does yield the relative warm cream like finish. One thing I like about Prophet 22 is how well the finish fades out without even a hint of harshness. I guess if you're looking for a 200$ bottle this will suffice, it's sure to beat out some others in that price range but I'm not sure it really beats some of the better Booker releases at half the price. If it's a true orphan barrel the enthusiast who can would likely want to buy on sight. Cheers!

Nose: Warm sweet rich spicy banana bread. At the front it's a small dill rye note, the sweet honey bread kicks in, the nose banana really doesn't take shape. The rye just manages to dry out the sweet middle reaching a nice balance. The entire menagerie all finishes up at the end, nothing bitter or sweet, the array of beautiful notes hold up as it just fades off in a tempting memory. I wanted to take another look at this very special rye from not the distillery you would expect, as the bottle is about gone. Did it hold up? Without a doubt. Will this be one of my "go to" bottles from here? Without a doubt. This mash balance is just exceptional. I can't wait to see where Jeff Arnett goes and what he does next as this is one of the premiere whiskeys produced this century. I don't even know if Jeff was the real mastermind behind this work but whoever did it, Jack Daniels owes a huge debt of gratitude for showing they can do something big outside the bounds of Lincoln Co. Process. Just goes to show if you keep at it long enough, you eventually can catch lighting in a bottle. Cheers!

A great rich bouquet awaits you on the nose with this full proof Willett offering with some ginger raisin spice cake notes, a lot is happening here. A forward ginger rye spice cake with some dark molasses sweetness, and notable dark fruit sugars makes way for what is one of the odder spice arrays in bourbon, almost english leather meets old spice with a touch of high karate(lime version) for effect. Noah's Mill doesn't fail to deliver on some unusual bourbon notes and then some. That rich sweetness in the nose never fully takes shape through the mids as the opening spice bomb shifts into all of those after shave scents, this one will really take the old timers back to the much simpler days of soda commercials and tv cigarette adds. It's hard to say how much the average palate will take to that spectrum of perfumey spices. Willett can at the least take a big bow for not offering up the usual suspect high proofer and making something actually worth while, even if a bit off the center mark of bourbon normal. Cheers!

Lingering just under the thick smokiness there is something like a rich marmalade, along with a warm honey-meade, perhaps there is a non-Blue Label Johnnie worth taking a look through. The nose is bright, full and sweet. I always feel out of place doing these Scotch reviews, as someone who spends 99% of my time sampling Bourbon, American whiskey and Rye, for me Scotch is like feeling my way along in the dark of a house I've never been in before. The full malt-barley flavor was never my thing and I always remember the really awful malt alcohol wine coolers that came into being when I was a kid. So take full warning, this is a bourbon drinkers opinion and nothing more! The smoke and iodine subside a bit after a heavy coating of the tongue, and amazing flavors emerge, some really nice tea and honey nut cereal sweetness, along with the mentioned orange notes. I like the non-Islay factors a good deal, it's just wading through the smokey salty brine to get there that doesn't tempt me much. There is a little dryness on the end with just some lemon zest that I actually find really nice, it kind of reminds me of a party that happens in your mouth but then cleans up after itself. I can safely say this is easily the most complex Johnnie you will find, far more bold of character than the Blue Label that excels at being smoother than butter on a silk plate. And far more interesting than the myriad of Blacks and Golds the brand throws at you, you can accuse Green Label of many things, but being boring isn't one of them. While I won't be giving up on my Booker's anytime soon, I can see pushing the Blue over and making a second spot for a Green JW on my bar. Cheers!

"Slow aged in oak barrels." Is that better than "fast" aged? I really can't say. At least it's not solera, or maybe that would be a good thing? For some reason the world needed another mid-lowish level Barton product. What that reason is probably only Sazarac knows. One thing I can say is this will beat out Tenn High or Kentucky Gentlemen, but maybe not by that much. Very Old Bartons? ehhh probably. The sweet oak nose is very promising, like a real old bourbon made the right way. Through the middle the body is a bit sweet and rough at the same time, both oaky but not as mellow as well aged oak from say Woodford. The promise of the nose just doesn't quite add up. It's almost like a dry oaky whiskey that was somehow sweetened with corn syrup. A lot of the right components are there but like a Frankenstien project it just doesn't seem to have ended up right. At just over 20 I would say you aren't getting ripped off, but at that price you can usually find Larceny which would also edge this Barton product out. Not a bad try though, would be a great bar pour for a bowling alley bar, beware of 5 star hotels proudly displaying this on the premium shelf. cheers!