Tastes
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A very pale straw yellow. Not a lot of body but leaves a few thin legs. OK. Like it or not, dem boys delivered the concept. Crisp apple balanced by a subtle cereal note. Creamy. Gentle honeysuckle. I find myself tempted to think of grain whisky, but nothing harsh in the nose whatsoever - it's just "simple". Orange blossom water. Pear. Almond. Honeydew. A lilting saccharine spice that builds and recedes gently. Beeswax. Vanilla. Gosh that’s easy to like. Conversely, it may also be tough to love. This is not a brooding, complex, or challenging dram. It’s just light, fruity, and approachable. At sub-$50 I think it competes with any of the typical entry-level age-stated highland/Speyside malts and is clearly the superior to a number of them. If it were less than $40 it'd be a home run.45.0 USD per Bottle
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When traveling for work I've found that big city stores don't tend to go easy on the pocketbook, so I'm drawn to grab a bottle with an unexpectedly reasonable price tag of something that I've never had before. In my naïve mind, this helps justify the expense since on some level I've limited the rampant profiteering, tried something new, and will be forgiven even if it goes unfinished. The entry this time is Paul John "Bold" (i.e. peated NAS), for a reasonable $40 that I doubt I could do better than back home even at modest Midwest prices. This is also my first Indian whisky, so double points awarded says I. Enough about me - the dram is a nice light honey brown. While not overly weighty, it coats the glass with a fair bit of oil. A relatively gentle, sweet and simple nose. Unusual but not unpleasant, it showcases honey, chili pepper, raw cane, and a touch of hay. A very creamy body and neutral simple syrup open the palate, then smoke, pineapple, and roasted chestnut develop along with a pleasing floral character. It's a bit as if Laphroaig 10 and a lightly-aged Barbados rum had a love child. A tingle of baking spices play alongside honeydew. Coconut cream. This is pretty tasty stuff for an approachable price. Yes, it's a little young but it suits the finished product quite well. Some drying aspartame plays spoiler to the primary flavors but this is very approachable, sippable, and competitive at the price point. I'd recommend any peated scotch fans take a waiver and see how it stacks up.40.0 USD per Bottle
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Thick treacly legs. An extremely malty, bready nose. Orange zest in a toasted barley bread. Gives a surprising vegetal note and is persistently tingly to the nostrils, like a Scotchy Ancho Reyes. Some floral notes and fresh sugarcane. The palate holds true to the nose. A biscuity chocolate orange - sweet and bready with a touch of salt. Dried baking ginger and a refined ashiness persists throughout. Is that watermelon? Ashy watermelon? A first in my whisky tasting experience. I have enjoyed this one - toasted, bready dessert with smokey richness that provides both heft and balance. While I like the 12 year , it’s possible that the stock selected for this gives a less cigarette-ash experience, so it feels a bit more refined. Would drink again, but only if I could find it below typical retail - say <= $70 or so, the competition starts outclassing it above that price.67.0 USD per Bottle
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Compass Box The Story of the Spaniard
Blended Malt — Scotland
Reviewed September 21, 2022 (edited October 15, 2022)Neat. Glencairn. A light to middling honeyed orange color, not much viscosity in the glass. Yep! That’s sherried. And a blend! The nose is assertively musty, young, and more than a bit sharp. Strong pear leads but so sharp and zesty it doesn’t make sense. Maybe cherry cola. Some malt enters the chat, along with oats and hay. Muted spring wildflowers. Ok… can this be this be the first time I’ve pieced this together? Took my first sip, and the next nosing lacked 80% of that sharpness now that the devil’s water had breached the gates. Is that sharpness just your body’s warning against toxic ethanol, but once it has lost the fight it just gives up sounding the warning alarms (or is so inundated from the inside it is now normalized)? Yep, it’s just gone. OK, sorry everybody – instantly invalidated my nosing notes but I’m leaving that in so I can document my a-ha moment. I guess I’m just not usually this patient before taking my first sip. Rich and waxy on the palate, but still spiky and young. Honey. Golden raisin. Clove. Orange pith. Aspartame. Pinch of cinnamon. Softwood (evergreen) sawdust. A vein of gentian and licorice. Getting some callbacks to a Springbank 10 flavor profile, but that is a superior spirit in a number of ways, IMO. Definitely brings a splash of musty sherry. The finish drops flavor quickly but holds that bracing saccharine zing impressively (unless my palate is just a wimp today) and even rebuilds to flash across the tongue, numbing the tongue and cheeks and drawing saliva with a pinch of char and light cherry. This grows on me as some of the spiky bits level out and the palate acclimates. Not a home run, but a competitor. Still hard to pick this over sherry-forward single malts that can usually be found for similar prices, like Glendronach 12, Glenfarclas 10-12, Springbank 10 (maybe that time has passed us by), Craigellachie 13, etc.52.0 USD per Bottle -
Makers is easy-going and enjoyable for me without ever feeling the need for much analysis. To date, I have not found much enjoyment in MM cask strength - it seems to turn the flaws to 11 without a similar boost to the enjoyable parts. I do, however, give it a solid A for cost - there are very few cask strength options available in that price range. Enter MM101… oozing potential that it could be an improved and elegant version of the flagship offering, but risking stepping over the line toward the imbalance of the cask strength. So, naturally, let’s amp the proof do some analysis! A vegetal simple syrup on the nose. Cooked bell peppers and a hint of anise. Corn. Toasted bread. Not too dynamic, it just keeps coming back with the same notes. Very easy to nose - no ethanol spice. Altogether not bad, but not captivating either. Time and oxygen mellow all this - deeper into the bottle the nose trends closer to caramel corn, but doesn’t lose its vegetal edge. The palate offers a strikingly minty pour - this might be a bottled julep. It keeps that vegetal/grassy note I find in all Makers but is amplified with proof - overwhelming in the cask strength, subtle undertone at 45%. But then maple syrup enters the chat. Caramel. Vanilla. Lactose. Hot honey. Mint creme (think Andes without chocolate). The proof is right on with this one, achieving a very nice balance of spice and sweet, but it does not obscure that vegetal DNA in any way. If it works for you, dive in - this is pretty vibrant for $30. If that gives you pause, steer clear of MM with an elevated proof. I usually find myself in the latter category but this isn’t offensive by any measure and mellows quite nicely with time and air, regressing toward more traditional bourbon flavors.31.0 USD per Bottle
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BenRiach Curiositas 10 Year
Single Malt — Speyside, Scotland
Reviewed May 19, 2022 (edited August 1, 2022)Pale yellow with a nondescript weight. Citrus, peat, and cereal malt define the nose, which carries a modest sharpness. Some chalk. An undercurrent of floral vegetation. Smoke is fairly muted on the nose in my opinion, masked into a more complicated experience. Starts sweet and mild, showcasing a malty palate dominated by vanilla and citrus, but quickly evolves into alkalinity/ash and eventually finish affirmatively on the dry side. The smoke is much more prominent on the palate than the nose. I want to say it shares a kinship with the maritime salty lemon curd styles, but takes a definite turn on its way to the alkaline finale. On the whole, this Jekyll & Hyde experience is complimentary, provides much appreciated complexity, and is pretty rewarding. Not a lot of benefit in reviewing a discontinued product, but I’ve enjoyed this bottle start to finish and think it’s a very fair value below $55.52.0 USD per Bottle -
Probitas White Blended Rum
Silver Rum — Multiple Countries
Reviewed May 6, 2022 (edited July 6, 2023)A scant trace of aging is betrayed by the subtle straw hue in the otherwise nearly clear liquid. Not oily, but shows a weight when swirled. The packaging is acceptable on the whole - while the matte paper labels seem unnecessarily like working draft mockups, the unique neck bulb and lip results in an attractive bottle shape overall. The nose is quite floral, then saccharine, and laced with soft fruits like honeydew and white peach. Pineapple bark. White cake. Marjoram. Almond extract. A bit of petroleum. It carries a zippy punch throughout that doesn’t quite scream “ethanol”, but is enough to force you out of a nosing. A creamy palate that is rich with flavor, yet somehow soft. It mirrors the nose - pineapple bark, melon, jasmine. Quite saccharine, but sharp and tangy with a strong vein of vegetation, like agave in a dry tequila or sotol. Allspice berry. Banana peel. Tarragon. This is pretty good – unadultered, interesting, and a touch exotic but not challenging. I like it in the second half of the bottle with plenty of air rather than freshly opened. Oxygen seems to round off the sharpness of the Hampden distillate for the better. Plenty enjoyable to sip if you like youthful white rums with some elegance, but punchy enough for a daquiri with intrigue. Recommended – only real knock is that a couple similarly quality blended rums (Banks 5 Island, Denizen 3 Year) can be had in the low-$20s, while this is usually $25-$30.27.0 USD per Bottle -
GlenAllachie 12 Year
Single Malt — Speyside, Scotland
Reviewed May 4, 2022 (edited November 7, 2022)A surprisingly dark brown “natural color”. Very oak forward and modestly sweet, which gives a strong impression of bourbon but without the bite of youth. Oak first, then sherry, then spirit. Musty. Yeasty. Vanilla, apricot, sweet corn, graham cracker. Roasted marshmallow. Cranberry, chocolate, and hazelnut. Subtle sour fruits merge with a heavily toasted creme brulee. More yeast, peaches, and loads of chocolate. Definitely a dessert dram that lacks any sort of spice to balance that all out, but the focus on richness, alkaline notes, and buttery texture over candy sweetness and fresh fruits is clearly intentional and is executed well. I don't think it stands out at $60 but if that profile sounds appealing its definitely worth a go in the low $50s or below.47.0 USD per Bottle -
Mostly malty on the nose. A splash of baked goods and mildly herbal edge. Could be some green apple, but if so, it’s hidden under layers of dry pastry. A whiff of earth. The slightest hint of smoke but hard to tell if that’s imagined - either way it tamps any remaining fruitiness from the nose. Far more savory than sweet. Nice weight for a ten year. Malt again carries the day. Unsweetened white chocolate. Oak and some astringent tannins present themselves. Classic speyside fruit is hidden somewhere under the surface but is locked away by other elements in the profile, like the flavor of apple skins without the juicy sweet flesh. Smoke is definitely there on the taste, which makes this unique, but I find it unbalances rather than interests the palate. The dryness, astringency, and phenols create a lasting finish but not one I particularly crave. Not totally objectionable, but I have a sweet tooth and this doesn’t so much of anything for me personally. Closest comparable is Aerstone Land Cask and that was $20 cheaper - can’t recommend, especially at MSRP (which is more than what I paid).43.0 USD per Bottle
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Glenglassaugh Evolution
Single Malt — Highlands, Scotland
Reviewed February 7, 2022 (edited April 9, 2022)Butterscotch blast right up front. Vanilla. Pear. Hints of cotton candy. Something floral - maybe honeysuckle and a waft of jasmine. You could nose this until your lungs gave out with only the barest hint of ethanol which is surprising at 100 proof. Not mind-blowing, but overall is whimsical, sweet and pleasant. The palate is kettle corn drizzled with salted caramel and a hint of cayenne. Vanilla. Crisp red table grape that vaguely offers some fruity essence but ends up mostly just being a juicy fructose sweetness. Apple juice (but not oxidized cider). An edge of that sweet but tangy cereal/peach/apricot youthful barley distillate that is all over many American single malts, but is incorporated into the whole competently. That floral note makes its way over too, maybe some rosewater. Sweet American whiskey notes are front and center, layered over a well-executed, well-proofed, briney distillate. Youth is notable, but doesn’t detract from the experience and in my opinion this doesn’t taste “too young”. Extremely pleasant and easy to sip despite the proof - well, perhaps because of the proof, which saves it from straying toward monotone with a little rough edge. Sugar. Butter. Salt. Fruit. Floral. You could do worse. While this may come up short of many flagship age-stated Scotches, I’ve only gotten a few for $40 that I’d prefer to this. At $50 the competition is fiercer. It seems to share more kinship with American single malt and good luck finding too many that are better. A great value at $40. You do you at $50. Pass at $60.41.0 USD per Bottle
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