Tastes
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The nose is butterscotch and briny salt. The peat manifests itself more as tobacco ash: it's smoky but not harsh. Buttery coffee creamer. A sulphuric/broccoli note briefly rears its head, before reverting to its butterscotchy origins. The first sip is milk creamer, a little buttery, but morphs into vanilla creme. There is a spicy cinnamon in the middle of the palate. There is a more earthy peat character with a peppery sting. A distinct plum/prune/stone fruit savoryness poker its head in. The finish is a metallic/astringent first wave. The creamer flavor sticks throughout, with a little zing of citrus spice. The raisin/plum (it must come from the barrels) adds a satisfying finish.23.99 USD per BottleLuke's Super Liquor Stores
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The nose is apple skins, cherry juice, buttery shortbread. Flowery and perfumed. The apple pops throughout. There is a metallic, citric quality on the tail end. Taste smacks of sticky, sweet honey, toffee and molasses. Morphs into maple about halfway through the sip. The buttery shortbread also pushes through, with a drop of vanilla, which adding a little water boosts. The stewed apple also breaks out with a few drops. Finish is mild oak, vanilla tobacco ash. Stone fruits: sugarplum and prune. There is a lingering ashy burn at the end. Syrupy feel and finish. This is a sticky, sweet, and slightly tart Irish whiskey.54.99 USD per BottleLuke's Super Liquor Stores
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Powers Three Swallow Single Pot Still
Single Pot Still — Ireland
Reviewed October 1, 2020 (edited September 30, 2022)A lovely honey color. The aroma is vanilla cake frosting; creamy and sugary. Shortbread cookie, as expected. There is a definite lemon extract adding a puckery nose; lemon-ish adjunct aroma, like a less-tart Lemonhead candy. Taste: Vanilla cake, shortbread, lemon drop, coffee creamer. Once you get past the initial burn, it's a creamy and vanilla-y taste that is so mild and friendly. Stewed apple. Even the finish has a vanilla frosting component. The lemon pucker lingers on the front of the tongue. The burn in the back of the tongue is wood barrel, with a puckery tannin that dovetails nicely with the lemon/citric stuff. The barrel wood comes out of nowhere. Touch of cinnamon at the end, which may be what's adding the unexpected burn. It's very pleasant and sweet, with a surprisingly challenging coda.42.99 USD per BottleSeneca Wine and Liquor -
Bruichladdich The Classic Laddie Scottish Barley
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed September 27, 2020 (edited November 26, 2020)After the initial burn wears off (takes 2-3 distant sniffs), there is an almost cooling, minty aroma; it's perfumey sweet, but has a grainy, malty backbone. Just a touch of lemon creme. It's sweet and mild, and has a touch of shortbread like you'd find in an Irish whiskey. The first taste I get in the first sip is wood barrel, spicy and prickly. That is quickly followed by a grainy barley flavor that I identify with a young barleywine that hasn't aged enough to smooth out yet. More lemon creme, like whipped cream that blended with a lemon meringue pie, giving it a zing. The finish is pine oils and forest; I'm surprised this is how it ends. Some smoke and ash, then a metallic and barrel tannin pucker. The final finish is a bed of charcoal and tobacco in a goop of molasses. But with every swallow the first dominant is heavy, oily pine. And yet the cooling finish bookends the nose. A terrific Scotch.54.99 USD per BottleHarbor View Wine and Liquors -
Mellow Corn Bottled in Bond Whiskey
Corn — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed September 21, 2020 (edited October 27, 2021)I read a lot of notes and watched a lot of YouTube videos saying how underrated and decent Mellow Corn is, especially for a $12-15 price point. Don't you believe it. Unless you are on a very strict whiskey budget, Mellow Corn is more a chore than an enjoyment. It is a Whiskey delivery system for less than $20 and that's it. The nose is corn syrup and cinnamon, which is surprising since the mash bill is apparently only 10% rye. There is a banana creme or plantain component in the tail end of the sniff. The taste is banana, corn syrup, rye, gas fumes and charred oak. The 50% abv is not tucked away in rich flavors, but put front-and-center, lighting up the palate like a shot of Fireball. The finish is somewhat tannic, but more wood and corn syrup. Finished very dry and dusty. The finish is not complex; it is not pleasant. This is not an underground sensation or a sleeper whiskey. It's a below-mediocre American whiskey that even a Bourbon-n00b like myself can identify as a fraud. Don't let the "PBR-is-actually-really-good" (it isn't) crowd steer you down the wrong path thinking that for $15 you'll be getting anything more than a $15 whiskey.14.99 USD per BottlePascale's Liquors -
A little-known Irish whiskey you've probably never heard of. The nose is orange ribbon candy spices and black licorice. Maple and honey sweetness rein in the bitterness. Black pepper. A metallic taste that I assume is what stainless steel tastes like. The taste is buttery cream at first, quickly morphing into vanilla cake frosting. More of that black licorice. And more metallic/pennies. There is a bit of blood, soy sauce and pepper. It has a slick, oily body. The finish is barrel tannins, ribbon candy spices. The black licorice is a constant throughout, so you have to like that kind of thing. I don't really get much of the shortbread that is part of many Irish whiskeys but I'm an idiot so take it with a grain of salt.29.99 USD per BottlePascale's Liquors
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Ron Zacapa 23 Sistema Solera Rum
Aged Rum — Guatemala
Reviewed September 13, 2020 (edited September 21, 2020)Sugar plums, regular plums, spicy candied apple, maple sugars, prunes, raisins, the prickly spice. I love this. -
Old Grand-Dad Bourbon (80 proof)
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed September 4, 2020 (edited November 9, 2020)The aroma is peanut dust, hay, sawdust and oak. Green apple skins, some orange zest and ribbon candy. It's got a dry, almost dusty nose, like spending some time in a barn. Taste of peanut, caramel, and oaky wood. A definite apple-and-cinnamon vibe, like a chunky applesauce. The rye kicks in at the front of the palate, and it adds a prickly spice. The finish is vanilla and apple syrup. Some cherry juice, bitters, spicy orange peel and oak. The oak, especially, lingers at the end, giving a lacquered richness. This is one of the better budget Bourbons I've had. Full of rich flavor and terrific for the price.19.99 USD per BottleLiquor World of Syracuse -
Ardmore Legacy
Single Malt — Highlands, Scotland
Reviewed September 2, 2020 (edited December 30, 2020)The nose is mild but pleasant: some vanilla creme and a medicinal note. There is a perfumey, jasmine like second moment, like an herb or a field of purple flowers, or at least a purple hand soap. Just the slightest barrel spice. First taste is buttercream and vanilla bean. It's very smooth and creamy, both in flavor and in viscosity. The creaminess of it is almost like half-and-half creamer, but better because, you know, the 40% thing. Lemon meringue pokes its head in. There is a touch of prickly cinnamon that comes through if you agitate or chew it a bit. The finish has a bitterness you'd get from vanilla extract. Some cut tobacco and just a bit of leather. Also a definite sawdust spice that takes a minute to show up, like Fat Thor summoning Mjolnir in Endgame. (Not a spoiler.) Just a little bit of metallic astringency and tannins to pucker up the joint a tad. To say it's peated is probably accurate,but also academic: there is a little cigar ash, but nothing I'm seeing indicating that more than a nominal amount of peat has arrived on the premises. That's not a complaint! This creamy Scotch doesn't need peat any more than a well-crafted Altbier needs an overdose of hops. At $50 it may be a tad overpriced but no regrets on this buy.49.99 USD per BottleLiquor City
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