Tastes

Pours a beautiful, oily golden yellow color. The legs are slender but drip slowly. The nose has a ton going on: brown sugar, figs and sugarplums. Marzipan and spicy ribbon candy. Just a touch of white plastic. Kindergarten paste. The barley grains are husky. If the nose has a lot, the flavor has even more: sugarplums, tart candied orange, figs raisins, plump dates, red apple skins. Has a tawny port component right in the middle of the palate. Peppercorn spiciness. There is a little bit of earthy potting soil going on. It evolves with every second you spend with it. The finish is decidedly more grounded: tobacco leaf, cigar box. Fennel and black licorice burst out with a big ice cube. I don't know what kind of barrels Dalmore is barreled in, but I would guess sherry barrels. Just a hint of a chocolate orange. Dalmore 12 is one of my favorite Scotches: it's got plenty of soft aromas and flavors, counterpunched with more spicy qualities. It will always have a permanent spot on my shelf.

Color is gold/yellow, lighter than a lot of ryes. The nose contains a bitter, prickly, spicy first wave: fennel, rye bread, pumpernickel, carraway seeds, and all that. The second sniff is softer: pine needles, mint, white pepper, herbs, cinnamon. The pine -- like pine tar -- becomes the dominant aroma. The flavor gives some real heat in the first sip: red pepper/chili flakes, rock salt, white pepper, some hot cinnamon. Again, one the initial face-slap wears off, it softens up, with linen/fabric softener, lavender, mint and just a touch of citrus zest. An interesting baby oil component; candle wax. The finish has a panoply of intense flavors: herbs, black pepper, burnt matches, cigar smoke, potting soil and charcoal. Emerald Giant is a pretty intense rye whiskey that has a ton of flavor, but is never punishing. It drinks great neat or on the rocks, and it stands up to any cocktail you put it in.

1 liter bottle. Pours a pure yellow color. Not very leggy, but lots of specks that look like raindrops on the inside of the glass. The nose is buttercream cake frosting at first. Some brown sugar and marzipan. There is also a soft aroma that reminds me of nothing more than kindergarten paste. The deeper you sniff, however, the harsher it gets: metallic, like the inside of an empty tin can; smoke from a soldering iron. The taste has a lot of stuff going on, surprisingly. Metallic like a battery, with a touch of bitter lemon drop. Vanilla creme and almonds. Candle-wax and banana-flavored hard candy. The end is sharp: cloves and an extinguished match. It finishes with a melange of candied oranges, vanilla tobacco, bitter tannins and coffee grounds. Paddy's is a very good value for the amount of flavor you get. It's no shrinking violet, and although it has the hallmarks of your typical Irish -- metal, vanilla, etc. -- it slaps you around just a touch at the end. It's a terrific nightcap on the rocks.

Barrel no. 11144 | Barreled on 06/21/2011 I know decade-old whiskey isn't rare, but having an actual barrel-date on it put me into a bit of an existential/midlife crisis. But that's my journey. Also, I feel bad about buying a HH product in late 2021, but I am not super savvy about these things. The nose is lots of forest and meadow aromas, notably pine sap and mint, even if the mint more resembles a mint scratch-n-sniff than actual mint leaf. Plenty of rye bread and bitter carraway seeds. Some plastic bucket. An interesting sulfuric quality like broccoli or cabbage water: this was really unexpected but it's undeniable. Even with an ice cube, the burn is palpable. The first taste is sharp and bitter: star anise, black licorice candy, root beer barrels. Plenty more field stuff: bitter rye, dried corn, and something approximating actual mint leaf. The wood is pronounced at the swallow, with sawdust and lacquered oak. It's a very "prickly" rye: save that smooth sh-t for your Donny Hathaway records. The finish is oak, like the kind you'd find lining the moulding of a classy bar. Tobacco leaf. Fennel and bitter, puckery tannins. Dark chocolate, with a spicy cinnamon and chili powder kick. It's no wonder McKenna 10 has such a sterling reputation: it's got a ton of flavor, well beyond its proof. It's terrific straight-up, but can also hang in a bourbon-forward cocktail.

Incredibly leggy; deep amber-honey brown color. All 101 percentage points want out through the rim of the copita. There is a pronounced mint, but like a mint scratch-n-sniff sticker from my youth. Quite a bit of bready, sourdough notes; heavy yeast aroma. Black pepper, black licorice and some sawdust shaved from lacquered wood. Once the heat dissipates a touch, some softer brown sugar comes through, with some prickly herbs tickling the nasal cavity. The taste is mint coolness that is part minty and part bitter black licorice/fennel. Black pepper, barrel spice, tobacco leaf. More sourdough bread. Nutty almond syrup and corn syrup. A little bit of banana or plantain, or at least a piece of banana-shaped candy. The burn must evaporate some of the liquid, because it's incredibly dry to the touch. The finish is tobacco leaf and mint leaf. Charcoal and tobacco box. Some spicy mixed peel. Some bitter chocolate and even a bit of charcoal. You can't escape the burn from Maker's 101. It's a combination of bready and spicy, minty and hot. Once you get past the initial inferno, softer almond, brown sugar and banana poke out. It's a terrific bang (or burn) for your buck.

Surprising amount of leg down the sides of the glass. Looks like it should be quite oily. The nose to me is highly sulfuric: broccoli or cabbage water. Even though it's only 40% ABV, the alcohol isn't hidden; it has a distinct rubbing alcohol aroma. There are secondary notes of coconut, lemongrass and even a citric sting in the nostril. The flavor is coconut and sugary creme brulée. A grassy and earthy component. More of that indeterminate citric stuff that has a real bite to it. There is more burn on the way down than expected, but the burn is encased in a slick and buttery texture. The finish is dark chocolate and chocolate orange. Bitterly astringent and metallic; like putting your tongue on a 9-volt battery. (You know you've done it.) There is a hint of tobacco ash, but it's mostly sharp and bitter long after the swallow. This is a surprisingly bitter sipper. It's certainly not unpleasant, and it's a decent value. Probably a one-off purchase but a decent one.

NOTE: This is my first post-COVID rating, so if it sounds like I have no taste, you might be right. (You might have been right pre-COVID too.) The nose is prickly star anise, fennel and carraway seeds. Wood lacquer. Pumpernickel bread. Black peppercorns, with a curious hit of vegetal green pepper / red capsaicin spice. The longer it lingers, I'm getting notes of candied prunes, if such a thing exists. I'm really enjoying the nose on this. The flavor is a surprising amount of prunes & figs; candied orange. Dry cinnamon spice. Almonds and pecans. There is a curious baby oil and candle wax taste, which matches the oily viscosity of the texture. The cinnamon/rye spice burns on the way down, which belies it's meager 80-proof. The finish is charred wood right off the bat. Brown sugar and mocha coffee grounds. Tobacco leaf and cowhide. Spruce/evergreen leaves. Camphor oil. Spent matches. Black pepper spices and sawdust, despite a rather short finish. I am still feeling my way through rye, but the more than I sample, the more I'm beginning to like them. Templeton cuts through my current taste bud deficiencies and offers a really complex -- but pleasant -- rye that works both neat and in a cocktail.