Tastes

Pale yellow with thick legs. The aroma is a very pronounced apple skin tartness, that quickly dovetails into vanilla and coffee creamer. Toasted wheat bread. There is a sherry sweetness with a touch of sugary cherry. There is a lingering flowery lavender/perfume at the tail end of the sniff. The taste is tart apple pie with a dusting of nutmeg. Caramel and toffee. Lemondrop tartness and lemongrass. There is a sherry again,but this time it's tannic and metallic, like a jar of pennies. The finish is brown sugar sweetness with a dollop of caramel. Vanilla pipe tobacco. More metallic tannins. Tart cherry and spicy sugarplums. Just a hint of citrus peel. GlenGrant 12 is a lovely, sweet (but not too sweet) concoction that balances soft, sugary elements with sharper tart and metallic counterpoints.

Brown sugar

Good God. The burn. Cherry. Grains. Amazing.

I ordered this at a sports bar so the barkeep kept asking me how my "shot" was, but it was poured correctly so no matter. Pours a beautiful, shiny golden color. The nose is butterscotch, vanilla and coffee creamer. There is a second wave of sherry and plum. And the coup de graçe: blue cotton candy sugars in the back of the nasal cavity. The burn is decent, but not off-putting. Tastes of vanilla and cream, again. More of that cotton candy sweetness. It does have a hint of toasted wheat bread, but I don't know if I'm just getting that from the label. A beautiful combination of caramel and barley sugars; heather in a field. It is beautifully balanced. The finish is slightly ashy, but tempered mightily by lavender perfume. Lots of Sherry-like tannins, with the bite of cinnamon and seeded bread. Quite a bit of leather. I am really glad I took a flier on this Scotch. It's so unbelievably pleasant and soft, with lots of creamy vanilla, cotton candy sugars, but with a spicy balance that keeps it from being saccharine. Will definitely try again.

Dark honey-gold color, like cough syrup. The nose is almost immediately a fennel/black licorice spice, like a slice of rye bread with carraway seeds. A touch of a mint scratch-n-sniff sticker. Less cinnamon than black pepper and hay. Lots of grain and a big hit of yeast. More black licorice and star anise in the taste. Cinnamon, salt and white pepper. On the palate, the spices dance as if it were carbonated. Carraway seeds and pumpernickel bread. Finishes with prickly cinnamon and rye spice. Black pepper and tobacco ash. There is an herbal quality that really helps being the whole thing together. This is a terrific, nicely-priced straight rye whiskey. The fennel and black licorice are just dominant in this rye. It's very bitter and prickly, but it's exactly the kind of rye that can stand up to a Kentucky Mule or mellow out in a rocks glass.

Faded orange color. Shows a little leg, but still every bit the classy lady. Sticks to the inside of the glass. The nose is butterscotch, butter and coffee creamer: very creamy and soft. Touch of vanilla. Honeysuckle, lemongrass and salt. Toffee and barley cereal grains; very malt forward. The first sip is a dollop of liquid coffee creamer, with a squirt of lemon drop. The sweetness of honey and lemongrass. More of that grainy barley. The finish is tannic and a little metallic. Lavender perfume and flowers. Minerals and rocks salt. It isn't a complex Scotch, but it's quite pleasant and very reasonably-priced.

Honey orange color, not overly leggy. The first whiff is wood lacquer, with a sawdust bite in the nostril. Pool chlorine. Fennel, pumpernickel rye, caraway seeds. Some black pepper spices with a saline/salty balance. Toasted molasses. Elmer's glue. The taste is classic Kentucky bourbon at first: finished oak, peanut, corn syrup. This is followed up by a distinct sourdough bread/yeast component that I'm guessing is part and parcel its sour mash process. If you let it swish around a bit, caramel battles it out with some peppery rye-like business. The finish is black pepper and seeded rye bread. Toffee and caramel. More of that sourdough yeast. Dried brown leaves. At the end there is a distinct tannic pucker that adds a dynamic quality to the finish. This is a super affordable, very pleasant and versatile Kentucky bourbon that works best, on the rocks, or in your favorite bourbon cocktail. It's spicy, woody and sweet, with a nice dry, tannic finish.

Pronounced "LEDGE-igg"? Pale yellow/gold color. Not leggy, per se, but with raindrops that stick to the inside of the glass. The nose is lovely, mild tin of vanilla tobacco peat, with just a touch of menthol at the tail end. Some iodine and car fumes; smoke but the kind you gladly close your eyes and inhale. A really nice barley sweetness that balances everything out. A little meaty, but just a little, though with some fennel folded in. The flavor is bonfire peat smoke at the very first sip: spent matches and lots of salt and black pepper spices. Cinnamon gum, like the bite of a Big Red. The peat permeates the whole thing. Barley and toffee to round out the swallow. The finish is prickly salt rock and white pepper. Lots of spice: cinnamon, star anise, fennel. Peat smoke and rich potting soil. The rock salt sticks until the very end. I am truly delighted by Ledaig: it's wonderfully balanced, with lots of peat but not fetishizing it. It's got salt, pepper, smoke and a sweet barley finish. Highly recommended.

Since this sucker is 95% rye, it should give me the Platonic ideal of what "rye whiskey" is, yes? I got a half-bottle for $20, which I wish they would make more of. The nose is potpourri, cinnamon. Earthy and rustic, like brown autumn leaves. The aroma is kind of harsh: barrel spices and finished wood. I get spicy fennel. It brings me back to childhood spearmint scratch-n-sniff stickers. Prickly orange zest. Taste is cinnamon, mint leaf, orange peel, citrus, with a chewy, syrupy feel. A second wave of toffee and spicy ribbon candy. Black licorice and star anise. The wood is musty like an old barn. The finish is orange rind, mixed peel, bitter grapefruit, bitters and white pepper. It is tannic and metallic. The oaky wood tastes lacquered, like nail polish remover, but in a good way? This one stands on its own, with lots of spices and an herbal character. But it's also tailor made for an Old Fashioned or a Kentucky Mule. A very solid buy.