Tastes

Notes of milk chocolate on the nose (Milky Way bar?) and a touch of vanilla pudding. On the palate I'm getting more of that soft vanilla pudding flavour which continues through to the brief finish where the milk chocolate reappears. Mouthfeel is a tad thin. An interesting flavour transformation from the standard Jameson. Though not particularly complex, I'm enjoying what's there. This is light, fun and sweet without any offensive or challenging notes. I can definitely see this appealing to new and non-whiskey drinkers alike. A pretty good and inexpensive way to shatter the preconception of some that whiskey is a "harsh" drink.

Nose: Light, sweet and floral. Palate: The same theme from the nose continues on the palate. This whisky has a nice light honeyed cereal flavour that is very approachable and pleasant on the tongue. Not a whole lot of complexity here but nothing off putting either. Finish: Medium length, faint canned peach sweetness. Honestly considering the price there is nothing wrong with this Speyside whisky if you're looking for some light easy drinking. However for roughly the same price I'd take an Aberfeldy 12 or Glenfiddich 12 over this 12 year old Glen Moray.

The nose is smokey and peaty but there's more of a burnt wood quality here rather than the iodine and tar you might get from an Islay. Even though these qualities dominate on the nose they are not necessarily intense. This is deceptive because smoke and peat are far less pronounced than on the palate. On the palate the intensity of the smoke and peat is surprising! Much more intense than the nose would lead you to believe. Then the honeyed sweetness sets in to beautifully balance out the smokey peat. The mouth feel is fairly creamy, not quite what I would call thick but definitely very enjoyable. A nice peppery spiciness follows through to from the end of the palate to the sweet, peaty finish. For my tastes this Speyside strikes a perfect balance of sweet and moderately intense peat. It is an absolute pity that this is travel retail exclusive, especially considering the current COVID reality we are living through. I'm finishing my last ounce from the bottle now, and I don't know when I'll get another chance to do some international travel, but this bottle will absolutely be at the top of my list to buy the next time I fly.

This is the first cask strength American whisky I've had and only the second American rye that I've tasted, the first being Sazerac Straight Rye which was pretty darned good! I initially tried this straight up but found this to be way too hot at 60% ABV. After adding 1 tsp water for a 1.5 oz serving I am finally able to appreciate this fine rye. My nose isn't working very well tonight, totally congested but there seems to be a pleasant, sweet raisin bun-like smell. On the palate there's lots of caramelized sugar, along with a nice amount of pepper and some vanilla. The finish is sweet menthol and medium length. The flavour profile reminds me a great deal of the Knob Creek Small Batch, but with more pepper up front. Very curious to try the Knob Creek Small Batch Straight Rye just to see how it stacks up. Especially since it is a very respectable 50% ABV a costs less than half the price here (49$).

Thick, rich, fruity sweet, slightly spicy and smoky. The mouthfeel is outstanding, just want to roll it around my tongue over and over again. Probably the most complex and layered whisky I've had besides the Highland Park 18, just not quite as well balanced or elegant but still incredibly satisfying. Punches well above its price range. Recommend adding 3-4 drops of water to a 1.5 ounce serving and let breathe a good 10-15 minutes while nosing, it'll be well worth the wait! If doing flights I'd serve this fairly early in the order despite the high ABV. We did a whisky tasting the other night and this was the last of the 8 bottles that we sampled. It also unfortunately followed a 35 year old J.P Wiser Canadian Whisky. By the time we got around to it our tastebuds were so burned out and overwhelmed by bolder flavoured whiskies that we could hardly taste anything that this amazing blend had to offer. An absolute pity. I'd recommend serving this second or third at most so as to enjoy all of the subtle charms of this Japanese beauty.

Gwen Stefani must have had a bottle of this when writing Hollaback Girl because "This sh*t is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S". It's banana on the nose and palate, but not in an overpowering way, it just stands out as the dominant note because there's not much else going on. Works as an everyday sipper as it's quite easy to drink, especially if you enjoy banana flavour. However it just doesn't bring much to the table in terms of complexity. I've tried it in a few different mixes but found it gets easily overpowered by soft drinks (cola and ginger ale) where it ony seems to add alcohol without contributing to the drink's overall flavour. Will try to mix it with some old fashion apple juice and a vanilla liquor like Galliano.

Meh. Definitely a mixer, not a sipper. Just not sure what I would mix this with yet?

Minty spiciness on the palate, with a hint of anise on the finish. Nice but way overpriced.