Tastes

Neat. Neck pour. Release 009, NASA Liquors. 15 year Heaven Hill at 113.8 proof. Yeah, that is a delicious nose. Dark, dark oak. I would call it sweet oak as a single note, but it is surrounded by a tremendous amount of sweetness. Powdered sugar covered caramel cheesecake. Some cherries on top in a cherry sauce too. Lots of cinnamon. Yeah great nose. Mouth feel is odd. Little rough and grainy. Wood bitter up front. Geez, this teeters really close to over oaked. It opens up nicely on the palate. The bitterness lingers as a dark, low note but there is some good flavors to tease out. Yeah, sticking to the caramel cheesecake with a hint of cherry. Gets bitter on the finish again. I’m going to let this sit for 20 minutes before final judgement... So air time marginally improved it. More sweetness is coming through and the bitterness is turned down, but still prevalent throughout. Ugh, the sticker is the best part of this bottle. Hopefully air time on the shelf makes it more enjoyable.

Neat. Neck pour. Been a few years since I jumped into a Yellowstone LE release. Last one I bought was the 2017 - which I am fond of but need to revisit. This one drew me in because of the Armagnac finish. Little skeptical up front that $120 is a good price on this though... All peanut brittle up front. Leans very peanut heavy. Honestly I think this is just finished Old Ezra 7. Mmm, okay I am finding the Armagnac influence behind the peanut brittle and it is very nice. Vanilla, raisins, walnuts, fig newtons. This is a legit nose, it makes me happy. Very nice, silky smooth mouth feel! Surprised due to the 101 proof, but it comes across full and viscous. Again, this is Old Ezra 7. I’ll do a head to head comparison before I end this. Light and bright upfront on the tongue, powdered sugar sweetness. Darkens up mid palate with the peanut brittle and then the Armagnac glides along the finish. This is delightful. I really like how the Armagnac hangs on the back of the throat. The fig Newton and vanilla really linger. While delightful, it doesn’t have a knockout feature. The nose is interesting, the mouth feel exceeds the expectation of the proof, the peanut brittle/fig Newton combo is solid. Feels much better at the $80-$100 range than the $120 I spent on it. Side by side, yes this is finished Old Ezra 7. It also is very similar to Blood Oath 6. Geez I would be surprised if these were not cousins. Head to head, the Yellowstone is the best pour of the three. Prior to this comparison, I had no issues with Blood Oath’s $100 tag so this being better makes me feel better about the extra $20 spent.

Neat. Neck pour. Party source pick. Around 8 years old. This is my first 1792 Full Proof pick. I have had one without the sticker. Off memory, I remember liking it but not understand the hype and awards. Also heard the ones without the sticker can be better balanced. Should be interesting... Oh funky. Smells like a caramel brownie first impression. Yeah, I’m sticking to that call. Caramel brownie. Very very sweet on the nose. Really good apple note behind that. Hint of pepper. Maybe a cherry too. Solid nose. Not interesting or delicious, just passes the bar. Very very nice, silky mouthfeel. That is a stand out quality. Super sweet and dark on the tongue. Dark chocolate, let’s say 60% cocoa. On the taste it transitions to a delightful nutty and apple combo and then slams into that caramel chocolate brownie. And those brownies have an impressive hang time. Oh that is good. Geez, the grannie apple really comes out on the finish the more I sip this. Only down side is that it is very tannic and drying and the bitterness builds in the back of the throat. Nothing a few sips of water can’t reset. Yeah, this is a great pour. Best thing I have had with the 1792 label. The apple note on this is insane. It’s really taking over the more I sit with this. I am just going to sit back and enjoy this one for awhile.

Neat. Neck pour. Party Source store pick. First Woodinville experience. Been waiting for a cask strength store pick from a store I trust before diving in. Dense thick nose on this one. Leather, tobacco, and chocolate come to mind first. Lots of clove. Stewed pears in a caramel reduction. A deep bread note, almost a pumpernickel. Getting a slight hint of youngness that could also be coming from the high proof. This nose has good depth, impressed so far. Mouth feel is average. Super dark on the tongue. Leather and a hint of brown sugar. On the taste it blasts me with a nice vanilla but darkens up again quickly. The vanilla transitions to a darker bread then into caramel and then into chocolate. Tobacco comes back on the finish and lingers on the legs. Wow, Woodinville. You are now on my radar. This avoids so many craft stereotypes and really carves out its own taste profile. I wish I knew the age on this. I’ll have to ask. It’s interesting, it’s sweet but then mainly sticks in a dark flavor range, the legs hang out and are very pleasant company. These tobacco notes are really good too. If you are on the fence with this brand, I’d say take the leap!

Neat. Neck pour. 9 year Carter Avenue pick from Good Spirits. Warehouse B, Floor 4. First time visiting a Good Spirit today, I understand why I see so much love for the store. I had to get a pick. Opted for Russell’s as I feel like I have only had picks from A and F. Great nose! Sweet oak, milk chocolate, walnuts, cinnamon, vanilla and a hint of pepper. The oak has me going in for more. It’s just really balanced with the other notes. Very creamy mouth feel. Cinnamon and brown sugar on the tongue. Transitions to a hint of vanilla but really nose dives dark straight into fantastic chocolate with nutty undertones. Rye really pops up on the finish for a nice, surprising spicy blast. Black pepper really hangs on the legs. The nuttiness on this is turned way up the more I sip on it. Super oily. Getting this nice slow Kentucky hug bringing with it all these flavors. Wow, great pick. Take away Masters Keep and this bottle is up there among the best I have had from Wild Turkey.

Neat. Neck pour. Just received this as a very kind thank you gift. My experience with Highland is still limited and this will be my first McCallan. Subtle nose but there is a lot to dig at. Honeycomb is the most prominent note with a fresh vanilla scone. Bit of apricot. It has a darker underbelly. Reminds me of blackberry preserves. Hmm, texture is interesting. It has a very fine grit on the tongue. It’s very simple but the flavors hang for a decent time. Light honey sweetness upfront. Transitions to an interesting ginger. Then it’s more of an orange on the finish. I like the nose a bit more than the taste. There is a sourness that builds mid palate that is a bit of a turn off. There was no note that I felt was strong or something I wanted to revisit.

Neat. Neck pour. Just opened the Malted Rye. It’s good but not great. Intriguing though. It was like no other New Riff product. This is its brother but instead of Malted Rye, we have Malted Wheat. This is the first New Riff with Wheat that I am aware of. Coming of the Malted Rye these are definitely cousins. The blood orange is turned down in comparison and this is much softer. The malt feels like it has more room to breathe here. Similar notes otherwise. Toffee, butterscotch, short bread cookie. This is more traditionally New Riff the longer I sit with it. Oh the honey. It’s darkening up too. Graham cracker with that honey and a caramel is emerging. I like this one more in the nose. Silky smooth again, great mouth feel. Brown sugar, powder sugar and cinnamon up front. Strong toffee and honey. Oh the honey. Shortbread cookie and caramel drizzle on the finish. This is yummy and more characteristically New Riff. Oh the honey again on the finish. Man, that honey note. I get honey on many of the New Riff single barrels I have and it is strong and delicious here. I can detect a slight hint of youngness. The malted wheat doesn’t mask it as well as the Malted Rye I guess but still, further excitement of how great New Riff will be as the years add on.

Neat. Neck Pour. Experimental New Riff has been hit or miss. Balboa Rye is one of my favorite ryes out there. The Backsetter series... are a novelty to be nice. This Maltster has me excited for two reasons. A) it’s fun to explore something new. B) it’s a 5 year New Riff! So excited to try older New Riff soon. Trying to understand the Malted Rye part of it. Smells fresh. Not to confuse that with young. Like that nice clean smell when you finish straightening up the house and complete the vacuum cleaning. There is some citrus, that is what may be painting that picture for me. Lemon and orange cocktail. Toffee and a slight hint of butterscotch. Gosh even some shortbread cookie. So the nose is clean and inviting and I would not think this is a New Riff product off the nose. Nice soft and silky mouth feel. Quite flavorful immediately. Blood oranges and vanilla. The vanilla transitions to a darker butterscotch mid palate but back to the vanilla on the finish. The blood orange flavor is prevalent throughout and really really hangs in the finish. Getting a lot of delicious honey now. Getting toffee on the back of the finish too. Oh my. The malt is building with every sip. It is really opening up 20 minutes in. The sweetness is really coming out. Not in love but intrigued. It’s different and nothing that makes it different is a turn off. It’s also exciting. No young notes. It makes me more excited for the prospect of a 6 year single barrel some day. I think this is worth a revisit with some air time. This score may go up.

Neat. Neck pour. Toasted MGP rye that is barrel proof practically. Yes please. The batch 1 of the Toasted Down Home Bourbon was just okay but did seem to improve with subsequent batches. I am hoping they took those learnings and applied them to the rye here. Plus Toasted Bourbon was held down for starting with such a young bourbon. Shouldn’t have the same issue with this rye. So the nose is interesting. I’m getting this toasted almond immediately and as I dig behind it, it lacks the MGP signature I would expect. Getting mostly light fruits behind the almonds. Like a medley of apples. Little cinnamon. The rye comes off as a rye bread. Little pepper. The finish is more subtle than Michters. It’s interesting but no stand out quality on the nose. Oh wow. The texture is like a thick syrup and the flavors are instant. Toasted coconut, maple syrup, vanilla frosting, cinnamon roll. The finish bring more frosting, hit a rye, and circles back to the toasted coconut. It’s so deliciously sweet. Well done Down Home. I was gambling on you but it paid off. This may be my favorite MGP rye in the collection. Such a treat.

Neat. Neck pour. DEPs store pick. I like the Peerless Small Batch but wasn’t blown away. I recall peanuts and preserves which made me think of a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich. It was great for a 4 year product but lagged behind New Riff and Wilderness Trail in my opinion. I wasn’t planning to buy a single barrel but the color of this bourbon dragged me in. This store pick is DARK. Side by side with the Small Batch it’s impossible to fathom that these are both 4 years. It looks 10-12 years old. Let’s see if I will regret the impulse buy... Hmmm. Uh oh. Initial impression of the nose wasn’t strong. Wet wood after a rain storm. I’m digging. Okay I found some sweetness finally but that was concerning. Floral with a hint of peanut. Starting to get some fruit. Nice strawberry. Mostly floral though. Hmmm. Nice creamy mouth feel and the flavor on the tongue is straight strawberry jam. That is pretty cool. Never had that before. Okay, the taste is better than the nose let on. The oak is intense on this. This is jumping all over, need to take a step back. Okay, the strawberry jam transitions into a peanut butter cup. Creamy peanut butter surrounded by chocolate. Then oak on the finish. Oh, there is a rye kick on this finish too. Comes with some vanilla and mint. This is a flavor bomb. Did not see that coming. I poured a glass of the Small Batch to compare. No comparison. Small batch is flat and simple compared to this single barrel. So much flavor. I didn’t see that coming. The nose doesn’t hint at any of the waves of flavor of the taste. It’s intense and delicious. And the oak on the finish. It truly makes no sense for being 4 years. Oh and at 4 year ZERO young note. This is going to be fun to throw into blind flights. It’s going to throw people off in the best way. Solid impulse buy!