Tastes

Neat. Neck pour. I fell in love with Bunnahabhain 12 immediately. What an amazing Scotch. This is the only other Bunnahabhain my main store has so I thought it was worth a shot. An 82 in Distiller is surprising though... The light peat takes center stage but stage right there is some nice brine and stage left there is some nice sweetness. The saltiness is like an ocean breeze, just subtle in the air but also dense. The sweetness is a caramel. There is even a little pretzel in the middle. You know, this is triggering a food memory and I think it’s the same memory Bunnahabhain 12 triggered. Restaurant down the street has this amazing salted soft pretzel with home made caramel sauce appetizer. It’s just that they smoked the pretzel. I don’t know if you can actually smoke a pretzel, sounds like you could in theory... it would smell like this. Nice and oily. The sweetness is more vanilla upfront, even a hint of pineapple. This is much much sweeter than I was expecting. Mostly vanilla and peat all the way through. The caramel is there mid-palate. The saltiness is coming through more and more too. The finish is more tropical the more I sip on this too. You know. This is a weird one. I like all of the components of this as I break it down but then together, combined it is just okay. It’s neither delicious nor refreshing. It’s interesting and fun to break down, but I don’t see myself reaching for it often.

Neat. Neck pour. First Balvenie experience bought on the recommendation of Whisky Central. Presents itself as a standard single malt on the nose. I am getting these nice hits of the sherry. A really nice sweet honeycomb. Lots of vanilla. Hint of oak. Creamier mouth feel than I was expecting. Honey sweetness coming through again up front.nice melody of fruits and vanillas. There is a nice build up of oak on the finish as I sip more of it, which really evens out the experience. Just a pleasantly sweet, easy sipping single malt. Really like the honey. I could just relax with this on a nice fall evening, watching the leaves fall off the trees. (That is exactly how I am enjoying this right now.)

Neat. Sample. I have no idea what this is and it took me forever just to find a picture of the bottle. I have seen Cat’s Eye Light Whiskey but never heard of a Polish Rye. Wow, interesting. Smells like a Venison meat stick. Salt and pepper. I have gotten smoked meats on a Scotch before but not a rye. It’s really interesting. There is a sweetness too, like a pineapple reduction. By far the strangest most intriguing Rye I have ever smelled. So confused and I just keep sniffing at it anyway. Very very oily. Oh what the heck. This is funky. Not funky gross maybe. Funky intriguing. Dark on the tongue. Getting a dark, bitter chocolate and sherry. Transition into a more aggressive sherry but to a milk chocolate on the finish. Lots of vanilla on the legs. Hot chocolate again lingers like I just drank a Hot Chocolate at a cold high school football game. On subsequent sips I can taste that venison meat stick aspect more and more. Oh the sherry on this is building now too! Chocolate meat sherry whiskey? What the heck? Why do I like this? This is the most nonsensical adventure I have gone on. I would buy a bottle just to send others sample of it to see if they like it or if I am just crazy.

Neat. Sample. This is my first taste of the Fusion series from Bardstown. It’s an interesting blend of 13 year old and 3 year old bourbons. It’s an interesting approach to utilize your own juice in blends like this but I wonder if the 3 year can be repaired by the 13 year. Hmm, the nose is simultaneously young and old. There is a fresh pine note but also this dark chocolate, oak element. It’s simultaneously dark and bright like two different songs playing at the same time. There is a very nice salted caramel note. Some nice cinnamon too. Little nutmeg. Some vanilla. Not getting any fruit. Texture is a bit thin but it’s oily enough to coat. This is primarily a caramel experience. A bright sweet light caramel captures the tongue and transitions to a darker caramel paired with the cinnamon. It lightens up again into a vanilla but the cinnamon remains through the finish. The pine note is growing as I sip on it more, so the young whiskeys shine through most of the experience. There is a hint of chocolate and oak on the very backend of the finish now though. Glad I got to try it but this is a one and done for me on Discovery Series 3. Can’t see paying 60ish for this compared to so much better competition in the $40-60 range. It does avoid the craft distillery bubble gum note, so that is promising for the future of their own juice I suppose.

Neat. Neck pour. Gallenstein Selection 12, 128.1 proof Warehouse K, floor 3. This is leaping out of the glass immediately. Excited to try one of these. Love Old Forester products from 1920, 1910, Rye, Signature, Birthday. Love what they are doing and love that they made their picks Barrel Proof and not 90 proof. Banana foster on this is intense. Almost Jack Daniel barrel proof intense. I’ve gotten banana on Old Forester before but this is over the top. There is some fun stuff around it though. Powdered sugar and elephant ears fried dough. Really nice cherry. The caramel is super rich too. It’s a nice nose, plenty to pick apart but I wouldn’t call it a great nose. Syrupy as can be and initially so dark and bitter. Wasn’t ready for that. But when the sweetness comes, it comes hard. Alright, I’ll try to break this ride down. On the tongue, dark and bitter. Oak and bitter chocolate maybe. Transitions to the banana foster and once the sweetness hits it heightens all the way to the finish and keeps rising until the legs subside. Leaves with a banana aftertaste. I am getting a slight hint of the powder sugar, elephant ear on the mid palate but it’s a minor aside. The banana foster is the whole show. As I sip more, it does grow more bitter and drying too. Whomp whomp. So it’s yummy, but also lacking. I don’t like how it begins bitter and grows more bitter on the finish the more I sip it. Banana foster is one hell of a good dessert though. I’ll have to head to head this against 1920 at some point. Top of mind it’s below 1920 and 1910 if I rank the Old Forester main stays. I like it better than any OF single barrel I had before though, so the move to barrel strength is still very appreciative. Glad I got this retail as it’s definitely not worth secondary. Be patient if you are hunting this and don’t overspend.

Neat. Sample. Being spoiled with finished MGP lately. Nose is fantastic on this. The MGP is dominate, the port is in the background. Butterscotch, graham cracker crust, vanilla frosting. Then it gets really jammy. BlackBerry preserves. It is really yummy. Vicious and oily. Absolute instant flavor bomb. Geez. BlackBerry preserves uppercut. Oh damn. That is the opposite of the nose. The port finish dominates to an impressive, oppressive degree. Wow. The MGP comes back on the finish and legs, leaves you with the nice butterscotch. Complete inverse of the nose. Another brilliant example of finished MGP. It seems like 12 year MGP is particularly a sweet spot for these great finishes. Delicious!

Neat. Sample. I haven’t been in love with the Barrell Bourbon batches I have had thus far. Usually the Dickel just holds back the blend for me. Missed out of Batch 21 people raves about. I believe I had batch 23 or 24 recently, which was just okay. This has some younger whiskey in the blend and apparently a wheater. Interesting. Dickel forward. Always a bummer for me. I am not just hating on Dickel. Dickel 11 BiB is great. But that mineral, flinstone vitamin off is just a turn off on most occasions. Trying to get around the Dickel, there is some nice caramel and leather. Hint of cherry. Vanilla cream. Peanut brittle. It’s okay. Creamy mouth feel, oh that is a lot of flavor just on the tongue. Cherry cola. Oh okay, this has more going on than the nose let on. Geez. If you have ever gone to Frisches Big Boy, they will let you add flavors to a Coke. This is like adding the vanilla, chocolate, and cherry to the Coke all at the same time. The chocolate really takes over by the finish and even leaves this Tootsie Roll like aftertaste. While the Dickel dominated the nose, it’s blended well in the taste and I think that nice chocolate note is coming from the Dickel too. Okay, this is the best Barrell I have had yet. I think this is my fourth batch. It’s not good enough that I will be buying a bottle of this, one and done is fine for me. Fun adventure, but not worth $80 to go on this ride again. It does lessen my disappointment in Barrell Bourbon as a brand, so that is a win.

Neat. Sample. 101 proof finished in Armagnac casks. The year of Armagnac continues! Bardstown, Cigar Blend. It may be my favorite finishing now. First time with this High West. I really just love the smell of Armagnac. First impression is that it is dominating this Whiskey. It’s all I am getting initially. Butterscotch and toffee as I dig deeper. Really nice dark maple. Some strawberry as well. Solid. Subtle but crisp and inviting. Syrupy mouth feel. Thick and oily. Maple sweetness entered first but those strawberries come out immediately as well. Butterscotch and Armagnac come punching. Butterscotch really hangs on the finish and legs. Toffee coming out as well. There is a sudden and unexpected blast of vanilla mid palate. It’s interesting because it’s a pretty medium to dark whiskey but then you get this sudden vanilla spike mid palate and then it comes crashing back down for the finish. The Armagnac is really building on the legs too, lasts far longer than you may imply from the proof. This is not on the same level on Bardstown or Cigar Blend but for its price point this is a great finished Whiskey. Perfect if I was craving Armagnac but didn’t feel it was a special pour kind of night. I would buy this if given the chance.

Neat. Sample. Batch 28. This has been on my unicorn list. A friend sent me this sample and also then found me a bottle. So I better love this for all he did to get it to me! The nose is more subtle than I was expecting but there is a lot going on. Not a lot of obvious MGP notes either. The finishing is front and center. Rich brown sugar and cinnamon. Medley of raspberries and blueberries. Vanilla frosting. Definitely some tobacco. Nice oak and leather. Hint if almond. Oh there is some Fig Newtons in here too. That is interesting. Geez this nose is incredible. Amazing how many layers there are when at the same time it isn’t in your face or aggressive. Just lean back and take your time with it. Rich and creamy. Wow, oily too. Runs in every crevice instantly. Dark raspberries and brown sugar on the tongue. And the raspberries are really juicy. Oh those Fig Newtons make another appearance. Transitions to the almonds and the vanilla. Back to the berries in the legs. And then leaves with leather, tobacco and oak. It gets better and more intense on each sip. The flavors go for miles. My mouth is watering and even my saliva has these intense flavors to bring it all back again. These flavors are still hanging in my mouth and especially the roof of my mouth. I think my toes curled at one point of the experience. As I work my way to the bottom of the sample, this sweet oak is growing and is even more delicious. Gosh. This may be one of my favorite bottles ever. I’m overwhelmed.