Tastes

Neat. Blast of heavy vanilla, toffee, maple glaze, and a hint of eucalyptus and chocolate. I know this is Mash 1 but I am picking up a good amount of Rye. This is the first time I have had GTS. It’s a brighter nose than I was expecting. The oak is just a background note filling in the gaps around the other flavors. Incredibly thick and oily on the tongue. All deep and dark on the tongue despite what I said about the nose. Brown sugar, cinnamon and oak, intensely. On the taste, flavors are intense and come in waves, legs keep coming in waves too. It’s so oily that it just coats and coats and runs down your mouth and throat. Let me try to break this down.... It’s a reverse of all the flavors I mentioned before. The taste starts dark, heavy oak, cinnamon, and a dark vanilla. It’s mutes for a moment and then my mouth lights on fire with intense vanilla and maple glaze. Get that hint of eucalyptus again at the end. Then it doesn’t stop. The legs flow and flavors keep coming. It mutes for a moment, more vanilla. Mutes, then more cinnamon. Mutes, more vanilla. That will just keep happening for minutes later. Longest legs of anything I have ever had. This is such a delicious experience. Lives up to the ridiculous hype. Legs still going by the way....

Neat. Not a Bevmo pick, but I believe this sample is 6 years MGP. I get a lot of spearmint up front with a layer of oak behind it. Vanilla and cherry. It’s hot on the nose. Baking spices present themselves as it opens up. Nice, thick texture. Tons of brown sugar up front on the tongue. Spearmint and oak dominate the taste just like the nose. Vanilla and cherry behind that. It’s a very enjoyable dram but outside my top 10 MGP. It’s probably the age. That spearmint note is not one I associate with MGP but most I have is in the 10-12 year range. Enjoyed it but I would not but a bottle of it for more than $50. Pretty sure this can go for twice that.

Neat. Different nose off the bat. Chocolate. Strong leather. Baking spices. Cola. Floral. It’s an odd combo. Been sniffing it for 15 minutes now before the first sip. It is opening up and the rough edges are smoothing out. Getting a sugar cookie note as it airs out. Reminds me of St. Cloud if I were to make a comparison. Medium to thin texture for a Cask Strength. Very dark on the tongue. Brown sugar and cinnamon. Bubble gum note on the palate that lingers to the finish. Hint of chocolate and that sugar cookie note. Not my jam on this one. It did open up with time but the overall experience just didn’t hit me right tonight. Could be my palate tonight as the Weller SR earlier didn’t taste quite right either. I’ll come back to this one for a fair shake in the future.

Neat. Tons of sweet corn and caramel up front on the nose. Very similar to Blanton’s on memory with the same honey comb note. Slight hint of oak and chocolate. Nice creamy mouthfeel. Nice honey on the tip of the tongue. Tons of vanilla sweetness. Little spice or anything resembling a dark note. Limited legs. Just smooth and delicious, with almost zero complexity or interesting characteristics. Better than any Blanton’s I have had to date, but nothing too special.

Neat. Neck pour. Cherry and vanilla bomb to the face. Hint of cola. Powdered sugar. Nice oak buried deep disguised as chocolate. Hint of mint, maybe even dill. Splash of nuttiness. Interesting nose, comes in hot if not careful. Super thick, oily mouth feel. Dark chocolate and molasses. Intense on the tongue. Barrage of vanilla and oak on the finish. Still getting that dill even. Cherry and cola makes its way round on subsequent sip. Intrigued by this one. Not in love with it like the C918 (yet?) but it’s an intense, flavorful experience.

Neat. Quite the nose. It’s lighter and brighter than I expected. Honey and apples are the first things I get. Little citrus even. Rye spice and slight hint of oak. Lots of vanilla. Hint of marshmallow. No dill, no black licorice. As I hang out with it, the notes do balance out and get darker. Nice creamy mouth feel and palate is overwhelmed with flavor. Powdered sugar, apple, cinnamon blasts on the tongue. The swallow brings marshmallow, vanilla and rye spice. The vanilla and rye spice remain on the legs with a little resurgence of the apple and citrus. These flavors linger in such a satisfying way. This whiskey is gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous. Every sip thus far has given me pause and overwhelmed me with great flavor. Bravo on this one.

Neat. Prav Saraff pick Hot Box. Tons of oak and baking spices upfront like a slightly burnt pie crust. Waves of vanilla and cinnamon. Hint of apples. Very nice, cozy nose on this. Nice and thick on the tongue, that apple, sugar hit your tongue first. The sour of the apple transitions to ethanol and burn on the tongue. Finish is the apple, vanilla and cinnamon. The sourness of the apple lingers on the tongue. Definitely some unique qualities to this barrel with that apple note. I don’t get apple from the Smoke Wagon Desert Jewel at all. There is a harshness I wouldn’t expect from a 12 year. It hits the tongue and then you get it again on the finish. If a few months on the shelf sands off the rough edges, I could bump this up a .5 or so. I’d put a lot of MGP ahead of this particular barrel.

Neat. Back and forth of dark and light notes. Dark notes are baking spices and hint of oak, almost a slightly burnt sour dough. Cracked pepper. Cinnamon. Uniting it all is this deep vanilla and a hint of berries. Creamy on the tongue. Equal parts sugar and spice on the tongue. Waves of vanilla on the finish. Hint of cherry and mint. Nice legs. Solid MGP, but not great MGP. There is a sharp note of ethanol on the finish that overwhelms and takes it down a peg.

Near. Restaurant pour. Vanilla, caramels, hint of peppers, berries and cream on the nose. Dark undertones as well. Cinnamon and baking spice. Brown sugar on the palate. Followed by lots of vanilla and hit of that pepper. Love MGP.

Neat. Opened for quite a few weeks now. Wasn’t planing to leave a review but the nose really grabbed me on this. Tons of honey and graham cracker up front. Then get vanilla and pepper. Salted caramel. Hint of oak balancing it out. Hint of mint on the nose as well. Nice thickness on the texture. Sugar and maple up front. Hits you quick with the honey, vanilla and hint of pepper again. Slight hint of rye. Delicious, dessert MGP. Really good pick by Party Source.