Tastes

Neat. Delicious, dark leaning nose on this. Cinnamon and apple off the start. Baking spices and oak. Stewed fruit. Great nose. Nice, thick texture. Cinnamon sugar on the tongue. Hits with spice, vanilla, and that stewed fruit on the taste. Nice vanilla and berries on the legs. Quite enjoyable, but not top tier.

Neat. Crazy good nose on this. Tons of oak and chocolate upfront. Blast of vanilla. Caramel. Baking spices. I can smell the Weller SR base in this. Just tons of layers on top of it. I’ve spent 10 minutes just nosing this. That extra oak is just delightful. Texture is delicate. Not quite thin. Like water with a bit of oil in it. All sugary and sweet initially. Almost cooling like a hint of mix. Then flavors hit like a punch on the taste. So much going on. Punch of vanilla and berries. Caramel then oak. Some spice on the legs. Decently long legs. The nose was my favorite part of this. Tons of flavors on the taste. Legs are really delicious. I may prefer OWA off memory but it hits a completely different part of the flavor wheel for me. The proof must be the source of OWA’s spiciness. Those notes are muted here and some dessert notes are turned way up instead.

Neat. Party Source 15-2701. This is the best New Riff Single Barrel I have had yet. Honey, apple, vanilla, cherry and a hint of spice on the nose. Nice vanilla sweetness upfront on the taste, gives way to the apple and cherry. Leaves you with cinnamon and a bit of a Kentucky hug at 112.5 proof. I can’t wait to try older New Riff in a few years. What they are doing at 4 years is so crazy good.

Neat. Party Source pick. Lots going on with the nose. Vanilla frosting. That’s the main thing I get. Thin mouth feel. Lots of different flavors going on here. Sweetness up front. Rest of the notes are in this mid range. Nuttiness. Chocolate. I’ll come back to this and see if it opens up a bit.

Neat. This has been my go-to at a restaurant. Always good, easy for a first or only drink. Lives up to my expectations tonight. Hard to get a nose in a restaurant but I get lots of vanilla. Light, bright notes. Hint of floral even. Creamier mouth feel than expected considering the 86 proof. Hint of brown sugar on the tongue. All vanilla and spice on the taste. Surprisingly long legs. Even a leaves behind a little burn. All surprising for the proof. This is a great, cheap go-to.

Neat. Gallenstein pick. 5 years. 137.3 proof. (!!!) Nose was initial an uppercut of spice. Lots going on with this one. Heavy baking spice backed by tons of caramel, berries and cream, cinnamon. Delicious. One of those noses where you can sit and pick stuff out for awhile. Really thick mouth feel. Tons going on with the palate but a wave of heat took over first sip and distracted me. After acclimating to the proof, brown sugar up front followed by maple, butterscotch, and just a hint of the spice. Butterscotch getting stronger over time. This is one of those awesome dessert MGP’s. The 5 years almost scared me off. Quite glad it did not. Might be my favorite MGP. Need to put it up against Boone County.

Neat. Gallenstein Batch 4. 0/5/0/2/3. Delicious nose. Simultaneously bright and dark notes right off the bat. Vanilla and lots of different spices. Cinnamon. Baking spices. Pepper. Hint of Apple as I dive deeper. Very nice. Thick on the tongue. Hits you with sweetness to spice, back to sweet for the finish. Sweetness is primarily vanilla. Hints of chocolate on future sips. A very good Private Selection. Nice stave combo.

Neat. Scene 2. Nose hits you with heavy rye spice right off the bat. Vanilla and berries hide behind that but the spice dominates. Very inviting nose. One you can hang out with for awhile. Perfect smooth mouth feel. Might be the most flavor up front on a rye I have had. Berries and cream take over the tongue and intensify. That rye spice that dominates the nose does not dominate the taste. This competes with Willet 4 Year for my favorite rye. Wowzers.

Neat. Really bright, floral nose. Vanilla and spice behind that. Proof can sneak up on you if you are not careful! Full bodied texture, sits thick and heavy on the tongue. Brown sugar and chocolate up front. Gives way to a ton of spice. It’s very savory on the taste relative to the bright nose. There is an earthiness on the legs. Kentucky hugs all over! Vanilla comes through after a few sips. It is very solid. It isn’t a rye I will crave, but a solid rye to spend a night with.

Neat. Nose presents a bubble gum flavor right off the bat. Hard to escape it. Never encountered this flavor before. Some vanilla hides behind that. Not getting much else on the nose. Texture is light bodied. Taste is approachable and simplistic, sweet forward. Bright notes, vanilla upfront. Bubble gum flavors remains on the legs. Hint of all spice on further tastes. For a “high rye” the spice is downplayed considerably. This sits in an odd space for me. I could drink this all day and be happy about it... but not excited about it. Its approachable, no off putting aspects, but no exceeding qualities. Interesting enough to keep an eye on this Distiller.