Tastes

Smell is nutty (cashews, pecans, peanuts), caramel corn, slight maple syrup, corn, faint wood sap. Fair amount of spearmint as well. Taste is surprisingly soft considering the ABV, mildly flavoured, but with a slight sour-bitter wood, maple syrup, caramel, corn character. Aftertaste is quite corn-heavy. Like George Dickel, EW BiB is one of those whiskeys that insists on reminding me that many American whiskeys are really just alcoholic corn water. And yet, ultimately, it's not bad--much softer than the ABV and age would suggest, much better-rounded than the price would. I don't really want to drink this neat, but on ice it can hold its own, and in classic cocktails (the old fashioned, for example) it really shines as a bottom-shelf option.

If you like the Jameson's flavour profile, you'll enjoy this whiskey. Price-wise, it's positioned between the entry level and the Black Barrel ("Select Reserve"?), and that's probably where it deserves to be: rounder, softer, and more interesting than the standard Jame-o, but not quite as intense, rich, and pot-still heavy as the Black Barrel. Nevertheless, a surprisingly worthwhile whiskey: lots of apple, tropical fruit (papaya, mango), that pot still funk, big floral, and honey. A nice creaminess, with some faint malt, chocolate, and coffee character. A touch of vanilla. Like every Jameson bottling, it's crying out for more proof, but it's still a pretty pleasant, enjoyable experience.

Three stars, but a glowing three stars--a better whisky than three stars would indicate. Very fruity (lots of apple), rye spice, clove, baking spice, warm rye bread. Light in flavour (lighter than 45% ABV would suggest). Lots of caramels and vanillas. Recognizably Crown Royal in profile (a bit of a dusty, almost sawdust-y character, and a bourbon-lite sort of character), but something nice and something different. Closest parallel flavour-wise might be a mix of Sazerac and a high-rye Canadian whisky. For the price, it's real nice.

Not a bad little Irish blend; it reminds me of a much lighter Jameson Black Barrel (which makes sense, since Tullamore currently sources from Jame-o). Bit of apples, tropical fruit, just enough yeasty pot still funk to be interesting. Sweet, hay/grass. Vanilla, slight nuttiness. But all very mild. It's a quiet, relaxing whiskey--very sippable, very "more-ish," even if it's not setting the world on fire for complexity or big flavours.

I figured the name "Storm" implied extra peat and/or seaside character. But that's not the case (there's a bit of a Highland Park-style earthy, vegetal peat, but it's by no means in your face). Rather, the gimmick here is using older single malts (including some sherried ones) on a bed of the same grain whiskies used in the standard Cutty Sark. The results aren't terrible, especially for the price-tag, but it's nothing to write home about. Flavours of sherry, light smoke, light vegetal peat. Vanilla, tequila. Rubbing alcohol. Strawberries, some floral, crab-apples, pickled ginger. Popcorn butter, sea salt, earthy, ash. Soya sauce? Some of the constituent single malts (Macallan, Highland Park) are actually really recognizable in this blend. You could do worse for the $30 Cdn. I paid for this, but it's by no means a great whisky.

It's Johnnie Walker. It's fine. Not great and not remotely worth the price, but a pleasurable, mild whisky. Think Johnnie Black with a bit more refinement and a bit of a tropical, fruity backbone. Smoke, mango, papaya, pretzels, pepper. More a conversation piece than a whisky begging to be drunk.

It's 5 year old juice from Heaven Hill (they don't say it outright, but the clues--and the flavour profile--point right to it), and that's fine--except I can get older, better Heaven Hill juice locally for so much cheaper. Not a bad whiskey, it's just hurt by its pricetag and competition. Flavours of chalky vanilla, grape drink cream soda, corn husk, rye. Leather, cinnamon. Caramel corn, cut grass. Chocolate, orange zest, a bit boozey. Banana, custard, a distant lumber yard. Light in the mouth and very "typical" bourbon flavours. Maple, mint. Fine bourbon that does an adequate rendition of what I expect from bourbon. But I'll stick with Evan Williams Black Label or Single Barrel for my Heaven Hill fix.

Score closer to 3.5 than 3; it's a worthwhile step up from the entry-level barrel select, and a pretty solid Canadian whisky for the (sub-$30) price. But it is still Canadian in style, and carries with it Canadian whisky's tendency toward being overly sweet--though it's offset at least a bit by a really nice bit of rye and some cinnamon hearts flavour. Smells and tastes of toffee, butterscotch, cinnamon hearts candy, ginger, nutmeg, clove, maple syrup, candied pecans, dried fruits, bitter orange. Vanilla. Slight corn. Spicy rye. Absurdly drinkable. The extra ABV over the standard Canadian 40% really helps out a lot--this is a good, reliable, stalwart Canadian whisky at a great price.