Tastes

In my memory, I always think of Glenfiddich 12 as the fruity one and Glenlivet 12 as the floral one. But actually tasting Glenlivet 12 always reminds that that comparison is only half-accurate. Because while it is a lot more floral than the rival Glen, it's also repping oodles of fruit. Flavours of pear, apple, barley sugar. Vanilla, big heather and lavender. Grass or hay. Pineapple, beeswax. Not quite as sweet as the Glenfiddich in general, but I feel similarly about the two whiskies: they're fine for what they are. Better and more complex than they absolutely have to be at their price point and level of saturation, but not something I actively seek out these days.

It's easy to hate Glenfiddich, but for what it is, it's fine. It's damning with faint praise to say so, but I really do think that as far as mass-produced, non-craft presentation Scotch goes, Glenfiddich really makes some good whisky. Flavour is sweet and fruity. Pears (fresh and in syrup), apples (stewed), peaches. Vanilla, toast, a hint of heather and lavender. Apple juice, honey, sweet citrus. Decently honeyed maltiness on the taste, though it's a bit thin and hot. Short finish that dries to balance out a lot of the big sweetness. Not something I seek out and buy these days, but there's nothing wrong with a glass of it now and then. There's a reason it's the most popular single malt in the world (and it's not *just* because William Grant & Sons brilliantly anticipated the rise of the market for single malts) : it's sweet and accessible and a good representation of the Speyside style.

Have to admit that I find this stuff downright unpleasant; in addition to being pretty gimmicky (distillers have been "sweating the barrels" for many years; the process JB uses here is hardly unique), the flavour profile is just a mess. Tastes like a cheap, half-hearted step-brother to Knob Creek. Flavours of peanut butter Beam funk, cinnamon, vanilla, and a shit-ton of oak. Barrel char, dry oak, leathery, tobacco. Hints of cherry, maybe. Surprisingly thin and hot in the mouth, very bitter, and very tannic.

I can appreciate and respect that Knob Creek is a well made whiskey, but I've also tasted enough whiskey in my life to know that it's just not to my own preferences, taste-wise. Flavour is dominated by that corny, musty, peanut buttery Beam yeast note, sweet creamed corn, cinnamon, maple syrup, and big oak--but strong oak, with a kind of artificiality or plasticity to it that throws me off. Earthy, leathery. It's a BIG, dry whiskey, full of tannic oak flavours, though what I've always found interesting about it is how relatively muted the old bourbon standby flavour of vanilla is here. Another on the list of bourbons that I won't turn down, but don't actively seek out. I'd much rather move up the Beam Small Batch ladder and go with a bottle of barrel-proof Booker's.

The Bowmore line-up has always struck me as . . . fine. Okay. Not special, but not atrocious. Decently priced for what you get, though woefully lacking any interest in craft presentation (always low ABV, always filtered, always artificially coloured right to hell). The Bowmore 12 is representative of that feeling. It's fine, but something about it always struck me as somehow synthetic, as though someone was trying to recreate "Islay" in a lab. Flavours of smoke, peat, brine (though it's kind of a generic smokiness, as opposed to the specifically "campfire smoke" or "smoked meat" smoke I get from other Islay distilleries). Big lemon and lemon-zest. Honey, chocolate-y. Something faintly chemical or plastic-y? Tastes of smoke, peat, spice, seawater, tobacco, with a brief finish. It's not bad, and the price is right, but I'll never actively seek it out.

It's not the value buy that Rittenhouse is (I think it's better, but not enough better to justify the price difference) and it's not as good as High West's Rendezvous Rye (the standard-bearer, for me, of widely available American ryes), but it's a very good whiskey nonetheless. Flavours of clove (Juicy Fruit gum everywhere), cinnamon, nutmeg. Cherry liqueur, apples (apple pie, apple crumble), tropical fruit, fruit punch. Sour rye bread. Spearmint. Anise/licorice. Surprisingly complex and well-integrated for a young-ish whiskey. Would be world class, though, with just a touch more body and a touch more age.

In terms of consistently available, well-priced bourbon, I'm not sure there's anything better. You get barrel-to-barrel variance, and I've had a dud every once in awhile, but those are the exceptions, not the rule, and even those are still pretty solid bottles. At its best, the flavours are intense: Cocoa. plums, raisins. Mint. A fruity spiciness. Rye bread. Apricots? Red fruits (cherry especially, maybe some strawberry). Cherry cola, in fact. Unbelievably distinct hints of cherry cola. Cinnamon. Clove, baking spices. Maple syrup. Caramalized sugars and vanilla. Spicy sweet vision, with fantastic balance between the corn sweetness and rye spice. Love this juice.

The most interesting thing about Corner Creek, to my tastebuds, is the way it reminds me of sucking on a pebble or a stone. That might not sound appetizing, but I actually rather enjoy it. I hear there's a lot of batch-to-batch variance, but my experience has always been that the price is right ($35 Cdn.) and the bourbon is pretty decent: full of earthy flavours, with hints of green apple and white wine (maybe that's the wine bottle-style packaging talking). Vanilla, cherries, raspberries. Asphalt. Musty rye, pickles and soap (though not in a bad way). Nutty (I wouldn't be surprised if there was some Beam in the blend). Sweet and dry. It's an interesting, unique bourbon.

If you're a fan of Canadian whisky as a style--all vanillas and butterscotches, all soft and sweet and mild, with just a hint of rye spice--you'll be a fan of Wiser's 18. That basically describes this juice to a "t". But at 18 years and $65 Cdn., I feel like this whisky ought to be so, so much more interesting than it is. Flavours are vanilla, French vanilla, lemongrass, pencil shavings, ozone, cinnamon and apple. Faint brining spices. A touch of cinnamon, some butterscotch. A touch of maple, and fresh lumber in the finish. Not bad, just very typically Canadian and not even remotely worth the price. Pales in comparison to the cheaper Wiser's Legacy--a legitimately rye heavy, rye forward whisky that could give any American straight rye whiskey a run for its money.

I'm probably in the minority when I say I prefer Knob Creek Rye to the standard KC bottling--at least to my tastebuds, the strange, peanut buttery Beam yeast plays a lot better in the context of spicy, herbal rye than softer, sweeter bourbon. Flavours here of mint, rye bread, pepper, maple syrup. Vanilla, cinnamon, leather, tobbaco. Clove. Interesting hint of apple or apple chips on the taste and finish.