Tastes

Nose: vanilla, raisins and maple syrup Taste: cinnamon and a hint of strawberries Finish: medium For years I have wanted to like this more than I do but it’s a $40 bourbon that gets lost against the Woodfords or Four Roses or Elijah Craigs. It’s good but I just don’t think about it enough to buy a bottle over the others for home very often.

Well this was a pleasant surprise. I can’t remember the last new distillery that is distilling and aging its own bourbon that actually tasted good! New Riff maybe? Gotta be 5 years or more. Nose: Vanilla, soft sweet oak, hints of cereal & barley grains, maple syrup Taste: More vanilla and baking spices, a hint of mint, honey and grass Finish: short but decently smooth for such a new distilled bourbon that says they distilled and aged it themselves. For $40 would I choose this over Elijah Craig, Makers 46 or Woodford? No, those staples are called that for a reason. but this is a nice daily sipper that I’ll definitely try again soon. Interesting note: water opens up the grassy notes on the nose but doesn’t do much for the taste.

New Holland is great at beer. Their 5-year malt whiskey is also pretty good. But this young bourbon should probably have never been released. Nose: celery and malted barley, hint of brown sugar Taste: bitter candy Finish: a hint of licorice and some weird medicinal after taste Just another young whiskey from one of 10,000 new American “distilleries”.

This was way better when it was the 6-year release and the barrels didn’t taste one dimensional & diluted. Evan Williams Bottled in Bond is just as good, cheaper, and available all over the place. Nose: candy corn and wood Taste: a little bit of pepper, hints of honey and caramel candy Finish: short, dry Not worth hunting. Stick with Evan Williams for 95% of the experience for half the price and you don’t need to hunt it down either. Hell, grab a handle of EW bonded for $35. Same distillery, same experience.

Haven’t had this in a few years. This is a bottle from a 2014 barrel. It’s not as sweet and caramel as I remember. And it’s definitely more expensive. At this price and the flavors I’m getting it’s no longer a great buy in my opinion. Will try to find a ‘13 and compare and also wait for the next year’s barrels. Nose: classic Evan Williams—corn, dust, molasses Taste: kinda thin. Hint of candy corn. Baking spices. Finish: short I used to get cherries in this several years in a row, but that note is completely gone. Kind of wild for a prominent note to disappear.

Finished bourbons are great. Give me a bottle of Woodford Double Oaked or Makers 46 any day instead of overpriced secondary crap. Nose: oaky, smoky, toasty vanilla, nuts and caramel Taste: bananas, toffee, more toasty oak and baking spices Finish: medium

This costs half as much as Knob Creek 120 proof but it’s not half as good. It’s quite good actually. The higher rye brother of KC, the nose of Old Grand-Dad has vanilla, oak, caramel candy corn and hints of wintergreen. Taste has baking spices, hint of sweet tea, and peppercorn. Finish is medium, but noticeably shorter than something like the Knob Creek 120 proof. Great bourbon though especially at only $25 …also makes a damned good old fashioned.

Good, not great. And not worth the MSRP I paid of $72. This is a $50 bottle of single malt. Yes, it’s 14-years-old but many 12-years are better and cheaper. Nose: petrichor and honey. Floral, rich taste, with caramel, brine. Finish: short. I’d rather spend $10 more for Glendronach 15 or Glenfiddich 14.

The refreshed bottle of 101 is very good. It’s a notch better than it used to be (and it used to be one of the most underrated bottles on the shelf, especially at the $30 price point). Nose: bright oak, citrus, caramel, baking spices, candy corn, tobacco Taste: nutmeg, brown sugar, molasses, mint, baking spices Finish: medium with a little more spice, caramel and minty rye spice at the end This is my favorite “new release.” I use quotes because it’s not a seasonal, rare bottle you can’t get your hands on. This is in every liquor store and every bar, and it really surprised me. For a “budget” and mainstream bottle you can never go wrong with 101, and the bottle refresh in 2022 is even better than before. If you were to take all the classic bourbon notes and deliver them in a clean, bright yet oily & rich *balanced* whiskey, this would be it. None of the flavor notes are in your face, but they’re all equally balanced in a way that very few distilleries can pull off like Wild Turkey 101.

One of the best scotches under $99 Nose: caramel and chocolate mixed with light fruits, honey, vanilla Taste: pears, cinnamon, more honey and some darker fruit notes and a hint of mint or a sweet grass Finish: surprisingly short given the build up If the finish were a bit longer and more complex I’d give this 4.5 out of 5. What a great scotch.