Tastes

Nose: wonderful mix of barrel char, cherries, smoked barley, cereal Taste: floral baking spices, apple, honey and caramel Finish: short to medium I like to recommend this bourbon to people coming from scotch. There’s something a little familiar to me…like the apple and smoky barley.

I’ve always enjoyed Four Roses: single barrel store picks are amazing, and the yellow label is one of the best cheap bourbons out there. Small batch and small batch select just don’t do it for me, however. This newer select bottle seems too overpowered by the OBSK and OESK recipes, which are pretty heavy on the spice. Nose: dust, oak, corn, subtle vegetal notes Taste: spice bomb with some light fruits here and there Finish: a little more fruity here, medium finish that’s still spicy

Knob Creek 12 is one of the best bourbons on the shelf right now. At MSRP it might be top 5, period. It’s fantastic. Now that Beam stopped screwing around and put an age statement back on its small batch the standard 100 proof 9 is not far behind. The 9 is a daily sipper that gives you 85% of the 12, and for $35 (in my neighborhood) an incredible value. Nose: leather, oak, banana, molasses, corn Palate: mint and baking spices, vanilla, caramel, toffee, Finish: short to medium, just enough to give you something to remember An all-around great bourbon. This whiskey can do it all. I shouldn’t be so surprised since it’s 3-year-older brother is one of my favorite bourbons of the last five years.

Nose: caramel candy corn, cherries and brown sugar Taste: thin, simple with generic baking spices Finish: short In 2022, this was nearly the weakest of the 10-years*… (except for Basil Hayden which was a lousy bourbon) and not as complex and interesting as the Russell’s 10, Knob Creek 9,* McKenna 10, or Michter’s 10. *I won’t compare the Knob Creek 12 which is the best of the KC line in my opinion.

Russell’s 10 is probably the only “lower shelf” bourbon that’s always $30 in my neighborhood, but gets better even as my whiskey palette evolves. That’s probably because it was damned good all along. Nose: sweet candied fruits and pine tree herbal rye Taste: caramel, apple, cinnamon, vanilla, mint, honey Finish: medium Probably best of the 10-years generally available except McKenna 10

I’ve been at so many blind tastings where this beats Weller Special Reserve easily. It’s amusing to watch so many overpay for that stuff. Nose: candy corn, hints of floral, brown sugar and caramel, and oak Taste: spicy apple, hints of orange citrus and maple syrup Finish: short to medium Best second-shelf wheater, period.

Often I go back to mass-produced whiskey to see how it’s holding up over the higher proofs, longer aged, and unique-finished whiskies. It rarely disappoints. Makers Mark is a very consistent and inexpensive whiskey. Like an old friend, it’s comfortable and reliable. Nose: caramel, cereal, candy corn, light oak Taste: vanilla, baking slices, hint of maple syrup and cinnamon Finish: short There’s not a lot to say but there’s not a lot to criticize about Makers Mark. Neat, cocktail, ice. Drink it any way you want and it’s a fine whiskey.

Nose: reminds me of higher proof Heaven Hill… raisins, walnuts, dusty corn, cherries, hints of tobacco, brine Palate: caramel it’s brown sugar, followed by minty rye spice, hints of honey Finish: long, with more mint and buttery molasses there at the end This bottle has opened up nicely since I first tasted this and reviewed about six months ago.

I bought this recently for about US$65, which, in my opinion, is a steal. Bottles are climbing higher and I’m worried we’ll be hard pressed to find most 12-years under $100. I hope I’m wrong. Nose: creamy caramel and vanilla, honey, nuts, plum, raisins. Taste: very balanced mix of the candied fruits and rich sherry influence. A little ginger and baking spices on the palate as well. Finish: medium, even Great, great scotch. So consistent and hopefully still a good value on the shelf. Many get peat from this one but I only occasionally detect the smoke on the mid palate. Not much of it elsewhere.

Really nice nose: apples and pears, hints of candied nuts (maybe almonds) and caramel Taste: less depth than the nose but pleasant with more fruit, bread and citrus Finish: surprisingly long for a low-cost and simple scotch. Not bad at all for under $40 US.