Tastes

Color: Deep gold. Nose: Some kind of nut, or nutty malt. Something I can’t place but I don’t like, kind of like bad molasses or butterscotch I don’t necessarily want to eat. Sweet, maybe it’s more sherry than I like? There’s a smokiness if you go slowly and can find it. The nose does not have me looking forward to drinking it. Taste: Water certainly wakes it up if you add it. Better than the nose, while I’m not in love with the, my concerns from the nose melt away quickly. It tastes like a somewhat harsh butter made from whatever nuttiness is in the nose. I think the unappealing part is the sherry, it tastes like caramel that is off, and I suspect I need a good amount of peat to enjoy the sweet sherry influence, or sweetness in general. I was able to find a subtle not of rosewater when mentioned I was drinking this and Ralfy mentioned it, but not if it wasn’t on my radar from that. Finish: Middling, reminds me of bourbon, perhaps a bit toward maple.52

Color: Dark gold. Nose: Chocolate, banana, reminiscent of Balvenie Caribbean Cask. Water clouded it, made the banana stronger, and the stouty flavor came into the nose. Taste: Light, banana. Water made the banana sweeter. Finish: Strong, ethanol burn into stouty linger, short. Water made it smoother, though the stout flavor became muted and malt more prominent.

Color: Gold. Nose: Peat, some smoke, but not of a campfire, more like a barbecue. Taste: There are some herbal, earthy qualities, but wood, specifically oak, and malt come through much more, and that is less than the peat. The sherry flavor plays nicely with it. It has some heat, but an overall creamy feel to it. Finish: Middling finish, the malt is stronger here.

Color: Gold. Nose: Citrus, malt, grain (less than the malt), ethanol (not overly so, but surprising given the low ABV). Taste: The malt was prevalent, and the low ABV gave this a very smooth flavor. Maybe a bit fruity and herbal, but complimentary to the malt rather than alongside it. It was a bit peaty and salty. It was a little woody and smoky but more like the morning after a fire going out rather than while burning or immediately after extinguishing. Finish: Pleasant, a smokier version of the palate.

Color: Dark gold. Nose: Nuts, malt. Taste: Maybe a little fruity and dry, a bit spicy and sweet. Most prevalent is malt, in a very big way, and it has a kind of soft, creamy quality. It was hard to find other flavors through the malt. Water made it bad and I had to pour out the remainder. Finish: Malt tapering off.

Color: Pale gold. Nose: Primarily citrus. Taste: Fairly citrus/fruity; a tiny bit dry, hard and harsh, herbal; quite hot and malty; fairly oaky and peppery; a bit salty, spicy, creamy, and sweet. Finish: Peppery malt.

Color: Dark gold. Nose: Less peaty than standard Islay, boozy, maybe some citrus, iodine. Taste: Low citrus; low dry, hard, herbal; some hot, malt; tiny bit oaky; low peat; slight pepper; some salt; less spice; some smoke, tiny; tiny bit woody. Finish: Smooth, molasses/caramel.

Color: Gold. Nose: Sweet, citrus, very slight anise. Taste: A little fruit; low dryness; low hardness; low herbalness; slightly hot; no malt; maybe oak; medium peat and pepper; a little salt; tiny spice; mildly smoky; tiny bit sweet maybe; tiny bit woody. Finish: Very smooth. This was quite good. The ice opened up and ramped up every facet of the whisky, but only at first. It was very harsh and ruined afterward and you'll benefit from being able to control the account of water added. This may have influenced a slight decrease in my scoring.

Color: Pale gold. Nose: Peat. Maybe molasses. Citrus. Maybe that’s cheese? Taste: A bit dry, hard and harsh; somewhat hot and a bit herbal; not really malty; a bit oaky, peppery and salty; fairly peaty and spicy; smoky; a bit sweet and woody. I get an overwhelming sense of meat before swallowing. Finish: The meat from the palate turns into smoke. It’s medium to long.

Color: Gold. Nose: Sweet, light, low peat. Taste: A bit dry; a bit herbal; a bit hot; a bit herbal and malty; a bit oaky and peaty; a bit salty; a bit spicy; a bit soft and creamy and sweet; a bit smoky and woody. Finish: Smoke, Irish whiskey, grassy, not comparable to Scotch, but in the same vein.