Tastes
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Le Père Jules Pommeau de Normandie
Other Brandy — Pays d’Auge, Normandy, France
Reviewed July 19, 2022 (edited July 20, 2022)Nose: Apple cider, herbal honey, citrus zest. Palate: Sweet arrival with concentrated apple and pear flavours, honey, bittersweet citrus and very light spices (cinnamon). Acidity comes forward in the development together with baked cereal flavours like brioche or filo pastry. The texture is crisp. Finish: Medium/Short. Apple and mild citrus, with a lingering light sweetness. Pommeau is a form of mistelle which is made by combining calvados with fresh apple must and then ageing the combination in oak. This expression is aged for 5 years. It has a fragrant, fresh orchard profile and is a little like hard apple cider, but with greater depth and complexity. It can be taken in several ways but for me it is best chilled as an aperitif, or as a digestif served with almond biscotti or macarons. Chilled storage is a good idea as it will oxidise fairly quickly, even when kept cold. It has a similar life expectancy as vermouth and is generally best when first opened, or over the next few days. It will gain a little sweetness and depth in the short term, but once it has been opened for more than a couple of weeks (particularly if not refrigerated) it will develop a sour, flat character (not that a bottle lasts that long in our home!). “Good” : 84/100 (3.75 stars)58.0 AUD per Bottle -
Glenlivet Caribbean Reserve
Single Malt — Speyside, Scotland
Reviewed July 17, 2022 (edited February 27, 2023)This bottle from lot LKZR8257 Nose: Citrus, apple, grist. There is a light hint of oak and vanilla but it’s a shy, petite nose and adding water kills it stone dead. Palate: An exceptionally soft arrival with brown sugar, vanilla, light fruit and sweet malt. This is followed by a mild development that introduces delicate tropical fruit, bananas and a little coconut. The texture is light but satisfying. Unlike the nose, a drop of water blooms the palate very nicely, bringing out more sweetness and improving the mouth-feel. Finish: Medium/short. Fruit and dark sugar. The rum casks finally make an entrance just before the curtain falls. Instantly identifiable as young Glenlivet distillate, and it’s pleasing that the distillery character is so forward and not cask dominated. The rum influence is very restrained on both the nose and palate, but it’s not missing, just sitting quietly in the background and the more you sip this the more you notice it. The casks become most apparent in the finish. It’s a very pleasant NAS, exceptionally easy to drink (particularly with a dash of water) and it would be admirably suitable as a session whisky shared with friends on a warm summer’s day. It also teams very well with soda water, dry ginger or Coke and you can throw an ice cube in on a hot day without feeling like you are spoiling anything. I’m rating it on the high side of average, but I somehow feel mean for not giving it 3 stars, like I’m beating a puppy. “Average” : 79/100 (2.75 stars)65.0 AUD per Bottle -
Nose: Fruity and rounded, sherry notes, honey, crisp peat smoke, maritime brine. Palate: The arrival is sweet and centred on lemon, preserved ginger in syrup, and honey – it’s curiously like sweetened lemon and ginger tea. It has a short entry followed by short development in which the smoke notes appear. The flavours are mild, soft and not as prominent as the aromas on the nose. The development progresses into spice, mint and fennel towards the finish. The mouth-feel is pleasant, but a bit weak. Finish: Medium. Smoky and sweet with spice notes trailing into the aftertaste. I was given this to taste blind at a local liquor store yesterday and challenged to guess its nature. I thought it was a young Scottish malt of 8-9 years, the distillate being fruity and honeyed in character but given a massive finish of some sort. Imagine something Bill Lumsden might make, like a young Glenmorangie finished in casks that had formerly held a big sherried peaty whisky. In fact, this spirit is Scottish peated new-make aged for nine days. Yes, that’s right – nine days. It is produced by EtOH Spirits, a small Danish company founded by Tobias Emil Jensen who is an inventor, food scientist and brewery engineer based in Copenhagen. Jensen has developed a rapid maturation process that combines ultrasound with chemical additives (don’t panic – just substances like citric acid) under pressure and heat. If I had tasted this as part of a blind tasting line-up of Scottish and world malt whiskies I would not have been able to point the finger and say “that’s not whisky”. However I would also certainly not have singled it out for special praise. It is of good quality, very drinkable, and equivalent to something like Glen Moray Classic Peated - but this is a lot more expensive than that particular single malt. Once it has been perfected, rapid maturation will be a big thing, it’s inevitable. It will very likely become a standard process used by the big distilleries and I can see the day coming when mass-market blended scotch and bourbon are largely phased out in favour of new categories of “aged spirit” and I would have no objection to using such a product for my Coke ‘n smoke. Whether this process, or any similar one, will ever be able to replicate the qualities of long maturation in a good cask is another matter. EtOH Spirits are certainly not at that point yet, and theirs is by far the best and most convincing rapid-aged spirit I’ve tasted so far. Would I buy a bottle of this? No, not at the current price, but I'd happily accept another pour. However if the price came down to equal that of Loch Lomond Reserve then sure - I'd buy it then. “Good” : 83/100 (3.5 stars)130.0 AUD per Bottle
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Nose: Clean and rounded malt, fresh-cut grass, banana split, caramel, fresh white bread, a little mint in the background and a very faint roasted coffee bean aroma. It’s a sweet, full nose. Palate: Juicy arrival with tropical fruit, cherries, candied pineapple, ginger in syrup and guava. In the development (which is limited as with all new make spirit) a chocolate flavour emerges together with cereal notes – muesli, wheat flakes and oatmeal. The texture is oily and creamy. Finish: Short. Cereal and fruit melange. A delicious new-make barley spirit, one of the best I’ve tasted and quite honestly I prefer this to the single malt whisky that Archie Rose released in 2021, which was essentially this with two years of intense aging in small casks. That whisky seemed monumentally overdone to me and I wished at the time they had made something with more nuance and restraint. Having now tasted this new make I wish even more that they had been brave enough to release it as a core-range product in its own right. However, the production run for this was very small and it was only available from the distillery door. Unfortunately I missed out on obtaining a bottle and it is now as rare as hen’s teeth, so I was delighted to score a taste at a local liquor shop today. Ignore any comments you may read that imply this new make is just an “unfinished” proto-whisky and useful only in mixed drinks as a substitute for white rum or vodka. It is, in fact, a very enjoyable spirit and if anything it could go toe-to-toe against any good genever and hold its own. “Very Good” : 86/100 (4 stars)120.0 AUD per Bottle
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Westward American Two Malts Bridgeport Brewing Co.
American Single Malt — Portland, Oregon, USA
Reviewed July 13, 2022 (edited July 23, 2022)Nose: Malt, ale, espresso-roast coffee, roasted nuts. A distant breeze of rye spices – caraway, mint. Palate: Mildly spicy/sweet arrival, grains, malt, dark ale, rye spice. The development shows earthier cereal notes and malt extract together with a little chocolate and there is some nougat and fruit in the late development. The palate has a pleasant fresh and crisp quality, but it could be criticised for being just a little thin. Finish: Medium. Sweet, malty and fruity. There is a flavour of ale that lingers into the aftertaste. This was an Australian exclusive release, and the second such exclusive that Westward has released here. It is rich in profile and like the first (which I’ve reviewed previously) highly suggestive of a strong, dark craft ale. This impression starts slowly but builds through the tasting until by the time you have finished the dram you feel like you’ve just had a half-pint of red ale. The proof is excellent for the spirit and carries the flavour very well whilst remaining mostly hidden. There is a warming heat but it’s not a “hot” spirit as such and I finished my dram without even thinking to add any water. Rye spices are definitely detected throughout, but they are very well integrated and the rye content of the spirit at no time seems overt. Tasted from a 20ml sample. “Very Good” : 85/100 (4 stars)170.0 AUD per Bottle -
Nose: Malt, vanilla, oak, olive oil, cheese, beer, fruit, carob bean and nutmeg. Palate: Sweet, crisp fruity grains in the arrival. The development brings spice notes, a little heat, wholemeal bread and cocoa. The texture is slightly oily. Finish: Medium. Spicy. The nose is reminiscent of a Scottish malt whisky but there are some unusual aromas that I’ve not found in any other malt. It’s interesting, pleasant and easy to drink and there are aspects all the way through that make me think of beer (particularly IPA, although it does not smell exactly like that) and of fermenting wash. It’s not unpleasant, fresh even, but it is unusual. There is a fruity, feinty quality to this whisky that some might not like but I enjoyed. Although I didn’t actually smell or taste bread at any stage, there was something about it that did make me think of wild yeasts or kombucha starter. An interesting experiment and a good whisky, but sadly at the local price of AUD$175 I won’t be buying a bottle. Tasted from a 20ml sampler. “Good” : 84/100 (3.75)175.0 AUD per Bottle
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Nose: Light, fragrant wood is the first impression. Not oak cask, but freshly sawn planks. Vanilla, honey, mint, cloves and faint anise. Palate: The arrival is sweet at first but rapidly becomes drying and spicy before heading into bitterness. Brown sugar, oak tannin, dark unsweetened chocolate. The texture is a bit thin. Finish: Medium. Spicy wood notes with tobacco in the aftertaste. I enjoyed the nose on this a lot more than the palate, which is too astringent for my taste when taken neat. Water didn’t improve it either, reducing the heat a little but bringing out a lot of sour notes. Fortunately it works very well as a mixer as its hard personality allows it to stay prominent in a drink, and it is a great partner with Coke where the respective dry astringency and cloying sweetness balance each other out. I picked this bottle up for AUD$58 (it’s normally $70 here) but I wouldn’t buy it again, even on special. “Adequate” : 74/100 (2.25 stars)58.0 AUD per Bottle
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Re-posted review from January 2020. I’m not sure what happened to the original one, I must have deleted it somehow but fortunately I had it backed up. Nose: Hot cinnamon, vanilla, roasted peanut, burnt sugar and barrel char. Palate: Hot, hard entry but with some sweet notes. Caramel-coated overcooked popcorn, peanut butter, toffee. Pepper, bitter dark chocolate and chewy oak tannin in the development. Finish: Medium. The oak and hot dry spice notes linger. In Australia there used to be a Jim Beam bottling called “Jim Beam Bonded Number 12 Formula” which was completely different to this. It was soft, buttery and a very pleasant everyday bourbon but sadly it disappeared from our shelves a couple of years ago. Fortunately I had stocked up on it but I'm down to my last one. When I saw this Bonded Bourbon appear recently I thought I’d give it a try in case it was just the same stuff repackaged, but sadly it's a different whisky, and one that is not to my taste. Adding water tames it a fraction but the only way I could enjoy this was with Coke. It wasn't just a bad bottle either because I bought two and they were the same. I guess it could be a bad batch, but I won't be trying it again to find out. “Adequate” : 70/100 (2 stars)58.0 AUD per Bottle
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Nose: Freshly-cut grass clippings, sweet hay, petrichor on hard-baked red-soil roads. Parchment. Crisp and light with a little spice and fruit – mango, tangerine and strawberry. An unexpectedly light and sprightly rye nose that is very agreeable. With time a little vanilla note is detected. Palate: Again, very grassy and slightly herbal in the arrival. Light lemon zest and some aniseed. There is, however, little development apart from a slow increase in spice notes and an almost effervescent citrus presence. The texture is OK but nothing special. Finish: Medium. Mild spice and lemon trailing into the sunset. A slightly unusual rye whisky with a strong focus on citrus. The nose is the standout attraction and it is refreshingly unusual. The palate, however, does not quite rise to the same standard, being abbreviated and shallow with no progress. I’d attribute this entirely to youth and it would be interesting to taste this if it were given a few more years of maturation in larger casks. Adding water destroys the nose, subtracting all the distinctive aromas and rendering it more like an average rye, although some of the grassy notes remain. On the palate, water unleashes black pepper, hot capsicum and salt (and a little balancing sweetness). It does tone down the bright lemon focus but on the whole I preferred this one neat. An interesting whiskey but like the Reservoir Wheat I just rated this is overpriced here. It’s almost worth the money, but then I think of all the very good scotch whiskies I could buy instead. Tasted from a 30ml sample. “Above Average” : 82/100 (3.25 stars)160.0 AUD per Bottle
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Reservoir Wheat Whiskey
Wheat Whiskey — Virginia, USA
Reviewed July 6, 2022 (edited August 23, 2022)Nose: Soft baking spices (not unlike rye spice), dusty cereal, orange peel, toffee apple, dark fruit. There is a slight ethanol nip and a strong woody presence – young, freshly sawn wood … not old casks. Palate: Spicy/sweet arrival with just a little heat. Buttered popcorn and granola with caramel sauce in the development, which turns to the bitter side as it progresses with coffee grounds and toasted sourdough bread. Mint and menthol towards the finish. There is an omnipresent tannic note throughout the palate. The mouthfeel is OK. Finish: Medium/short. Spice and cereal turning sour and flinty in the conclusion. It's a perfectly drinkable whiskey but it lacks any sort of spark. There are no outstanding faults (apart from obvious youth, if that is a fault) but neither is there anything that captures your attention. It's average, but in a good way. Water expands the spice notes on the palate almost to the level of a very spicy rye whiskey, but again it's neither attractive nor offputting ... it's just there. Tasted from a 30ml sampler, I was glad to have the chance to try this first as a 750ml bottle costs an outrageous AUD$160 over here, and if I had spent that much on this one I'd have serious buyer's remorse. "Average" : 79/100 (2.75 stars)160.0 AUD per Bottle
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