Tastes

I’ve had Talisker storm, which I liked, but heard even better things about Talisker 10. Grabbed a bottle, poured into a glencairn. Look: A fairly dark scotch, amber in color, alcohol legs appear while swirling, and the whisky is quite translucent. Not sure if Talisker colors their whisky or not, but it is a bit dark. Nose: First scent is a rather medicinal, marker smell, some saltiness, and seaweed to it too. Feels like I’m at a sushi restaurant. Giving it a swirl, the briny aspect comes out even more, and I also get some malty sweetness, somewhat fruity when giving a really big inhale. Palate: The taste largely follows the nose, medicinal upfront, some brine, but more smoke than I picked up in the nose, like a campfire. I also get some spice throughout as well. Swirling it around the mouth, the medicinal and smoke really dominate, with sweetness popping up a bit more mid palate. Finish: Black pepper, not terribly hot, but spicy. There’s a lingering smoke that leaves my mouth with a long lasting finish, and then some more earthy vegetation as the finish continues. Overall: It has been some time since I’ve had Storm, but I really like this Talisker 10. A nice mix of flavors, and not overly peated so that I only taste smoke. Funny, just re read my storm review, and it’s damn near the same notes and finish. Guess I haven’t lost my ability to taste with this cold.

Look: Dark orange, slight alcohol legs, and translucent. Nose: Fairly sweet smells, with a mix of some baking spices. Fruit forward I’d say. Palate: Cinnamon, black pepper up front, underlying sweetness with caramel mid palate, followed by a more spice dominated finish. Finish: Dry, and fairly hot. I get a bready note in the finish, as well as plenty of spice. Later in the finish, some grape peel comes up. Overall: A fairly good bourbon, relative simple, but easy to drink. Little bit of heat, but perhaps that’s from some rust if not drinking whiskey for a while.

Have to give big time thanks to the VP of my company for this sample. Look: Dark amber, burnt orange in color, translucent, with the usual lacing Nose: crazy to say this, but I get a grape on the nose, followed by more barrel, and spice. Really perfumy in a good way Palate: Fruity initially, followed by mild wood and then a bunch of cinnamon spice. Finish: there’s some slight heat but the finish is pretty mellow and enjoyable. Lot of flavor on the way down, cinnamon and oak. Overall: an impressive bottle, but I don’t think anything can justify the retail of this. Would I love to have it? Absolutely.

Look: fairly light in the glass, a light gold, more straw colored. Really, looks like a lager color wise. Alcohol legs form on the glass. Nose: Wood, slight dark fruit if I sniff real good. Floral, sweetness Palate: Wood is what hits first, little hint of spice, as well as a sweet vanilla hitting the center of my tongue. A very agreeable bourbon. Finish: Apple peel is what I get for a flavor in the finish, with little burn going down and a pretty quick finish. Overall: Drinks up to its price point, but not so sure it’s a sleeper you’ll be shocked by. I’m glad I have a bottle.

Look: Light amber orange, really a lot lighter than most barrel strength bourbons I’ve encountered. There’s some alcohol legs showing on the glass Nose: First thing I get is cinnamon followed by more rye ala clove. Vanilla comes in bringing some sweetness. Palate: leads off with that rye presence of baking spices cinnamon and of course vanilla. Oak comes into play near the finish more Finish: Not as hot as one would expect for a barrel proofer. Pepper cinnamon oak flavor on the finish, mid bitterness from the wood, with a long lasting finish of the previously mentioned flavors. There’s some heat but again not what you’d expect on this. Overall: An extremely easy drinking barre proof with a good amount of flavor, and low price tag. What’s not to love?

Look: Nice amber color, alcohol legs, lacing the whole shabang Nose: bananas, before I even get into the glass, I get bananas. Then a perfumey rye but also slightly rubbing alcohol. At one point it smelled like original old spice. Some more sweetness with swirling. The alcohol smell gives more of a fruit and nut combo. Palate: what a strange initial flavor, I’m not even sure what that is. Like a mix of banana nuts and dark fruits. As the whiskey sits on the tongue I get more if that perfume rye like flavors popping up and some oak. Then some more banana. Finish: Banana flavors with oak, medium bitterness and lingering flavor. Slight heat, nothing crazy. Overall: I can’t say I’m crazy over this whiskey, definitely more unique with the fruity aspects I’m getting and some nuttiness, but it just doesn’t sit right with me. With water: a little more spice on the nose with the bananas and alcohol dissipating, slight maple (maybe the power of suggestion). Palate is similar but less potent, the bitterness and alcohol presence gets sanded down giving that maple flavor. Worth trying, probably not a bottle purchase for the price it commands though.

Look: looks like a pretty typical bourbon, burnt orange, light edges, slight alcohol legs. Nose: Oak, rye spice, then a deep breath and I get more vanilla/sweetness. A great, albeit not unique, nose. Going in for a deep nosing, some fruity notes come out and nuttiness. Palate: so much nuttiness, it’s like the unsalted almonds I buy at the store. After the nut flavor, some slight spice intermingles with oak and vanilla for a nice mild dram. Finish: Vanilla on the finish, lasting a long time. Little heat, slightly drying but nothing crazy. Not a lot of bitterness. The second sips finish gives me more spiciness, the site review nails the black pepper feel. Overall: This is a great bourbon, especially when considering the price. The nuttiness really pops out to me more than any bourbon I’ve experienced, and all the flavors and heat level make for a very pleasant experience.

Thank you once more to Mark for giving me a sample of Elmer T Look: lighter in color, straw on the edges where the light hits, more orange otherwise. Nice thick alcohol legs and lacing stay present on the rim of my glass. Nose: lots of booze up front, but mainly sweetness. Vanilla brown sugar followed by some sweet spice notes, like a mix of cinnamon and sugar. Intermingling with all this is the barrel characters. Swirling gives what I always associate with cherry. The nose on this is preferable to Stagg, with a lot sweeter aromas coming to mind. Palate: Honey, apple pie, way sweeter than expected, but in a different way. Letting the whiskey linger opens up more spices but maintains a sweet note throughout. Slight cherry from the nose, and some oak, but really pleasant. Finish: Little heat for me, with a lot of flavor. The bitterness isn’t that high, which is great to me, and mildly drying in the mouth. The finishing flavor I get is the oak and dark fruit. Overall: one of my favorite samples I’ve had as of late, up there with 12 year Van Winkle. Lots of sweet flavors, but enough sauciness and oak to balance everything out.

Thanks again to my friend Mark for this sample of Stagg. Look: George T Stagg is pretty dark, almost brown but with orange edges on it. Lacing shows but no legs when lightly swirling around the glencairn. Nose: Like Bookers, this is just popping out of the glass. Cinnamon spices are noticeable from afar, clove, just really a lot of spice. A little bit of cherry pops up when I move in closer, showing the age of the bourbon. From there I get more oak. I’m a little surprised at how little depth I get on the nose with the age Stagg is. I really don’t get any sweets Palate: The taste is much better than the nose, with those missing sweets of vanilla and brown sugar hitting the tongue first. The follow up are the spices and then oak. Lingering on the tongue, I get more fruity flavor. There’s a good amount to taste on this one. Less sweet, more oak, and earthy/nutty quality than Stagg Jr. Finish: oak, but the bitterness isn’t as high as other bourbons I’ve had. There’s a little bit of sweetness lingering on the tongue. Pretty dry finish as well. Overall: I like Stagg, it’s very similar to its younger partner, but with more oak and maybe slightly less heat.