Tastes

Nose: Toffee, Vanilla, Honey, Oak, Caramel, Ginger- Snap, Artificial Cherry. Palate: Oak Tannins, Vanilla, Cinnamon, Sweet cereal grain finish. This is a pretty solid whiskey, if it can be found at MSRP ($40-$50). Just like most of Buffalo Trace's whiskies, it has been elevated to a point of ridiculous value and doesn't quite live up to its reputation. The nose was misleading and left me hoping for a more exciting palate. Strong entry with a burst of oak and vanilla, lots of barrel spice on the mid palate, short and almost non existent finish, lingering cereal grain sweetness.

[Re-review] Nose: Ripe Fruit, Honey, Malt, Malt Funk, Butterscotch. Palate: Caramel, Sharp Grassiness, Nectarine, Honey, Spice. A light easy to drink whisky. Fantastic for beginners, a fantastic whisky for the summer months, a solid budget whisky, and a good whisky to help friends stuck on large name brands to explore other distilleries. The Speyburn 10 is a relatively simple whisky, but for the price there are few other whiskies that can compete, real solid stuff.

Nose: Vanilla, Apple, Malt Sugar, Pear, White Pepper. Palate: Malt Sweetness, Spirit Firward, Light Vanilla, Salinity, Spice, Full Oily Body, Light Pear Finish A solid whisky, its not very complex but thats okay. A strong malt forward taste makes up most of the palate, full and oily with a little bit of salinity and a light fruit finish. A little bit too spirit forward for my taste, I personally enjoy the Islay Barley 2013 more. For about the same price you can get a much better tasting whisky in my opinion. More fruit, more vanilla, and almost the same amount of malt without a super heavy spirit forward taste on the mid palate.

Nose: Banana Laffy Taffy, Cotton Candy, Clove, Honey, Burnt Bread, Peaches, Generic Rye Sweetness, Alcohol. Palate: Honey, Rye Toast, Banana Taffy, Pepper, Cherry, Oak, Caramel. A great bottle of rye, again if you can find it at MSRP, but that seems to be a reoccurring theme with most Buffalo Trace products. A bit heavy with the ethyl alcohol notes on the nose bur still awesome. Rich, sweet, and peppery. Not overly complex, but it still provides a robust and enjoyable taste.

Nose: Maple Syrup, Honey, Oak, Cninnamon, Blood Orange, Vanilla, Corn Sweetness. Palate: Caramel, Sweet Cereal Grain, Fig Newton, Lemon Confi, Pastry Bread, Brown Sugar, Raisin, Hints of a Bitter Oak Finish. I've been surprised twice now by the Buffalo Trace distillers, I think this whiskey does really live up to the hype. Old Rip presents the drinker with flavors you will rarely ever get in whiskey, especially in bourbon, and its all thanks to that wheat they sneak into the mash. Sweet bready notes, dark dried fruits, jam, and amazing notes of granular sweetness as well. If you ever have a chance to try this whiskey, go for it (if the price is right). I got a small sample bottle from a co worker who won the lottery at our local Total Wine, and I am so grateful to have been able to try this whiskey for free. It is worth it if you can get it around msrp give or take $50. I am pleased and surprised by the quality of this whiskey, get one if you can.

Nose: Honey, Apples, Floral Sweetness, Dates, Salinity, Apricots, Vanilla, Grass, Butterscotch, Orange Citrus, Hints of peat. Palate: Floral Peat Smoke, Pepper, Brine, Apricot, Leather, Honey, Sultana, Plum, Nectarine. A great bottle of whisky, lovely balance of sweet fruits and earthy floral notes on the palate. The palate leads with light peat, pepper, leather, and grass. Then becomes floral and fruity. Rich orchard fruits hang around on the finish. An incredible example of what a properly aged whisky can be. Mellow, complex, and rich all at the same time. Impressive for only being 43% alcohol, a little bit higher proof could do it some good but amazing regardless.

Nose: Heavy Malt, Creamy Sweetness, Hazelnut, Nutmeg, Cookie Dough, Vanilla, Honey. Palate: Apple, Pear, Marzipan, HEAVY Malt Sweetness, Generic Nutty Notes, Cinnamon, Mild Oak, Oak Tannins, Grassy Finish. I don't know if the term "Malt bomb" has been coined yet but The Sixteen from Benriach definitely is one. There is a wonderfully potent, creamy, sweet, malt sugar on the nose and the palate, something I have only found in this bottle. It is truly unique in that aspect. The sherry influence is barely noticeable in this whisky because the Bourbon cask and Virgin Oak cask takes up the palate, quite the opposite of the Original Twelve. A really great bottle of whisky considering the price I paid for it. I would highly recommend getting one if you can find it.

Nose: Apple, Pear, Campbeltown F U N K, Mint, Menthol, Peat, Brine, Butterscotch, White Pepper. Palate: Ripe Apple, Butterscotch, Brine, Malted Barley Sugar, Herbal Peat, Mild leather, Raisins, Must, Full Oily Body. To me, the Springbank 10 is almost the perfect whisky. I enjoy a whisky with a nice balance of sweet and savory notes, I enjoy a complex whisky, and I also like when a whisky is honest, the Springbank 10 is all of these things. On top of that, all the sweeter notes are my personally preferred notes of sweetness. Light fruits, malt sugar, and butterscotch. On top of all of that there is also a wonderful unique peatiness to it and a nice splash of brine. Sweet, Peaty, and Briney, all wonderful flavors combined for a special whisky experience. The whisky and the distillery are already praised by the people in the community who understand what a good quality whisky is, and if you're reading this, you probably do as well. There are some naysayers out there, but thats okay, they've yet to come to the part of their whisky Journey where they're able to understand what kind of quality is provided to them by Springbank. *cough* inexperienced age statement snobs *cough*. That was a dig at a certain review below mine. This would receive a higher score but due to the drastically rising prices of Scotch in the U.S. and simply the availability I am giving it a slightly lower score.

Nose: Green Apple, Vanilla, Apricot, Fresh Sweet Bread, Grass, Marmalade, Caramel. Palate: Full bodied, Raisin, tannins, heather honey, oak spices, casis. This is going to be a whisky I come back to, ancnoc seems to consistently be a very gentle whisky when you first open it, then evolves beautifully with air. When I first tried the 12 year old expression of ancoc it was very unimpressive and lacked flavor if im being honest. Coming back to it a few weeks after the initial taste I was amazed at how dramatically different the whisky was. So much more flavor and richness was present in the 12, brought my personal rating up from a 3.0 to a 3.75. I will re review this one later but for now it gets a 3.5.

Nose: Ripe Fruit, Apple, Malt Sugar, Fresh Challa, Maraschino Cherry, Spice, Brown Sugar, Maple Syrup. Palate: Barley Sugar, Baking Spices, Cherry, Raisin, Vanilla, Marzipan, Sherry Oak Tannins. A solid bottle of whisky. Straight forward and tasty with a good balance of sweet and savory notes, not much complexity but just enough to justify the price. The port and sherry cask influence is what you'll mostly be tasting, the bourbon cask notes are there but are hidden behind the more easily noticed desert wine cask influence. I feel like Benriach achieves what Macallan seeks to achieve with the palate. If you've got a buddy stuck on Macallan, point them towards the Benriach, you might be able to save a lost soul.