Tastes

Rating: 17/23 N: Smoky wood. It has a bit of a barbecue quality to it, but not in a meaty way. I do get that fruit tree scent. It's quite ashy, but there is a sweetness as well. There's also a surprising herbal quality to this and some astringency coming off of the smoky tannins. There are some definite fruity scents, but they aren't especially sweet. Maybe blackcurrant and tart cherry. P: I taste that ashy smoke right away. There's a definite fruity side to it. Cherry, plum, blackberry, baking spices, herbs. It's funky and challenging, but also kind of decadent. Aside from the ash, a lot of wines would kill to taste like this. Surprisingly little malt flavor. I'm getting the impression that this distillery's malt isn't that flavorful. Maybe I've been having too much Longmorn lately. This really doesn't taste nearly as high proof as it is. Sure, there's a bite, but not one that suggests a dram approaching HazMat proof. Oh, there is some rich vanilla in here too. F: Rich with herbs, faint nuttiness, and actually more malty sweetness than it had before. Some pepper as well. Notes of black cherry, blackberry, and plum as well. - Conclusion - That weird smoky flavor reminds me a lot of Copper Fox's young, smoked rye (14/23), though the flavor works a lot better here. This is funky in a unique way, but I do like it. This also reminds me of Corsair Hydra (20/23), which was also smoked with fruit wood. The Corsair is less sour and more complex though. The boldness here is nice, but I have to give the Corsair the win. Signatory's North British 28 Cask Strength 1991 (17/23) has a sweeter syrupiness while also having that ashiness. I'd call the North British more decadent. The herbaceousness and tartness of this really come out in comparison. This is a really interesting dram and I think that it's good enough to get a 17 based on its plentiful character, but it's certainly not the most enjoyable.

Rating: 14/23 N: Big smokiness and savoriness. Young, barbecue, sweet water, medicinal peat, mild malt, a hint of roast meat, faint apple, some sweet vanilla and pear. The high proof shows here and there's a lot going on, but it's kind of out of balance and the individual scents aren't all things I really like. P: Alcohol burn. Lots of smoke, with savoriness. Barbecue for a bit, but also medicinal peatiness, vanilla, and pear. The alcohol heat really comes through a lot more than the other flavors. Vegetal notes at point with that funky peat flavor. I'm tasting now a creaminess and understand where Lost Lantern came up with a vanilla ice cream flavor. I like the direction this is trending, but the plate is young and burns. F: Lingering spices, bitterness, oilinesss, savoriness. Vanilla is throughout. - Conclusion - There's potential here, but this is too young and it really burns. I want to really like this, but it's rough. It takes a lot of determination or a weathered palate to appreciate this one. It's challenging. I wish I loved this, but it's rough. There are things to like here, but it's not a great representation of American single malt. I'm thinking around a 14. I can imagine a bit higher and a bit lower as options.

Rating: 16/23 A lot of stuff happened today. I'll skip the details. You just want to know about the whisky, right? N: Some bitter tannins with ethanol, then some malty sweetness comes out, with wort and wood behind it. Citrus peel and oils. Orange, tangerine, and lemon. An oiliness with very faint chestnuts. P: Sweet and malty, but with some surprising vegetal flavor the leads into bitterness and has a frankly shocking sort of worty sourness to it. White pepper burn. The malt is a little on the light side with some minerality to it. It's good, but I'm not loving this character. There's a fair amount going on, but it isn't decadent like a teenage Longmorn or similar dram. This is an odd one - I get kind of stewed agave flavors even. F: The vegetal flavors are here, but they've taken a more herbal slant. There's a dryness. Not a ton of the sweet side. Not a ton going on here either. - Conclusion - This is good, but a bit messy. I like it, but I certainly wouldn't have guessed that it was 21 years old. I'm guessing a 16 right now, but I could see 15. A 14 seems a bit out there, about as believable as a 17. A 13 is out of the picture. This dram leaves me disappointed and confused. It's not that I expected it to blow my mind, but I though that this would be a solid offering demonstrating maturity and it really tastes pretty young. Coming back to this, I'm leaning toward a 17, but it still isn't tasting super mature. It could be a 16. Rating it right now, I'd have to give this a 16.

Rating: 11/23 This is supposed to be the same stuff as Dickel Old No. 12, just in a new bottle. I never tried the old stuff, so I can't really comment on that, but I'm basing my expectations on what I've heard about Old No. 12. N: Light, sour mash, marshmallows, a touch of grain, vanilla, woody tannins. Aside from being a bit light, it's a really nice traditional bourbon profile. P: Quite light, with sugar water meeting orange flower water, vanilla, moderated oak. Definite sourness in here as well. Maybe hints of sour cherry and tangerine coming out of that. I don't love the sour mash (though there is some nuance coming out of it, it's a tad strong) or lightness, but I like the overall profile. There's a nice restraint going on here. F: Oh wow, a big burst of vanilla. Lingering hints of sour mash, but just so much vanilla. I really like this as a finish. It drives home the elegance that this dram is striving for. - Conclusion - This is easy enough to sip, though it's nothing amazing. I would take Wild Turkey 101 (14/23) over it in general. The problem this has isn't that it's unapproachable but that it's not bold enough for most mixing. Since it's not that great as a sipper either, it leaves me wondering what to do with it. Let's be real though - I'm obviously going to try a bunch of rapid aging with wood chips. This certainly isn't as low as a 9, but a 12 seems like a bit of a stretch. I'm thinking an 11. OK, after some side-by-siding with low-end bourbons, the lack of bitterness here is really standing out. I can appreciate that clean sweetness of Tennessee whiskey. I'm still not convinced it's better than an 11 though.

Rating: 16/23 N: Big minerality with light smoke. Hints of citrus, including a touch of nutty tangerine. Some iodine comes out with the smoke as well. A very faint hint of barbecue. There's an extra hint of bitterness to the smoke that makes me think of peat. P: Big and bold, with a layer of oil and also spiciness. Campfire mixed with vanilla and barrel spice in a way that avoids most of the usual barbecue meatiness. The smoke has a little bit of iodine to it, helping to develop that peat character. The mix of peaty smoke and what sure tastes like a bourbon barrel is decadent and not immature, but lacking in complexity and real maturity. Coming out of the oiliness, I get flavors of tangerine. I like that. There is kind of a malty sweetness throughout at points. It's clearly there, but the other flavors are bigger for sure. Maybe a small hint of meat, but that's it. Overall, there's a nice balance of peated malt, bourbon barrel, and oloroso cask here, though I'm making some assumptions about what was used to develop this. I'd love some better integration, but this has a nice hedonistic quality. There is a bi more burn than I'd really like, but it's under control and isn't harsh. F: Baking spices galore. Hints of iodine bring in smokiness. Notes of malty sweetness develop longer on in the finish. Maybe hints of grain, but that's not certain. Faint vanilla at points. This is quite a nice finish. - Conclusion - This tastes a bit out of balance in a youthful way, but it's not immature in a flawed way. I'm finding this to be more aggressive and less balanced than Nikka From the Barrel (17/23), but also more hedonistic, woody, smoky and interesting. The Nikka is a bit sweeter overall with more vanilla (mizunara?), but it doesn't really taste more mature. The Shin 10 (16/23) has some smoke and a bite, but it's loaded with decadent apricot and vanilla. It's so much more hedonistic than this is and it's also more balanced in comparison somehow. I was originally thinking that this was a 17 or 18, but now I'm thinking a 16. I like what this brings to the table, but its flaws are increasingly apparent. Side by side, I'm not finding that The Shin is clearly better than this. On a technical level, I am leaning toward the Nikka over this though. It's not that big a difference though. I might go up to a 17 for this, but I think that a 16 is reasonable. This is very close to the Nikka, but I think that its lack of refinement earns its a 16 rather than a 17. Still very nice. Thank you, @PBMichiganWolverine , for this sample!

Rating: 12/23 N: Fairly light, with youthful meatiness and floral scents. A hint of ethanol, but not too much. Hints of citrus are mixed in with the floral scents. Not a whole lot happening here and unfortunately it isn't particularly pleasant either. I kind of like that sweet, floral citrus, but there isn't anything else good happening here. P: This is richer and fuller than I'd expected, with less of a weird funk. There is a bit of a pretty standard grainy funk, but it's actually kind of nice. I get more of a burn than I'd expected and I taste some spicy ethanol, but it's not too strong. It's interesting how there's a prickly spice to the burn rather than just a a harshness. Hints of lemon and lime. That grainy richness is kind of nice. Faint hints of vanilla. The overall profile is still pretty light, but it's less insipid than I'd expected based on the nose. F: Grain, but not the richest part, citrus, spice with some ethanol. Not much happening here. - Conclusion - This is pretty passable. It has some nice scotch characteristics and isn't overly sulphuric, but it's kind of rough and doesn't have a lot of personality. McIvor 17 (16/23) is much richer and fuller with more woody oiliness. It's smoother and more approachable and is clearly much better. The flavor here is significantly better than that of The Sexton (9/23). I'm thinking that this is around a 12. It's fine. I think it's a bit to burn-ful to be a 13, but I could believe that. I could also believe an 11, but a 13 seems more likely.