Tastes

Rating: 11/23 N: I get that usual Jack Daniel's banana sweetness, but also some clean rye tartness and minerality. A bit of wood and some spiciness come out as well. Not a really exciting nose, but nothing smells terribly concerning and there is some complexity present. P: I taste the rye and banana here as well, alongside the spices and some wood. There's a dash of creosote, but not too much. It mixes nicely with a hint of black licorice. This is a quite light and approachable palate, making it easy enough to sip and an easy introduction to rye. The Jack Daniel's banana isn't as aggressive as in the Old No 7, but it's a bit more out of place here since it's fairly unusual for ryes to carry such a flavor. F: The finish is fairly mild as most of the flavor evaporates, leaving kind of a mineral memory. There remain light hints of banana, toffee, rye, and wood. This is at least a 10, but it's hard to justify higher than a 12. A 13 is plausible, but unlikely. I don't like it as much as George Dickel Rye, but I can see an argument for it being close. There's a lightness like in Ancient Age that I find appealing here, but it's really as a light, fun, sweet thing, not as something more serious. I'm sort of waffling between a high 11 and a low 12 right now. I'm landing on 11 now, but I can see a shift up to 12 in the future.

Rating: 17/23 I recall this being both interesting and quite good. Let's see how it holds up. N: Mellow maltiness with that characteristic buckwheat scent. I get some sweet, lightly chocolatey (a bit like hot cocoa), nutty-oily and smoky earthiness along with fresh grain off of it (the buckwheat scent, essentially), but it avoids smelling chalky. There are perhaps faint notes of nutmeg, allspice, and cinnamon. It smells young, but full and not harsh. If I get any alcohol, it's only the faintest bit. This is really tame for the proof and age (I imagine) without coming across as weak or flat. Digging deeper, I get a faint hint of floral apricot coming off of the malt, but it is really barely there. Mostly, the nose highlights the blend of grains and it does so nicely. P: It has much the flavor of the nose. I get the nuts, earth, chocolate, spices. I get a bit more cinnamon now. There's actually a faint mustiness that reminds me a little of Westward, though less extreme. There's a bit more of a tartness and bitterness and the oiliness comes out somewhat more. The floral flavor of the apricot is enhanced and brings in some vanilla. There are light minerals, but they're well under control. The new tart-bitter flavor is perhaps a bit loud, but the palate is otherwise very nice. And it's very smooth. The complexity is solid and the balance is great. F: It's a clean and balanced finish. There's a drying element from the bitterness, but it's nothing too strong. The buckwheat comes through, giving this an interesting twist that is a little more savory earthy, but that fits in nicely. I'd be kind of interested to try a peated malt whiskey with buckwheat, actually. This is interesting not only because it showcases buckwheat but also because it has a great balance and solid complexity despite its (presumed) youth. It's actually a very easy sipper. While its youth isn't hidden, it doesn't hold it back. Unlike a lot of Corsair's releases, this doesn't beat you over the head with its profile. Expressions like Mosaic and Wildfire often feel like they're shouting at you a bit, whereas here the buckwheat is very present, but well integrated. This was well worth the $50. It's also not a bad intro for a novice, so I will grant that it's a kind of weird one. Yeah, that's the gist. This is an easy 15. I think an 18 would be really pushing it given the only decent complexity and flavor profile that is a bit more on the interesting side than the actively delicious side. Still, I really enjoy this. I gave a 16 to Westward but a 17 to Amrut Peated and I think that both are very close to this in quality. So it's going to be a 16 or 17. In the end, I think that the mellow richness and moderate complexity here put this closer to the Amrut Peated than to Westward, so I'm going with 17.

15: The nose is sweet with that young malt character. It reminds me both in smell and flavor of Westward, though this is more flamboyant. The palate is sweet and super malty with a taste of youth, but still a viscous smoothness. It's also really nutty. I eventually settled on chestnut, but the description says pistachio. I get where they'd find sort of a pistachio paste in here. The flavors are all good, though I'd really like to try a more aged version of this. The 1/3 buckwheat mix works really well. There's a fair amount going on here with subtlety and still prominent flavors. There is a bit of an odd vegetal funk from the buckwheat (at least, I think that's where it's from) that I don't really love, but appreciate the complexity of. There's some kind of rich milk chocolate too and a bit of spiciness that is (surprisingly) more prickly than like baking spices. This is thoroughly drinkable. Definitely at least a 15, though there's a broad range above there that it could be. This is a stellar example of a young whiskey.

Rating: 16/23 I strongly suspect that I overrated this last time, but I'm hopeful that it's still very good. N: Smoky for sure, but certainly not peaty. There's a tart-sweet fruitiness that reminds me of apples. There's also some meatiness coming from the smoke (which smells like hickory with and apple with hint of mesquite, but maybe I'm just primed for barbecue). Some maltiness comes through, but it isn't very strong or complex, suggesting youth. With the tartness, sharpness, and lack of subtlety, this definitely smells like a young whiskey aged in a hot climate. Not a super complex or hedonistic nose, but it's solid in both dimensions and also interesting, so I give it a thumbs up. P: Yeah, it's lighter and younger than I recalled, but it isn't excessively young or uncomplex. It lacks that deep, rich, mature complexity of the likes of Ardbeg Corryvrecken or Uigeadail, but there's still a fair amount going on here. This is more like Amrut Peated - It's strong and fairly young, but not in a bad way. It has that tartness of hot aging and a sweet smokiness (no peat). The tartness and sweetness give it a nice sweet apple flavor. It tastes a bit like barbecue pork ribs. I suspect that the apple sweetness combined with the smokiness and bit of meatiness from the malt is giving a little bit of a ketchup flavor. The alcohol is a bit sharp, but I wouldn't say it's harsh and it is 50% ABV. A bit more complexity would be nice to balance out the sharpness, but I don't begrudge it. F: It mellows out on the finish. The smoke becomes more subdued and the apples become more floral. The meatiness remains as well. The apple sweetness and floral character remains long into the sweetness, but the smokiness keeps it from being too light, bland, or grating. Unfortunately, I have to say that I misrated this before. I gave it a much higher rating than it deserved. This is still a very good an highly sippable smoky whiskey, but there are plenty of others that surpass it in a reasonable price range. It for sure has that BBQ smokiness going on and I definitely get some pork ribs with BBQ sauce, but I don't want to overemphasize how strong that flavor is. This is smoky, but not peaty. It has solid complexity and maturity, but it has nothing like the subtlety of many other peated whiskeys and I'd place it below both Ardbeg Corryvreckan and Ardbeg Uigideal. It's still very good and worth considering at $50, but unlike with the Corsair Grainiac, I wouldn't feel that bad if I could never buy another bottle. I like it and it is interesting, but I think that its youth is holding it back. I like where it's going, but it's kind of rough. The complexity is decent, but not really impressive. I do enjoy sipping it though, so I think it earns itself a 15. It could be a 16. It's very borderline between the two. It seems about a point below the Corsair Buck Yeah because of its youthfulness and brashness. It's also about a point behind Amrut Peated, though I could belive two. I realize this is a weird comparison, but they're both smoky whiskies aged for short durations in hot climates and the malty richness in the Amrut puts it oddly sort of between the Wildfire and Buck Yeah in profile, so it's a useful yardstick. I wonder if last time when I gave this a 20 the bottle had benefitted from oxidizing for years in the bar or if my palate was just totally off that night. Hopefully, my bottle will improve, but it has already been open for a few months, so I don't have high hopes. This is kind of young and brash tasting, but it's also decently complex, interesting, and tasty. I considered giving this a 15, but right now I'm going with a 16.

20: This smells stronger and less sweet than the Corsair Triple Smoke. There's a strong turmeric note that is not common among whiskies and gives this and Earth, western feel. Smoke is definitely there, as is a bit of pork loin. The palate is very smokey with a strong alcohol harshness and sufficient malty sweetness to balance the turmeric flavor. It tastes kind of chocolatey, but there turmeric keeps it grounded in barbeque. There is more malt than expected. There is some moderate apple fruitiness that goes well with the pork and there is also plentiful vanilla. There's a little licorice hanging out in here, but it is a playful amount and is sweetened by some toffee. This is smoky with some meaty barbeque for sure. Its flavors are very good and balanced very well. It's rich and the high ABV keeps it from tasting too mild. It kicks up the triple smoke yo deliver a rich sipper that is also sweet and meaty. There's enough spice to stand its ground, but it isn't painful. It has elements of some nice barbequed ribs, but it is less astringent and has some more sophistication. This is really an impressive drink. Corsair has raised the bar here. The mineral flavor just tastes like barbeque and the apple goes perfectly with the pork. From all angles, this tastes good. Great success, Corsair. Magnificent complexity and balance.

Rating: 14/23 Back to tasting this weird rye that reminds me (and others) of an Islay scotch. N: There's a prominent smoky, maritime (salty, briny) quality. Some richness from the malt mixes with the young rye tartness and spice to sort of create the illusion of a young Islay scotch that went a bit light on the peat. The rye's herbal character does make the smoke seem a bit more like peat, furthering the illusion. I do get a hint of apple as well, but it's faint. There's a fair amount going on in this herbal layer and it blends into vegetal, but it's honestly difficult to describe. There's some mineral, but not too much of it. P: It's smoky with some seaspray, apple, saltiness, sweet creek water, herbaceousness, light vegetal character, and some spice. It's not bad, but it does taste young, kind of like a young Island (Islay?) scotch. I think my description of Islay in the past suggested a bunch of peat that wasn't really there, though the herbal quality mixed with the rye tartness and smoke can reasonably be misinterpreted as peat. I think what this has is more of smoke with a natural herbal flavor and light aging (so little chance for the smoke to dissipate). It's shocking how sweet it is behind all of the smoke and herbal flavors, sort of like how sour candy manages to disguise how much sugar it has. This quality reminds me a tad of Los Vecinos Easpadin. It actually hurts my teeth sometimes to drink this because of the sweetness. The barley's richness really holds the whole thing together, but the barley is pretty young. This helps to sell the young, rugged, maritime quality, but I can't help but think that the barley could use some more complexity and the whole thing could benefit from just a bit more cohesion. Still, there's no excessive alcohol presence here. It took me ages to identify this weird flavor hanging out here, but I finally worked it out: dill pickles. I'm not sure how I feel about it being in here, but I do like dill pickles. This simultaneously gives this more credibility as a rye and accentuates its maritime ruggedness. F: That smoke and herbal character sticks around for ages, along with some apple. A bit of mineral flits in and out, along with a bit of barley that is simultaneously rich, sweet, and youthful I was baffled by this for a while, but I think I finally understand it. It has a lot of barley and is also smoked twice - once with apple wood - and is aged in two separate bourbon barrels. Considering all of this, the brash scotch influence makes a lot more sense, particularly when considering the rye's own herbal flavor. This is essentially a blended scotch with the illusion of peat. The balance is certainly off-kilter, but in a rugged scottish sailing way (like a young Islay scotch), so it works. It's not bad, but now that I realize that the distillery has essentially layered some makeup on very young juice, I can't decide if I'm impressed by the illusion or disappointed by the fraud. So, weirdly, this is best compared with malts rather than rye. This is a big improvement over Kings County Peated Single Malt, but it certainly isn't as good as Corsair Wildfire. I'm now thinking that this is more in the 13 range, closer to George Dickel Rye. The Dickel somehow actually has a fuller flavor, though this has a lot more going on. This "rye" is well worth trying, but I can't say that I'd recommend buying a bottle at $40. I wouldn't regret it, but I probably won't be buying another one myself. This also reminds me of Los Vecinos Espadin with its herbal, slightly vegetal smoky funkiness and youth. Los Vecinos has a brasher, more assertive character with more smoke and less sweetness, but it's also less rich and rounded. Which, frankly, it should be. Because it's joven mezcal. To be even comparing this with mezcal is wild. I think I prefer the Los Vecinos, but not by a tremendous margin - 2 points at most. Unfortunately, this just clearly has a light, immature profile. Put up against the likes of Los Vecinos Espadin or Corsair Wildfire, this tastes weak. There's a lot of potential here, but that 20 month aging is just not enough for this to hold its own. I'm fairly confident that a 12 would be unfairly harsh, but am pretty skeptical of a 15. A 14 does seem entirely possible though. This reminds me a fair amount of Smokey Joe, so I wish I had some of that around for comparison. Unlike George Dickel Rye (the closest rye I have to this in terms of general profile), this does a pretty good job of masking its youth. You know, I am increasingly appreciating this and I think it's pretty similar in quality to Smokey Joe, which I gave a 15, so I'm going up to a 14 on this and I think that a 15 is just as likely as a 13 now.