Tastes

Rating: 19/23 I needed a special occasion dram and this was golf-themed, so I figured it was just right for my golf-themed occasion. N: Loch Lomond funk that is old and maybe not wearing all that well. A definite bit of ethanol is mixed in with apples and apricots and dry, bitter vanilla. Unfortunately, the ethanol smell, despite being clean, is the biggest aroma present. There is a bit too much bitter mustiness, but it's OK. A hint of savoriness that isn't quite meaty or soy sauce and is under control. A hint of yeast. P: Sweet fruit with cinnamon. A touch of red fruit like currants or something, then a little apricot and tangerine. It's a touch oily like it came out of an oloroso cask and I get some nice maltiness as well. The signature Loch Lomond funk is subdued, but present, and it mixes well with some mellow wood. There's a bit of aged funk something going on here that reminds me of scotch with too much water added, but it stays on the good side of that line overall. I also get hints of peppermint amid some nice dark chocolate. Notes of caramel. F: There's some funk and the bitterness makes a larger appearance than I'd like, but there are layers here, with malt, caramel, apricot, vanilla, apple, and musty wood all coming in. This is actually a fairly complex finish that is decadent and fairly approachable. - Conclusion - This is a very nice dram. It isn't blowing my mind, but it's showing me that Loch Lomond can still be quite good even at older ages. They did a great job with the finishing on this one and it really brings the thing together and gives it some life and decadence. This is a lot better than Signatory's Inchmurrin 17 (1996) (15/23). The Inchmurrin (also a Loch Lomond product) is lower ABV with more of that bitter, watered-down flavor. It's also more brash, young, biting, and unbalanced. This showcases more wood, balance, vanilla, and spices, with less burn. There are decadent vanilla and apricot flavors here that the Inchmurrin is leagues from competing with. Bladnoch 17 California Red Wine Cask Finish (17/23) has a similar amount of complexity to this, but it is less balanced, with more odd flavors like black licorice, buckwheat, and menthol. This is more approachable, balanced, mature, and decadent. This still does taste a bit over-matured, but it isn't at all bad. This is easily an 18. Ben Bracken 28 (18/23) is more bitter, mellow, funky, watery, and complex than this is. Honestly, I think that the Ben Bracken's major flaw is that it's been watered down too much. Otherwise, I think that it easily defeat this. I think that the two are fairly competitive, though I might give that win to this by a small margin. I think it's the decadent vanilla that makes me like this a bit better. I'm thinking that for now this is an 18, but I can imagine giving it a 19 in the future. Maybe even a 20. A great dram for sure, but not one that is blowing me away. Coming back to this half an hour later, I'm leaning toward a 19. This is excellent, but it's still a little lacking with that bitterness and lack of nuanced complexity. I do think that this is better than Wild Turkey Rare Breed 116.8 (18-19/23), but it isn't a huge difference. As usual, it seems like my take is to buy Wild Turkey Rare Breed to maximize value.

Rating: 15/23 I previously quite liked High West Double Rye. I'm very curious about this PX finish, but I'm also wary because PX tends to be super funky and overwhelming. Hopefully this one is more subdued. N: A big rye herbal minty spiciness. It's decadent and very reassuring. A faint malty hint and musty dust smell. A touch of cherry and vanilla too. It's very decadent, nicely balanced, pretty complex, and very reassuringly not overwhelmed by PX. P: Rye front and center with Herbal flavors alongside mint. A hint of maltiness is here too. In the second wave of flavor, I get cherry and nuttiness with some funk that is a tad off, but that melds in with the funky rye herbaceousness fairly well. This is quite sweet, but the mint and bitterness really help to balance it. Still, there's just a bitter bite to the funk with a slight industrial quality that really throws off the balance here a bit. F: The funk lingers a long time with just a touch of vegetal flavor. Some licorice and vanilla too. Herbal touches. A little nuttiness too. Not so much good or bad as bold and a bit challenging. - Conclusion - I think that there is a lot of potential here, a fair amount of which was realized, but a fair amount of which also doesn't quite land. The more I drink of this, the more the PX comes in. I feel like it could integrate nicely with this rye, but it just lingers so much on the finish that it's difficult for that to happen. This isn't on the same level as Belle Meade Cask Strength Reserve (18-19), but it is competitive with WhistlePig Piggyback (16/23). I'm thinking a 15 to 17 for this one. I think I would be at a 16 despite the weird flavors on the palate if it weren't for the lingering finish. Considering that, I'm leaning toward a 15. Thank you @Milliardo for sharing this one! Definitely one of the better PX finishes I've tried.

Rating: 18/23 I was out at a bar and tried this off of their happy hour menu. They used to have Eagle Rare and Bladnoch 15 on it at great prices, but those have gotten too expensive. Now they have this and Maker's Mark Cask Strength. I'm kind of surprised that they don't something lower proof. I'm getting too far off track here. This is very nicely balanced and quite decadent! There's good complexity and hedonism. It doesn't taste young or old, just very well matured. There's some clean alcohol, but considering the proof that just isn't at all surprising. I'd prefer it without the alcohol flavor, but it's a really nice alcohol flavor. The thing that stands out to me the most the the kind buckwheaty nuttiness mixed with a bit of toasted grain and dry grass. I get some packed, sliced bread in there too. But there are also sweet, nectary, honey, fruity flavors. They're on the tangerine, apple, and slightly tropical side. I get a little bit of the wood, but not a ton. They did a great job aging this. Everything here is very nice and exquisitely put together. It's just a hair muddled and there's no particular note wowing me. It's a great example of a quality scotch that just needs a bit more of a wow factor to enter excellent territory. It's easily a 17 and could be a 19, but I'm going with an 18.

Rating: 8/23 I vaguely recall hearing that this was good value, but not amazing. It's hard for me to get, so maybe not the best value for me, but I'm looking forward to trying it. N: Oh, no. This is really light with alcohol wafts. Digging past that, I get half-hearted apple sweetness mixed with a boring first-aid kit (probably a lot of it is just acetaminophen) and a kind of sour smoky meat. It doesn't smell like a very cooked meat though and it's fairly unappetizing. Clean creek water with a bit of minerality. Dirt with faint, stale tobacco. This nose is unfortunately not good. P: Smoky, but not super big and bold. Restrained with faint orchard fruits (apple, white peach). Hefty vanilla with some sweet bourbon barrel spices, but also clean creek water with faint minerality. This palate is all over the place. It almost tastes like someone is trying to assemble it on the fly and they really aren't getting it assembled nicely. Occasional notes of alcohol. That sweetness is kind of just like sugar water. Ugh, but then that sourness. I'm not really liking this. There's a bit of ashtray going on, but it's kind of good. There's some malt after all, so that's nice too. There's also a lot of burn that is actually kind of harsh. I'm still not liking this, but I'll take the improvement. F: Lingering bourbon barrel spices. Sweet, clean creek water. Definitely a bit of hummingbird feeder vibes going on here. Some faint, stale tobacco as well. - Conclusion - This seems like a nice value dram, but it really is lacking the richness and coherence that Johnnie Walker Green has. I was surprised by how sweet this is and while I don't dislike that, it comes across a bit much like this was watered down with sugar water. This is certainly not making it up to a 14, but it isn't going down to an 8 either. I think a 13 is out too because of the burn. Picking now, I'd probably go with a 9. Huh, I'm getting the impression that this is less sweet, less full, more bitter, and more harsh than The Sexton. Maybe an 8 is a possibility. This certainly isn't higher than a 10. What a disappointment. Yeah, I'm thinking an 8 or a 9 now. I'm leaning toward an 8, but I was considering much higher than that previously, so I might go for a 9. No: I think I need to give a rating based on what I'm tasting now and that's an 8. That harshness and burn (presumably from the grain whisky) really kneecaps this. And there just isn't much else going for this. It's kind of like they added some smoke to make this more interesting and full, but it got bitter as a result and lost its elegance.