Tastes

It has been awhile since i last had this and i remember when i had it about 3-4 years ago I thought the port barrel finish made the bourbon too sweet. This time around I went in with an open mind and now I feel the barrel sweetness is not as pronounced and impactful. I still think it's a decent pour, but nothing too spectacular about it.

So i decided to give this a try because it was a reasonably priced pour in a restaurant in Vegas. Unfortunately it was a pretty big let down, not much flavor beyond the grain that it was made with. pretty young whisky and no reason to go out and search for this one.

In the last week I tasted both the standard Rebel Yell and Larceny wheated bourbons. I think that Weller Reserve is over rated, but the one thing it has over the other two wheated bourbons is that it is not overly sweet. The Larceny and Rebel Yell have a heavier syrupy texture and taste that I am not a big fan of.

New Riff has been the new kid on the block that everyone has been talking about. This is the first New Riff product that I've had and overall it lives up to the hype in the industry. For a new distillery making a 4 year bottle in bond, it is a very good first step. The nose and the pallet is slightly thin and with a very faint hint of youthfulness. It has a lot of vanilla flavors with a small amount of oak to finish it. Overall it is impressive what they have done with their first few batches of their product and will look forward to trying their different ryes.

Not a bad tasting bourbon and especially for the price. Sweet banana bread on the nose which is the best part of the drink. The the palate is very sweet, more so than the other wheated bourbons, Markers Mark and Weller. Being a wheated bourbon there isn’t much spice to it and a of hint of oak on the tail end of the finish.

I will start by saying that i am not a big fan of the standard four year Templeton and I definitely did not like their shady marketing practices making people believe that they distilled their own whiskey. With that being said my dad had a bottle of 6 year so i didn't have to buy a bottle or a pour at a bar. This 6 year is a step up from the four year and is better than what i was expecting. With that being said it is not your typical spicy rye whiskey and it's more juicy than dry. It is an easy drink to sip on at a reasonable price if you are somewhat new to ryes. Don't expect an over the top complex sipper, enjoy it in a cocktail or on the rocks.

I have to say, Irish whiskey is not one of my favorites styles and i have been slowly trying new bottles to see if anything is worth me buying a bottle of. The 12 year Knappogue hits the mark for me in the sense that it tastes closer to a Scotch rather than an Irish.

Better than I remember from a few years ago, this one is quite a bit more thick and syrupy compared to their other bottles. I also get a little medicinal flavor at the very end of the finish.