Tastes

Nose - pink lemonade, blackberry jam, grape, lemon zest, moderate ethanol burn. Taste - grape jelly, blackberry, lemonade, cinnamon, toffee, vanilla, mint, rich simple syrup, mild to moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium long with grape, lemonade, and making spice flavors. This is one of the better flavored whiskies I’ve tasted. It’s not quite as syrupy and cloying as most of the others. There’s a nice mix of sweet, sour, and spice that almost makes it sippable. Almost, but not quite. I bet this would be really tasty with coke. I’ll keep this one in mind if I ever decide to buy a full bottle of flavored whiskey. I probably won’t though.

Nose - peach tea, cucumber water, lime zest, cinnamon, mild to moderate ethanol burn. Taste - over-sweetened peach tea, orange zest, candy peach ring, rich simple syrup, cinnamon, caramel, sweet vanilla, mild alcohol bite, finishing medium length with peach tea, cinnamon, and orange zest flavors. I usually like peach flavored whiskey better than the apple equivalent, but not in this case. The nose is alright. It’s almost like a peach teabag was steeped in cucumber water with a bunch of Splenda packets. The palate takes a worse turn. It’s just too sweet, completely cloying and sickly. The apple version was cloying as well, but not like this. Dump it in some Coke, or better yet, the trash and pour some real whiskey.

Nose - green Jolly Rancher, candy apple, corn sweetness, mild to moderate ethanol burn. Taste - candy apple, rich simple syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, mild alcohol bite, finishing medium length with syrupy vanilla, candy apple, and prickly cinnamon flavors. I suppose it’s time for me to work through a few of these flavored whiskey samples I should have never purchased. No point in wasting a review, so we’ll keep this short. It’s not good, but it’s obviously not meant to be a sipper. I’m rating it one notch above my lowest, because at least it’s not actively offensive. It’s syrupy sweet with a chemically, candied sour apple essence. Buy this if it’s your jam. It’s not mine.

Nose - medicinal peat, rubber, iodine, smoked meat, leather, tar, caramel, vanilla, lemon zest, moderate ethanol burn. Taste - rubbery peat, tar, green apple, toffee, dry vanilla, iodine, leather, mesquite, smoked meat, lemon zest, moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium length with peat smoke, toffee, and lemon zest flavors. I may have been a little tough on Total Wine yesterday. Not all of their house offerings are awful. This is one of those cases. Now before you go full Black Friday and stampede through the aisles of your local store, this isn’t great; it’s just not terrible. The nose is classic Islay, but more youthful and timid than most. It’s medicinal, rubbery, and meaty, with a bit of caramel and vanilla making an appearance. The palate is more boisterous, with citrus zest and green apple joining the smoke party. Overall, this is better than average. It tastes as I’d imagine a young Laphroaig and Caol Ila blend would if it were diluted too much. This is bottled at 46%, but is still thin and watery. It has good bones, but the execution is flawed. It’s not at the same level as other young Islays like Wee Beastie, and it’s certainly inferior to Laphroaig 10 and Caol Ila 12, however this is priced right at $37 a bottle near me. If you want an Islay and are on a shoestring budget, Smokey Joe isn’t a bad option.

Nose - green apple, peach, orange zest, light caramel, grass, cinnamon, mild ethanol burn. Taste - cereal grain, green apple, lemon zest, corn sweetness, cinnamon, honey, grass, mild to moderate alcohol bite, finishing fast with bright ethanol, green apple, and citrus zest flavors. A name like ‘Triple Smooth’ does not inspire confidence, but let’s see if I’m just judging the book by its cover. TLDR, I’m not. This isn’t good stuff, as we’ve all come to expect with Total Wine brands. It’s smooth in the sense that the alcohol burn is low, but I actually find this rather astringent. The dominant aromas on the nose are sour apple, citrus zest, and a hint of peach, which I find to be the only redeeming quality about it. The palate is worse, with more sour graininess coming out, along with some bland corn sweetness, not completely dissimilar from a cheap Canadian whisky. Don’t buy this. It’s around the same price as Tullamore, Bushmills, and Jameson, but not as good as any of them. And that’s a pretty low bar. Total Wine has failed me yet again, but probably not for the last time.

Nose - baked apple, earthy mint, pine, cashew butter, cocoa, clove, allspice, leather, dill, cinnamon, anise, caramel, spiced vanilla, yeast, herbal tea, moderate to high ethanol burn. Taste - mint, anise, leather, pine, clove, allspice, caramel, toasted barley, dry vanilla, dill, tar, spiced apple, wood polish, cinnamon, black tea, dark chocolate, high alcohol bite, finishing medium long with leather, mint, spiced apple, and strong baking spice flavors. I really enjoy the standard Dad’s Hat, so when I saw this single barrel cask strength bottling for around $60, I knew it would be coming home with me. Interestingly, it’s been a year since I bought the bottle and the store still has a lot of stock, so I don’t think it’s selling very well. The nose provides the classic Monongahela aromas but punchier than I’ve encountered before, with spiced apple, cashew butter nuttiness, minty rye spices, and roasty toasty barley notes. The palate carries much of the same, but with strong, tannic leather and a varnish-like quality I liken to wood polish. Overall, this is delicious rye at a good price point, especially given that it’s under four years old. It’s rich, spicy, and bold. Everything I like in a rye. Grab one if you see it on the shelf.

Nose - apple, lemon zest, caramel, strawberry, vanilla, fig, floral notes, raisin, cinnamon, allspice, cereal grain, black pepper, moderate to high ethanol burn. Taste - caramel, strawberry, green apple, vanilla, chili pepper, fig, plum, lemon zest, cereal grain, cinnamon, clove, moderate alcohol bite, finishing fast with caramel, strawberry, and chili pepper flavors. I bought a 50ml miniature of this, and am glad I didn’t buy the bottle instead. It’s not bad, but the quality isn’t at the level of Virginia Distillery Co’s Courage & Conviction release. The nose is hot for the proof and reads as very young. It takes some work to get past the ethanol, but once you do you’ll find sour apple and caramel, along with strawberry and dark fruits that hint at the port finish. Similarly, there’s nothing particularly special with the palate. More of the fruit notes are present with some baking spices, but it’s just too young and hot to be compelling. Overall, it’s forgettable. Certainly a step up from a cheap blended malt, but not by much.

Nose - apple juice, floral notes, honey, grass, toffee, mild to moderate ethanol burn. Taste - toffee, sour apple, vanilla, honey, chili pepper, grass, floral notes, cherry, cereal grain, moderate alcohol bite, finishing fast with cereal grain, toffee, and sour apple flavors. Well, we’re back to mediocrity with this final Laws review. The rye I tasted last night was fairly decent, but there’s just not much going for this one. The nose is almost completely nonexistent. It’s not bad, but there’s nothing interesting or defining about it, save for a bit of cheap apple juice and a generalized sweet, floral quality. The palate is slightly more interesting, and I mean slightly. The apple note comes into focus more clearly, along with some toffee and the hot zing of chili pepper, which is probably the youth making itself known. As I’ve come to expect from these young Laws expressions, the finish is disappointingly short and, in this case, rather grainy. Overall, I’m glad I was able to experience these four whiskies from Laws for the nominal price of a sampler pack. However, I’m not inspired to seek out additional offerings, especially given that their pricing is so completely incongruous with the quality of their products. If I see one of their bonded offerings at a bar, I’d likely give it a try, but a bottle will not be in the near future for me.

Nose - mint, brown sugar, floral notes, orange zest, caramel, vanilla, clove, allspice, marshmallow, baked apple, cinnamon, mild oak, mild to moderate ethanol burn. Taste - mint, orange and lemon zest, over-steeped tea, clove, spiced vanilla, dill, caramel, spicy oak, floral notes, cinnamon, allspice, black pepper, moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium short with mint, baking spice, and woody tea flavors. Hey, this isn’t bad! Maybe it’s just my affinity for ‘high rye’ ryes, but this breaks slightly from the mediocrity of the Laws four grain bourbon and wheat whiskey samples I reviewed. It’s not great, but absolutely a step up. It’s still young and bright like its counterparts, but this reads to me as slightly older and more well integrated. The nose is sweet, spicy, and floral, with some nice baked fruit hiding in the background. The palate dials up the spice and adds an over-steeped tea note, which I know some reviewers dislike. Not me though. I’m a sucker for those tea notes. Overall, this is well on its way to being a solid rye. It’s just too youthful to warrant a higher score. I bet the bonded version of this is pretty good though. However, the value for money is still terrible. This is the same price as Pikesville, and it’s not even playing in the same league.