Tastes

Nose - french vanilla, instant coffee, peanut shell, chocolate malt, mild ethanol burn. Taste - french vanilla, cinnamon, mocha, coffee, peanut butter powder, nutmeg, salted caramel, mild to moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium length and syrupy with mocha, baking spice, french vanilla flavors. This tastes more like a mocha coffee liqueur than a peanut butter flavored whiskey. It’s extremely cloying and syrupy and tastes very similar to one of those sickeningly sweet Frappuccino monstrosities from Starbucks. I fear if I take another sip, I’ll immediately be stricken with a terrible headache, or Diabetes. This is best drizzled over ice cream, blended into a milkshake, or thrown in the trash. Obviously, this wasn’t created for sipping neat and it shows.

Nose - honey, vanilla yogurt, pear, strawberry, cereal grain, lemon zest, oat, apple sauce, green peppercorn, cinnamon, sweet oak, white wine, grape, hay, nectarine, sweet floral and bitter herbal notes, mild to moderate ethanol burn. Taste - lemon, strawberry, orange zest, honey, pear, salted caramel, vanilla bean, tart apple, cinnamon, ginger, floral and herbal notes, white and chili pepper, hay, coconut, barrel spice, fruit blossom, cereal grain, moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium length with citrus zest, assorted floral and herbal, vanilla, and mildly tannic oak flavors. What a beautiful example of long, gentle Speyside aging. There’s a subtlety that belies its age, but there’s also a depth and richness of flavor that you don’t find in young whiskies as well. The nose is a veritable fruit basket of aromas, sweet and tart with a satisfying honey and vanilla component that complements the fruitiness nicely. It’s a bit like the smell of mixing vanilla yogurt with oats and honey and an entire refrigerator drawer’s worth of fruits. Understatedly delicious and inviting. The palate follows suit, with deeply tart fresh fruit dominating the arrival. Next come the gentler floral notes which give way to some cinnamon, dry herbs and spices, and soft, yet tingly pepper. The finish continues with these notes but also brings some tannic wood, not unpleasant but just enough to immediately turn your mind to the next sip. The tart, slightly salty, electrolytic remembrance of the palate ignites a mouth watering, Pavlovian response that is quite remarkable. This dram seems to continuously quench and rekindle your thirst for it, until the glass is empty and you’re left with but a memory of the encounter. Overall, this is delicious. There is a non-trivial amount of maltiness that I feel detracts from the experience and holds this back from true greatness, however it certainly decimates all other Speysides I’ve tried and ignites my interest in a region I don’t often consider all that exciting. It’s also my first real taste from an independent bottling, which is a category I look forward to exploring more in the future. Many thanks to @ContemplativeFox for providing the sample and allowing me to have this wonderful experience.

Nose - vanilla cream, banana, Nilla Wafer, molasses, coffee, orange, cinnamon, graham cracker, mild ethanol burn. Taste - coffee, cream, dark chocolate, banana, citrus zest, burnt toast, molasses, mild alcohol bite, finishing medium short with dark chocolate, burnt coffee, and citrus zest flavors. If I didn’t know this was Jameson, I may have guessed that it was some Jack Daniels based coffee liqueur. The vanilla and banana notes on the nose are very reminiscent of JD. The coffee, chocolate, vanilla creaminess is certainly inviting. The palate isn’t terrible, but it’s a disappointing anticlimax for sure. There are some nice coffee, chocolate, and citrus notes, but these are overshadowed by a bitter taste that reminds me of eating a sad, burnt-to-a-crisp chocolate chip cookie. Overall, this isn’t terrible and I’m sure it mixes better than it drinks neat, but I’m much more inclined to spend essentially the same amount on a high quality coffee liqueur like Mr Black.

Nose - cherry, butterscotch, pecan, mint, corn, black pepper, vanilla, apple, cinnamon, clove, grass, prickly oak, moderate ethanol burn. Taste - mint, apple, cherry, caramel, vanilla, corn, black pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, grape, ginger, walnut, almond, moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium short with earthy mint, caramel, black pepper, and spicy oak flavors. As this is the companion to the standard Ensign Red, I’m doing these reviews head-to-head. Generally, I think the Black is richer, spicier, and hotter than the other. The oak is definitely more present as well. However, the same issues are found here. It’s young, hot, and too sweet. However, I’d still much rather drink this than most other Canadians I’ve tried, particularly the Crown Royal Black, which is horrifying. Overall, I like this a bit more than the standard offering, but not enough to bump it up a notch. This is still below average, but totally drinkable if you have low expectations.

Nose - cherry, grape, mint, black pepper, corn, caramel, peach, cinnamon, light oak, unidentifiable nut, mild to moderate ethanol burn. Taste - corn, sweet caramel, light smoky oak, black pepper, mint, cinnamon, pecan, macadamia, apple, vanilla, mild to moderate alcohol bite, finishing fast with caramel, mint, and barrel spice flavors. This is below average, but not nearly as bad as some of the other Canadians I’ve reviewed. There’s a nice minty, nutty, grape candy sweetness on the nose. Nothing like the standard bland, cloying corn sweetness I find on many of the others. The taste is very sweet, but not unpleasantly so. There’s some youthful prickly wood on the palate, which isn’t great, but some nice caramel and sweet nuttiness as well. Overall, it’s a bit too sweet and young, but richer than most of its direct competitors. I’d much rather drink this than the likes of Canadian Mist and Black Velvet. And at less than $20, the price is right if you happen to be a fan of budget Canadian whisky. Who knows. Maybe there are one or two of you out there.

Nose - overripe orange, apple, pear, strawberry, lemon, banana, pineapple, kiwi, vanilla cream, brine, shipyard sea spray, oily peat, iodine, hay, powdered sugar, fusty detritus, pencil eraser, floral notes, cinnamon, nutmeg, toffee, cereal grain, black pepper, toasted coconut, honey, tobacco, potato starch, white wine, moderate ethanol burn. Taste - decaying orange zest, pineapple, strawberry, peach, lemon, powdered sugar, hay, coconut, dank peat, brine, diesel, black pepper, ginger, chili pepper, floral notes, sweet tea, leather, tobacco, slightly tannic oak, iodine, cereal grain, cinnamon, moderate to high alcohol bite, finishing long with overripe fruit, hay, tingly pepper, dank oily peat, and tannic oak flavors. Oh man. The nose on this one is next level. There is so much happening here. Right when I think I’ve captured it, more aromas make an appearance before elegantly transforming into something completely different. This is like a half-rotten fruit basket that’s been sitting in the sun on a marina dock all day. It’s sweet, oily, salty, spicy, sour, and bitter all at once. An olfactory masterpiece. The taste is really good, but it’s not playing in the same league as the nose. Many of the aromas transfer to the palate, but the youthfulness makes its appearance here. It’s not at all off-putting, but present enough to hold this back from being truly outstanding. I waited eight months between opening and doing an official tasting of this one, since I’ve heard many say it improves with oxidation. I can vouch for this as well. It’s notably changed each time I’ve poured a dram. This is a delicious entry level expression from an amazing distillery. Unfortunately, prices have been rising and I’ve seen this pushing $100 recently. It’s not $100 good, but if you can find this under $70, it’s definitely worth a buy.

Nose - cinnamon, yeast, black cherry, vanilla, nutmeg, allspice, cocoa, apple, mint, bitter herbal notes, dry oak, blueberry bread, banana, marshmallow, moderate ethanol burn. Taste - spiced apple pie, cinnamon, chocolate malt, vanilla, nutmeg, allspice, cranberry, clove, tannic oak, graham cracker, cherry, ginger, black pepper, banana, moderate to high alcohol bite, finishing medium length with tannic oak, baking spice, and cocoa flavors. The main difference I find between this and the 2019 RC6 is that this is less fragrant and much more bitter, spicy, and tannic. The wood notes are far more pronounced here. The extra French oak stave really has a big impact, but not in a way that I’d say is particularly pleasant. There’s more of a toasted oak vibe going on here than with the RC6. Generally, there are a lot of overlapping flavors and both are unmistakeable Maker’s products, but I rate this one slightly above average and the RC6 one notch higher.

Nose - toasted marshmallow, rich caramel, cinnamon, chocolate, nutmeg, banana, black pepper, vanilla, cherry, mint, thyme, sweet oak, cherry, apple, moderate ethanol burn. Taste - cherry, cinnamon, butter, apple, raisin, plum, rich vanilla, caramel, graham cracker, marshmallow, clove, nutmeg, brown sugar, allspice, sweet and spicy oak, cranberry, cocoa, ginger, black pepper, banana, moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium length with rich caramel, cherry, and strong baking spice flavors. This is a bit like s’mores in a glass. There are loads of rich caramel and prominent baking spices. It’s certainly a cut above the Maker’s 46 or me. Overall, this is the best Maker’s product I’ve tried so far and effectively a much more robust version of the standard offering, which is good but reinforces the impression that I just really don’t like the brand’s profile all that much. This is definitely good, but it’s not a fantastic whiskey for me.

Nose - pear, apple, honey, oats, decaying grass, cereal grain, coconut, old wood, white wine, mild to moderate ethanol burn. Taste - pear, coconut, apple juice, wet grass, honey, melon, cereal grain, grape, cinnamon, bitter herbal notes, barrel spice, orange blossom, yeast, moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium short with honeyed fruit, dry herbal, and grain flavors. This is definitely a step up from the Shieldaig Classic, but it still tastes young and cheap. Thankfully, spoiled meat and plastic tastes aren’t present here, but there is an off note I can’t quite place. Maybe it’s the decaying grass, bitter herbal, or just a hint of sulphur. Whatever it is, it’s not terrible. There’s still some of that same youthful graininess throughout, but nowhere near as pronounced. At around $35, I wouldn’t call this a rip off, but you can do much better in that range. I won’t spring for a higher age statement version of this, but I imagine the 18+ year expressions might be pretty good.