Tastes

Nose - honey, raisin, plum, orange zest, white wine, strawberry, almond, grape, cinnamon, apple skin, chocolate, fig, tea, light vanilla, oak notes, mild ethanol burn. Taste - sour apple, plum, grape, nutmeg, cinnamon, chocolate, cherry, caramel, vanilla, walnut, moderate oak, orange zest, mild to moderate alcohol bite, finishing fast and bright with a bit of sour apple, cinnamon, and oak bitterness lingering. The nose got my hopes up, but they were quickly dashed upon tasting this. The bouquet presents like a very solid, albeit young, sherried scotch. Nothing fantastic, but fairly respectable. However, I immediately got the same sour apple flavor I register with other young and/or over-diluted scotches. As an aside, I don’t see other reviewers reference this note very often, so I may be mischaracterizing this unpleasant youthful, watery essence that I perceive as sour apple. I wonder if this would be significantly improved if Aberlour shipped it at a higher proof. I enjoy the A’bunadh much more, which is even younger but proofed much higher, so I assume this would probably be the case. Overall, this is not great. There are much better options available for the price (which is currently $50+ around me). Shout-out to @ContemplativeFox for providing the sample for me to review.

Nose - butterscotch, brown sugar, butter, cooked apple and peach, cinnamon, light rye spice, mild to moderate ethanol burn. Taste - caramel, vanilla, sour apple, brown sugar, cinnamon, subtle leather, moderate alcohol bite, finishing fast and sour with a bit of fruitiness and rye spice. This is definitely worse than the bourbon. It’s probably about on par with the rye, in my opinion. Interestingly, I find the apple notes to be less present here than in the others. There’s really not much going on here. The flavors are muddled. A bit of sweet, a bit of sour, some spice, but not much I’m able to identify confidently. Now that I’ve finished my Clyde May journey, I can say that the bourbon is the only expression I would willingly drink without cringing too much. There’s just no value here. Near me this is around $30 a bottle, which pits it against some really solid whiskies. Hell, the standard Elijah Craig is slightly cheaper and orders of magnitude more enjoyable.

Nose - stewed sour apple, white pepper, licorice, bread, clove, butterscotch, vanilla, allspice, eucalyptus, spearmint, light oak, dusty corn, bubble gum, cinnamon, melon, moderate ethanol burn. Taste - sour apple, caramel, clove, allspice, cinnamon, licorice, bubble gum, barrel spice, maple syrup, sweet corn, rye spice, spearmint, finishing medium length with rye spice, mint, and barrel char flavors. This is not my favorite rye profile. It’s sweet, sour, minty, and bitter. The flavors are muted and not well integrated. While the bourbon is not spectacular, I much prefer it to the rye.

Nose - sour apple, lemon, cranberry, melon, black pepper, butter cream, peanut, peach, cherry, clove, cinnamon, powdered sugar, vanilla, caramel, sweet oak, moderate ethanol burn. Taste - caramel apple, butter, toasted marshmallow, creamy vanilla, lemon zest, peach, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, clove, black pepper, sweet oak, peanut, cherry, mild to moderate alcohol bite, finishing quickly with apple, citrus, and barrel spice flavors. This is not the standard bourbon profile. The apple note is very strong throughout. In fact, a candied fruitiness pervades the entire flavor experience. The nose is fairly bright and leans a bit sour for my liking. The palate has some of the sourness as well, but it seems a bit more balanced. This isn’t my preferred flavor profile in a whiskey. Nonetheless, it’s a fresh take on the category that I think is pretty interesting. It’s an easy sipper that would probably appeal more to those who enjoy very sweet and fruity whiskey palates.

Nose - creamy vanilla, butterscotch, banana, Nilla Wafer, sweet dusty corn, cherry, cinnamon, light oak notes, mild ethanol burn. Taste - cherry, sweet vanilla, butterscotch, chili powder, cinnamon, almond, allspice, sweet corn, sweet oak, cocoa, mild alcohol bite, finishing medium length with caramel, vanilla, cinnamon, and subtle nut flavors. On the nose, I would have pegged this for a mature Jack Daniels, however the taste doesn’t follow suit. It’s a very sweet (almost cloying, but not quite), easy drinking whiskey that I think would make a good candidate to introduce someone to bourbon, as it’s just plain pleasant. If you want something extremely “smooth” in every way, this is for you. There’s absolutely no burn in the nose or the palate. This is not a bad bourbon, but there’s nothing special here. Additionally, I think it’s overpriced for what you get. Thank you to @ContemplativeFox for providing this sample for review.

Nose - orange zest, clove, allspice, cinnamon, bubble gum, spearmint, apple, malty cereal grain, oat, honey, dry caramel, tobacco, leather, dill, spiced vanilla, pine, smoked meat, grilled plantains, barrel char, moderate to high ethanol burn. Taste - clove, allspice, cinnamon, spearmint, orange zest, cherry, apple, bubble gum, dill, sweet tobacco, leather, vanilla, dry caramel, honey, oat, charred meat, banana, spicy oak, moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium length with an assortment of spicy rye spice, sweet baking spice, burnt caramel, and pleasant fruit flavors. I really like this rye, especially in cocktails. I bought one bottle, tasted it on its own and in a variety of cocktails, and immediately bought three more. First, let’s cover the one drawback for me. It’s four years old and tastes four years old. However, I feel the adolescent brightness suits it’s particular flavor profile nicely, although I can’t wait for some older expressions to be released. I find that (even more than with bourbon) rye flavor profiles are all over the map. Some love the sweet, barely legal ryes and others the 100% rye spice bombs. Heck, some love them all. The point is that this is my personal favorite rye flavor profile, thus far at least. It shares some similarities with the 95% MGP mash bill, but this tastes far better to me. I’ll need to do a head-to-head to tease out the differences, but I know I prefer this significantly. In addition to tasty sipping, I stock this mainly for my Old Fashioneds and Manhattans. Pure, unadulterated spicy deliciousness. I know this review comes in higher than the average and I’m probably giving it more credit than it objectively deserves, but hey, I like it and I’m sticking to it. New Riff is doing great things, and I can’t wait to taste more of their offerings in the future.

Nose - spearmint, eucalyptus, fennel, bubble gum, cherry, vanilla, nondescript rye spice, yeast, moderate ethanol burn. Taste - spearmint, licorice, cherry, vanilla, rye spice, light oak, mild alcohol bite, finishing quickly with mint, cherry, and rye spice flavors. I find this to be better than the bourbon releases, but not by much. The dominant note is sweet spearmint. There is a bit of sourness on the finish, but not enough to be particularly remarkable. As with the other Winchester offerings, this is not priced commensurate with its quality. For the same price, you can pick up Rittenhouse BiB and have a much better quality rye. This tastes very much like a young MGP rye, so if you want a similar profile, you can spend a bit more and pick up Dickel or Bulleit ryes and have tastier, more mature examples of the mash bill.

Nose - red berry, apple, cherry, plum, date, marshmallow, subtle citrus, powdered sugar, wine, pecan, walnut, coffee, green spicy wood (which is generally how I register the mizunara influence), cracked pepper, honey, rich butterscotch, creamy vanilla, cinnamon, chocolate, nougat, mild ethanol burn. Taste - milk chocolate, apple, cherry, butterscotch, powdered sugar, date, fig, plum, citrus juice, clove, cardamom, more berry, green spicy wood, wine, marshmallow, coffee, creamy vanilla, ginger, walnut, cinnamon, honey, nutmeg, mild alcohol bite, finishing medium length with boozy chocolate, sweet berry, and baking spice flavors. This is beautifully well balanced. It is definitely better than most Japanese whiskies I’ve tried, with the possible exception of Nikka from the Barrel, but it’s close. The Nikka is obviously more youthful and bright, but I really like how it accents the overall profile. With the Yamazaki, you can smell and taste the age, which is nice, but the whole experience seems almost too balanced, too well integrated. Not boring, but there are no sharp edges or particularly noteworthy points to highlight. Now, this is less of a critique on the whisky itself (which is obviously masterfully blended and meticulously tended), and more a commentary on my specific biases, which lean toward the harsher, more challenging profiles. Overall, it’s a cut or two above the ordinary and a pleasure to review. I hope to try the 12 year old soon and see whether the less mature expression is more interesting to my palate.

Nose - creamy cherry, honey, apple, plum, clove, cinnamon, allspice, rich caramel, toffee, brown sugar, graham cracker, vanilla, dusty corn, sweet oak, plantain, sweet tobacco, leather, bubble gum, wheat, powdered sugar, light campfire smokiness, mild to moderate ethanol burn. Taste - luxardo cherry, apple, plum, butterscotch, toffee, creamy vanilla, leather, honey, raspberry, cinnamon, brown sugar, black pepper, bubble gum, tobacco, banana, allspice, nutmeg, clove, wheat, strong barrel notes, moderate alcohol bite, finishing long with cherry, tobacco, dark red fruit, and baking spice flavors. This is a very good bottle of bourbon. Definitely in the top tier that I’ve tried, and the only wheated bourbon I’ve really enjoyed. It’s deliciously rich and complex. So, there’s absolutely no doubt in my mind that this is a very high quality whiskey, one that is further complemented by the higher proof. Outside of the wheaters (because they’re a low bar for me), do I like this better than Booker’s? Yes. Do I like it better than ECBP? Maybe, maybe not depending on the day and particular release. I can pick up ECBP for $60 easily. At $120 retail, I think this is a reasonable buy for 15 year old, high proof, quality bourbon, but I wouldn’t say it’s a great value. At $2000+ secondary prices, this is a status symbol to impress friends and family. For reference, I paid $60 for a generous pour at a restaurant. I was happy to pay that, knowing I’ll never own a bottle myself.