Tastes

What we have here is another budget blended malt (no grain). Part of my low cost spending spree this ran me $27. Nothing special here but solid value scotch. Light speyside fruits and malt with green wood and flash of peat. Little bit of char or imagined smoke as well. Thin and quickly fading finish its not an armchair event. However it does taste good and no off notes and well damnit its scotch so I like it. This is close in quality to the Shackleton I just reviewed but falls to Monkey Shoulder and Naked Grouse. I dont think I would repurchase but if it was at an event or party I would gladly imbibe.........78/100

Gifted this bottle by company owner ( awesome guy). Ok yeah I get it... another Nas Islay scotch, especially an unknown distiller with a hokey marketing scheme. We are tired of these knockoffs trying to compete with our beloved smoke monsters. I am not familiar with Smokehead offerings as this is my first but have to admit Im very impressed. I was concerned about a rum finished peated scotch after the total soapfest of GD Fire/Cane which was absolutely horrible imo. This however brings it with strong flavor delivery and no tide pods to be found. Im pretty sure this is Ardbeg ranging 6-9 yrs. Its not as volatile as Wee Beastie but a tick down from 10 yr refinement. The rum finish covers a lot of flaws and elevates this until the price sinks in. Nice robust smoky nose with powdered sugar sprinkled pastry and a touch of menthol. Palate is sizzling thick cut bacon glazed with brown sugar, oak tannins with smoky char and salty malt. Its a bit bright but flavors are deep. Finish is classic Islay with love you longtime smoke and cooling malt with an extra kick of sweet pastry dough. The barrel finishing here really adds to the experience in a positive way and this is (as most Islay's) highly enjoyable. The only problem I see is its around 80 bucks. As famously stated in Used Cars "That's too fuckin high" I can get Oogie or Corry for less in addition to many other age stated peated delicacies. Still this is quite tasty just overpriced........86/100

I channeled my inner Heisenberg and grabbed this off the shelf. Its a 15 yr blend for low $30's so expectations were not high. Poured neat nose is light fruit, gummy malt, heather and some green tea with a wispy smoky barrel. Palate comes in with surprising refinement at price point. Rich malt, buttery oak with a smidge of char alongside hints of gentle speyside fruit. Finish is standard malt and oak fade with lingering char and dare I say a drop of earthy peat. Its slightly drying but stops short of bitter. The magic here is the lack of grain alcohol nastiness. You can tell its there but its held in check with the ageing/quality of the juice I guess. Its not deep complex flavors that make you want to write a memoir but its tasty with a real cool bottle and I hate to say it but yeah its smooooth. Thats tough to get to for a grain blend. Kinda reminds me of Aberfeldy 12 a little. I would easily repurchase this friendly age statement blend.....86/100.....guess Walter was on to something

I have been finishing off a lot of high cost bottles recently and may have overcorrected with purchase of several low cost options including this Antarctic marketing special. Blended malt without nasty grain alcohol which is important for a NAS. The site notes are pretty good on this one. Nose is canned pear, red apple and malt with wispy smoke/peat and light barrel. Palate carries the nose and finishes quick with dry wood spice and fading malt. This is decent enough with no off notes but its a thin affair. Its drinkable and satisfies the itch for a low cost malt but does not bring anything special to the table. Monkey/Naked/Lineage easily best this for similar $$ so cannot recommend repurchase but this is better than a lot of blends........78/100.....If you are a scotch guy/gal this will work in a pinch and does have an interesting story(marketing-wise)

I used to run sound and lights for a cover band years ago. We were pretty dialed into the Chinese restaurant circuit. They had small rooms where they would pack the people in and my goal was to rattle some glasses off the bar rack they hung on. We would plow through 3 sets and get outta there 1-2oclock depending on which state we were in. This was back when EVERYONE smoked and inside was encouraged. Id get home and smell it on my clothes then jump in the shower and as soon as the water hits a blast of old used stale cigarette smoke would explode. That is Im afraid the smoke character in this scotch. The nose has a little vanilla and a little malt but mainly slightly bitter barrel and the smoke. Palate is more bitter wood and stale smoke with a flash of malt sweetness but fruit is lacking imo. Finishes dry with the grain kicking in a bit and the wood tannins alongside the tired smoke. It has a bit too much of someone put out a marlboro on your tongue for me but this is pretty popular in South America. Overall its not as bad as it sounds with some decent malt characteristics but off my list of repurchase........70/100.....its still scotch and perhaps the smoke profile can be grown into.......Side note: people need to get over the bottle pouring- just tip it upside down over the glass and shake the bottle a little and voila

The revival was great so excited to try this peated GG. Poured neat nose is toasted marshmallow and bbq pit smoke, There's some malt and planed wood shavings in there as well. Smells similar to the peated Bunna offerings. Palate delivers smoky malt and raw vanilla with a bit of spiced barrel and ash. Flavors are enjoyable but not very deep. Finish is standard peat smoke fade supported by lasting vanilla creme and barrel tannins. Its a good solid peated single malt but not like the Islay varieties. Its more sweet smoke than salty ocean style. The buttery goodness from the revival was not present but at $38 this is strong value. Overall for this style I would rather spend a bit more on Bunna or Balvenie smokies but this is good enough to purchase........86/100

My second Indian malt and must say I am a fan of the region. They've got the Texas heat aging magic going on. Poured neat nose is a good blend of sweet and spice. Fruity ginger, bosc pear, fresh malt and seasoned oak. Palate brings the fruit to life and adds masala, malt sugars, pinch of pipe tobacco and zesty barrel. It has a nice earthy barnyard ruggedness to it with rich full flavor. Finish is scotch like funk, fading sweet malt with curry, ash and lightly drying tannins. Its a bit young and bright but this is delicious imo, love the profile. I also like the idea of barley from the Himalayas (hooray marketing). There is no scotch that taste like this its very unique with the additional spices present . I got this on sale for $35 and now wish I had cleaned them out. Will continue with this distillery as the Fusion is highly rated and cask strength offerings available as well. You got me India, Im in........89/100..... Amrut is worth a try for those on the fence

American single malts are becoming some of my favorites. Balcones is of course fantastic. This Seattle based Westland offering is discontinued and thats a shame. I was lucky to find on sale for $37. Poured neat, dried banana chips, teaberry gum, vacuum bag and some malt presence. There is some smoke but its a resin /plastic melting affair. Palate shows its youth but is vibrant with smoky malt sugars, banana peel, barrel woods with a nice hit of char. Finish is tannins only slightly dry and good lasting charred malt with a lingering floral feel. Its a bit bright and hot but flavors are deep and sustain. Overall an enjoyable ASM.........85/100........I bet the sherry finished would be great though I think thats discontinued as well. This is a distillery to keep an eye on and dont worry if considering purchase, these guys are quality.

Another quality whiskey from Michters. This one is billed as a bourbon/rye hybrid with the mashbill specs. Noses spicy caramel, baking spice and blast of barrel woods. There's a trickle of melted butter and the sweetest pipe tobacco that works its way in. Palate is rich and full with most of the nose carrying forward. Zesty and sweet the spiced caramel and toasty oak win out. Finish is heavy oak with expected fade of bourbon sweets and rye spices. This is good stuff especially if you like high rye bourbon. Tastes much more like bourbon than rye so dont expect a dill fest. I continue to marvel at how much flavor Michters packs into their lower proof offerings. Its the premium whiskey without the eye watering alcohol content many cannot deal with. Im fine with high test but have to hand it to Michters with the low barrel entry proof they can still sustain deep flavors regardless of final proofing. I think I like the Unblended a tick more but I enjoy all the Michters Ive tried.....86/100.....spicy without overbearing pepper some high rye bourbons exhibit

So Im trolling TW in Selma, TX late on a Friday afternoon cause I35 is so jammed up might as well pull off and peruse fine spirits. Lately they have had some sale tags and Im a value shopper so hell yeah. Spotted this well known bottom shelfer that ive never had on sale for 11.99 so thought wtfn and grabbed it. The tasting notes listed here by Steph are actually pretty on the mark with the lemon/honey/fruit vibe and some light malt and char. There is decent amount of flavor and its nowhere near the total rat piss I thought it would be. The dreaded grain alcohol takes over the finish as expected with a low end blend but Im drinking it neat. That is not the purpose of this, it was designed to be mixed and if thats you by all means do it up. Its better than mixing with vodka imo as this has some taste and is aged some at least. For 12-15 bucks its a go but get to 20 ish and there are better options. Im glad I tried it but will never buy again.......70/100......respectable enough blend that you dont have to spit out neat