Tastes

Bitter sea brine, faux vanilla syrup, some yellow pear with very little of its juiciness, oak peppery, buttery, cheap honeycrisp apple, unripe strawberry jam, quite smoky, a bit of charcoal, liquid caramel, some butteriness, hint of allspice, corriander, creamy barley nuttiness almost like creamed corn, herbal. Defintely not the talisker of yesteryear but still fine. The proof gave it a boost even if the years did not. A nice taste of orchard fruits.

Batch 217, no. 169/687, picked up from distillery roundabout 2015. Smells like real barbecue. Fine cherry woodsmoke, dark chocolate & nibs which I'm guessing is american peat, damp, buttery and full flavored, cream soda, baking spices, nutty, deeply sweet. A bit too watered down. Still impressive considering the age. The oak was not bitter at all.

Overly sweet candy corn, fruit chews, heavy oak, maraschino cherry, charred marshmallow, butterscotch, nutty, heather honey, sawdust, ruby chocolate. Nicely aged. Didn't explicity say where it's distilled, just bottled in Nashville. Candy corn leads me to think it's Dickel. If so, it has come a long way but still has that unfortunate gummy vitamin aftertaste. Would recommend Joseph Magnus. Oxidized well, showing more of a herbal mint quality and burnt sugars. Surely MGP sourced, at least to some proportion if not entirely.

Underripe banana, cloves, pretzel bread, mineral water, lemon pith, clover honey, gala apple, poached pear, dark caramel, cocoa, marshmallow, heaven hill creamed corn, oak tannins. Became less bitter and more sweet with oxidation. Would not have guessed age. Heaven hill product but the burnt sugars make it taste more like 1792. Mineral aftertaste is unpleasant.

Local Total Wine pick. Marshmallow topping is heavy and present throughout even to the aftertaste, fresh grassy rye, creamed corn, honeycrisp apple, charred/grilled taste, big brand maple syrup, nutty, breadlike, pulverized sweet basil, turbinado sugar, subtle fruity light roast coffee, a little lemon zest to pinch it off. Interesting barrel pick, a respectable variation but not enough to mainline.

Mint-like islay peat comes in heavy followed closely by heavy smoked sea salt. Thick vanilla cream, bright lemon zest gives it a nice piquancy, nutmeg, mellowed oak tannins, white peach, dry bosc pears, a bit of astringency, nougat, basil, low dark chocolate, toffee, leather, meadow grass, pinch of minerality. I would guess MGP barrels based on the nougat & basil. Still has a young taste, but I guess the standard has been changing from 12yr minimum to less and/or no age statement. Still a pleasant change of pace and at an unusually high ABV for scotch.

Been several years since I last had it; had felt there was a trend of decline in sub-$100 scotches around that time. Surprised to see it's aged in a combination of european and american sherry casks but I guess it offers an alternative to the bourbon barrel aged scotches that dominate the market now. Navel oranges, bartlett pear, heather honey, heaps of smoke with some vegetal peat, old world barley bread, buttery cake, nutty, cinnamon bark, anise, nutmeg, clove, dried cranberry, california raisins. Oak tannins were light & pleasant. Quick to oxidize and thin out but overall alright on account of its price point. A decent introductory scotch, though I do find all the lingering heather a little offputting personally. Still has that classic sherry barrel taste. Would recommend Auchentoshan.

54.8%. Kinda boring, not showing complexity or age. Lemon peel, vanilla pudding, heavy oak tannins but not very astringent, animal cracker, McIntosh apple, cheap butterscotch syrup & candy corn lingers. Seems more breadlike than other bourbons, maybe high wheat content. Not as sweet as a typical bourbon either. Independent bottler but no idea which Kentucky source.

Fluffy marshmallow topping, butterscotch, lemondrop, caramel chew, fennel, burnt sugar, nutmeg, plum, grassy. A little medicinal with some heat. It wouldn't have necessarily been my first or second pick but there's so few decent american whiskies <$30 nowadays.

Fresh fennel, green cardamom, clove, nutmeg, nutty pralines, fair bit of peppery spice, dry golden apple, some astringency, leather, roasted corn, unripe peach. Not very interesting but not as 'young' as others claimed. Label states 4yrs which would meet the age requirement for bonded. Young whiskey isn't light, it's more of a palatte punch on account of the bitter oak tannins not having enough time to mellow out and reveal more diverse flavors. Full bodied and aged. Would suggest beam products, old forrester row series if you're a fan.