Tastes

A bit of mushy corn, burnt sugar, vanilla custard, grassy rye, clove, nutmeg, herbal, middling oil residue, mocha coffee, spearmint, red plum, gala apple, corriander, woodsy spicy.

Duty-free liter. Fresh flowers, heavy french oak spice & a tannic bite, candied orange peel, spicy ginger, dried mango, clove, chiffon cake, vanilla beans, chinese cinnamon, peppery, nutty, toffee. Not bad, especially for a 14yr scotch at this price.

Sea salt & minerals, toasted almonds, prunes, raisins, clove, thin english custard, biscoff, some graininess, nutty, toffee, cocoa, lemon curd. Much stronger sherry influence than the standard which I believe is bourbon cask only, but I think it loses a little with NAS. Still, its vibrant and you cant beat the cost especially considering it's a liter and 100 proof.

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. Does weaken a lot with oxidation.

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.