Tastes

Always high proof always good whiskey always Jim Beam profile lol. There are so many good releases of Bookers each and every year. This one the nose has the apple, vanilla and peanut distillery profile. Second wave is caramel cream, cinnamon, sweet and oak and due to proof some ethyl alcohol. If you are not used to high proof whiskeys this one will taste hot but if you are used to it there isn't much alcohol burn on the palate. The salted peanuts really hits first followed by the cooked apple flavors (apple, sweet syrup, cinnamon and touch of nutmeg), then the vanilla, caramel and oak all fall in line. Finish is medium long with almost all the palate carrying over except the salty peanuts the finish is where the alcohol comes back on the throat and the Kentucky hug warmth in the chest and some rye spice on the sides of the mouth are more noticeable. $78 bucks is not bad this whiskey gives you bang for your buck if you like high proof if you don't it still gives good bang as you don't need as much when you proof it down with water. However some are saying that Booker's is price hiking again to $90-100 and that's not worth it as these are not LE's and are pretty readily available and it's not like there's a huge secondary.

Note each single barrel will be different in some way or form. I have a friend his Blanton's is cinnamon redhots mixed with alcohol. Mine started out very thin and two dimensional especially on the nose as it was all honey sweetness and oak. Since I've sipped on it and it has opened up it is still honey sweet, but the cinnamon and clove have come around. Heavy oak note has faded into a secondary note with the vanilla and brown sugar. No caramel on this bourbon/Blantons. Taste is vanilla, honey, cinnamon, oak and fruit. Baking spices and cinnamon intensify at the end going into the finish. The finish itself is medium long with the cinnamon and honey/sweetness in the forefront and with the fruit and touch of oak being the last things you are left with. I do believe Blanton's is much better than average but not good enough to warrant such high prices, worse yet even higher secondary prices and stock shortages. Even ECBP and Stagg Jr pack more for less cost and are more available around me. Would love to A/B Elmer T Lee as it's said to be better than Blantons most barrels to barrels despite it's lower availability and proof and again higher price.

I was expecting an almost unbearable over-oaked wood bomb. I was pleasantly surprised and this is the one that few like so I can only imagine how much better the 20-24 year variations taste like. Nose is oak but balanced with cherry, corn sweetness and caramel coming out of the glass immediately with a bit of ethanol. If you dig behind the dominant notes vanilla, char, malty note can be found. Very heavy and rich bourbon. The creamy vanilla, corn and fruit sweetness and wood take the lead on the palate, with the caramel, barrel and rye spices coming in right after. Finish is medium with the spice on the tongue leading the way and yielding to the vanilla and sweetness and you are left with cherry and apple and a dryness from the wood and barrel char notes. With water and/or time the vanilla cream and sweetness is intensified and the spice and oak character is cut in half. However the apple note because it is minor is lost with the water/time and nothing tones down the char notes from 25 years in a barrel.

Let me say that I am tasting the 2019 batch out of Georgia. Not sure if that makes a difference or not but I'm not that impressed. Things have gotten better with the bottle since it's opened up and believe me it's needed going on 3 months to open up. Plus you need to let it open up in the glass before enjoying as well. I've had samplings of the standard single barrel and while strong it wasn't an overpowering solvent smell. The select however is exactly that. It's all alcohol and acetone on the nose. While not as punch in the face as it was 3 months ago it's still the first note you get from the nose. Once that unpleasantness is gone some vanilla, apricot, caramel and a hint of cherry come up in the glass along with some ethyl alcohol. Palate is much better opened up it's still quite hot and alcohol forward but baking spices, cinnamon, the apricot, caramel and vanilla cream are allowed to come through with possible cherry hiding. Finish is actually the best thing regardless of time of drinking. No bitterness, no heavy oak, just lingering spice and the vanilla cream ending in cooling mint that leaves the mouth feeling mouthwash fresh. If they could tone down the acetone/solvent issue and the punch in the face overwhelming ethyl alcohol notes especially when opening a fresh bottle this would be a much higher score. Time will tell.

Really like the classic 12 and the 14. Love the 19 year and this 18 year is great too. I do love the 19 more because of the exclusive bourbon casking. The 18 is a sherry bomb to end all sherry bombs. Normal typical glenfiddich notes then sherry turned up to 11. Nose is all light fruit apple and pear, sherry dark stewed fruit of plums and golden raisins. A malt, honey and candy syrup sweetness made a bit sweeter by the sherry presence. No alcohol or oak on the nose. Taste is that typical buttery, butterscotch, apple and pear, honey and sweet Glenfiddich with the strong addition of the plum and raisin notes from the sherry, some barrel bite and spice from the age and late palate into the finish a touch of bitterness and oak from the age. Finish is medium as the oak, bitter tannin, fruit and sweetness all hang out with the sweetness dropping off first. Really a nice treat wouldn't drink this all the time but it's a really good dessert/ after dinner whisky. Price limits this as a daily drinker as well even though it and Glenfarclas varieties are well priced considering age and quality of juice inside.

The price makes this out to be not a daily drinker which is a shame because I could really drink this everyday. Nose is Earthy and a slight hint of medicinal peat smoke but it's a bit subdued. Burnt oak, big burst of honey, molasses as it has a darker richer note, light and stewed fruit. Palate is honey and sweetness first, then the smokey peaty character that comes across as all earthy peat, honey, then ripe red fruit. Towards the end of the palate a peppery spike and oak notes giving it a meaty quality. You just want to chew this whisky. Wrapped up in more sugary notes. Finish for this complex and interesting a whisky is surprisingly shorter than you would expect. It's long but the smoke dies down mid finish and you are left with the burnt oak, ripe fruit and dark sweet molasses notes. This is really a nice whisky and well worth a try if into or curious about smokey Islay scotches.

Anyone who loves smokey blends but not Caol Ila doesn't know what they're drinking. This whisky has been peat smoking blends for more of it's life than it's been releasing their own single malt varieties. Nose is vegetal peat smokey, super wild flower honey, light floral notes, light fruit and a touch of citrus almost key lime. Palate is just sweet and easy, no harshness, no alcohol, just a savory meaty note from the peat smoke, the fresh fruit and lots of honey like caramel and honey mixed some wood notes hiding way in back. Finish is medium long with the honey and sweet notes ramping up slightly along with the smoke and oaky wood notes. The sweet syrupy note and the oak stay the longest. If this was 10-15 cheaper it would be 4.25 or 4.5 it's that good.

Nose is a sweet honey, caramel bomb, with some nice medium oak accents. Vanilla, and apple are very present on the nose a touch of cherry and baking spice in the background. Palate is more of that luscious caramel, vanilla, oak, baking spices, and rye spice that kicks in toward the end. Finish is all that rye spice, oak and baking spices along with the sweet apple flesh and slight bitter from the apple peel from the nose to close out the finish. The apple and oak notes linger the longest on this dram. Better than your average whiskey pleasantly surprised as it's 100 proof bottled in bond that drinks like an edgy, more complex buffalo trace minus the orange notes.

This is heaven in a glass. Everything an Islay scotch drinker that loves brine and smoke could ever want. Nose is earthy almost vegetal peat smoke (like 1/2 highland and 1/2 normal islay ardbeg peat), smoked meat, peppered bacon, vanilla, honey, sea spray, lemon zest. Taste is really where this whisky shines as the black oak gives a rush of a sweetness and honey first, followed by fruit and then the smoke, citrus bite and barrel spice kick in almost a high rye bourbon/rye whisky spice, followed up by the salty briny quality and ends in oak. The finish as with most peated Islays is loooonggg. The spice is the first to die out and the brine and mild oak along with the peat smoke and honey are the ones that hang around the longest. The end of the finish leaves you with just the salt brine and honey after taste. Like a very intense and more interesting Caol Ila 12. Too bad this wasn't sustainable as a core range. From what I'm told the Corryvrecken is almost like this without the sweetness and more spice. Consolation prize I guess when my three bottles of this angel are gone. Always hope though for a bring back as committee release supernova 5.0 hit shelves.

Yes this is Laphroaig from note to finish. What makes this whiskey so awesome is that you don't lose the peat smoke's vitality like you do in today's whiskys. Most Islay's the longer the age the more the peat mellows on this whisky however there isn't as much difference. Why? Well, because this is OLD Laphroaig not today's Laphroaig. It's like finding a dusty from the 60-80's or Buffalo trace finding old Stitzel/weller juice lying around. This 16 year is the last year of old school distillate before the Suntory/Beam merger that created a more corporate appeal to the masses approach think why Select, Trip. wood and PX cask finishing came to be trying to mask the medicinal notes and smoke. The phenols on this whisky scream Ardbeg. Heavy, dense, earthy (as opposed to normal medicinal) peat smoke, bacon, vanilla, citrus, pear hidden away in the back. Taste is peat smoke, the fruit/pear note, vanilla cream, honey sweetness, lemon and burnt orange citrus and then barrel spice and a touch of char from 16 years locked away showing up. Finish is long with the smoke staying around the longest but no where near the length or strength of a fresh 10 year old. The citrus, barrel notes also linger on with the honey sweetness hanging around faintly in the background. To get some of the last pre merger whisky have it bottled at a really nice 16 year age statement, and not be break the bank expensive at the cost of NAS Lore this is a WIN WIN WIN if you love peaty/smokey Islay scotches.