Tastes

Aroma - Neat: At 58.9% ABV, it is quite nippy on the nose, but the PX Sherry still jumps out. Sweet brown sugar, dark dried fruits such as prune, currant, date and raisin and a gentle touch of hardwood smoke (Think the gentleness of smoked salmon, for instance.) Water Added : This scotch stood up to nearly 3 teaspoons of water before the nip of the ethanol was tamed. After this and a good 10 minutes left to breath and open up, I am picking up a wide array of smells, here. My first and perhaps most interesting impression is that the sweetness and smokiness is coming together in this sort of sweet and savory way that is akin to something like, BBQ dry rub, sweet pulled pork or perhaps bacon jam. To break this down further, I can smell green apple, marmalade, black tea, gentle hardwood smoke, subtle wine tannins and syrupy Demerara, Brown and dark candi sugars, I dare say in a rum-cakey sort of way. Taste - Neat: Again, very hot at cask strength, undiluted. Only the most basic and prominent points are able to be tasted through the heat; smoke and a Demerara sugar type sweetness. Water Added: First and foremost, this is damned nice. Probably one of the most interesting and just straight up tasty scotches I’ve ever had. I’ve always been a big fan of sweet and savory and so I always searched around trying to find this bottle. It delivers exactly what I hoped it would; bittersweet dark chocolate, Black tea, brown sugar, dates, raisin and a prominent but not stark, smoke. (Some Islays can get to that medicinal degree of smoke, but this is sophisticated and gentle, like a smoked meat). Final Thoughts - Probably has made its way into my top 5 scotches of all time. The sweetness of the PX Sherry mixed with the Islay smokiness comes together in this delicious way that I can only describe as Barbecue. Take a super smokey, rendered, fatty slice of brisket and top it with some sort of dark, dried fruit chutney / sauce and you’ve got an idea of this scotch. Absolutely stellar. Going to be hard to resist drinking this all right away!

I uploaded this whiskey and am adding this note to hopefully stop anyone else from being completely scammed out of their money. I came across this most interesting looking bottle in my local liquor store. It wasn’t on Distillr and there was next to no information about it online. Being the explorer of the unknown that I am, I took a gamble a dropped $90.00 on this. BIG mistake. This doesn’t taste like scotch. At all. Not even a blend. It is buttery, raisiny and sweet. It tastes IDENTICAL to a mid-range brandy. We’re I blindfolded I’d think this was some offering from Hennessy. Please do not be swayed by the fancy packaging and the awesome decanter bottle. This is a cash-grab gimmick to move some liquor they’re having a hard time selling!

Assessed in a Glencairn spirits nosing glass. Aroma - Neat - Distinctly Highland Park, but gentler and more refined on the nose than the 12 year old I’m used to. The ethanol nip and more young, gluey notes of the 12 are gone. Baked apple, toffee, mildly Smokey leather, stone fruits, dried preserved fruits. Adding a drop of water . . . A pumpernickel bread characteristic is developing, brown sugar, dates, raisin, a lot of Speyside character is showing up now. Taste - Neat - Saline arrival, English breakfast tea, fudge, a bit nippy. Adding a drop of water . . . Clean, bakers chocolate, biscuity and thick. Final thoughts - It’s damned good, but, I find myself missing the stronger peat notes of the 12 year old version. This expression is clearly much more refined. The oak is less fresh and more so old mahogany furniture, the sharper notes of green Apple and bittered honey in the 12 are now richer, more dense and gentle, but I miss the smoke. All in all, this is an extremely solid Highland scotch, and if it had a bit more smoke, it might just be perfect.

Assessed in a Glencairn spirits nosing glass. Aroma - Neat - Distinct pumpernickel bread character, almond paste, confectioners sugar and extremely faint oak. Adding a drop of water . . . A bit sugar crusted dates is developing Taste - Neat - A bit thin. Marzipan, black tea, vanilla and cherry. Adding a drop of water . . . No discernible development Final thoughts - Overall, lacking in substance. The smells and tastes here are good ones, but they’re very thin and require some hunting for. The honest impression I get from this is watered down Macallan 12. Pretty bottle, but not much else.

Assessed in a Glencairn spirits nosing glass. Aroma - Neat - Extremely gentle smoke, touch of sea air and brine, barley sugar, smoked meats, wet wool and unsweetened fudge. Adding a drop of water . . . faint peppercorn, corned beef, confectioners sugar, golden syrup, brown sugar and sophisticated oak. Taste - Neat - Green apple, resinous, restrained smoke, medicinal, quite hot. Adding a drop of water . . . Licorice, very bitter honey, vegetal, herbaceous, wood sap, and distant lemon rind. Final thoughts - Not a scotch for beginners, as is the style of Campbell Town. Extremely bold and rich, infinitely complex, seems to develop forever as it sits and breath. Definitely needs a touch of water to open it up. Recommended for the seasoned single malt drinker looking for something to challenge their palate.

Assessed in a Glencairn spirits nosing glass. Aroma - Neat - Clean, vanilla custard, young corn and faint oak. Uninspiring. Adding a drop of water . . . Still just not a ton going on with the nose, this has perhaps brought up the some faint dark fruit notes but otherwise no discernible change. Taste - Neat - Immediate apple impression, very buttery, obvious Armagnac influences, a certain salinity is present here. I dare say salted butter. Toasted French oak, mild marzipan, cherry lozenge and a touch of baking spices. Wow! Adding a drop of water . . . Subdued salinity, but not a massive change overall. Final thoughts - I was quite worried that this would be nothing more than fancy packaging and, on the nose, it displays as such. But when you taste it, wow! It cannot be understated how prevalent the salted butter is within this bourbon. Just completely unique and delicious. Even though the proof is a tad on the higher side, Im finding myself Liking this pour just fine neat with no dilution. Recommended if you can find it!

Assessed in a Glencairn spirits nosing glass. Aroma - Neat - Not a ton going on here. Mild green apple, mild vanilla and a touch of oak. Adding a few drops of water . . . this has amplified the green apple but done little else. Taste - Neat - Pretty one-dimensional. Tart apple, vanilla bean and wood. Adding a few drops of water . . . This has dumbed it down. I am only picking up mild oak and vanilla. Final thoughts - It tastes like whiskey. And not an impressive one. I see stellar reviews for the Blue Notes with age statements. Not sure what the craze is for the 9. I’ll hold out for the 17 and see what it’s like.

Assessed in a Glencairn spirits nosing glass. Aroma - Neat - Not a lot going on with this. Picking up some honey and perhaps a touch of red apple. Adding a splash of water . . . No discernible change. Taste - Neat - Clean, mild oak and some honey. Adding a splash of water . . . Again, no discernible change. Final thoughts - Not the most impressive thing you’ll drink, but it’s solid enough. I was hoping that the bottled in bond variant would be very different from the standard expressions, but I’m find it to be very similar. Still holding out to find a full proof to try.