Tastes

It doesn’t make Luke pucker up as much. I get peach cobbler with sugar crystals sprinkled on top on the nose. The palate is a bit more full and rich. Brown butter, cinnamon and allspice. It’s plenty sweet, but it also has a good bit of earthy character that I really appreciate. That’s a unique, robust whisky with a nice long spicy finish.

Very Christmasy on the nose, fresh leather and spice. Plenty of proof behind it too. First sip was very piney and spicy. The palate evolves into oaky brown sugar, cola, and nutmeg primarily. Everything is turned up to 10. The mouthfeel is a little oily, leading to a long herbal finish. The proof and rye bitterness hit a little hard in the middle of the development, which to me is a minus, but not a huge one. Would I buy it at retail? Probably. Would I shell out for it? No.

The nose hits me with street corn right away. Nice charred flavor along with corn sweetness. The palate is plenty velvety and spicy, like French oak tends to be. It has a little bitterness on the tail end from the barrel that detracts some. The finish is medium with some pretzel or salted popcorn. There’s a bit of blackberry and pomegranate too. It’s not an absolute banger, but it is unique.

128 proof Nose: Orange and airy biscuit, smells like a wheater. Specifically, smells like sweet winery biscuit crackers. A little roasty dusty wood right at the end. Palate: Sharp American oak, proof, and creamy caramel, long oaky finish. Tannic and fruity as the dram finishes.

Nose: cherry brown sugar, smooth oak, light spicy leather. Wheater? Palate: toasty, bready, dark fruits, beautiful baking spice, long fruity oaky finish.

Nose: Warm dark chocolate, nutmeg, hazelnut, cherry cola. Maybe even a little cherry Twizzler. This is super complex. Palate: the palate is not nearly as complex. Ethanol, oak, vanilla icing over a Danish. Maybe a little barrel spice on that long finish.

Nose: Mature, cream cheese frosting, flaky pie crust. Going back after tasting, berry and cream cheese danish. Palate: vanilla cream and smooth spicy caramel pudding. Tastes like a wheater, but it’s not, which means it’s just well-rounded.

Nose: coastal, briny, oak, vanilla, orange; going back, it smells more vanilla malty, floral. Palate: buttery, malty, honey, red fruity. Medium finish.

I’m tasting a barrel pick that’s 120 proof. It’s good classic bourbon. Lots of caramel, vanilla, wood, and brown sugar. Rich and deep. Long finish.

This malt was fruity, earthy, and sweet. My bottle was a little bitter on the finish, perhaps because of sulfur in the Malaga cask. Excellent scotch with a cigar. It gave plum and cocoa to the tobacco as a complementary gift. Nice, long, oily finish.