Tastes

So - technically a pic but I'm not going to add this just because it was a picked single barrel. Nose - classic bourbon. Light, high corn, simple, basic, vanilla, caramel, and some oak spice. Touch of apple and a touch of cinnamon. Honestly, it's light and dull. Taste - This is a surprisingly spicy EH Taylor. EH Taylors have always been spicy for me but this is turned up a bit. Some good red apple. Some cinnamon. It leaves a good bit of bite on the lips, but also is thin on the tongue (chill filtered?). Well, doesn't seem Buffalo Trace is hiding honey barrels for this program. This is just fine. If you like EH Taylor you'll like this. But don't pay a penny extra for it. I wouldn't buy this over a small batch. 1.5 out of 5. I hate to end the hype on this.

Been way too long....I need to do inventory and start reviewing my backlog here. Anyway, lets just jump in. So - I swore off anymore NAS bullcrap peated whiskies after a string of complete trash was given to us. Last year's Cairdeas was horrible, ardbeg was on a streak of trash after trash after trash bottle....it was all doom and gloom, but I was told this was one to give a shot. OK guys...this wasn't free...it better be at least ok! Nose - The nose isn't helping here. It's alcohol FORWARD. Under that you get this beef and smoke pork and just meaty wood fire stove kinda thing with actually....fairly nice PX casks. No, not some top end amazing deals but this doesn't taste like the recent trend of burning the hell out of the oak to then get dark whisky. These casks come off pretty well...maybe PX casks haven't yet become part of this race to the lowest quality possible I'm seeing lately. Anyway, a mix of young and overly spirited and actually really nice. Think a really nice 10 year CS honestly. Taste - This is smoked meat, smoked oak, and then wonderfully sweet sherry (finally a young whisky that uses SWEET sherry and doesn't ruin it). The finish is smoke and peat. The medicinal notes are mixed in well with the PX creating a bit of a iodine meets some kinda weird fruit dessert with chocolate and a touch of burned rubber. Mouth - oh man, those px casks impart such a nice creamy upfront note which then turns to ash and burned char as the proper peated scotch takes over. I gotta say guys at 106 bucks, buy 2. It's great for that price point out if you like the notes I left you. Smoke, fire, oak, wood, more smoke, and lovely sweet sherry casks. But also somewhat young and certainly not without some flaws. Still it's a big bold bad whisky. 2.75 feels about right here. About as good or better than some recent springbank 12's but in that range. Quality whisky that does everything well but it's young and spirited. This isn't for most whisky drinkers but it's good and if you're a smoke head it'll be right up your ally. if you're just ok with peat, this is a good way to jump into laphoriag done well. At the us price of 106, honestly get it guys. It's good stuff. And it's priced a bit more than you'd like from cairdeas but this is legit one of the most bold and enjoyable in years. But if this is out of your budget, you can move on. It's not a splurge bottle either unless you really want to get into CS peat.

Ok so mike and I did our first "uncorking" just for this one...I scored it a bit high. But lets get into it. But please don't judge the gap here lol. Nose - Sweet grain, light elements of sherry casks, and honey comb. It's not great it's not amazing but I really enjoy it overall. It's just nothing special. Taste - Sweet, barrel, honey comb still, a bit of alcohol and spice. Well crafted and well made nice whisky. The finish brings this citrus element I get in younger but good whiskies. The finish is shockingly long, not great, but it lasts and lasts and it's good. For me this is a small test down from the hazelburn 10 and thus 1.75. I think this is an 85-86. I scored it 87 with mike....it was just drinking great that day on the neck, but with more time I'm a bit lower. Still for 60 bucks? Dude..you can't do better for a non peated scotch these days. Good stuff, I get some of the hype and love, but seriously....I'd take ardbeg 10 over this all day. Are people just so lazy they want a new bottle to hype up as their whisky of the year? This is pretty good and I'd recommend for the price all day. But nobody I've talked to has been blown away. They just like it. I've hard some old CS 10's are great though.

I want to just start up with, this is unlike anything else they've done as far as I know in their finished series. Bringing in two kentucky sourced spirits a 7 and 11 year old...we'll references these in code names going forward. The 7 will refereed to as Heaven Hill (no reason as I have no idea where they sourced this from) and the 11 will be code named Turkey (again no reason). Nose - so this bottle has been open about 12 hours but already the hot burn that came upon the neck is gone. There's this earthy sweet element that's really unlike any other spirit I've had. It isn't just the cognac nor is it a unique mash bill or bourbon character. It's sweet and has elements of tobacco and peanut dust. I get candied apple, maybe even a hint of apple cider. I get fall. I get touches of floral elements. And yes I get dry oak, aged in a barn. I'm saying a lot of jim beam notes but with this sweetness that beam never has. That said...it's a bit subdued and lacks any wow factor. Let me tell you, NOTHING like their sherried expression which someone referenced it to. Taste - So I keep going back to this. Unsweet milk chocolate with peanuts and sweet creamy caramel. That sadly sounds a lot better than the glass is. This was likely bottled at 55% due to being a hot and spicy bourbon, they just couldn't leave it any hotter without concerns. There's a lot of spice and some nice fruit elements here. The finish is long enough but it's mostly just dried out oak. Water - for a second I thought we'd changed the world. Water brings forward the sweetness of the cognac and really up front brings in this wonderfully balanced expression...and then the finish. There's bitter oak tannins coming out and the once nice nutty and earthy elements on the back end get muted. A real shame as the upfront note might have saved this. So why the turkey joke vs beam? Well...there's just something about this that keeps reminding me more of drinking that WB Saffle than drinking a knob creek. I can't really put a finger on it. So I paid 175, I see online it was supposed to retail for 125 which is odd given the store I got this from doesn't do marked up prices. Score - now I'm leaving this open to come back and change my mind but I'm at a 2.0 for now. I'm really disappointed with this one. Maybe MGP just plays better with finishing but frankly this needed more finish or something. The bottom line is I'd rather spend the night drinking uncut and unfiltered than this. As much as I want to pour another glass to chase down a few missing notes, the enjoyment factor just isn't here. Overall this drinks to me at about that 100 dollar mark. About what you'd pay for Magnus (which anyone else...is that one slipping a bit, maybe less 12 year MGP?) and frankly at 100 it's already pushing my limits for what you're really getting. Sadly those golden days of 12 year old MGP flowing like water seem past us. These 11-15 year expressions from Barton and Beam...and other random one off barrels sneaking out just aren't the same. They lack the blend ability if you will. Poured just a drop of their copper and king sherry bomb - omg...the nose is amazing. Sherry for days with that MGP rye spice and old well aged bourbon notes. Then this artificial kid's strawberry with this funky chewy bourbon and just yummy. Oh no this isn't even close to that one and that wasn't their best finished bourbon.

This is a clear bottle, there's a review place for that...I however see no reason why "Clear" should be scored separately. Batch 93. So I over paid for this a bit AND I had to buy their vodka for the right. Not my greatest moment, but hey...I wanted to finally give this a go. Nose - I suppose I have a bit of trepidation each time I pour an MGP bourbon. When done right and well aged these are magic and when young and rushed they're ok on ice. This one is squarely in the middle. Good vanilla candy meets some youthful waxy (waxy on a bourbon?) grain and alcohol notes. Elements of candy corn and traditional bourbon notes with light hints of rye spice. Good, but this isn't going to be a bourbon I pour to smell. Taste - Take your 5-6 year old MGP where there's sharp alcohol and the elements of corn and youth dominate any sweetness, now turn that down to 6 and up the sweetness to 4. You've got this one. It's bold, it's full, it's aggressive and it is starting to get refined. Really a nice spectrum of light chocolate notes, good caramel, nice grain elements with shifting and a wide array of rye elements and corn. The oak is not really showing here but I can't imagine it isn't well woven with the rest of the body. Overall, at about 70 bucks I won't come down this road again, but as MGP CS whiskey goes, you can't really complain too much. 2.5 score. Solid MGP bourbon, but there's nothing spectacular here. But it's a step up from average. Anyone want this vodka? lol

So I was impressed with the full proof, I guess I gotta give this a shot....it's technically the oldlest age statement lol Nose - I get right off the bat classic buffalo trace cherry. Then corn, oil, and just that kinda dusty oak muted thing. Very EH Taylor...boring but good stuff. Very much in that 15-40 dollar bourbon area if you like cherry and corn. Taste - This is that dusty oak and clay with some cherry vs cherry first like the nose. The nose was really good. This again takes me back to EH Taylor and bad blantons. Just element after element of good easy drinking bourbon and young rushed elements. I like it. I like a good bit. So yeah...this isn't the full proof. That's just better top to bottom. This is younger feeling, more meh. But for I think this was 16 bucks....if you like the more boring profile of buffalo trace that sweet soft stuff...it's a good buy. I'll give this a 1 star. It's well deserving of that kind of quality mark. I could consider a 1.25. And this does do well with mixers!

This has taken me a while to get to a review on. I'm not sure why but I'm about 15% through the bottle once this healthy review pour is finished and I'm somewhat sure I know where this will go but as always I review my glass. Nose - The first thing I get is texas./amrut...they're so similar. ThE element of cinnamon and burned earth. You can't get past this. From there I get raisins and a lot of oak elements with hints of a lot of stuff. Yes, the detailed "stuff" message lol. Taste - Dusty chalky notes of oak, and sugar and earthy and just sweetness. Then turns to this rich brandy and chocolate and fruity rum with elements of oak and nutmeg. What is this? lol. This reminds me almost of an infinity bottle. Adding some water and the wine notes are increasing the richness and depth are still here. Not as gritty and dusty in the mouth or nose. Still a mouth coating and intense experience. Anyway nose doesn't wow me. It's a big less than amazing. It's just not rich or complex. But THEN we get to that flavor and MAN....it's explosive. I'm in this odd place where I should give more notes as they go on forever but read the label. You'll get that and that texas/amrut element and it's so much more than you'd expect at 50%. OK so the negative is that it's kinda young. There's this element of youth that just won't leave it. it's somewhat hidden neat as you get this bigger mouth feel thing that hides it. Bottom line, a flavor bomb, so complex and so over the top that it's a bit disjointed. 3.75 though for me....I'm 88 range here...no it's not old amazing whisky it isn't the fusion x but damn dude. It's good. But if you're not someone who's into flavor over smooth or lack of youth notes or all that....this won't score as well.

First pour and I'm not having a great tasting day (wish I'd know that before I opened this). Nose - You get that classic amrut somewhat burnt soil and earth with light peated notes. Juicy and rich fruits, super sweet px, and you all nailed it on the honey notes. Taste - Oak, baked earth, light spices, light earth forward peat, rich artificial candied fruits, charcoal, honey. Medium long finish. I'll have to come back to this one and dig more into it. Overall this is just an epic example of a px sherry bomb. Complexity out of control on the finish. I do have to say...50% is a bit light on this one. I wish this was full CS. I rarely ever feel 50 is light but here, full CS would have given us a legit 5 star whisky.

I always debate writing a new review vs editing an old one, here I felt a new review was correct. 400 reviews on this site, I think a few old bottles are worthy of a look back to see how I've changed. Nose - I correctly last time did a decent job with the overall profile on this. Citrus, lemon, hints of peach, touches of oak...but what I missed is that there's distinct european sherry casks in here. I said a hint of sherry, no, there's not just sherry here but really really good old school casks. Taste - I think I did well here too. Buttery and toasted oak notes. Distinct oak spice. Some vanilla, citrus, and really nice dark sherry finishing. The finish is a bit short due to a lack of ABV, lack of oily mouthfeel, likely chill filtered as well. Overall no change in my last score of 2.75, but coming back to this now I can see why a 46% and 18 year old bottle with a bit more sherry casking at this quality could drive demand for those 18's. After the last few years of worse and worse sherry casks being used, I've grown a bit jaded, I've even wondered if I've lost my mind or just don't like sherry. Nope, still love good sherry casks and here they are.

Had to add this one, and for the 1000th time, what a horrible ap this is. Guys, DESKTOP! let us do this from our computers. Anyway blend of 6 and 12 year. Heaven hill and Barton, not a huge fan of 6 year old heaven hill but whatever. Finished in a sherry cask they got from Kelvan for 88 days. I'm not sure this is a special cask based on the details. Nose - sweet vanilla, nice sherry fruity elements, and then some funky earthy oak notes that are out of place. The problem is the funk is overwhelming this. Overall, a bit odd, but we'll get into it and come back with water. Taste - Heaven Hill's dusty nutty youthful bourbon notes jump out at me. Then just intensity of bourbon, and finishing chocolatey. Wow, going in for a second taste. OK, well balanced and well put together bourbon giving hints of youth and some age. The barton cinnamon apples is really coming through for me. There's a very old oak note half way through this as well. Finish is medium long, spicy. The sherry is certainly here but it isn't juicy or heavy. Water - HIGHLY recommend hitting this with water. The water brings through some nice vanilla pudding notes on the nose. The taste gets sweeter, the sherry fruits jump out. I'm now getting berries and even some gummy candies. Oh there's water melon on the end big time. Night and day improvement. I suspect this lends well to this one opening up big time so a heavy hand with water won't be needed in 6 months. I'm pretty happy with this beyond the 200 dollar price tag. This isn't one of their epic blends or finishes but this is great bourbon. 2.75. I wish they'd used less heaven hill or sourced something else (or older heaven hill, but that's expensive).