Tastes

Dram 3 of my day off. I'm doing about half oz pours, maybe less so please keep that in mind with these scores and overall reviews. It's the best I can do with samples. Nose - rich alcohol forward with a really powerful sweetness to it. This one reminds me more of some kind of shoe varnish, though not leathery. Going back in there oak is over powered but still a nice clean mellow almost buffalo trace like oak is coming through. Very clean and engaging. I'm really getting overwhelmed by this sweetness, it's just simple sweetness but really intense. Perhaps driven by some savory BBQ sauce notes. I'm digging it and it's really interesting how little the peat is showing here but it's still here. Taste - OK we have a winner for the day so far. A full spectrum of flavors here. Starting off with the sugary candied sweetness, some light vanilla, oak starts to show up, then a bit bold peat driven Hawaiian pig roast peat, then finishing with light oak and vanilla. There's some spice in there as well, very classic isaly and oak driven. Lovely lovely whisky. This should become a staple for them. For about 100 bucks this could be a must have on a bar, even at 125. It's a shame this is a one off. I'm going a gleefully high 3.0. This is one to seek out if the prices are reasonable, not just to buy if you see but actively go find one.

The second dram of my day off work, a rare event for me. Nose - sweet fruity elements. I almost want to go with pears and strawberry hints coming through at the end. There's a savory meat here, but the whisky doesn't fully turn into peat. It's actually rather unique and special. I can't believe this is just ex bourbon. Taste - Rich sweetness and a putty and lacquer come out on the finish. A very almost glue and smoke finish. The finish has oak spice and is long and lingering. There's a bit of medicinal notes in the mid palette. There isn't a lot here to discuss in terms of flavor. I get their overall base whisky profile but if anything this is making me think that even light sherry is a huge part of what makes their core so great as such young ages. All ex bourbon doesn't work as well for me. A really well put together CS 12 year old peated whisky but nothing special. Lets got 2.25, above average but to be frank the CS element doesn't add much here. It's just nothing to discuss but I can't imagine anyone doesn't enjoy it, but at the same time I can't imagine THIS is the Kilchoman you just want to keep coming back to.

Big hitter tasting day with today being a day off work for me. Nose - right off the bat it's clear islay peat, light smoke but very clean. With vanilla and lactose undertones driving a sweetness. Very nice but nothing spectacular. After about 10 minutes in the glass I'm starting to get some wine sweetness coming off. Overall impression is that this is a heavily sweet malty bastard with a nice smoke over tone. Really right up my wheel house. Taste - Oh that Amoroso cask is CRAZY on here. I've never had amoroso so I don't know much about it, but I'm getting all kinds of red wine and sugary sweetness on this one. There's a huge amount of peat on the finish with a nice long lingering finish there I get some peat bitterness. Wonderful pour and I only wish I had more of it. Overall I'm scoring this one a solid 3.25. An absolute buy if you can get it for a fair price.

OK so I've now figured it out. This is a 2019 which is HEAVILY sherried cause the color is crazy dark, the bottle of course doesn't say a dang thing about it. The 2018 I gave a 2.0 is less sherry but still has plenty. Ok so is this one better? Nose - caramel, salt, tannins, oak, raisins. You can tell this is a heavy sherried whisky but and this is a neck pour but it's a bit closed off. We'll see if this opens up and I'll update. Taste - you can tell this is heavily sherried but these aren't great casks. Yeah you get some chocolate and raisin and some dark fruity esters. The malt here is actually pretty dry. Where this and all arrans seem to shine is on the finish where that island and peat and salt elements jump up and save the day. The finish is this explosive array of wonderful and then it turns AGAIN into chocolates and oak. So for science water, and the nose....just brings out oak. The flavor brings out a milk chocolate up front but kinda kills the finish....or mutes it. Water might be good if you don't like the upfront finish but otherwise pass. Ok so I do like this a hair more than the 2018 but I like more sherry on my whisky in general. 2.5 and to be honest I could go 3.0 here. It's above average for sure and I think the last bottle needs a boost on the score. You know what 2.75 Update - lets get into this. OK so I'm still not sure what these casks are doing or not. How is this so dark and not just sherry saturated to hell? The thing is the malt, that salty coastal element, etc...they're great. And the sherry is big enough to match but not even close to over powering. This is a dream in today's world of oak stuffed bad casks or sulfured egg fart bottles. The flavor on this one is light vs most bottles I give higher scores to and normally I want peat mixed in. But I'm wrong to underrate this one. I'm moving this to a 3.25. These arran 18's are stunners. They're also CRAZY easy to drink.

So due to price and at least bare min quality standards I figured I' give this one a go. Shockingly little detail is out there on this bottle. Their is ZERO information about the whisky in the bottle on the fairy large all be it not great box. It's so bad that I'm kinda annoyed. Nose - orchard fruits, saw dust, and some hints of a wine cask but not getting there. Normally, I'd be concerned that this is closed off as i'm just opening it but I don't get that impression from arran's and it doesn't smell closed off. Overall it is like a lot of independent bourbon cask only bottlings from spey or highlands, just light fruits and some oak notes. But it's soft and lacking some of the better qualities. Taste - Up front there is almost nothing to talk about. It's sweet and has some fruity elements. It's boring as it can be. But then you swallow and things change. Salty elements come out, hints of peat, tannins and custards and rich vanilla. The finish is really complex and doesn't just save this whisky but pulls it from the brink of mixer status and turns it squarely into a high quality dram. The finish is legit long which is crazy at 46% and the finish brings me into this springbank kinda world. I'm a bit torn on the score. The finish is that of a 4.0 whisky. The rest of this thing however is struggling for a 1. Even the nose is insanely boring. The mouth feel is ok, but not great. Normally, I pass on the water with 46, but for the review. Instantly it's bringing out more fruits and improving the nose. Still nothing special coming out, just the same notes but more of them and a bit more alcohol. Similarly I'm getting more sweetness but the finish is fading a bit and that's the show. Yeah I'm going with a 2.75. I thought I was going 3.0 but nope.

just glad I don't have to add this lol. nose - total toasted barrel note. Creamy vanilla, but ethanol all over the place. Light oak, it's young. But sweet. Where's is the rye though? I couldn't tell this apart from the bourbon they toasted. Taste - interestingly up front this is all sweet toasted cream and oak, but once i swallowed I got the rye and then back to that young and oasted barrel note. Just sweet and sweet and some rye spice. This is very good for what it is but yeah, not one to chase. I'm at a 1.75, solid flavor but the youth puts it down a touch.

Once again I don't get how I'm the first to add this but here we go. Nose - Rich caramel, oak, sweet sweet notes all over this. French vanilla, cherry, even some gummy candies. It's a sweet sweet beam profile. Yeah there's a touch of that dusty oak, but I"m not getting a nutty profile yet. Taste - This is one to unwind. There's a mess of fruits, nuts, oak, caramel, but they're all so tightly packed and it's hard to deal with all of it at once. Some chocolates are starting to come out too. This is a hot one, it's way hotter than any normal single barrel I've had. I add a few drops of water and the oak complexity comes out. Really interesting flavors and profile coming out. Well, I'm once again just floored by the quality that Knob creek CAN do, but I'm also worried I'll once again hear horror stories of bad bottles (my first 12 year non CS sucked). Still this bottle is a 3.25, this is contending with ECBP, Stagg Jr, and the likes. One last note, the proof came in at 120.5 which has me thinking, did they use a bunch of under proofed barrels that couldn't make it to 120 and then used a few higher proof ones to balance it? Now my experience with knob, I've gotten to do some picks and to be fair most of their barrels come in JUST a hair over 120, but to be THIS just a hair over with a blend. I wonder if they used some that lost proof and I think that might be why this is so good.

So a unique mash bill on a bourbon made god knows where. 130 bucks for 15 year CS bouron...at least that seems reasonable. Nose - Orchard fruits, sweet sugars, of course your caramel and vanilla. A lighter profile but very gentle and inviting. Taste - I don't think it's barton lol....as that seems to be ALL the 12-15 year old juice coming out lately. But it could be? There's this nutty finish and a sweet, really sweet clean candy up front. There's oak on the back end but we're far from too much oak. Spicy notes on the finish, super sweet up front. Dang this is a tasty bourbon. Just well done mix of sweet, spice, and a touch of dusty notes. The funny thing is this very well could have been aged another 5 years I gave a 3.25 to this year's 2020 four roses. I'm going to give this one the same score. It's not better, in many ways it is less complex, but it's also really well done in a lot of ways. More importantly, it is less flawed. If you see this one, 2600 bottles...buy it.

So I grabbed this yesterday for 170 + I had to spend 1k at the store for the right. Thankfully a store I spend money at so I just grabbed a four gate batch 1 and got this to go with it. Win win? Well lets see. Nose - rich sweetness and yet thin? Classic four roses well aged notes, well aged of course for 2020 where 10 years is well aged, not 2000 where 15-18 was normal. The more I dig in I get OLD whisky but burnt and over charred oak, but wonderful butter sweet and brown sugar and baking spices and all that wonderful four roses good notes. The nose is very nice and good but kinda to be honest the oak is old but the sweetness is young and that is fine on the nose. Actually, I get young and old here...it's weird, a part of me before I read the age statements thought this didn't have anything over 15 years, but there is that over oaked note. Taste - So the flavor is that of a nice four roses where I get spice and brown sugar BIG TIME! But the more I dig the more I get over oaked notes like an EC18 mixed in with rich rich four roses. There's a wonderful sweetness up front but it's not really topping a sam houston 14 year in terms of apples and cinnamon. So yeah I find this as a wonderful four roses pick or something, the problem is this is the 170 dollar LE where they blend it with 12+ year old bourbons. This is 12-19 year old boubon and my only "old" note is over oaked EC18....that sucks! I did a blind today with this in it with the 2019, a 10 year single cask, and an old carter batch 5 (I'm on record as not a fan). Anyway I had this 3rd behind the single barrel at 10 years and 3 months. This is really nice but it's not up to their standards. So I'm between a 2.75 and a 3.0. I gave the 2019 a 4.25, So maybe this is a 3.25. Yeah I'm upping my gut score because the complexity here is crazy but guys....this is over oaked on one of the barrels and it isn't helping. They missed the mark but didn't miss as this is still wonderful stuff that for 100 bucks I'd grab 2 of.

So been working on this for a bit, I'll do my best. nose - Traditional grain notes with a lot of vanilla, grain, grape, and a hint of dark fruit. Some richer creams and alcohol. Taste - Again grain, classic grain scotch. There's a lot of creamy buttery vanilla desserts. Pastry crust for sure. Then we have some metallic notes on the finish. Gosh the up front is so soft and sweet. The finish brings in some chocolates and chewy nugget notes. Clean and light white chocolate here. So yeah this is reasonable old for scotch but for grain blends it's ok. A huge step up from the standard but I'm still just at a 2.0. I won't consider buying again. I like it enough, but it's pretty average overall and the price sucks. I can see why some are bigger fans and if you like grain go for it. I like "The Muse" WAY WAY more, it's far richer and better made. I scored that a 3.0 which might be low but this isn't close.