Tastes

The classic bourbon from the king of the taters, boofalo trace! Nose - Vanilla and corn forward with classic boofalo trace oak. I don't really get much in terms of caramel. There's surprisingly a lot of alcohol on the nose here, using a copita and it's making my nose burn. Taste - Oak actually is the predominate flavor on these, that classic slightly funky yet smooth and mellow boofalo oak, just like smelling the rick houses on site. Sweet oak that's really how I'd describe this as. Not funky oak, not nutty, not peanut buttery, just clean classic oak and sweets. I remain at a loss as to why people hoard this but I love this for under 40 bucks as a cheap sipper, but even at 40 I think we're into questionable value. That said of the common trace products, I do think I like this just a hair more than Eagle Rare. 1.75, just below average but 40 dollar whiskies are well below average priced whisky.

So store offered me this for 180, was with some rye fans so figured I'd share it. Nose - vanilla, oak and crazy rye spice forward. Taste - This is just crazy over the top rye spice and sweetness. I guess I should get into some notes but it's kinda just all over with mint and honey mustard and cereal, and then just all kinds of baking spices and what not like crazy. I mean it's ok nice spices and flavor but it's lacking any signs of high end whisky for this crazy price. So here's where I'm at and confused. It's flavorful and I'm enjoying the flavors but the 11 years doesn't come off here at all. It's not really more complex than a willet 4 year. I continue to come away feeling the blender for Kentucky Owl, Dixon isn't any good at blending. He's just throwing together intense flavors and sometimes they don't fail. If you're a rye fan this might be a 3.0, but for me this is a 1.75. It's flavorful but unhinged.

2020 has been complete crap, but the whisky world must go on. And on that note, if anything can save us, it's gotta be peat. Nose - The bourbon dominance here stands out. Sweet sweet sweet malt, overwhelmingly vanilla dominate. From there I get that classic octomore barely, and then clay putty and dirt from the peat. This isn't complex at all, it's very simple. It's however really nice. As it opens up I get some kind of baked bread...not a fancy note by any way but that's what it is. Perhaps not fully cooked and you might even have a sugar cookie with frosting on it. It's all vanilla and mellow peat. Taste - The flavor follows the nose with just a dominate sweetness here. There is more bitterness from the oak, something I never see with octomore, There's alcohol as well, very sparky but not off putting. The flavor is again that vanilla bomb, but it's moving to these minty and oaky notes, nice charcoal, and maybe even a smoked mash mellow. I gotta say, this is my new favorite octomore. It's killing it. It isn't mind blowingly complex, but it's well well worth the price. I'm going 3.75 here. It's awesome.

I've said this often but I hate reviewing basic peated whisky. I just suck with tasting notes. This is batch 3 if that matters. Nose - Pretty basic peat profile with a touch of citrus fruits. The overall profile here is pretty clean, much more in the caol ila peat vs the southern islay. Though some of the sweet citrus here does give me some flash backs to lagavulin, but the peat is nothing at all like their profile. I have a cadenheads 11 year example of peated bunna that blows this one so far out of the water that it's insane. Taste - You do get that this is younger whisky, some ethanol and bite is here and off, but overall the citrus sweet and clean mellow smoke is here. There's some mineral notes and light clay. It's a touch salty as well. There's however no real peat punch, it's not rich, and it drinks kinda thin. I'm tasting what feels like a 40 dollar bottle and I believe this was a good bit more. I love bunna but this isn't a winner from them. 1.5, it's below average but peat lovers will enjoy it and while I think it's over priced, it's a nice change of pace if you have the money to over pay for this one.

So another bottle from my chicago trip, this one i opened yesterday morning after starting my day with a lag 25 year....yes this was my "second breakfast" lol. nose - a billowing sweet cloud of awesome comes off this. Sweet candied fruits, vanillas, almost a red fruit rollup meets complex sugary oak. Wow it's awesome. Taste - The opening is sweet, fruity, mellow, with baking spices, some nutmeg, tannin, it's complex but not overly so. Its far from a stunner on the up front taste and then we have the finish. And oh what a finish and a LONG finish. The finish starts with a spike in the alcohol that leads to tootsie roll chocolates, there's a lingering spice and heat that lasts and lasts. There's a savory element here too but it's swarmed with sweetness all around. So it's pretty epic overall. This is far more a clean and subtle dram from Craigellachie vs their more sulfur infused 23 year. That said this is wonderful whisky. To make it all the better it's a damn steal at 200 bucks. This is a Craigellachie for those who are a bit agnostic with the brand but love rich complex sweet dram that are balanced with unique complexity and one of the longest damn finishes you'll have. 4.25...yes it is THAT freaking good!

A rather epic trip to chicago this weekend sent me home with a few nice bottles and the opportunity to try some absolutely EPIC whiskies. This was kinda the cherry on top if you will, and always difficult for me to find bottle and Binny's just had one good to go for me...though a few bucks were spent and they were more than happy to take care of us that day. Nose - so I always associate ECBP with this caramel bomb with heavy oak and just intense sweetness. Instead where I get a bit more a dusty oak and light sweetness. Even the abv seems tamed. Don't get me wrong there's proof here and there's a lot of aroma and sweetness, but it isn't what you'd expect from an ECBP and nothing like the normal dark chocolates and deep character I expect from the last two C batches. Taste - So I'll open with a totally stolen line but salted pretzels (all rights for that to Jason at The Masha and Drum who told me that last night). Then it transitions into those dark sweets, heavy caramel and then actually more salted pretzels on the finish again. This is dry ECBP with a focus on balance perhaps in a way I'm not used to. But what is it balanced too? That's a weird one. I know heaven hill often has that dusty corn note similar to beam but I've never had it in an ECBP and I'm getting it here. There's still some deep dark caramel and oak and fruity elements we have all come to love, but this dusty element is new. Overall, this is a touch disappointing but still exceptional by today's sub 70 dollar bourbon standards. Score - so I was pretty harsh on A120 for the heat and I've praised B520 for being just awesome. This off the cuff is about the same as A120 for different reasons though 3.0 seems a hair low. But for now I'll score this a 3.0 but it's a weaker 3.0 than A120. Both might need to be bumped to a 3.25 or maybe just the A120. I'll have to re-review. This is an ECBP I might not buy a back up of, if given the option. That would be a first since I learned how to life hack my spending into good bourbons.

Nose - The nose is and I know this is odd but it's new make malt and an interesting vegetable note. There's starting to be a nice baked good here as well, sweet white bread almost with some sweet clay notes. Now opened up and I'm getting just a sweet baked good and alcohol. Taste - once again alcohol. OK, sweet sweet malt. This is just sweet new make elements. Little if no oak or wood notes. I get some mint and then just more sweet and then an earthy finish. Water brings down the alcohol and perhaps brings out more nuanced sweetness but I'm still just kinda thinking pastry/bread and earthy and vegetable notes at the end. It's clearly peat but it isn't what I think of as peat in general. So I know this wasn't he most favorable review in terms of notes and tasting. It's not a complex whisky but what it does it does fairly well. The abv is a gut punch and the peat is a touch lacking if you were hoping for something special. My bottom line? It's basic boring whisky at a great proof and it's different. That to me a 1.25 star whisky and one I'd not tell you to not buy. I just can't recommend it. I also should note I think this was a bit under 80 bucks and for that price, I'm not sure what to think. CS so there's value but not very good and there are better malts at lower proofs available.

Nose - Right away sherry and charred american oak barrels jump out to me. Sweet fruits with roasted vanilla and caramel. There's a light note of either peat or salt, I don't know much about Arran but perhaps it's coastal or they use the ever so slightest amount of peat. Shoulda looked at the bottle, but it's an island so that makes perfect sense. Overall there's a more rustic and older more hearty malt nose but the lower abv at 46 is leaving me a bit flat at the end. Still very interesting nose that keeps me coming back. Taste - This takes me back to the charred american oak though instead of richer sweetness it's more soft oak tannins with some richness in that french vanilla toasted sugar range, but more focus on the toasted barrel flavor. Then we get sea salt and chocolate with little hints of fruits at most. There's a slightly bitter/metallic note that brings me back to a springbank type dram, a very nice complement. There's a touch of a waxy muted note. Overall a well made 18 year old whisky at a reasonable all be it a bit low proof. So the verdict? Will I buy another bottle? Nope. Would I be happy to get a free bottle? Yep. Will I happily finish this bottle? You're damn right. So 2.0 it's a pretty average whisky in today's world of quality drams. After some time open I'm upping to 2.5, that finish is still a step up.

I'm not sure what the story on this is so if these are batches and not all the same, sorry. nose - MGP heaven! It's that rye forward bourbon with spices and sweetness turned up both to 11. It's so inviting, so rich, and it just billows out of the glass like few whiskies. It's awesome. Taste - This has it all. Mints, and tobacco, and apples, and pears, and just more fruits and vanilla and caramel and grain, and some ethanol touches. This is as complex as whisky gets. I know this is a shorter review and it's frankly because these earthy rye notes are harder for me to compare to. This is to me the best MGP product without finishing I've ever had. They have perfected the balance here. I bought 5, 3 were sadly for a friend. I should have bought more.

So LONG story but I was recently a judge in a whisky competition and a friend, another judge got this sample. It came home with me and I'm SURE he doesn't want it. So why not review it? Nose - wow 41% but it's pretty rich and a good mix of sweet, beady, rich vanilla, chocolate, toffee, and a hint of savory sweetness. Taste - A lighter and watered down version of the nose. It's a pastry with some salty notes driving it. I don't get distinct red wine notes but it's kinda savory and sweet and salty, with the focus on bready pastry sweet. The mouth feel is awful and ruins this in a way. So...I'll go high. This was free but I have ZERO tries to this guy. 1.75. It's got a nose that's above average for SURE but it's so thin and watery and under done. I'd pay no more than 50 on this and I'd want it for 30.