Tastes
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Talisker 25 year old (2005 special release)
Single Malt — Skye, Scotland
Reviewed May 6, 2020 (edited October 10, 2022)What is a 5 whisky to me? A 5 is something that flat out changes your perceptions not about whisky, but brings happiness to you that you that your 18 year old self couldn't have imagined a beverage doing. It can't just be a moment of bliss, but it has to linger and last, changing, dare I say it must have not one crescendo but it must peak over and over again while you savor it. it isn't that it is "perfect" but that the moment you're having with it is and that it can be repeated. I had the great pleasure of getting 3 pours over the course of a bottle's life of a 2004 edition. The first pour was aggressive, assertive, and powerful. The second was fruity, complex, lively. The final one seemed older and as if with time it had become something more influential in the glass. While I generally don't review whiskies I don't have a bottle of or at least an hour plus with a fairly healthy sample, I can assure you that was a 5 every time I had it. Today I have the blissful opportunity to share with you my thoughts on a fresh bottle pour of a 2005 edition I recently acquired. Nose - there is an almost fresh and clean element here. Fruity, tropical fruits all over, reminding me perhaps a bit of a tropical fruit skittles candy. The aged by sea idea is in full force as you almost can smell the sea breeze in all of this fresh and lightly salty, briney goodness. Grape fruits and pineapples and just this wonderful mix of sweetness. Water teases out some oak tannin pushes out more of the salty brine notes and is now giving me a very distinct vanilla note I wasn't getting before. Taste - The talisker spicy profile is here in full force as this is truly a journey of experiences and flavors. The sweet skittle like note is here upfront, balances with sea salt and brine. Then you start down this path of light peat notes, sea salt, spice, and a vanilla and fruit fused transition. It's like riding down a perfectly smooth road of flavors waiting for the next turn. Of course that turn brings us to this amazing finish where the fruits get a bit darker (more orchard like, though I'm not sure I get say apples), the oak comes out and gives this an almost chewy finish almost making me think I'm about to chew on something like a tootsie roll. While I'm not sure I'd go to chocolate there is a dark sweetness from the oak that is very familiar and incredibly inviting. Water much like in the nose is bringing out a bit more salty character, if one were a bit disappointed with the fruity and sweet notes, this pushes it back a touch and brings forward a bit more of the island heart. This is a whisky I plan to have a very long time and it'll be one I go to in celebration of great moments. This is happiness in a glass folks. This is the kind of dram that us geeks spend years and countless dollars chasing in hopes of finding that special moment with a glass where the whisky just takes us places. Well guys, I need to end this review because frankly, this whisky is too good to allow myself this distraction from it. Quick ending note - the 45% version that's out today IMHO is utter garbage in contrast to these CS versions. It honestly doesn't taste anything like this. Today's 30's while better than the 25 by a margin are still nothing remotely close to this. Make no mistake the whisky was simply better in the past.550.0 USD per Bottle -
Springbank 12 Year Burgundy Wood
Single Malt — Campbeltown, Scotland
Reviewed April 28, 2020 (edited May 20, 2020)Picked a couple of these up online recently, likely paid too much but that's the market. Nose - classic springbank funk. Heavy vanilla icing, salted malt, and some dark red wine notes. Very much taking on some levels of soy sauce notes with classic springbank sweet and funky notes. You can't miss the distinct springbank. Water brings out sweetness, alcohol, and showcases these wine casks. Taste - The taste is more springbank springbank and springbank . Reminds me a hell of a lot of a 12 CS. Water makes this drink a lot sweeter, as we all know at CS SB wants us to play with water and I think a drop or two really is a perfect spot. The wine casks really jump out and you really get that burgundy profile. At the same time the whisky remains springbank funk with that salty and ever so slightly peated whisky notes. This is hands down my favorite 12 year (it's about 12.5 years old) old whisky to date. It's not really significantly better than a 12 CS and to be honest side by side I'd be interested in how different they are. Actually - test. So 56.2 which isn't my favorite 12, but the first one I grabbed. So this 12 is seriously not one of their better ones, been drinking on some others, wow. OK so a bit more bite to the funk. The finish is a bit more citrus and lingering, the higher use of likely refill bourbon casks gives off more oak funk and bitterness. Overall the 12 CS as you'd expect is a much more old world type funky, sour, bitter experience. Meanwhile the Burgundy is more BBQ, salt, savory and sweeter. Anyway, I'm digging this 12 year Burgundy wood. It's springbank through and through (and yeah I'm saying this because other reviews have said otherwise, and I cannot more strongly disagree and I'm someone with 30 or so springbanks on the shelf), but it adds this incredible finishing and I find I like a depth in the finishing that sometimes gets lost on more used casks. 3.75150.0 USD per Bottle -
Old Pepper 10 Year Single Barrel Bourbon
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed April 28, 2020 (edited May 26, 2020)This one comes in 108 proof and 11 years old from MGP, barrel 030. So the story is a bunch of people...likely who don't know much about bourbon...bought whiskey and then bottled it while they happened to have an office in a distillery, that they really want us to know is historic... Gotta love the fake "history" with the picture on the back and the "old" title to make us think this is something from the past. Nose - I tend to agree with other reviews, this comes off as a high rye bourbon. A lot of mint, spices, vanilla, and not much else. Taste - This has to be the most spicy bourbon I've had out of MGP. It's a white bread and caramel malt base with light spices leaning on Christmas and mint notes. Medium to light finish, minimal depth. Shockingly little oak or complexity beyond the spices and sweetness. I'd have really expected more out of an 11 year MGP barrel, but it's a single barrel and they can't all be winners. I don't think anyone will dislike this one unless they can't stand spice. I will add in it drinks super easy for 108 and that might be a seller to a lot of people. Giving this a 2.25 for being a nicely made bourbon, but without anything really standing out. Overall at 130 bucks, this is an easy and hard pass.130.0 USD per Bottle -
Murray Hill Club Blended Bourbon
Bourbon — (blended & bottled in Washington D.C.), USA
Reviewed April 25, 2020 (edited September 19, 2020)I've brought you batch 18 so now lets go back 6 batches to batch 12. Nose - Very light, vanilla, cream, touch of oak, touch of caramel. There's a bit of oak spice at the end. Taste - A light toasted bourbon with focuses on sweetness, really bringing me back to a lot of the notes I get on say a well full proof or CYPB. It's that highly inviting and welcoming bourbon that I think has become out of hand popular. This one brings in some age and some refinement that makes me start thinking about the van winkles. Now, I'm virtually positive this isn't a wheated anything, and I don't taste wheat but it is that mellow and relaxed yet highly enjoyable balance here that I'm more focused on. I get some bubble gum notes, some kinda of puffed sugar, and just a touch of leather. Honestly, I'm not sure I'm getting 12+ year old bourbon here, but at the same time, I'm 100% sure I'm getting whisky that with a buffalo trace logo on it, would sell for 500+ secondary. So batch 18 vs 12? 18 is bolder, spicier, less refined, the finish is longer with sparks and bitter notes coming through. They do share similar flavor profiles as I get the creams and lighter vanilla notes, and perhaps say a hint of a vanilla wafer. The batch 12 is that van winkle refined whisky, the 18 is a store pick of weller 107, less refined, but still good. If you like a bit of punch get the newer batches. If you are looking for that refined ultra high end bourbon experience without a CS note, I think these older bottles will do it for you. I don't know when Nancy had to start using higher proof barrels but I do think something changed pretty materially between batch 12 and 18. As a whisky connoisseur I would be hard pressed side by side to not tell you the batch 12 is a superior product. I however as a whisky drinker think a lot more bourbon geeks might lean towards this 18. I gave the 18 a 3.25 which is a great score and this one has to come in at 3.75. The amount of refinement while bringing in some older whisky notes really to me pushes this one up in terms of overall quality, but for those who aren't looking for a bookers punch but still need a bit of a kick, batch 18 might be more your jam. Watch Nancy tell me batch 12 and 18 are basically the same and that I'm a fool. Either way, I'm a happy camper with the batch 12 while the batch 18 left me feeling something was off.99.99 USD per Bottle -
J Mattingly Private Barrel Select Magnitude
Blended American Whiskey — USA
Reviewed April 18, 2020 (edited May 12, 2020)A curious bottle here. 140 bucks, ultra limited, distilled in Indiana, and "stored in oak for 12 year" and listed as a light whiskey. All at a 137 proof. OK fine, they got me interested so lets see what this George Town Kentucky distillery with zero history despite their marketing is doing with what could be a 12 year old MGP sourced whiskey. Nose - ok, this is delightful. It's brown sugar, cinnamon apple spices, pipe tobacco, dusty old wood (unfinished oak), and finishing in a pie crust dessert deal. Taste - the high proof creates a very dry experience bringing in notes that really match the nose. More oak here, drying and slightly bitter. Carried by ample amounts of sweetness from vanilla, caramel, brow sugar, apples, and dare I even say some honey. A couple of drops of water drops some of the dry and bitter, but the one issue with this is it isn't overly mouth coating, oily, or really a quality sipper as a result. I could bring the proof way down, but at that point the whisky will start getting too light and too thin. The marketing on these is horrible, the wax topper is as bad as they get, and well...not a fan of what they did in terms of really anything. Even the label was hard to read and I missed things in the store. Still, this has some incredible flavor, it noses amazingly, and overall 3.75. I'd put this next to an ECBP and expect it to come out on top everywhere but mouth feel. edit - Been sipping on this, I've had a few now. I'm starting to pickup a more clear picture of butter scotch on this one which I do get on more of these "american" whiskies. It's really nice, but it is making this more distinctly light whisky from bourbon. Either way, I like it but it was something I realized I didn't touch on earlier and it's an important difference as this note doesn't tend to come out as much on traditional bourbons.140.0 USD per Bottle -
Wish I knew more about this one, but I'm sure it's sourced and I highly doubt it is a single malt. So if you've had their standard 10 year, you'll really know most of these notes. Nose - Sweet butter scotch, some vanilla, nearly no overt oak, but light tannins at the end. There is still some pretty distinct spirt here. This reminds me almost of a grain alcohol out of scotland. A bit more buttery and rich than perhaps a scotch would be at the same age. Taste - The flavor is richer and more buttery but really it has all the same flavors from the nose. Butter scotch BOMB. That I really like is after about 2 months open it's really mellowed out. The 53% which opened hot is now very approachable. While oddly I think the 40% regular release is the one I'd rather have on the bar as this is just a sipper where you want an easy drinker without any real flaws, the 12 year CS brings with it more flavor but really just bigger flavor. I'm not sure it is really different in those flavors, I'm not sure the 12 years did a LOT...perhaps some more oak and chocolate might be peaking in. Anyway, I really enjoy this but at 80, it's a bit over priced. I like supporting the locals efforts. 2.25, this is just a very mellow easy sipper.79.99 USD per Bottle
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Aberlour A'bunadh
Single Malt — Highlands, Scotland
Reviewed April 14, 2020 (edited October 16, 2020)I haven't reviewed THIS? I need an excel file or something to track my whisky and reviews as this is just out of hand! Batch 62 59.9% About 35% left in this bottle and I'm guessing 5-18 months open. I have no idea. Still available locally for about 87 dollars though I know if I cross state lines I'm looking at 110. Nose - the first impression is this is a bit spirit forward. Alcohol is high enough to really prevent me from getting good nosing notes. As I dig in it's a very dry nose, oak is very much forward, and the sherry notes are well also a bit dry themselves. I get more of a dusty type of varnish than a traditional sherry punch. Only the faintest of sweetness is in the back. With water, this is a completely different whisky. It's now sweet and fruity. Vanilla is jumping out of the glass, red fruits have come out to play, berries and raisins, and a hint of milk chocolate. Taste - Here I get more richness, chocolate, toffee, fudge, some still almost shoe cleaner like notes, perhaps butter scotch, and there's a distinct oak. At the very back end I even get a bit of a cashew/walnut nutty note. OK lets add the water - it is instantly sweeter, chocolate has faded a bit but it yields a more complete and more traditional sherry forward experience. It is still dessert over a light oak note but now more fruity and certainly more inviting. I remain a fan of what is going on here. There are a lot of these CS NAS offerings or near CS (macallan?) and they all offer inconsistency from batch, a lack of refinement, and at times pretty good whiskies. I think A'Bunadh and tamdhu have been the leaders in this area just putting out overall better product then the glendronach, glengoyne, and certainly macallan offerings of late. Still, there is a balancing act that we as whisky fans will find ourselves with on these bottles. At these prices there are some outstanding independent bottlings of even yes first fill sherry casks at 8-12 years old that can be found at reasonable prices. I am finding each time I go back to these NAS bottles, even ones I have just had open, I keep thinking the same thing. I love the rich flavor, I love the abv kick, but gosh...it's harsh and unrefined. I guess where I'm going is that I used to find that these huge abv sherry bombs would hit me with intense flavor and it would mask the youthful exuberance of the spirit. Today i find myself picking that up and even finding myself questioning the casks used in these blends as if perhaps they were simply trying to get rid of a few bad casks and mask them in the high abv blend. Meanwhile other than the 43% offerings, I'm being drawn more and more back into the 12-18 year old whiskies which I used to feel needed more age (lets get into the PREMIUM stuff) or more proof. Anyway 2.75 score for me on this one. Water really breaks this one open and brings out a very nice oloroso sherry, but I still find it overly drying, bitter where it doesn't need to be, over oaked (how?), and simply a bit too unrefined. At under 100 dollars if you've become a CS sherry bomb fan, this is a good if not great option, but don't expect the finest quality whisky behind the alcohol and sherry bomb. This does beg the question if I went back to the macallan classic cuts (which I scored higher), where would I score them now? Even in the last 3 months I feel I've more and more been noticing the lack of refinement is just more and more apparent.87.0 USD per Bottle -
Laphroaig Càirdeas 2019 Triple Wood Cask Strength
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed April 13, 2020 (edited October 19, 2022)So today Erik Wait posted a youtube video (check it out btw) on this whisky and he got into his scoring methods, and it got me think a bit about what I"m looking for and why these young peated whiskies can and do get such high scores and why, I'm honestly rarely blown away. So I thought I'd put out what I'm looking for and where this whisky comes up, something I tend to not spend a lot of time on with my notes here, but maybe worth looking at. 1) Distinct intrinsic quality. What I mean is that all else equal we generally know what is and isn't a quality/expensive note. Young whisky vs old whisky can both be good and bad, but when we say we taste a young whisky, we or at least I mean I'm getting notes of new make which are flaws imo. Conversely, enough oak to the point of bittering could be a nice complement to a finishing or sweet malt, but can very quickly turn to a huge flaw as well. Both "flaws" could be discussed as flaws where as intense and extreme smoke is often a sign of youth that is favorable much like rich oak or complex transitions and depth can be good notes on older whisky. 2) The way the whisky smells, and here I think many reviewers don't value this much, it's really about the flavor to them. For me not at all true, it's 60:40 once I start looking at 3.5+ star review scores. 3) I need depth, complexity, transitions, and nuance. It has to do a lot either in a simple note (a sherry bomb might not transition but that flavor can be incredibly complex in that one thing) or in how the whisky flavor changes before we get to the finish. 4) Finish can save a whisky or leave it completely underwhelming. 5) It has to in at least 2 of these areas really move me to get past a 3.5 So onto this one. Nose - sweet, a touch of plum pudding (I guess I kinda get the sherry cask here), oak is present, and the classic laphroiag malt where I get some citrus notes and some good vanilla as well here. Taste - I get some medicinal, some earthy notes, a lot of vanilla (I keep thinking this is a better 10 CS, but i guess I like the sherry/quarter cask with bourbon). Finish - it's medium, but there's not much here. It's medicinal, oak, and well a standard laphroaig finish. So why is this getting so much excitement? Well, it's big, bold, and there's a lot of shall we say unblended or not melded together flavors. This however does lend itself to having a fairly decent amount of complexity. There is a youthful note at the end as well, not so much unrefined but it wasn't ready for the show. But I don't think a lot of islay fans find this off or to be a flaw and if you expect that perhaps it isn't. Similarly, the finish is longer than the average dram thanks to the CS, but nothing is really happening...you just get to savor what is a very nice pleasant note. It's full body and mouth coating as heck which I love and I'm sure others are loving too. So for me this is a 3.5 though closer to a 3.25 than a 4.0. 2.0 being average, 3.0 very really very good, and 4 being outstanding...after that you're into the best of the best. Ultimately, the whisky is complex but not greatly so, the finish is long but not special, and the nose while very enjoyable doesn't make me want to keep coming back. For under 100 bucks this is a good value and in and of that perhaps some will score it higher.80.0 USD per Bottle -
Larceny Small Batch Kentucky Straight Bourbon
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed April 12, 2020 (edited June 23, 2020)So store pick, was told 8 years old but based on bottle date can't be over 7. Nose - distinct wheat finish, vanilla, and a hell of a lot of nutty notes. I'm a bit confused at how nutty this is, very much a heaven hill or jim beam like note. Taste - very light bourbon but yet i still get a bit of alcohol bite and heat. Honestly, I'm struggling to get past alcohol, nutty notes, and then on the finish vanilla and a hair of oak. There's nothing distinct here. Full disclosure I bought this thinking it might mix well with coke or rootbeer. It doesn't, it actually disapears to the point I can't tell there's bourbon in the glass. A great thing for a college party, but not really what I want when I'd like to have a nice summer sipper where I still can enjoy some bourbon character. 1 star, nothing wrong with it. It's a bit spirit forward for the age and proof but i tend to find some cheaper bourbons when watered down almost seem more alcohol forward and not less. Not a bourbon I'd recommend to really anyone. I don't get enough wheater character to justify this as a replacement for other wheats and if you want something nutty maybe try a beam black, imo that's better juice.23.0 USD per Bottle -
Boone County 6 Year Single Barrel Wheated Bourbon
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed April 11, 2020 (edited September 18, 2020)So galenstein selection 7 109 or so price point. Nose - I get bread dough, vanilla, citrus candy, and oak. Taste - Simple, sweet, vanilla, a bit too much spice (cinnamon/red hot). It's a nice whisky up front but the spice has over powered the sweet. There's that wheat character. So any good? Yeah, it's good. Is it worth 110 bucks? hell no! This is a very nice whisky that is unique and in that i think us geeks will be ok with 109 or so bucks for, but frankly unless you want overly hot, cinnamon, and fankly not overly well aged whisky...maybe you like it? 2.25 - it's above average, but there's some nice quality here too. Boone County does well with MGP casks for the age, but no 6 year bourbon is special. This is bourbon vs wheat whisky and higher proof, but frankly I think the woodford wheat is about on par or better, not sure what I scored the wheat but I'd assume it's better. This does justify more price even if not as good due to proof.109.0 USD per Bottle
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