Tastes

Store pick - so buyer beware. Nose - I don't like rye, lol. OK joking aside, this is a harder profile to note. I get those traditional bourbon vanilla and oak notes, but there's a rye note I don't really know how to articulate. It's spicy and sharp but it's pretty nice more bourbon forward rye. Maybe some brown sugar and I dunno some kinda sweet syrup. Taste - There's oak, mint, caramel, rye spice, and really that's it. It's a pretty oak driven flavor. Maybe some butter scotch. I'm a solid 2.0 here. It's average. It's an enjoyable rye whisky. I wouldn't buy it again but I only bought it for the right to get the weller full proof. But it won't got to waste. This might become my starter whisky or the one I pour when I've had a couple and just want to sip and not think.

Dep's Pick Number 2. OK - so store pick, I've had 2 other store pick samples and while they are different, I think there's a profile emerging and more importantly I think we need a collection of tasting notes found in these single barrels as over time I expect they'll get pretty consistent range of common tasting notes. This isn't say knob creek where you have much older whisky and more variability as a result. Nose - fruity, bubble gum (classic bubble ym), drop of oak, and some cinnamon. A decent but not offensive alcohol kick at the end as well. Honestly you could give me this next to a 107 and I'd have no clue which one it was, just be a question of batch/barrel. Taste - Ok the palate we have a really well made and really nicely complex bourbon. You get the classic wheat bready yeasty profile in all wellers. Fruity, bubble gum, but then as it moves to the finish I get dark chocolate, almost a smores with dark chocolate and instead of gram crackers it's that weller wheat. But you totally get toasted marsh mellows and bitter dark chocolate. There's a nice bit of oak here, enough where if someone told me that this was getting into the 12 year range, I'd buy it. The oak is very well integrated into the flavor and enhances the sweetness, but never comes close to distracting. It is perhaps a touch drying on the finish. Overall - really sweet, really rich, really dessert like, and sadly....while no buffalo trace product is worth secondary let alone the hype, this is an outstanding sub 50 dollar bourbon (all be it just BARELY sub 50). 3.25 a score I just gave to a 200 dollar bourbon that I've debated buying a second of. And frankly this might be better. What would it need to move up? Well, it's complex for a weller and certainly for the price, but for a 4 star bourbon it's not there. i could see myself moving this to a 3.5 but any higher doesn't work. I also for science added water (and then more) and it doesn't hurt much, but it somewhat brings to surface what I'll call a lack of refinement that you'd get in the upper upper echelon bourbons. But fear not if you do add water, it'll be fine.

Always fun going back to the classics and this has always been one of my favorite Ardbegs. Lets see if it stands up after what has to have been 2 years since I last had it. Nose - Mint, medicinal rubber, citrus, caramel, a mix of smoke and burn plastic. Oh boy this smells young and unrefined. I'm a bit worried about drinking it. Water brings out more fruity elements. Taste - ok so a lot to discuss here. Opens soft and sweet with some perhaps lime like the ardbeg 10 gives off. It transitions into some young and unrefined medicinal sweet caramel and new make like spirit notes, but then we comes out of that and brings in that coffee and perhaps not a chocolate but a darker sweet which has always been my love with this whisky. I think I'm getting some ginger spice notes. The finish it's medium to somewhat long but mostly just a peppery warm heat. Water tames the beast, still a peppery experience but it brings all those flavors swirling around more into focus and I'm not sure that's a good thing here. Some of the youth is gone and that younger new make element is faded, but oh there it is...I'm getting a touch of banana which was there before and really screams young whisky. 57.1% this thing is throwing the high heat and you know, it's mostly landing them. That said while this is no longer a standout whisky for me, there's still plenty to enjoy with this one. I hate to say it but it feels like I'm growing past Ardbeg as I explore better whiskies or perhaps their quality is falling. Anyway I'm still at 2.5 here. Wonderfully complex, very bold, very creamy and rich mouth feel, and a whisky I dare say any peat head would appreciate. There's more than enough here for most whisky lovers, but there are too many flaws to move this into the 3.0's where I feel whiskies are starting to get special.

Nose - First note is that I really can't smell this well. It's just so hot that it's hard to note it. I'll honestly have to add water to give notes. So i get chocolate, cherries, and oak. It's weirdly not nosing that well, I know I've written a few reviews tonight a bit down on the nose, this isn't a bad nose, it's just I am not smelling much. What's here is great. Poured another half dram and the nose is exploding. Maybe the last glass being freshly cleared was the issue? I have no idea. Anyway no real change to the score or impact, same notes, just a hell of a lot more of them. Taste - I get berries and oak and cream and vanilla. It's just rich and hot and bitter. Water - So now I get more oak, more tannin, and more complex transitions. This is really pushing on the oaks and bitters and sweets. OK and I'm now getting some heaven hill nutty notes too. So this is very good bourbon but there's a lot of problems and flaws. I'm at 3.0 but odds are to be honest C919 I scored a 3.75 and to be honest I think that was an over rating. But that said this is not as good as the C919 or last year's A for that matter but if you like any ECBP you'll enjoy this one.

Odd this is here but no reviews? Nose - corn, vanilla, custard filling, and oak. This is on the more mellow side of bourbon, nice rich notes, and a bit earthy and acidic on the finish. I'm not digging this nose, but it's a lot of nice bourbon notes without any of the wow notes. Water and I get more vanilla cream and chocolate notes. An almost fluffy chocolate candy bar filling with oak and vanilla and caramel. Taste - Flavor is a whole other thing. I get dark cherries, chocolates, cream filled doughnuts, caramel, some candies...it's a mellow bourbon with CS richness. The finish is a very nice mellow chocolate and caramel...oak is here but it's lightly adding quality flavor and enhancing these nice sweet candy notes. There's a nutty note at the end as well, just in case you need that. This is awesome bourbon. it's insanely easy to drink with his high proof. For 207...yeah this is over priced and isn't full of those old aged bourbon notes. It's not SPECIAL. That said, you just can't dislike this one. it's just good good bourbon. The nose is a touch weak. 3.0 - keep in mind 2.0 is average and 3.0 is really good stuff. But there's just not enough special to push this to the higher scores, but there's nothing wrong to the point I'm debating a 3.25. Moving up to a 3.25. This is bourbon done as well as it can but without WOW, but it's so good at what it does.

Nose - sharp, acidic, light oak tannin, some citrus and some more sweet notes. I get almost a sugar cane and springbank combo here. There's not a lot of depth or complexity to the nose. It is pleasant but not inviting. Taste - Upfront I get those bannanas and pineapples and just that kinda rum citrus fruit note. Of course we get some salt, light peat, and a bit of a funky malt. There isn't a lot on the opening here either. But then the whisky transitions and I get notes of espresso (like a kona blend), some deep well aged and well made oak, light white chocolate, perhaps even a cinnamon roll icing. The overall experience is from sweet and light to complex and dark oak and espresso notes. All within that classic springbank funk and earthy expression. This is HIGHLY complex whisky and insanely nuanced. I'm sadly only going with a 3.5 as I can't get past how simple and frankly poor the nose is. This is a 2.0 nose on a 4.0 whisky. So we'll split the difference.

So I'll just apologize for what will be a terrible review. I'm just terrible with peat notes sometimes. nose - There isn't much to talk about here. It's super sweet, sugars, vanilla, oak, and peat. It's got a nice oak profile. There are some cool bourbon notes here. taste - rich, creamy, but insanely complex. The oak is complex and rich but yes a touch bitter. The malt is the classic octomore sweetness forward malt. Sorry guys, I don't have enough to say here. It's just really good octomore. It's that super sweet profile, candy cigarettes, peaty goodness, and just rich and velvety. I'll debate the final score but 3.75 for now. Really really good, but we'll see if I go 4.0 later.

Nose - heavy vanilla, cream, earthy peat, toasted oak, and just a very caramel toasted element. Taste - The flavor is all kinds of chemicals. There's of course vanilla and oak and earthy esters. But it's so unique. I get almost a really strong white wine finish here. There are notes of medicinal. This is far more bright and vibrant than a laphroiag but I get so much medicinal in a similar opening. I was pretty negative on this originally, but I'm a 2.0 on this. It's grown on me.

Nose - there's a distinct red wine note here. A lot of candy and fruits. There's roasted elements, burnt char, and while I get some good notes with this there is a youth to this whisky. Taste - Vanilla gives way to a very bitter red wine. I get some mint leading, with some fruits and minerals. There are earth notes that are interesting. Then sadly you get that mineral and youthful whisky. I think this is pretty average stuff, flawed for sure, but there are nice elements here. 2 stars and this is weird. There are some 3 star flavors and some 1 star notes.

I've debated buying this for a few months and finally just did it. The color is not bad but not good. It's Glengoyne where they do some terrible stuff and some awesome stuff. So lets jump into this. Nose - vanilla cream, buttery pastry, a touch of chocolate but more of a pastry chocolate if that makes sense, and well some kind of lacker or alcoholic chemical. Water brings down the nice sweet elements and spreads out the alcoholic chemical note so it's less intense on the end but it's all through this one. Taste - On the taste you get more sherry elements, there are some nice sherry elements. More on the milk chocolate side with some fruity elements. The malt is pretty classic Glengoyne which is a fairly dull and muted malt with some grains and sweetness. Think dessert but a light one. The problem I'm coming back to is that while we have all kinds of nice flavors...I'm getting hit by this YOUNG and acidic alcohol. It's masking flavors. Adding water... So water has made the whisky more acidic, more sour, and it might even taste younger. I was going to try and dive more into this one, but frankly I've had this a few times and I've gone from drain pouring a glass (actually 2 as I'd poured one for a friend and following great whisky, I had to pour it out) to actually thinking there's something here. Overall - I love the proof, it's got some nice texture, and there is that glengoyne character in the malt and sherry casks that fans will love. That said, I can't get past the young sour and spirity nature of this. 1.5 stars - I want to like this, there's a lot of nice elements, but the overall flavor is just ruined by what is clearly rushed whisky.