Tastes

Bitter sweet finding this today. Recently one of the best people in the Ohio/kentucky whisky world was let go from his job and frankly I'm a bit sour about it. But hey with a release like this, they're going to sell out, best to get my bottle and pass on more available options down the road. So sour grapes aside, Traigh Bhan, my most anticipated dram of the year. Lets dig in. Nose - Ok full disclosure I've never had a whisky's description notes be so dead on for me. First nose without any real time in the glass and I get a common theme of a candy cigar and light smoke. Yeah I know, nothing special here. It's however pretty smokey given the 19 years of age. Once it opens just a hair there's lemon lime with a heavy lime note. This of course is an ardbeg classic note. I then get perhaps a smoked pineapple. Taste - More of the lemon but some sour and bitter pineapple notes as well. Spicy notes, there's a real hot spice note here that I don't get often in Ardbeg. The smoke is a bit refined but it isn't lacking in some punch either. Anyone worried that 19 years would let the smoke fade too much I think you'll be impressed. This is really fruity, spicy, and I can see some touches of chocolate going on. My first impression was it was a bit thin but on second though maybe it's not. I can't tell if there's some sherry casks in here or what ardbeg is doing. I don't believe this is 100% bourbon maturation, but I can't place what the other barrels are. The spice makes me think european oak but the chocolate note and some of the sweetness means it is almost assuredly oloroso (doubtful it is european oak in that case). Water is actually bringing down the lime and giving me a bit more sherry notes. 299.99 USD retail vs 169 pounds. No wonder it sold out in the UK...they're screwing the rest of the world and no shocker american's are buying this stuff up from over there. This is just beyond stupid pricing and it is hurting the home market despite on the surface looking to be a favor to them. But pricing aside, should you buy it? Yes. This is absolutely outstanding whisky. Should you get a second? That's where the price point has me passing. I can't see getting a backup at 300 bucks. 300 is at the high HIGH end of my normal comfort zone and I have a feeling most don't want to spend that ever. It's over priced, but it's just so dang good. 4 stars, this is exceptional without reaching into the truly rare and special levels.

This is another ohio discount where I think I paid 60 for it. Though i think this retails in the 100 range. Nose - Vanilla custard...very dessert like. Maybe some marmalade. Very simple and very sweet. Taste - I get a lot of american oak. To the point one could tell me this was fresh oak (I know it wasn't) finished. There's some nice creme brulee finish. This is soft and sweet oak and vanilla. A bit of char and maybe a hint of milk chocolate (think the chocolate milk stuff). A perfectly fine, sweet, oak, vanilla whisky. I'm going 2 stars as I like the mouth feel and abv. There's not much going on here beyond just being a nice sweet dessert whisky.

So in Ohio (never move here) we have these stores that are "last chance liquor stores" where the state often throws away their unsellable whisky. I got this for about 35 bucks and frankly didn't do any research before the purchase given the price. 2005-2018 so 12 or 13 years old. Looks very colored and comes in at a pathetic 40%. Nose - i get perhaps a plum or dark berry, honey, and I know this is weird but I kinda get some armagnac notes (maybe because I had some to start might sipping off tonight). Taste - Vanilla, honey, baking spice, then I get a slightly savory note on the finish. Ok so this is actually good. Very good even. The mouth feel sucks. The abv is a joke. the coloring annoys me. But it's really easy drinking, simple, and tasting whisky. This is a good dram for someone who's never had scotch before or even whisky. For advanced whisky drinkers, this is a nice end of the night when you want a few more pours or one to start the night so it doesn't spoil your tastes. 1.75 - I feel that's high but it's really decent stuff. Retail is more like 80-100 and at that price, HELL NO.

I discovered last night I didn't have a bottle of this! Corrected it today, it was truly embarrassing. Nose - So this is an odd note but watered down, soft, more sugar cane sweet, springbank. Now for those who don't know springbank lets get in this more. There's a light sherry casking here (evident on the color as well) which gives some fruit notes. touch of salted meat, a hint of BBQ sauce I always get on springbank (very subtle), there's a real note of just sugar, hint of smoke, and at the end I get a bit of a citrus fruit note. It's not a lime or an orange and it isn't into the berry realm either. Taste - opens with a light sweetness, there's a very nice soft flavor. It transitions to a bit of fruity character, there's oak and vanilla. It then transitions to peat, light smoke. The whisky just keeps getting strong and the flavors keep rising up from a soft sweet entry, warmer and more powerful fruity mid point and then a really warm alcohol and lightly singed peat smoke. Really want to get into the fruit notes, I think I'm getting pineapple. Springbank 10 is a required bottle on a real whisky lover's bar. There's just enough nice oak, sherry, peat, and a nice fruity sweet malt. Everything plays really well together and creates a very nice complex dram. I often forget all about the 10 year as I'm a bit more of a fan boy of the 12, but make no mistake this a whisky lovers whisky. This might however be a bit difficult for someone just getting into whisky. It's still however an entry level springbank so lets not get crazy. I will say I have had 12 cask strengths that weren't as good. 2.75 just because this might be a struggle for some people to get into. You gotta like where springbank goes before you buy this. Also 72 bucks is not cheap for a 10 year 46% whisky.

So this is another store pick, a ladies pick no less. I'll be honest with you for ever official full proof I see, I see 5 store picks. So honestly, odds are you're having a store pick with this one. Nose - There's a dusty oak over some sweetness. I'm not getting a lot on the nose. It's got a very marshmallow like sweet but not too sweet thing going on. Adding water and I'm getting hit by oak spice. I get a bit more sweetness too. Water really opened the nose. Taste - This is a much more oak dominate full proof than I can remember. So you get the normal 1792 sweetness. I think of it was sweet corn, and very clean and heavy vanilla (not a french vanilla or vanilla extract but a very candied clean one). After that there's a lot of oak and oak spice. There's 3x the oak in this than any other bottle I've had. I also get a bit of nutty notes which again are off profile. Water brings out more of the traditional sweet 1792 flavors. There's still oak. The oak is a very middle of the road one for me. It isn't young oak, it isn't old oak, it's not overly spicy but there's spice. I'm enjoying this different take while still being on profile of the 1792. I'm always a fan of 1792 and I've yet to have one I wouldn't recommend as a buy. This is the same. 1792 full proof is the perfect 3 star bourbon. No, it's not special or magical, but it's priced very well for what is absolutely outstanding quality bourbon. That said not that complex, not that old, and certainly not a special bourbon.

Another lost whisky thanks to demand out pacing production. Nose - Honey, pear, apples, and a bit of spice (box is saying pine needles...not sure about that one). A deeper nosing brings out a bit of smoke oh and yeah a bit of a savory note. It's really interesting a gentle nosing is all fruity and citrus and then you dig in and you find some real meat. Taste - so we open with citrus, more pears from the nose, some spicy notes, perhaps some mint, money, a touch of oak, oh vanilla for sure, and just a tiny hint of smoke, a dash of salted meat. All the savory and meat and smoke notes are extremely subtle and can easily be missed. Perhaps not mint but menthol. 100 bucks and absolutely worth it for me. I think I like this more than the Yam 12, a lot more.

OK so another Knob Single to review. 10/14/2004 to 2/5/2019 so 14+ years old. Party Source pick. Nose - I get a light fruit, some saw dust, cherry wood, and alcohol esters. You might notice some bourbon notes missing. A drop of water and this things pops open and unlocks the classic bourbon notes. There a funk and hay and barn like note here too. A touch of savory. Taste - Butter, toast, vanilla, oak...oh and a really rich butter on the finish. A second taste and I'm getting more of the classic bourbon vanilla and caramel and oak. It's lively and explosive in flavor but there's this buttery note and it's even in the mouth feel. Water brings out old leathery bourbon and the butter leaves the foreground but remains on the finish. This is very much an off profile knob creek and it's wonderful bourbon. I'm going 3.75 but I seriously considered a 4.0. But lets save that for exceptional whisky and not just my favorite Knob Creek to date. I will note that at 45 bucks the value here is insane and this is why I recommend people try as many knob creek single barrels as they can. Even the non store picks can be exceptional and I really do mean exceptional.

So a store pick this will be Gallenstein Selection #16 coming in the new packaging. 2/10/2004 to 2/7/2019 so we're about 15 years old here. Nose - It's sweet, rich caramel yes, but brown sugar, some cinnamon, creme pie, custard, vanilla. Oh there's even some chocolate here, it's big, it's dark. There's strong evenly balanced finished oak. I'm not getting 15 year old notes here, the oak is a bit more raw than a really old aged wood but still there's some age here. We end up with a nice balance between oak and sweet really really good. Water tames the oak and brings out the nice vanillas. Taste - Opens with a nice sweet note but quickly turns into dusty oak and then nutty notes, then in the finish some spice and then a funk and oak and yet there's still a nice sweet element. A drop of water pushes the vanilla out just like it does in the nose. Very oak forward still and really complex oak. I have done this blind with ECBP A119 and I picked this over it. I'm not a huge blind fan as sometimes one whisky makes another taste better and it wouldn't be that way without the head to head. Still this one holds up well. It's not as sweet and it has more oak notes. It is much more complex and has more transitions and nuances. I can however see some off notes. 3 stars, a fine dram and I know this single barrel is likely gone, but with any single barrel batch variation is life, not just store picks. This is better than any bookers will ever be (maybe not a 30 or something like that) so take that with what it is worth (I'm not sure I'll ever review a bookers as I don't generally care for their quality to price).

OK so this is a store pick, but it's a single barrel product so how special can a store pick even be? 55%rickhouse CNF and Floor 641. Good info and I know the turkey fans will know just which rickhouse that is and will even know which notes they'd expect from me. For me, I'm a bit disappointed we don't get age detail. Nose - So there's a hair of wood funk to go with our traditional bourbon notes of oak, caramel, and vanilla. I get a touch of finger nail polish remover. I get a touch of cherry. There's a lot of alcohol on here, far more than 55% should indicate. Overall a nice pleasant all bit it a bit alcohol forward nose. Not overly complex but not boring. I like the cherry note on the finish and that bit of oak funk it a nice switch up. Taste - Not a nice way to start this but it's hot on the tongue, really overly alcohol, rare breads don't have this much alcohol for me. So get some of the fruity cherry note but it gets hit with some off note as a swallow, it's some bad oak and just crazy astringent, it's bitter, and wow the finish is just an alcohol burnt mouth. Water certainly does help, it brings in some nutty character but it doesn't mask the off notes, it does curb the alcohol. Yeah bitter oak and it's really keeping me from even getting into the nice bourbon notes under it. I'm really disappointed in this bottle. There's just no shaking that it's not good whisky. Hopefully, I'll get to try a better bottle and I'll put a new review up. For now I'm going with 0.5 as the nose is actually nice enough and I enjoy smelling it.

2018 edition 47%. Nose - Clay, dirt, crayons, and I get some sweetness in the back. But yeah imagine a box or crayons where some mud and dirt and clay were somehow added and then left there for about a year. Open that up and mix in at the very end a hint if alcohol and a hint of I dunno maybe caramel. Taste - The opening is clay then it shifts sweet giving off some traditional bourbon notes. Now we go back into waxy crayons, clay puddy, and then back to sweet with some bourbon notes. Maybe some flowers? not in a good way just kinda earthy and floral flower notes. I mostly suffered through this stuff again to provide a PSA. Garrison Brother's has gotten a lot of love and a lot of hate. I can't tell if batch variation is a thing or if some people like this stuff. I've emailed the distillery and they've assured me clay puddy isn't a note I should taste or smell, but I've talked to numerous people who have gotten the same notes which makes me think if this is off, it's a COMMON off note. I would like to try a different batch to see if this if this is just me, but either way unless you enjoy drinking dirt, this pretty much sucks. The nose is far worse than the taste where there's actually some bourbon quality notes. Still it tastes awful. Overall you can't mix this to make it better. You can only drain pour it or share it with others to stop them buying one.