Tastes

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.

Nose - a lot of caramel, you get some rye spice but I'm not picking up much if any dill. There's a light oak, very smooth oak notes. Taste - There's a lot more rye on here. Rye bread, spicy, a bit hot, and a caramel finish. There's a bit of toasted bread. A very light touch of peanut just for good beam measure. Overall a nice middle of the road rye flavor with a bit of bourbon caramel and a touch of nutty notes. 100 bucks...hard to recommend too strongly but it's pretty good and at a tasting this one was second place among people's favorites next to some real stunners so clearly there are some fans.

Gallinstein selection #6. Nose - Rich dessert level caramel and vanilla with a good oak finish. This has a bit of the cherry I get on older whisky but it's not really coming out (water doesn't help). This has hints of old whisky but it doesn't get there and frankly at 14 years it isn't really older bourbon which I tend to find starts at 15 years (seems minor but it is what it is). A little water does bring out really light hints of peanuts that I'd miss not looking for it. Taste - I get some cherry, nice oak, vanilla, caramel. The flavors are starting to remind me of older bourbon a bit more as this bottle stays open. Rich and full flavor, really explosive amounts. The oak is really nice here though not exceptional. There's a note in here that's a mix of vanilla and oak that comes off a bit young in the middle of the taste and a bit out of place. This note just keeps killing this one for me and at 250 bucks, I really shouldn't have this one. Heck I think I actually enjoyed the standard 12 year more than this despite the lower abv and 2 year younger age statement. Opening - cherry and rich old leathered wood. Transitions to vanilla and young oak. Finishes with a bit of caramel and a nice lightly toasted oak but still some youthful wood funk. 2.75, this feels like a low score and while I try and leave price out of my reviews and use it more for the reader, I just can't not lower this one a bit for the price tag, it's an extremely expensive bourbon and there are just too many off notes going on here for the price. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice whisky, but I've just had so many better ones.

Nose - I'll start up with there's a huge amount of alcohol to get through here. That abv is no joke. Lemon lime and salt. A bit of meaty notes. I'm going right into water and a decent bit. Water tames the abv but I'm not getting much new here. Taste - Lemon, salt, meaty peat. Very salted meat forward which is not something i generally get in springbank peat. Touch of vanilla. This 9 year seems like a showcase of the new make spirit aged just long enough and in some really well used barrels. I like what they're doing here, but it doesn't come close to living up to the 10 year. I got this for a pretty good price of about 130 but I've seen it for 170. I can't really recommend it for all but the biggest springbank geeks.

Nose - this is by far one of the most bourobn like scotches I've ever had. I'm getting those caramels and vanillas from a bourbon. I get a bit more of a pie and some candy and maybe even some maple syrup. A hint of milk chocolate. Taste - On the pallet I get some fruity notes, some kind of candy, caramel, maple, oh this is a lot of candy. I'm loving this stuff, I wonder if these are oak barrels that they just char, I've never heard of a scotch distillery doing that but there's so much bourbon like character here, but a bit more fruity and just different. Going 3.5, this is an easy buy for most people. I ordered this online and it was a bit over 100 bucks. I feel like this is a profile that will be very inviting to scotch and bourbon drinkers. I'm all over the map on where i want to score this, a part of me wants to go 3.0 as it lacks wow moments beyond being unique but another part of me wants to go 4 stars because of how inviting this will be.

100th review - wow. Nose - Vanilla, powered sugar, custard, some pastry crust, and of course a huge smoke bomb. Taste - sweet vanilla, toasted bread, surprisingly some oak (pop sickle stick), of course huge amounts of smoke. Finish - just a mouth coated with nothing but sweet smoke. 9.3 seems to be a showcase of the new make from octomore and it's insanely good. Creamy mouth feel, huge body, the alcohol is drying. 230 bucks and you can't have enough of these as backups. A bit lacking in complexity and it's a bit drying on the mouth. Otherwise it's amazing.

Springbank 18 year - 2014 edition. I'm a bit shocked to see that this is a 2014 but 14/301 is what's here and the 14 should be the year. Bought a 2014 longrow 18 not all that long ago as well as a 12 (old packaging) so I guess not that surprising. The box and bottle however look awfully nice to be this vintage. Oh well 301 so end of the year 2014 at least. Nose - classic springbank BBQ peat as I have come to think of it. There's a bit of a wine character not just a sherry note (this is heavily sherried I'm fairly certain). I get a bit of oak but given 18 years not a lot. As it's opening up I'm starting to get vanilla from the bourbon. A very clean springbank nose, much more refined than the 12's and 15's. I'm not sure this is a good thing but it just is what it is. Taste - Opens with a lot of vanilla, transitions to some sherry, then moves into that springbank funk with BBQ and more sherry, spices form, it heats up, and then nicely and gently finishes. There's gentle smoke over the whole experience, perhaps the most smoke I've gotten on a springbank to date. Oh yeah vanilla cream over this nice bitter sherry bite, savory smoke, a touch of meat, a really nice medium finish. Only real negative I have for this one is that it really does drink a bit like water at first before the sherry and peat and sparks of springbank build up and send you on an epic journey. Normally 46% is that almost there but not there spot for a whisky and this might showcase that like no other. 48% would be a game changer. 170 buck, well worth it, and yes I want another bottle or two.

So my least favorite springbank ever, a few drams in what will i think tonight. Nose - OK first off, I'm smelling this like crazy just from the pour. OK so sherry, oak, BBQ sauce, and sulfur. My first thoughts when I opened this reminded me of a baby diaper that my dog ate as a kid. Now I'm getting more sweet and bbq vs that but it's still there in the back ground. I get a touch of vinegar, touch of salt. Taste - Springbank funk, BBQ (citrus bbq?), nice oaks, salty, savory. No smoke no fruity notes either. Ok so it's more mesquite if that makes sense. Still i get some of that baby diaper stuff, of sulfur. You know this is crazy but this bottle has been open well over a year and I gotta say, it has finally lost the REALLY off putting notes and those off notes now aren't a problem at all. I still don't love this one and it's still not my springbank of choice. This is a HARD one to score because it's so insanely complex, it's SPRINGBANK, and it's down right good casks, but I get those odd flavors. I however know the quality here and accept some issues. As a result an insanely low score for springbank but still a pickup if you're a fan.