Tastes

Nose -Smoky, medicinal, pine needles, mint, and a nice sherry finish that kinda brings this all together. Taste - Winter green, pine, salt, iodine, chocolates, band aids, plastic, and the finish reminds me of those candy cigarettes with a touch of chocolate and a hint of actual smoke. Really complex, almost overwhelmingly so. Lore I'm told has whisky up to 30 years old in it all be it I'm sure little of that. The pine and winter green notes are really interesting and of course the cigarettes smoke and ash. I'm not a huge Laphroaig guy when it comes to my peat, but this is great stuff.

I've been holding off having another pour of this for months just due to a desire to get another bottle. I won't get into it but I'm a bit frustrated with the search. But it's been months, is this really a bottle I HAVE to replace? Lets give it a second look - but memory severs me this dwarfs the 15 and 18 year bottles I have bought in hopes they'd match this one. Nose - Sweet candy, big dark caramel, and a light salt. Oh this is good. Alcohol and I get a bit of a pie filling. Taste - Salty caramel and vanilla. It's like chewing on dessert. This is just a custard pie caramel vanilla and salt bomb. A complete dessert scotch that hits on every possible note you could want. Bottled in 2013 these have become hard to get and I'm insanely annoyed with Ohio...where I'm told two stores have bottles...they just can't find them to sell them to me. Anyway this is hands down my favorite Caol Ila I've had.

Well lets get the monkey in the room out of the way. Springbank Green? Is this environmentally friendly? Packaging is the same, but it seems they've chosen to use "organic" barely, but not their LOCAL barely. I'm not sure what exactly to make of this, not environmentally friendly and possibly using dangerous pesticides. Perhaps a light tongue and cheek joke at the organic industry. I will allow it! Nose - sherry comes right out and says high. Tart citrus with that wonderful red fruits and maybe a hint of dark chocolate mixing into it. I could see green apples and lemons as fruit notes with perhaps a touch of a honey combs cereal on the sweetness. Taste - The flavor is much less citrus and instead brings in more fall fruit notes, much more buttery and savory springbank malt notes come in here. Oh I'm starting to get dark fruits and old worn leather and nice oak notes. I don't get any salt or even any overt peat, just a touch of a meaty back here as it opens up. Water brings out honey, a lot of honey. Finish - oh that springbank sherry finish just lingers on the back of the tongue while a light and gentle sweetness just hangs around. This is just an outstanding younger scotch. Absolutely one to seek out or at least find a sample/tasting of. 4.25 because well...I just can't go any higher without a bit more of an older whisky note or perhaps something more complex in the malt character. Springbank shall be forgiven for the name "green" but they're on probation!

A bit surprised how little love this one has gotten. So full disclosure, I burned some food so i had to take nosing notes outside. I'm not sure how much that'll impact things but inside the bit of smoke here killed the nose. Nose - There's a wonderful sweet characteristic both fruity and vanilla driven. I would say the sherry notes are giving a red apple peel like quality here that's then sweetened up giving off a pear sweetness. The over a somewhat salty and meaty base. The end product is really rich and wonderful. Taste - The local barely 10 is truly a showcase of what springbank does. I can't even begin to discuss the flavors before discussing the mouth feel. Springbanks always drink a bit more oily and rich than they are. A 46% springbank can often give a mouth feel you'd get in 50% drams. That is amplified here with the 57%. I added just a touch of water to bring down the heat and bring out some of the oils and flavors and the feel on mouth is just outstanding. Local barely 10 fills the mouth, coats it, with sweet and savory in a way really only a highland park comes close to doing. Vanilla, a touch of honey, salt, savory peat, and a touch of that wine finish. I really just can't begin to explain the complexity and nuance on this one. 170 USD and I bought a second. Just incredible whisky. It feels weird scoring this higher than the 21 single cask (correction, it seems I was overly generous and gave that one a 5, I may have to go back to confirm I want to go THAT high) or the 25 year, but the mouth feel for me pushes this one above both, even if it is younger, and perhaps less complex. Whisky is about enjoying the full experience and the creamy body, oily and viscous, just explosive flavors along with an amazing finish just put this one on another level.

There's just no reason to even bother with notes here. There has never been a lower quality product sold by a major brand. Everyone who bought a bottle of this should get a full refund and a formal apology in person by the blender.

A bit of a polarizing whisky and frankly, extremely expensive 3 year old bourbon. Nose - funky oak, bright caramel, just sticky sweet, and then more light oak. A really unique nose, the french oak is really adding something special here. I however expect many will find the funk off putting and yes there's fresh young alcohol spirit. I also get green apples, some corn, and well grain alcohol. There's a touch of metallic notes as well. Taste - slightly medicinal, funky oak, alcohol, sour notes, and lots of every changing oak character. I really like the flavors here but I could see someone just as easily thinking it's under aged and awful. I think the big issue or confusion is that this doesn't taste like bourbon to me. One note - just add a few drops of water to this from the start. It's just a far better experience. Finish - linger sweetness and more traditional oak notes. It's nearly 90 bucks a bottle (a cool as heck bottle) so I'm just scoring it 3.0, but frankly this is a polarizing bottle. If you have any questions in your head or aren't adventurous, pass.

OK - this is going to be a challenge to pull together. Unfortunately, while I had 2-3 pours of this already, they were about a week ago. So this hasn't had much time to open up and I wasn't "fresh" when I had it last time. Still, I wanted to write down some notes on this. Batch 3 - 62.17% and about 90 bucks. I go back and fourth on color discussion but with such an odd blend - copper with a touch of amber. Very nice color given the mix here. Legs are a touch thin given the high abv but nothing way off. Nose - this is really hard to explain. The first thing I'm imagining is a dark finished wood chest, dusty, antique being opened up. Then I get these dark fruits, plums raisins, but then black rum sugars. I then get cinnamon and a dark apple pie, but all of the intense darker spices and sweats, none of that lighter fruity notes or the light bready pie crust. It's so spiced it almost reminds me of some of the scented candles I've smelled. A very fall like nose. A touch of a waxy vanilla sweetness on the finish. Taste - Wine, funk, sour, soy sauce, port pipes. Seems reading the bottle (I'd not actually done this as I bought on a recommendation but knew it was well blended) I'm pretty dead on, though the soy sauce note (not getting really the salt notes) is odd, but i've gotten that in some sherry and port in the past. Oh the Cabernet is really doing a lot here, it's adding some of those dark alcoholic fruit notes only they're mingling with the even darker celler notes of a port. The end result reminds me of drinking red wine, eating a steak that was seasoned from my dad's steak seasoning. Almost a salad dressing with vinegar like element. This is unique. I'm getting savory elements without meat and without the salt. I've never noticed this in anything else. 90 bucks for a high proof and completely unbelievable unique whisky experience. Even if this isn't your thing, I'd look for one of these and give it a try. It's really special.

OK - bought this a while ago and I've been letting it open up after a disappointing first few tastes. Poured about 1/3 of an oz about 15 minutes ago, so lets see. Nose - I'm getting a pretty standard "middle age" so under 12 if not under 10, but over 6 years old nose. I know this is a blend of aged bourbons ,but I can't recall so if I'm off I'm off. Vanilla, caramel, touch of dry lightly toasted oak, and perhaps some light fruity esters. I'm assuming those esters are partially influenced by the rum, but I could see getting these notes on a standard wheated bourbon as well. I'm not getting much in the realm of darker notes, even the oak is light and toasty. Taste - sweat, creamy corn, vanilla, wood spice, pie crust, and some notes of fruits. I think there's a bit of a jam, but I can't place it. It's sweat, younger wood character, spicy wood, and a bit hot. Finish - spicy, a touch hot, lightly toasted oak, and that's about it. Cuts off outside of just a lingering heat. Oh, I spoke to soon, I'm getting a touch of nutty notes now at the finish. This is a nice bourbon and it gives me a bit different and out of my normal bourbon notes, just due to more spice, lighter notes, and a lack of deeper darker notes I'd expect on a whisky with some age. The rum casks didn't really stand out, I think they are playing a role in this, but I'm not getting any notes I can clearly state are the result of the secondary finishing. I'm looking forward to how this develops in another 6 months of being open. With the above said, this is a nice 40-50 dollar bourbon, the 100+ price tag in most markets really drives the enjoyment and it is going to get reflected in the score a hair. I was a 2.25 without price and I tend to not overly let myself shift scores due to price. The idea is always 3 is worth getting if you're into the style and the price is your comfort zone and it adjusts from up or down accordingly. I however do also feel there are certain notes and flavors that should or can come with these higher prices and this bourbon drinks like a younger and yes less expensive bottle and so I'm dropping it to a 2. Wow that nutty note at the end really came out of nowhere. Without that I might have dropped into the 1's but it really made this an enjoyable pour.

Weller is the classic bottom shelf line of wheaters from buffalo trace. With the recent rise in bourbon demand and failure to keep up with demand there's been a bit of insanity with these, plus the connections to Pappy. Now this bottle sells in some markets for an absurd $50. This was 15 dollar bourbon not long ago. The buffalo Trace marketing has worked wonders! Nose - sugars, light oak (not finished oak), deep vanilla, strong sticky caramel. And of course a bit of alcohol. A bit if cinnamon on the nose as it opens up. Taste - spice, oak, aspartame, vanilla, caramel. This is lacking depth and complexity. The flavors are muted for a 107. Finish - cheap wood, some weird toast and more aspartame. The hype on this is just mind blowing to me. This tastes nothing like any of the van winkles nor is it really that good.

This one has been creeping up in price for a while so lets see. Nose - vanilla and believe it or not I get white chocolate. Burnt caramel. A touch of honey. Taste - Dark honey, light chocolate notes, toast. Finish - sweet linger light oak. This is a nice pour and it's a shame this is pushing into the 200+ range. At that point, I'd likely pass. All and all if you want a dessert scotch this is a nice option but you really have to like sweet flavors.