Tastes

Excellent value for an Irish whiskey. The grain alcohol comes through just a little but the pot still malt is still dominant. Great flavors and an enjoyable sipper. Nose: honey, rich malt, pears, buttered cookies, chocolate fudge, honeysuckle, tangerine skins, black tea Palate: sweet malt, cereal, spiced stewed apples, cinnamon, milk chocolate, buttery toast. Finish: very short honey and baking spice.

Henry McKenna Single Barrel 10yr old. Barrel 4796. Barreled: 12/27/07 This bottle of whiskey is all about barrel and rye. Lots of oak influence and the rye spices duking it out for dominance. Its dry, not overly sweet, and the rye cuts through the oak nicely. The proof does not come across harsh or overly assertive. Nose: vanilla fudge, brown sugar, sweet tea, cotton candy, pumpernickel bread, dill, thyme, cedar fence post, fir shavings, cocoa powder. Palate: immediate peppery heat across the middle of the tongue with a slight alcohol burn going down. Barrel sour, bing cherry & chocolate, anise, dill, swirled rye bread. Finish: vanilla, white pepper, old shoe leather, sour oak.

Nose: classic Ardbeg but restrained and dancing a continuously swirling waltz with tropical fruit and rich vanilla. Initially reminds me more of Port Charlotte. Classic Phenols, salami, campfire, salted limes, scented vanilla candle, charred wood, banana nut bread with chocolate chips. Palate: creamy, silky, slightly oily. Campfire ash, cordite/gunpowder, rich sweet vanilla, toasted coconut, fresh pineapple, golden raisins. Finish: black peppercorns, cigar, rum cake, vanilla cream, leather.

Nose: limes grilling on a fire of driftwood by a rocky tidal pool. Sea foam washing over barley grain. Vanilla cookies baking on a sun soaked river stone. Strands of salted kelp drying on an old boat deck. Agave and aloe blended with pineapple, pears, and papaya in a smoothie with a drop of iodine and charcoal. Palate: bright, lively. Vanilla and pears over barley pancakes slathered with a syrup of hardwood smoke and sprinkled with rock salt. Finish: salted ham topped with creme fraiche and a splash of Williams Brandy infused with peppercorns.

Stagg Jr 66.25% Nose: A big hit of rich vanilla and oak that is immediately overtaken by alcohol. A short time in the glass reveals, vanilla bean, cola syrup, sweet corn, sassafras, hints of leather, cocoa. Palate: thick, oily...you could chew this stuff. Immediate ethanol heat across the tongue and a peppery heat to the back of the throat. Rich caramel, brown sugar, cinnamon and cloves, dark chocolate, corn smothered with molasses. Finish: cracked black pepper, sweet tobacco leaf, sour oak.

Macallan Ed No 3 This one is a journey and requires serious time and devotion. Not a background whisky by any means. It demands your attention like the sheer dressed starlet on the red carpet. And it will not be denied. At the heart is classic Macallan but it has spent a day at the spa being pampered and bathed in various oak spice and perfume. Nose: richly perfumed. Maybe the busiest and most complex nose on a whiskey I’ve experienced. Floral, heather, malt; like a flowering rock garden. Lemon juice and sweet tea ala Arnold Palmer, tupelo honey, cardamom, butter and brown sugar. At the base of it is classic Macallan orange marmalade and tangerines. Palate: sweet and oak, almost instantly drying, big burst of heat after the swallow. Black tea and honey, cinnamon, clove, oak vanilla, a slight tinge of savoriness like soy sauce, serious barrel spice and pepperiness. Sherry dark fruit (plums and figs) and nuttiness. Vanilla almonds. Finish: quick, drying, pepper, leather, a habano wrapped cigar.

C918 65.7% Nose: rich and sweet. Very classic bourbon notes. Dusty corn, candied cherries, vanilla extract, boot leather, cedar, cola syrup, sawn oak boards, cinnamon and all spice, baked apple pie, molasses cookies, lightly roasted coffee beans, black tea and honey, grape candy, Palate: thick and oily, coats the mouth. hot ethanol burn on the tongue and going down, cherry cough syrup, brown sugar, cherry cola, eucalyptus, mint, marzipan, chocolate covered cherries, orange marmalade, root beer. Finish: drying and slightly tannic yet the oils linger, sour cherry, leather, cream caramel, cocoa powder.

Nose: very fruit forward at first. Juicy apples, ripe pears, apricots, peach pit, peach syrup, cardamom, mineral and chalk, white grapes, fresh malt, lemon grass and ginger tea with honey, grapefruit. Palate: syrupy sweet on entry with a big warming burn going down. White peach and ginger, allspice, sour grape, citrus zest, crisp malt, fresh bread dough. Finish: vanilla and orange creamsicle, dried apricots, barrel sour.

I would basically sum this up as a cask strength version of the 10yr with a little more barrel spice. It’s a lovely dram of Islay whisky. Nose: richly layered, candied lemon peel, ginger, vanilla, sweet malt. Then the phenols: ocean spray, tide pool, wet hay, graphite pencil. Palate: a lot of follow through from the nose. Oily and yet clean, candied ginger, citrus, blood orange, clean malt, gunpowder, barrel spice, peppercorns, slight tingling in the back of the throat, numbing the cheeks, asphalt, tobacco, and ash. Finish: creamy and sweet vanilla, leather, chocolate covered blueberries, white pepper, sweet tobacco leaf.