Tastes

It’s been a while since my first taste of Laphroaig 10 year: two years and two months to be exact. Since then I’ve had the Quarter Cask which I didn’t care much for. But this - this is pretty amazing stuff. This review is of Laphroaig 10 year cask strength batch 11. It’s bottled at 58.6% ABV and pours a nice medium gold in the glass. It has an oily coating that hangs on like glue and produces lots of long legs that take forever to form when you give it a spin. Some watery droplets appear after a while. I did not get any of the stereotypical Laphroaig notes of tennis balls or rubber when I opened this. Just a nice puff of smoke and peat. Initially the nose was strong peat smoke with little else; little to no burn. A month after opening, the nose is pretty much the same with some hints of citrus and slight malty sweetness appearing behind the peat. Really pretty pleasant. A bit of water enhanced the citrus/sweetness, but more than a 1/4 tsp. per ounce killed the nose. In the mouth my initial impression was of dry, flat smoke. Its pretty hot neat; oily with a thick mouthfeel. A month after opening there is a noticeable malty sweetness. The smoke is present but not overpowering by any means. More sweetness than I found in the standard 10 year. Water really brings out the best of this dram in my opinion. A 1/4 tsp. to an ounce of whisky brings out a sweet smoky malt that is just about perfect. The finish is long BBQ meat and ashy smoke. There is some brine in there as well. Water helps lengthen the finish. This is probably the first whisky I’ve had that truly benefits from “just a few drops” of water. Being the nerd I am I tend to measure everything - in this case “a few drops” is 1/4 tsp. Any more than that and all that sweet smoky malt starts to just fade away. This bottle was $55 online at acespirits.com. That’s a great value imo. I’m really loving this dram. 4.25/5. Cheers!

This may be the cheapest whiskey I’ve bought since starting this journey a little over three years ago. I bought this for sharing/mixing for our annual October family bonfire, and for this purpose it did not disappoint. Contrary to the write-up here on Distiller, this is not discontinued. AAA 10 Star is produced by Buffalo Trace using their #2 mashbill of 80-83% corn, 12-15% rye, and 5% barley. It’s the same mashbill used for Blantons, Elmer T Lee, Rock Hill Farms, and Hancocks Reserve. It’s bottled at 45% ABV and set me back a whole $15 for a liter. There is some indication that this once carried a three year age statement, but there is nothing like that on this bottle. It is labeled “straight” bourbon, so it is at least two years old, but I’d say not much more than that. In the glass it’s a medium gold. Swirling produces some quick thin legs. Neat it’s not much to talk about, but what did you expect? The nose is sweet corn with an odd hint of citrus, maybe orange peel? And not much else. The palate is more sweet corn with little of the typical bourbon flavors of caramel and vanilla. Actually kind of bland. The finish, what there is of it, is short with alcohol heat and a bit of oak char. For $15/liter I can’t complain. It’s a perfectly acceptable mixer and even made a tolerable Old Fashioned. 2.5/5. Cheers!

I bought this bottle back in August and have been getting to know it over the last couple of months. I have seen some reviews that say this whisky is simple, a good beginner scotch. It might make a good beginner scotch in that it’s not overwhelming in any way, but I found it far from simple. Oban is located on the western coast of Scotland. The distillery is “208 steps from the sea” according to their website. It is one of the smallest distilleries in Scotland, having only two stills and just seven employees. But from this tiny distillery comes one of the classic malts of Scotland, Oban 14. This whisky is bottled at 43% ABV and pours a bright gold in the glass. Giving it a swirl produces an oily coating and long slow legs. No indication of non-chill filtering, so I’m assuming it is. On the nose there is briny barley. Not that strong floral barley that characterizes most scotch. This is subtle, subdued, but in a good way. There is also some honey, light fruits, and hints of peat and lemon zest. This whisky makes you work to get much out of the nose, but what there is is very pleasant. The palate is much more assertive than the nose. There is light sweet honey, malty biscuits, black tea, brine, light peat smoke. An earthiness I’ve not really found in any other whisky. It’s oily and at times slightly medicinal with a fairly thick mouthfeel. Again, many reviewers have claimed this is a simple whisky but I found it complex and somewhat challenging. The finish is moderately long with warm briny biscuit, oak, and whiffs of smoke like burning leaves on a fall afternoon. Overall I really like this dram; I found it to be unique and complex. And at $55 online, a great value as well. Highly recommended. 4/5. Cheers!

This was my first Islay pickup for this fall season. Never had any of their expressions before this and have heard good things, so here we are. Kilchoman Machir Bay is named after the bay on the west coast of Islay and the associated beach. It’s a mixture of whiskies matured in both ex-bourbon and sherry casks, with the emphasis on bourbon. It’s also notable for the fact that Kilchoman distills their spirit from 100% Islay grown barley. It’s a nice pale straw color in the glass and produces slow skinny legs when given a spin. Its bottled at a respectable 46% ABV. The nose is slightly briny, with lemon zest, floral barley, and a light smoke. There was a noticeable alcohol burn when I first opened the bottle, but that has thankfully faded. The palate is simple but pleasant. There’s a nice honey sweetness with some smoke and a thick mouthfeel. Some malty Biscuit on the back end. Once swallowed, the finish has hot, ashy campfire smoke that fades into a smoky shortbread sweetness. The finish is the best part of this dram. This was $65 online. At that price it seems a little high for an NAS Islay whisky, but it’s also kind of a “craft” whisky when you take the local barley into consideration. Bottom line is I like this, but it’s a little pricey. 3.25/5. Cheers!

Finally gave in to my curiosity and decided to try this whisky. Well, we all know what curiosity did to the cat. Fortunately, I haven’t suffered that fate, but I am pretty disappointed. JW Double Black is a 40% peated blend. While the standard Black carries a 12 year age statement, this bottle does not. It’s a medium gold in the glass and produces quick skinny legs with no noticeable water. On the nose there’s lightly smoked floral barley. There’s no alcohol, but also no noticeable grain. Nothing bad, but not too memorable either. The palate is just nothing. There’s a light, barely there sweetness and not much smoke. Lets call a spade a spade: it’s bland. Again, nothing objectionable, but nothing good either. The finish is the only thing that saves this dram from being completely wasted. There’s a nice ashy BBQ smoke that lingers for quite a while. Overall, this was very disappointing. At $44 for a 750 ml bottle, it’s about 25% more than the standard Black label. Just not worth it. Average rating here on Distiller is 3.4. I’ll give it 3/5, minus a quarter point for value. 2.75/5. Cheers!

Redemption Rye is yet another bottling of the 95% rye mash bill whiskey from MGP. Same as Bulliet, Dickel, and Templeton. And a few others I imagine that I don’t know yet. But while Bulliet and Dickel are solid ryes for the price point, Redemption leaves something to be desired. This whiskey is bottled at 46% ABV and is aged “not less than one year” in new charred oak barrels. Some write ups (including Distiller) have mentioned aging up to two and-a-half years. However, nowhere on the label does it claim to be “straight rye whiskey”, so I have my doubts. It may be a blend of barrels less than two years with a bit of slightly older stuff but in any case, this is a young whiskey and it shows. In the glass it’s a medium gold color, the first indication of its young age. Swirling leaves an oily coating but just a few slow legs. The nose is young grain whiskey, mild rye spice, a slight burn, and little else. There is a hint of fruitiness if you are patient enough to let it set a few. The palate is dry, minty, spicy oak. Little to no sweetness. The finish was actually unpleasant to me: just astringent, bitter oak tannins and an alcohol bite. This is not a good whiskey to sip neat. It does make a decent Manhattan; it’s dry, spicy character works well with the vermouth. This bottle was $24 locally. Not expensive, but considering the aforementioned Bulliet and Dickel can be had for the same or less, I will not bother with another one of these. 2.5/5. Cheers!

Heaven Hill was the first distillery that I recognized as being a great distillery just based on the bottles that I was able to pick up locally. Elijah Craig, Evan Williams, and Henry McKenna were among the first bottles I discovered when I began this whiskey journey. Heaven Hill whiskies will always have a place on my shelf. But until recently I had not had the chance to try one of their signature bottlings, the six year old Heaven Hill Old Style Bourbon. This expression is available only in Kentucky. Fortunately I found myself in Kentucky at the end of June and managed to pick up a bottle. I should have bought all I they had. This review is the Heaven Hill 6 yr green label. There was a BiB version of this 6 yr old that has been discontinued. There is also a NAS green label that is available outside of Kentucky. The NAS version was awful. But this stuff is amazing. This whiskey is bottled at 45% ABV and uses Heaven Hill’s standard mash bill of 78% corn, 10% rye, and 12% barley. It’s a medium/dark amber color and has sparse skinny legs in the Glencairn. The nose is spicy Oak char with cinnamon and hints of vanilla and caramel. Much less sweet than most bourbons. No alcohol burn to speak of. In the mouth it’s dry, oaky, and spicy with hints of nuts and vanilla. Again, very dry and spicy. I’d swear this was a high rye bourbon if I didn’t know any different. The finish is decently long, warm and spicy with more Oak char and pepper. This bourbon would be good if it were a $30 bottle. Hell, it would be decent if it were a $40 bottle. But this stuff is available in Kentucky for the unbelievably low price of $13. It’s a freaking steal! If you ever find yourself in Kentucky be sure to hunt down a bottle or six to take home with you. You’ll not regret it. 3.5/5 with a quarter point for value. 3.75/5. Cheers!

I picked this bottle up on a trip to Kentucky back at the end of June. Noah's Mill is a blend put out by Willet Distilling. It originally carried a 15 year age statement, but like many whiskies in the last few years, it has lost that distinction and now consists of a blend of 4-20 year old whiskey. As it is a blend, the mash bill is uncertain. This whiskey is bottled at an impressive 57.15% ABV. It pours a burnished gold color and produces abundant but skinny legs in the glass. On the nose, there is sweet caramel, cinnamon honey, and hints of minty rye. There was very little alcohol burn considering the proof. Diluted down about 3:1 with water the nose is richer, sweeter, with more brown sugar and less spice. The palate is sweet, spicy, mild oak; caramel brown sugar with cinnamon and pepper. Pretty sure there's a fairly high percentage of rye in this blend, maybe 20-30%? With water it becomes somewhat sweeter but retains the cinnamon, like a cinnamon roll. There is a slight hint of a "green oak" note that I noticed in Bookers. I know "green oak" is a strange description but that's what it makes me think of; I don't know how else to describe it. The green note has dissapated over time, just as it did with Bookers. The finish is moderately long and is a little hot, dry and spicy. Water has little to no effect on the finish. These notes were taken from two tastings. One from the first pour after opening and the other today, about 6 weeks later. There was little change over that time, other than the fading of the "green oak" note. This bottle was $55 in Kentucky. At that price it's an average value. Yes, it's a barrel strength bourbon for $55, but there are other barrel strength releases out there that are just as good or better at a lower price; Wild Turkey Rare Breed and Knob Creek come to mind. I am enjoying this bottle but I probably won't go looking for it again. 3.5/5. Cheers!

Speyburn 10 yr. has got to be about the cheapest single malt I have ever run into. At a mere $25 I couldn’t pass it up. Bottled at the minimum 40% ABV, this Speysider is matured in a combination of American oak ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks. It pours a bright gold in the glass and produces quick skinny legs when you give it a spin. The nose is very light and a bit dry. There’s a grassy hint of lemon zest, some light orchard fruits, and a bit of alcohol. A little underwhelming. In the mouth there’s light honey, citrus and orchard fruits that give way to a malty biscuit tone on the back end. Pretty simple but really not bad. There’s a slightly thick mouthfeel that develops after swallowing. Very drinkable with no alcohol at all. The finish is medium-short and has sweet malty cereal with just a whiff of tobacco. Overall this is a pretty decent malt, even more so considering the price. It can be found online at under $20 and even at $25 it’s a bargain. An easy drinker suitable for just about any purpose. 3/5. Cheers!

I bought this bottle back in January. My initial review on Barreled was from my first glass out of the bottle and was somewhat less than generous. I should have known then and certainly know now never to review a whisky on the first glass. This review is a composite of my notes from getting to know this bottle over the last six months. JW Green is a blend of four single malts: Talker, Linkwood, Cragganmore, and Caol Ila. It’s bottled at 43% ABV and is a bright gold in the glass. It carries a 15 year age statement. Initially the nose was underwhelming: malted barley, honey, and barely there smoke. Over time however this has changed considerably. The smoke became more prominent as well as the appearance of a darker malty note and black tea. Really quite nice. In the mouth there is a rich, oily/buttery mouthfeel that gives up notes of sweet, malty honey along with a moderate amount of smoke. The finish is where this whisky really shines in my opinion. Rich, meaty smoke, peppery leather and tobacco hang on for a considerable time. This is one of the few whiskies that I’ve found really benefits from a bit of water. A quarter of a teaspoon to approximately two ounces in a Glencairn does amazing things to this dram. Most of these notes/impressions are from this formulation. Overall this is an excellent blend, perhaps the more so because it is a blended malt as opposed to a blended whisky, there being no grain whisky in this blend. At $65 this is a decent value as well, just don’t judge it based on the first glass out of the bottle. Slainte!