Tastes

For some people, this is a sensational, first-rate dram. I wouldn't go quite that far, although it's not unfairly priced at around $80 (and I see it a few places online for closer to $60-65). The nose is almost hoppy in its herbal, vegetal rye-derived freshness, with some vanilla lending some sweeter notes. The rye is definitely dominating the blend from the outset. The palate demonstrates more hybrid characteristics, with an odd tinned pineapple note, but over time the rye again seems to win out and resemble High West Rendezvous Rye. The finish features barrel char and a great combination of rye spice and bourbon richness.

Diageo isn't exactly doing their premium Orphan Barrel series any favors with releases like this. The story behind Gifted Horse -- and I stress the term story, because it's blatant marketing speak -- is that the distillery "accidentally" spilled some 17-year old Bernheim bourbon into a vatting of much younger, 4-year old bourbons, then realized that the resulting blend tasted amazing. Yeah, right. The company probably had some barrels of bourbon that got a little long in the tooth, and decided to even out the mix as much as they could with young, sweet juice before releasing it for a big price tag. Apple cider defines the profile of this whiskey, although it's a spiced, mulled cider. The problem with this expression is that the young whiskey gives it way too much heat at this high an ABV -- I see this as something that would have been better below 50%. As it is, it's rough and burns on the way down. Not easy to drink, and not much complexity to justify fighting through that heat. For $100, I'll pass easily.

The Distiller review is right on with this one, as is the score. The contrast between this and the disappointing Gifted Horse is pretty striking, although ultimately I'm not 100% sold that this whiskey warrants its $80-90 price tag. The nose is an intense blend of vanilla and well-aged oak, and those flavors also dominate the palate, which bursts with complex oak and cedar wood. This feels like chewing on Werther's candies in a dusty, antique furniture store. Additional complexity comes in with heavy wallops of rye and corn, and the palate has an extremely thick, oily mouthfeel. I would not have guessed that there are components in this blend that are 4 to 6 years old, so that's a testament to the work done by the young Noe.

My wife and I visited St. Augustine Distillery over MLK weekend, so I had a chance to try the distillery's two whiskies, their standard Double Cask Bourbon and a limited edition Port Finished Bourbon. This limited edition is prominently featured in the distillery's gift shop, and seems to sell well even at some super-premium pricing:  $40 for a 375 ml half-bottle, and $80 for a handle.  The port influence creates some spectacular aromas of cherry and strawberry, along with darker, richer syrup notes.  The taste is reminiscent of the Double Cask Bourbon which forms the base of this release, but added sweetness in the form of dates and raisins make this a more pleasant release.  It has a moderately long finish of vanilla and dried fruit.  Unlike the Double Cask, which is pretty rough, this felt to me like it could be a daily sipper, although it'd be hard to afford placing this bourbon in that role.  This dram is more promising than what I've tasted from Angel's Envy but, like its base, it needs more time in the barrel.  Especially at the prices that they're asking! This is a solid 3.5-star bourbon, but I'm rounding down a little because of the price point.

My wife and I visited St. Augustine Distillery over MLK weekend, so I had a chance to try the distillery's two whiskies, their standard Double Cask Bourbon and a limited edition Port Finished Bourbon. Look, this is a classic craft spirit:  honestly made, and surprisingly high in quality for its youth, but with a lot of rough edges remaining.  I'm not sure what the future holds for St. Augustine, and I'd certainly expect this bourbon will prove to be a viable competitor for other high-quality wheated bourbons with time.  Interestingly, it sounds like a small percentage of the blend is also aged in port, to lend it some additional sweetness, which speaks to the fact that the bourbon standing alone probably is a little too bitter.  The dominant notes that I get from this are young spirit notes, along with a mellow corn sweetness and a lot of raw grain notes.  It is surprisingly smooth, and holds up very well in an Old Fashioned due to its lower level of sweetness. I've seen some reviewers describe a pine-like taste to this bourbon, which is dead on.  In a way, some of the flavors here remind me of the distillery's gin, which is a legitimate heavy hitter.

Wild Turkey 101 is one of my favorite inexpensive bourbons, and, to be honest, I didn't even realize that they made a rye version until I ordered this whiskey at a bar thinking that it was the bourbon. What did I get out of this mistake? A pretty decent, but very mellow, bourbon-like rye! This is something of a chameleon, actually, with a nose that reads more like a spicy scotch than a rye whiskey. There's much more honey and faint fruit than the strange, hoppy scents I associate with most ryes. On the palate, however, it stays truer to its genre, plenty of spice (cinnamon, clove) without many distinguishing notes. This also drinks under-proof. At $40, it's a worthwhile alternative to Bulleit rye. Around a 3.5, its current user score, is a very fair rating.

Yamazaki, I hardly knew thee. I'd just been introduced to this Japanese whisky around the time of its explosion in popularity and price around 2014 or so, so I had a chance to enjoy a few drams for reasonable prices before this become a much scarcer and dearer pour. The Mizunara oak definitely adds something unique to this drink, although I'm not sure if I actually like it more than the more conventional Yamazaki Distiller's Reserve, which has more standard, sherry-finished liquid. The aromas of this whisky are unusual to say the least: there's a spiciness and pungency that reminds me of Le Labo's Oud scent. The taste is much closer to Yamazaki Distiller's Reserve, with notes of peach and vanilla wrapped together in a sweet, enticing package. The finish tastes like honey-drizzled pecan biscuits. Look, this is a tasty whisky, but, at the $150 or so that it generally fetches, it's hard to recommend without a reservation.

I love to rag on Highland Park's no-age-statement expressions, as the distillery releases them in wave after wave, rapidly diluting the value of the brand name in favor of today's profits. That being said, sometimes, one encounters a pleasant surprise in the NAS world. Magnus is one of the newer members of this genre, and is positioned to be the true entry-level single malt in the Highland Park lineup, at an affordable, Glenlivet/Glenlivet 12-esque price of $35 or so. I wasn't expecting much, but I got plenty. This is not a sophisticated dram by any means, but it's kind of like the fun, trashy Netflix show that you end up clicking instead of the nuanced, prestige drama that you wish you could tell your friends you were watching. The nose smells exactly like green apple Jolly Ranchers. The palate, while understandably thin at this minimum ABV, also has plenty of that green apple, honey, and perhaps a wisp of that characteristic Highland Park roast coffee. The finish is malty and honey-sweet. What a fun, vibrant, youthful dram, and my favorite among the Highland Parks without an age statement. Thanks to @Telex for the sample!

Baker's is one of those bourbons that's found on a lot of bar shelves, and yet seems to have relatively low prestige and brand recognition compared to some of its cousins from Jim Beam. It doesn't carry the actual Beam name, nor is it the iconic cask-strength Booker's or the well-marketed Knob Creek. It just is a good, relatively high proof, decently affordable bourbon. This was another of the drinks I tried toward the end of a long night of New Year's Eve revelry, so my notes aren't the most detailed, but I wrote that Baker's reminded me a lot of Blanton's and was "rye forward to the extreme." This is a complex, spicy expression, with less sweetness and not much of the iconic "Beam funk" that people find in a lot of their other products, such as the Beams, Knob Creek, and Booker's. It's a little generic aside from the spiciness, but worth a try.

I am not a huge fan of product tie-ins, but this bourbon was released as part of the marketing blitz for the Kingsman sequel. Now, it just so happens that the original movie is pretty good, mostly thanks to another star turn from Colin Firth. Although I haven't seen the sequel and abhor these sorts of cash grabs, there's been some positive buzz about this bourbon, so we took a chance on it. By this point in the night -- keep in mind this is New Year's Eve -- I wasn't exactly writing down the most detailed or poetic tasting notes I could conjure. Perhaps I'll just deliver my assessment unfiltered for once, to give a sense of how odd my scribbled notes on the phone can be: "Pleasant also rye forward more grain and cola." From what I can remember, that sounds about right.