Tastes
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3.21.22 Served: Neat, Flute Bottle Open: 6+months (batch 6440), Same day (batch 7650) Last Intake: Overdone steak Aroma: Old: Vanilla cakey sweetness. Oak and old books. Marscapone and almond. Neon maraschino cherries. New: Much lighter aroma. More difficult to detect. Makes me wonder if they're cutting corners by reducing age, but the color of the spirits is identical to my untrained eye. Much lighter oak character. A bit fruitier with melon and natural cherry. Vanilla is more detectable on the third or fourth whiff. Like the old bottle, a cherry popsicle/neon maraschino. Flavor: New: Nice full mouthfeel. Sweet vanilla shortbread and apples. Caramel finish. Old: Apple jam, almond cream. A little thinner. Both: Feels like high acidity for bourbon. Contain strong, bracing wood tannins that make one shudder as they linger on the tongue. The difference in aroma is much greater than in flavor. It could be due to batch number or oxygen exposure. I prefer the older bottle, so for quality's sake, hope it is the latter. My refractometer shows identical ABVs of 46/47 (might need calibrating), so if there is any evaporation, it is happening to ethanol and water at parallel rates. Overall, the aroma is absolutely intoxicating, and the flavors are nuanced but strong. I would probably choose this for use in an old fashioned in order to give it the support it needs, while not outshining its complexity with mixers like vermoth would in a manhattan. Worth stocking for the price. The harsh finish is the only thing keeping this from a 4.5 rating. But I will return to this on a different day with a different palate. Update: I have always been skeptical of the concept of watering a whiskey. It sounded like hocus pocus to me. But I just gave a couple drops of tap water (no distilled available at my bar) and I do notice a difference in aroma immediately, bringing the aroma of the new bottle closer to the old. I'm not a convert yet, but I am not intrigued at the idea of trying a watered and 2 unwatered pours side by side by side to see if I can tell the difference. I imagine what is happening here is similar to the "louche" effect in absinthe when it is exposed to water, in which particles that are completely dissolved in a solution are brough out into suspension, making them more volatile and discernable.12.0 USD per PourOff the Wall Cafe
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Dingle Single Malt Batch No. 5
Single Malt — Ireland
Reviewed March 17, 2022 (edited February 19, 2024)3.17.22 Served: Neat, Flute Bottle Open: 3 days Aroma: Leather, old books, apples, radish, celery, vanilla. Flavor: Peppery and thick mouthfeel throughout. Baked carrots, poundcake, caramel. Significant bitterness on the finish. -
3.14.22 Served: Briefly Stirred, Rocks Glass It's not polite to spend too much time typing in company, so I'll simply say I like it. I haven't had success with scotch/scotch-style whisky highballs thus far, but I can see the appeal of this one. Light and pleasant, only small amounts of bitter finish.
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3.13.22 Served: Neat, Flute Bottle open: Same Day Batch #0017 Aroma: Sweet, dried mango. Lacks the vivacity of cutting into a fresh mango, but that is to be expected of an unaltered distilled spirit. Flavor: Smooth, as many of Rhine Hall's products are. The flavor of mango is light when passing through, but completely coats the palate and lingers long after swallowing. No unpleasant qualities, a very delicate nature. Not offensive for neat sipping, but deserves the support of proper mixing. I'm curious to see how well it mixes.
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3.13.22 Served: Neat, Shot glass Bottle open: unknown (At tasting room. Therefore young.) Aroma: Intoxicating plum skin developes to plum flesh. Very similar to plum wine, indicating the flavor is well preserved. Flavor: A bit musty and medicinal, though the plum still comes through. A bit like mealy plum. Love the aroma, but I'm neutral on the flavor. Would probably need to be mixed to be enjoyable for me, though I enjoy the novelty.
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3.13.22 Served: Neat, Shot glass Bottle open: unknown (At tasting room. Therefore young.) Aroma: Pear flesh. Some blue cheese-reminiscent funk. Flavor: Pear flesh up front. Strong pear skin flavor in the middle. Again remarkably smooth. The finish has the finish of cool spices, like cardamom, bay leaf or mint. There's delightful baking spice complexity when breathing back out. Very interesting. Would drink this on its own, and has the complexity to be the standout flavor in a simple sour.56.0 USD per BottleRhine Hall Distillery
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3.13.22 Served: Neat, Shot glass Bottle open: unknown (At tasting room. Therefore young.) Aroma: Oxidized apple, like one that has been sitting out on the counter. Could easily be mistaken for pear. Flavor: Remarkably smooth. Some malty nature. The removal of an apples signature acidity during distillation makes it reminiscent of apple sauce. Some maltiness. Enjoyable on its own. It's simplicity would play well with other flavors in a simple sour.52.0 USD per BottleRhine Hall Distillery
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Apologue Saffron Spiced Liqueur
Herbal/Spice Liqueurs — Chicago, Illinois, USA
Reviewed March 13, 2022Manufacturer's notes: Take your senses on a spice trade journey. Exotic and fragrant from the combination of saffron, cardamom, and coriander. Hints of brightness and citrus, with a pleasant earthiness from the lemongrass and cinchona. Turmeric adds depth and complexity. Enjoy it neat, over ice, or use it to elevate and energize your favorite cocktails and highballs. My taste: 3.12.22 Served: Neat, Flute Bottle Open: Same day (on shelf for 2.5 years). Aroma: Plastic, rubber, and grass clippings when still. Swirling evokes slightly fresh notes of lemongrass and marjoram. There is some more herbaceous complexity beneath, but In can't pick it out from all the plastic. Flavor: The plastic is still there, but now more complex flavors are evident. Bay leaf, marjoram, saffron. Light cinnamon and allspice. Overall not happy with this one, but very confused by the plastic nature. I'll be searching out another bottle to try just in case this one is defective. So far, even 1/4oz destroys every cocktail I've tried this in as well. Liqueur Strega is a better source of saffron at the moment. -
3.12.22 Served: Neat, Flute. Bottle Open: 10 Months near empty, Same Day (Side by Side) Every time I finish a bottle that has been sitting on my shelf for a while, I like to do a side by side tasting with a fresh bottle to see if I notice any loss of flavor due to oxidation. all my bottles are stored in the dark, but I have not taken measure to reduce the amount of air in them. Aroma: The difference is astounding. The old bottle smells soapy, savory, powdery,grainy, and floral. Gin is often too complex and has botanicals with which I am too unfamiliar for me to pick out more than a couple aroma notes. Here I only get juniper and generic citrus bar soap (very dull lemon, not the like the bright oil expressed from a peel). The new bottle has a much more pronounced aroma and a much more vegetal nature. After heady citrus and juniper notes fade, the nose settles to cucumber peel. Flavor: (Meet me with some skepticism, I just ate a lot of sugar, and tried so solve this with jerky and club soda). My refractometer shows only a 1-2% drop in abv in the old bottle. If any evaporation occured, it was likely of both ethanol and water in tandem. The old bottle is smoothed over. Very little complexity on the tongue. A bit more like floral handsoap now. The new bottle is, in simple terms, much more flavorful. The smoothness of the cucumber is the first impression. The rose is more evident in the middle of the sip. The Juniper is on the back end, and the finish is quite bitter (again, could be the sugar talking. I'm refraining from giving a rating. The purpose of this exercise was to observe oxidation, and my palate is not fully reliable due to wierd food and dehydration. Hendrick's, I will see you again soon.
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