Tastes
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Rich auburn color and glass coating liquid. Sweet corn, vanilla, and light grassy spice on the nose. Sweet grain, caramel corn, and then lots a rye spice explodes, building to vanilla oak and ethanol in the mouth. Creamy full mouthfeel. Finish is long and a little sour underneath a spicy, grassy, and mint tingle. A classic MGP blend, heavy on the rye, three or four flavor notes, crisp and earthy, good all the way down. Shows the MGP distilling skills. I'm glad they're bottling their own juice now, keep the others honest about what they're selling as their own, and that's good.
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Temple Distilling Woodcut Barrel Rested Gin
Barrel-Aged Gin — Washington, USA
Tasted November 10, 2021Beautiful golden straw color, medium legs in the glass. Fragrant juniper, grapefruit, and lime peel on the nose. Big flavors explode in the mouth. Oak and bitter spices. Juniper is there along with citrus and grape sweetness, but it's a dry coating mouthfeel. Long finish is dry oak, bitters, citrus peel, and tingling herbal nettle. Interesting straight up--that's a positive assessment. It's not as sweet and tame as some other barrel aged gins, but it has that forest floor character of the Pacific NW. Really impressed by the gins Temple Distilling is producing. More people need to discover this craft gem. This gin works great in a Tom Collins--the sugar and lemon rounds out the spice and dry oak, making for a more interesting version. Also works well with tonic, like a woodsy, double tonic G&T. -
Lightly yellowed color. Grapes, apples, floral, and grain ethanol, with earthy spice notes on the nose. Juniper followed by lemongrass, coriander, citrus, and a little ethanol in the mouth to give it umph. Creamy soft mouthfeel with a finish that is long, spicy dry, and yet lemony. Leaves a real tingle. I love the story of this gin and the company commitment to organic and local. But distilling kinda obviates the essence of organic materials (not totally, but the act itself alters them fundamentally), and not all non-GMO/organic-based distillates are necessarily great, but this one... wow! The distilling choices on, and the balances between, these ingredients is magnificent. Neat, with ice, mixed as a cocktail... you can't go wrong. This is up there with my favorites: Plymouth, Fords, Barr Hill, Ransom, and Haymans.
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Beautiful roan color and average legs in the glass. Light nose, sugar and oak. I can see what the Distiller Pro calls a cola smell. In the mouth, this is dry dusty oak, chocolate, and some ethanol. The vanilla and brown sugar sweetness (light) appears towards the finish, but there are little floral or grassy flavors. It's an interesting rum, not what I remember about the 12 or 18 year versions that I quite liked (oak, but more floral). Wish I could taste these all together. Mixes really well in an aged version of a Canchanchara (Cuban: honey, Limon, Aguardiente, ice). The dry qualities moderate the honey and citrus, giving this otherwise bright drink a deeper earthy flavor. Quite nice. Bet it would mix well in general for those who don't want or like a sweeter rum.
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Mini bottle tasting series. So I waited tables and bartended at a couple of bordertown resto bars in Idaho in the late 1970s while going to school in another state. The staff drank dry Martinis, but the clientele made it easy for us: CC & Coke, Jack and anything, and 7&7. I've avoided that until this moment. This had to be better when it was all Canadian (he said wistfully), but... probably not. 25% whiskey, 75% neutral spirits. It is what it is. Nice rich color, thin legs in the glass. Smells like whiskey. Sweet. Heat. Bon appétit! Thin, industrial chemicals, dry vanilla oak. And then it's gone...which is a blessing in this case. Cries for 7Up, ice, and two reds: a red Maraschino cherry and a Marlboro Red. At least that's how they made it work in Idaho.
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Mini bottle tasting series. OK, this is the bottle and smell I remember as a kid visiting my friend's house. Seemed so elegant, even the name. Ahh, blended Canadian whisky bottled in the USA. Sweet vanilla and light grain on the nose. Whoa, look out! Oak and ethanol bomb rides over the top of a sticky sweet cotton candy base. Light color and body, but that sweetness feels cloying. That sweet turns bitter (an odd rye flavor? or oak tannin?) and then into a light acetone chemical finish. Mixed with Coke, this would serve its purpose. Beyond that, there are better Canadian whiskies. Much better.
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Mini bottle tasting series. Light orange-straw color, medium legs in the glass. Light cereal and yeast bread on the nose, with a sweet hint. Thin grain and burnt sugar flavors followed by explosive ethanol. Odd chemical taste and dry feel in the mouth grows through the finish that leaves me with real heartburn. Maybe that's the mole enchiladas I had for dinner last night, but... I don't think so. Definitely NOT two stars. Do yourself a favor--enjoy the mole and skip this.
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Beautiful tall thin bottle (but top-heavy and tippy) and dark auburn liquid, but with rather thin legs. Light nose: cherries and light brown sugar, and a hint of malt. Cherries, dried fruit, burnt sugar, and then an explosion of ethanol on the pallet, which surprised me for an older Port barrel finish. Rich, but the mouthfeel is thin/light. Finish is not long and not very spicy given the high rye mashbill. There's some fruit, spice, and oak, but it's a dry and rather compact finish, with a little lingering sourness. With ice the flavors round nicely and the ethanol burst disappears. Becomes softer and less of a challenge, but... whether or not that's a good thing is personal taste. Need to think about this and update review after more experience. A month later, and basic review stands. The nose is maybe the best part of this good whiskey. Ice does tame the ethanol pallet. Finish seems even thinner, but there is some rye spice. A good Port barreled bourbon, but pricier than equally good alternatives.
Results 1-10 of 342 Tastes