Tastes
-
Maker's Mark Wood Finishing Series 2022 BRT-02
Bourbon — Kentucky , USA
Reviewed January 21, 2023 (edited February 22, 2023)BRT-02, 2022, tasted neat. Rose brown color in the glass with strong coating legs. Dried fruit and cereal grain on the nose with vanilla oak notes. Oak, char, smoke, toasted cereal, vanilla, and caramelized sugar in the mouth. Rich and dry spice and a little ethanol blooms. Finish is earthy and dried fruit sweet and tannic. Ethanol and mint spice tingle lasts a good time. Really rich and complex set of flavors that play well together in this bourbon. Takes the Makers Mark flavor profile up a notch with more pronounced oak flavors and a darker color. Ice isn't necessary, but tempers the tannic oak and mint and lets the sweet reign. 1/25/23 Anyone else having trouble with lagging keyboard and freezing and crashing on this new app? Seems like there's a problem having the keyboard setting Predictive Text turned on. I'm typing this note as a test to help the app developers fix this problem, something that is mentioned prominently in all the recent Google Play reviews. Looks like turning off Predictive Text in the Keyboard setting has fixed it--and that should show them what they need to do on their end to solve this.60.0 USD per Bottle -
Yellow Spot 12 Year Single Pot Still
Single Pot Still — Ireland
Reviewed January 10, 2023 (edited March 23, 2023)Rich golden brown in the glass with medium coating legs. Got this in July in NV for a steal at 80. Tasting this neat. Nose is sweet grain and red grapes. Mouth blows up with sweet red fruit and cereal, nuts and raisins. Then spicy grass and cooking spices show up in the finish. Sweet grain, soft and pleasant aftertaste. Little alcohol heat. Ice leaves the grain and raisin sweetness but blands the toasted cereal and spice complexity. On the other hand, this makes an elegant Whiskey Highball with soda. Oh yeah! Very different from other Irish. Less iodine, more fruit than Redbreast 12. A softer fruitier version of the Green Spot, which I really like. I'm going to enjoy this bottle all the way to the bottom..80.0 USD per Bottle -
Dolin Génépy le Chamois
Herbal/Spice Liqueurs — France
Reviewed December 31, 2022 (edited January 28, 2024)Pale golden yellow, hint of green. Solid coating legs in the glass. Tried neat room temp. Nose is herbal medicinal, lighter and less sweet than either Chartreuse. Rich and coating in the mouth. Soft and very sweet (white sugar) herbal spice flavors, essence of pine and white sage, bitter but not very. Pine and herbal mint tingle and light licorice in an average finish. Like a stripped down Yellow Chartreuse--less ethanol, intense sweetness, and herbal bite, but it's in that flavor profile. Wonderful to drink neat, would be even better cold or with ice (as the bottle suggests). I can also see how it would work well with gin or with tonic. Will check back when I try it mixed. With ice it loses its interest--much better refrigerating the bottle if you want it cold. I've put off buying this for years thinking it would just be a watered down version of Chartreuse, and there is that aspect, but this stands on its own quite well. And at 45% ABV it has some oomph too. Stll trying to figure out the difference between this and Dolin Genepy des Alpes. I've seen some websites that say this is just the new name superseding des Alpes. But the Dolin website shows both spirits (with fancy new labels for both). So...???35.0 CAD per Bottle -
Monte Alban Mezcal con Gusano
Mezcal Joven — Oaxaca, Mexico
Reviewed December 25, 2022 (edited September 16, 2023)A college thing, 40 years ago, so I can't honestly give you a full tasting breakdown. But I do remember that it had that smokey charred earth flavor that separated it from tequilas of the era. And the worm, of course, that imparted a sense of exotic authenticity. But I was not a fan back then--either because of my age and inexperience or because of the liquor itself. Today I am a fan of modern mezcals, sipped and mixed, and think there are enough quality versions (in the Del Maguey portfolio alone!) to offer you better options. But, by all means, try it yourself. Don't feel you need to eat the worm. -
Rene Rye-Magnac, 42% ABV, blend of rye whiskey sourced in the USA (Ross and Squibb formerly MGP?) and XO Armagnac from France by Clear Water Distilling, Pleasant Grove, UT. This is Batch 1, Bottle 2214, $90. Named after Rene Cassin, a soldier who won the Nobel Peace Prize--hence the blend of apparent opposites. https://www.clearwaterdistilling.com/product/rene-rye-magnac/ Brown straw color and thin legs in the glass. Sweet vanilla oak and over-ripe apples on the nose. Floral and a hint of cereal mush, but no spicy or grassy notes indicating that this is a rye base liquer. Rye spice and pepper flashes in the mouth with some ethanol. Sweet grain, vanilla oak, apple, grape, and orange flavors. Light body and thin mouthfeel. Finish has baking spices, mint, and leather showing up, but then turns a little sour. Not a long/lingering finish except for the dry/alkaline salty/sour taste. Ice flattens the rye spice and oak, and shortens the finish...but not the sour. So you can age whiskey in a used ex-barrel, or you can just blend it with the spirit. Clear Water chose the latter in this case, an "interesting" choice. Expensive too. I'm going to keep sipping and thinking about this unusual bottle. 12/31/22 It's growing on me. And it's really good mixed in a cocktail like the Prince of Wales, by that's an expensive mixer.90.0 USD per Bottle
-
Milam & Greene Port Finished Rye
Rye — Indiana , USA
Reviewed December 13, 2022 (edited February 22, 2023)"When facing down a great bear, don't play dead. Rather, make light of the situation, keep eye contact and pour a drink for two." That's what the label says. Milam & Greene, sourced MGP/Ross & Squibb straight rye, 47% ABV, port barrel finished in Texas. Rose golden color and thick legs in the glass. Floral grape and berry on the nose, with a little vanilla and ethanol spice. Sweet stone fruit, burnt sugar, and vanilla oak in the mouth, followed by a grassy dry spice and mint tingle, and a little citrus and ethanol on the finish. Sweet spicy lingering taste, average duration and coating mouthfeel. Nice neat, works with ice too. Expensive for a sourced/finished MGP rye, but a solid drink.60.0 USD per Bottle -
Larceny Barrel Proof Bourbon Batch C922
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed December 10, 2022 (edited February 22, 2023)C922, blend of 6 and 8 year straight bourbons, bottled at barrel proof of 126.6, Sept 2022 release. On the nose, sweet caramel corn and maple syrup with a little ethanol. In the mouth, vanilla, brown sugar, caramel, graham cracker, an ethanol blast, and then spice and pepper takes over. Spice lingers in a relatively long finish that is sweet and a little hot. Medium coating mouthfeel, brown copper color in the glass. Less tannic oak and more ethanol than C921. This is a big bourbon, sweet, easy, a little tannic oak, but balanced and complex enough to enjoy neat. An ice cube flattens and calms the sweet and ethanol, balances it with the spice. Breaking Bourbon named this as their #1 Best Bourbon of 2022. It is good, but that good? Will have to revisit this. -
L'aperitivo Nonino
Herbal/Spice Liqueurs — Italy
Reviewed November 12, 2022 (edited November 13, 2022)Italian, 21% abv. Golden yellow color and sweet herbal nose, light floral citrus, reminiscent of Suze. In the mouth, thin, dry, and then lightly sweet bitter floral herbal. Shortish finish, a little chemical medicinal flavor. Overall, light, lightly sweet and herbal, a hint of bitter and citrus. Not as rich and robust as Suze, but hints of that gentian herbal profile. However, given the price ($65) there are better alpine amari out there. Does mix very well in the spritz cocktail listed on the bottle: two parts Nonino, 1 part sparkling wine, lemon juice, in a wine glass on ice. Lacks the bitter depth that makes other spritzes more interesting. -
Luna Bloom Butterfly Pea Flower Gin
Modern Gin — North Carolina , USA
Reviewed November 3, 2022 (edited November 30, 2022)End of Days Distillery, Wilmington, NC. 100% corn base distilled six times, infused with butterfly pea flower extract and 14 botanicals, bottled at 41% ABV. Beautiful translucent purple-lavender liquid, strong coating legs in the glass. On the nose, citrus, juniper, and pine, long on citrus. In the mouth, starts with a thin chemical taste, some juniper, and citrus hangs in the background. Dry exotic spices and floral flavors come on, and then the gin closes with spices and a very short finish--strange given the coating legs in the glass. Looks nice, mixes ok in a cocktail (and changes color with acid), but doesn't really stand out, even with soda in a Tom Collins. The flavors of the base spirit are weak, indistinct, and disappointing. My point of comparison is Empress 1908 Indigo Gin. -
Alberta Premium Cask Strength Rye (2021 Release)
Canadian — Alberta, Canada
Reviewed November 1, 2022 (edited April 7, 2023)120-GEV014, 2021, 63.7 abv, $75, Wake County, NC. Golden brown and thinner legs in the glass. Burnt brown sugar, grape must, and grassy spicy notes, and some ethanol on the nose. In the mouth, super sweet burnt sugar and then light dill pickle with a good ethanol rush, but not over powering... for 128 proof. Sweet, sour, grassy, chocolate, and a fair bit of pepper and baking spice. Finish is chocolate, sweet grass, and spicy mint tingle, and then gone quickly. Has that thin Canadian mouthfeel overall, light oak, little tannins, and compact finish. Clean flavors and narrow profile. Ice cools the ethanol, tamps down the sweet and sour, rounds the rye grain flavors, and enhances the chocolate and mint notes. Going to keep tasting and thinking about this. Not really a fan of the Canadian whisky style generally, but this one is worth considering.75.0 USD per Bottle
Results 101-110 of 493 Reviews