Tastes
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Koenig Williams Pear Brandy Northwest Eau de Vie
Eau-de-Vie — Idaho, USA
Reviewed January 5, 2024 (edited January 6, 2024)375ml bottle, $20. Tasted room temp and neat. Clear in the glass with little coating legs. The nose is distinctly grassy and full of pear essence, sweet and floral, with no ethanol. Pear and ethanol appear up front in the mouth. Mineral, green apple, a little anise and musty earthy flavors lie underneath. A little bitter too. Bracing. Finish is rather long, bitter/sweet, earthy, white pepper, and sharp, with a little anise and sour lingering after a minute or more. Important to remember... this is an Eau de Vie, not a tamed pear liqueur. Sipped cold, it kept about the same flavor profile, but the earthiness and anise lessened--became more mineral. Will experiment with how this mixes in cocktails.20.0 USD per Bottle -
El Jimador Blanco Tequila
Tequila Blanco — Tequila Valley, Jalisco, Mexico
Reviewed January 3, 2024 (edited January 5, 2024)Tasting neat room temp. Clear and average coating legs in the glass. Nose is lime, salt, and sweet grass with a little marshy funk. In the mouth, thin feel, clean/neutral, saline, a little dry lime and damp wood--kinda funky. More flavors bloom in the finish--light ethanol, baking spice, and grassy flavors through a fairly long finish that tingles and turns a little lime peel bitter/sour, then saline, then cleanly disappears. Perfectly fine to mix, less interesting to sip.24.0 USD per Bottle -
Trimbach Liqueur de Poire
Fruit Liqueurs — Ribeauville, Alsace, France
Reviewed January 1, 2024 (edited January 2, 2024)F.E. Trimbach a Ribeauville, Alsace, France, 375ml, $22, Unaged ("a finished product when it leaves the still") Pear liqueur/brandy. Light straw-colored and good coating legs in the glass. Nose is ripe pear, floral grapes, and dry grass. In the mouth, sweet sweet, pear and tart grape flavors, floral, and then a hint of ethanol as it moves into a short, clean finish that is light and floral. Easy to sip at room temp, but I was mixing this with chilled prosecco into a Champaign Pear cocktail (1.5oz to 3-4oz of prosecco). Not as forceful a pear flavor as I had hoped, but servicable.22.0 USD per Bottle -
Heaven Hill Bottled In Bond 7 Year
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed December 22, 2023 (edited December 23, 2023)Tasting neat. Copper color and average legs in the glass. Sweet grain, vanilla, and a hint of spice on the nose. Sweet grass, vanilla, and spice in the mouth.. Light mouthfeel, modest oak, little ethanol bloom for a BIB. Finish is average length, sweet and tannic oak, with grassy rye spice. Clean finish. An ice cube softens this already soft flavor profile even more. Not a bad bourbon: balanced flavors, BIB, 7 year age statement, easy drinking, probably mix well at 50 ABV. But nothing particularly special to set it apart or (especially) balance against the too-premium price.50.0 USD per Bottle -
Lux Row Four Grain Double Single Barrel Bourbon
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed December 21, 2023 (edited December 22, 2023)Four grain, double single barrel, 115 proof: wheated barrel #8119653 filled 8/14/18, rye barrel #8986627 filled 7/11/18. Tasting neat. Copper brown and light coating legs in the glass. Light sweet grain and dried cherries on the nose. Some spice. In the mouth, ethanol wiff followed by sweet grain, spice, and then leather and tannic oak. Some light dried fruit but not over-sweet or strong vanilla flavors in this whiskey. Dry, oaky, and spicy finish is average length, with a little sour at the very end. An ice cube rounds out the tannins to a smokier oak flavor and maple sweetness that's quite nice, and tamps down the rye spice in the finish. An interesting four grain double barrel blended whiskey. Dark and complex. A little pricy but worth the experience.80.0 USD per Bottle -
2023 bottling of JD rye in their "Bonded Series," 700ml bottle. Tasted neat. Rosy brown, light in color, and thin legs in the glass. Dried fruit, cherry, sweet grain, and grassy rye on the nose. In the mouth, slight ethanol rush, but the light/thin mouthfeel holds that in check. Sweet vanilla and tannic oak, cherry fruit, and simple syrup. Spice comes on later in the mouth, but it's worth the wait. Bang! Great spicy and lip-tingling mint finish is long--keeps building and building--sweet, and clean. No sour taste here. The finish is the best part of this whiskey for me as a rye fan. An ice cube kinda ploughs under that finishing spicy tingle. Its overall lightness makes me wonder how this will mix. BreakingBourbon.com rated this 2023 bottling one of their Top Five Rye Whiskeys of 2023. The finish alone would convince me of that, but... seems kinda thin in the mouth. As always, will revisit my rating as I try this over time.32.0 USD per Bottle
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Sweet floral lemon and bitter lemon peel on the nose. Thick and sweet in the mouth, floral lemon. Just a bit of bitter bite to temper that viscous white sugar sweet. A nice digestif, a little on the sweet side, but in style for imported Italian limoncellos. Still prefer Luxardo's less sweet more acidic profile. Also tried this as prescribed in a cocktail (1 oz with prosecco) and can recommend. But then I love "champagne cocktails" in general.17.0 USD per Bottle
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Old Grand-Dad 114 Bourbon
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed December 11, 2023 (edited December 22, 2023)Old Grand Dad 114, Lot 1, Dec 2023. Tasted neat. Burnt copper color and good coating legs in the glass. Nose is caramel corn, floral vanilla, and citrus. Ethanol and sweet vanilla oak in the mouth, with citrus sour. Coating mouthfeel that leads into a tingling mint and grassy/spicy rye finish which is looong and lip-numbing. An ice cube smooths the ethanol burst and sweetens the drink, making this ultimately sippable. I appreciate the "Olds" bourbons for what they are (and aren't), and their price points make life easy. This is a good bourbon and a great mixer with enough umph to make an Old Fashioned or a Manhattan sing. And it's fine to sip around a campfire or on a quiet evening watching "White Christmas" on Netflix, like I am tonight. Relax. Try it.30.0 USD per Bottle -
Maker's Mark Wood Finishing Series 2023 BEP
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed November 28, 2023 (edited December 20, 2023)MM BEP 2023, 109.6 proof. Tasted neat. Dark rosey brown color and average coating legs in the glass. Nose is floral grain, green apple, and light wood. Oak tannins and ethanol up front in the mouth. Sweet grain, white sugar, some vanilla. Rather thin mouthfeel. Spicy grassy notes and astringent, sour fruit appear in the finish, which is dry but isn't long. With an ice cube I found the ethanol less pronounced in the mouth and the finish more woody than tannic. Interesting experiment in wood finishing with virgin oak staves. Not sure how much this improves over the MM 46 base except in higher ABV. But pleasant if you like a darker/deeper oak flavor. Preferred the MM BRT-02, 2022 wood finish version. Going to revisit this another night.65.0 USD per Bottle -
Been a LOONG time since I had any Jager, and even though I went to university in Wisconsin, I managed to avoid Jager shots and toddies and bombs. Mostly. Wisconsin Old Fashioneds?...yeah, I had my share of those. Now I have a Jager mini. Tasting neat, and room temp. Cola color and nose, with licorise and sugar, savory herbs and mint. In the mouth...yeah, there it is. Licorice herbal packed with sugar, more sugar, and just enough ethanol to notice. But then... thin, one and done, and gone quickly. I'm sure drinking this ice-cold is a no-brainer and leaves no afterthought or aftertaste. That's kinda the point I guess. It's like some local US amaros I've tried--high on the cola or root beer flavor and lots of sugar, but low on the bitter that makes real amaros so appealing to sip and mix. Nothing wrong with it, but so much more could be right. Instead of gulping this, I'm going to use the rest in a cocktail: Black Apple Old Fashioned Sother Teague, Amor y Amargo, NYC. 1 1/2 ounces Jagermeister 1 ounce apple brandy 2 dashes apple bitters --- Add all ingredients to an ice-filled tumbler. Garnish with an orange twist if you must. Yeah, would be better with Averna amaro than Jager. Too sweet...like Wisconsin Old Fashioneds.3.0 USD per Shot
Results 21-30 of 464 Reviews