Tastes

More complex on the nose than expected. Spicy, woody, and has the cherry in there but way more subtle than expected. This tastes like a high end single barrel, not a cherry liqueur finish. Not overly sweet or one dimensional. Fantastic. It's just the tiniest bit too much bitter/tannin flavor on the tail, but it's almost perfect.

Beautifully rich, initial wood and vanilla hit that builds into a spicy wave that carries on to the tail. Brown sugar and baking spices, cinnamon, balanced with the sweetness quite well. Lovely.

Alcohol on the nose, but there's some wood and cereal grains hidden in there as well. Mostly sweet on the tongue, flat caramel with some cereal flavor from the aroma, but lacking body. I like the proof, needs more richness to balance it. A pretty plain straightforward bourbon, but not terrible for the price.

Vanilla is the main flavor, overall a bit mellow but that's the main thing coming through. Simple and sweet, a bit more burn than I'd like. Solidly average.

Heavy peat aroma, but smells kind of like a Laphroaig wet peat than the usual Ardbeg smell. More fresh floral rather than dried. Rich flavor, almost entirely smoke, with a tingling spice. It's that same green peat flavor on the tongue , but not as much as on the nose. Love the flavor, but it's a little one note, lacking depth.

Beautiful aroma, wonderfully balanced and just heavenly. There is smoke on the tongue but mostly a spice explosion. Fiery and spicy, super powerful but it balances the proof well. Love this.

Subtly sweet aroma, fruit on top of oak and malt. Dark berry or grape, perfectly balanced. Full bodied and spicy, fiery on the tongue with a big peppery tingle. Same sweetness blended in there, rich and still some sort of berry I think. The sweet and spice are perfect oppositions, and the proof balances how intense the flavor is. I've never had a cask exchange from Westland I didn't love and this certainly doesn't break the trend.

Dark red wine notes from the Syrah cask come in on the nose, subtly but smell amazing. Present on the tongue too, initially the burn of the proof overpowers it but on the tail the burn fades and you're left with a velvety red wine finish that lingers forever. Body is rich and full, which you need at this proof. Fantastic, powerhouse of flavor, just the smallest bit too strong. A few drops of water only make the flavor hit harder. Almost perfect.

Tons of earthy malted barley on the nose. Body is much lighter than expected, and flavors are earthy and wood. Malted barley like the aroma, but with barely any sweetness. There's a herbal medicinal tannin flavor that I typically enjoy but is a little overpowering here. I need more sweetness to counter it but it all seems to be leaning the same direction. Not bad by any stretch, just missing the complexity I'd expect.

Light fruity flavors, apricot maybe? There's malty flavors too, with something like almond. A tiny bit sweet, but mostly wood balancing the nutty malty flavors. Interesting, and well made. Not my favorite flavors.