Tastes

Liquor Barn “High Corn 1”, barrel # 8267, 124.4 proof Finally got my hands on this unicorn; a Willett purple top!!! Is it all it’s cracked up to be? Read on… Nose offers buttered popcorn, vanilla, caramel, soft oak, and a hint of barrel char. Ethanol almost non-existent. The popcorn note is nice, but I’m going to be honest here; the nose is a little muted. Palate opens with the buttered corn from the nose, followed by some rich vanilla, plum, date, raisin, black cherry, cookie dough, walnut, and what can best be described as “funk”. No, I have to do better than that description; the funk is earthy, musty, and sort of root vegetable. (Turnip? Rhubarb?) Whatever it is, it’s pretty addicting, and is what is driving repeated sips. Complex and punchy. Finish is sweet and spicy with cinnamon, pepper, baked apple, nutmeg, and burnt caramel. Definitely what I am looking for in a bourbon. Mouthfeel is medium bodied and effervescent, with some alcohol sizzle. I’d say this lives up to hype pretty darn well. I traded a 2021 RR13 bought at retail for this so my cost was 69.99. Retail is well over $100 with secondary reaching truly insane heights. Is it worth retail? Undoubtedly yes. Secondary? Is this writers opinion, no. But definitely top notch.

Nose is soft and inviting with dark honey, vanilla bean, caramel chew candy, furniture varnish, new leather, black licorice, moss, and a hint of oak. Ethanol is pleasantly low. Palate opens with candied pear, honey, plum, hibiscus, citrus, and raisin. Heather, apple, and fig in the mid palate. Bright and bold. Complex but with a bit of a sharp, youngish taste. Flavors land solely on the front and sides of the tongue. Finish offers lots of anise, pepper, and chocolate malt, and astringent oak. Prickly heat. Mouthfeel is oily and medium bodied. I appreciated the boldness and complexity offered here, but there are some notable flaws and it lacks smoothness and refinement. At $50 this wouldn’t be an issue. At $160? It’s a huge problem. Jesus the Irish whiskies I could buy for that price that bury this (notably the “Breasts” and “Spots”) are many. Hard pass on the rebuy.

Nose features grass, fennel, freshly milled rye grain, honey, oregano, thyme, pumpernickel bread, caramel, melon, and pine. Ethanol a little intrusive at times. Nicely complex. Palate is spicy and herbaceous, which comes as no shock. Big black pepper notes along with vanilla, caramel, mint, and a hint of leafy herb from the nose (at gunpoint I’d say oregano) Finish bring some welcome sweetness in the form of graham cracker and chocolate (where did THAT come from?) The rye spice from the palate turns into a chili pepper vibe. Peppermint in there as well. Mouthfeel is deliciously chewy. Pretty much what I want of out of a rye; with nearly equal parts sweet, spicy, and herbal. I believe I paid $83 for this which I feel is fair. Very solid.

Holy crap, first review. I will lend the proper gravity this situation deserves. Aroma is decently pungent with some odd elements; ginger, butterscotch, soy sauce, scallion, cotton candy, sour tamarind, bubblegum, cola, and wood in the form of cedar. I know reading that it sounds kind of gross, but there is enough complexity that it kind of grows on you. Slightest hint of ethanol but I didn’t find it to be a big deal. Palate features traditional caramel and vanilla followed by big black cherry notes. If you ever thought you’ve tasted black cherry in a bourbon, you haven’t compared to this one. Almost cherry Coke like. Hint of Bananas Foster. Barrel char kicks in around the mid palate. Flavors are pretty darn rounded; an unexpected plus. Finish features more black cherry which is not a bad thing. Also cinnamon bun, fresh cracked black pepper, and sweet oak. Some youngish heat but I would consider it a minor flaw. Mouthfeel is nicely viscous while also being effervescent/prickly in a good way. Not sure where this is sourced from; part of me wants to say Barton because of the trademark banana note, but it’s pretty subdued. Definitely in the realm of Barton/Old Forester as far as flavor profile. I like this. Do I $80 like it? Grrrr…maybe not. I’d say it’s better than similar whiskei such as 1792 BIB, 1792 FP, and OF 1920, but all of those are $30-$40 cheaper. If this was $50 it’d be a no-brainer. At $80? Would be a 3.99 if such rating existed. Since it doesnt, a reluctant 3.75.

Single barrel Store pick from Pitch restaurant, Scottsdale AZ. 100.6% ABV, aged 9 yrs 11 months. As a fan of Bonesnapper X-ray, I’m intrigued. Nose brings everything I’m looking for in a rye; poppyseed muffin, lemongrass, caraway seed, snickerdoodle cookie, mint, thyme, and dusty oak. Ethanol is pleasantly low. Palate matches the nose precisely. Simply refer to the above. Flavors are well rounded and integrated, with no one element overpowering. Delicious. Finish is tasty but oddly short with lemon zest, white pepper, and peppermint. Some residual sweetness from the palate keeps it from becoming jarring. Mouthfeel is full bodied and oily as hell, which really elevates this to the next level. I’m going to be honest; I normally like my ryes 110+ proof and I want them to punch me in the face. This is more of a soft caress. But for a mid proof rye, there’s a lot to like here. Not only does it not have any major flaws, it borders on superior. I paid $90 for this and given the age statement that seems pretty fair. There’s only one small problem: I can get the bolder, higher proof X-Ray for $54 and frankly that’s exactly what I will do in the future. That said, this far from sucks.

Store pick from Total Wine and More, Phoenix AZ that I won the right to buy in a raffle so figured what the hell. (As I have reviewed this bourbon before, this review will focus on the differences between this and the standard offering. For my records and probably useless to anyone outside of the Phoenix area) Nose full of fruit and cinnamon. Not as much vanilla on this one as in past offerings. Palate finally brings the vanilla but fruit (apple, strawberry), cinnamon, and oak take center stage. Slow morph to the finish which brings a hint of chocolate which I really enjoyed. Probably the best Blantons offering I’ve had. Now the rub; this store pick version was up charged to $87. No way it’s worth that. I will give it the rating it deserves given the slightly improved flavor profile but overall, remind me to stop buying this whiskey.

Fiesta Liquor Store Pick, Mesa AZ. (As I have already reviewed this bourbon, this review will focus on the differences between the store pick and the standard. For my records only, and probably useless to anyone outside the Phoenix, AZ area) Bouquet is a little more floral and oaky than the norm. Also more ethanol which is not a plus. And it very much carries into the opening notes of the palate: Not sure what flower I’m getting (rose hips? jasmine?) Caramel, vanilla, and cherry ultimately make their expected appearance but it’s more in the mid-palate. Finish brings a lot of cherry (good) but also astringent oak (bad) Mouthfeel is typical bright coppery BT profile so no surprises there. Not a fan of this one as I’m not a big fan of floral profiles. At $39.99 the price was certainly right, but overall outside of the occasional honey bottle Eagle Rare continues to disappoint. Don’t ever pay more than $40 for this. Thank me later.

Hand selected for Trevor’s, Scottsdale AZ. I know what you are thinking: “Canadian Whisky? Fafnir187, say it isn’t so!” But the thing is, I heard this one isn’t just light whiskey with flavoring whiskies and artificial flavoring or colorings added, but rather distilled and aged in a similar manner to bourbon so I decided to give it a try. Let’s go! Nose is very light with vanilla, caramel, white cake frosting, and the faintest hint of generic woodiness. Palate is a straight up vanilla BOMB. Deep, rich French vanilla. A little red delicious apple, butterscotch, graham cracker, maple, and a hint of tartness (lemon zest?) that is very welcome and helps keep the massive vanilla from becoming cloying. That said, it is very sweet and calling it complex would be misleading. But what’s here is quite tasty. Finish is short and clean with white pepper, nutmeg, and oak, but the palate carries through so more of a continuation of the road than a sharp left turn. Mouthfeel is full bodied and creamy, which fits the flavor profile perfectly. (Honestly, grainy would have ruined it) My first serious foray in Canadian Whisk(e)y, and while I know they aren’t all like this, so far we have a winner. At $50, it’s a solid value in today’s market. Simple, but effective. Would rebuy.

Whoa, lots going on in the nose; banana bread, light citrus, vanilla, custard, celery (wtf?), bubblegum, nutmeg, and a heavy but sweet oak. Can’t say ethanol is non-existent, but it’s very mild. Mouth watering. On the palate, let’s say you better like oak because it’s the star of the show here. Sweet and soft, the oak is balanced well with caramel, vanilla, baking spices, and pistachio. Flavors are punchy. Not the most complex bourbon, but what’s here presents extremely well. Finish offers a hint of anise, clove, cinnamon, and more of that sweet oak present in the nose and palate. Medium bodied mouthfeel is soft and caresses the tongue. I saw people singing its praises and decided to pull the trigger and I am glad I did as this offers an increasingly more rare experience of high aged bourbon. At $150, the price is pretty obscene so I can’t see myself rebuying it anytime soon but it is indeed a damn good whiskey.

Store Pick from Total Wine and More, Gilbert AZ. Nose is pungent with rum soaked fruit cake, vanilla custard, egg cream, golden raisin, rubber, pineapple, and papaya. Inviting enough, but lacks balance. Ethanol is very mild. Palate matches the nose well with lots of fruit notes as described above. Some hot butterscotch creeps in but the overall experience is spicy fruit. Is this a high ABV brandy? Because it tastes like it. Some barrel influence would be welcome, but it just isn’t there. Finish is hot and prickly with…you know what? I could try to be creative here but honestly it just tastes like unattenuated alcohol. Really beat up my tongue after a while and gave me heartburn to boot. Mouthfeel is medium bodied and neither slick nor grainy. Oof. I paid $109 for this hot mess express. Needless to say never again. If this is a store pick, I’d hate to see the regular. The closest comparison to this is Stranahans Single Malt, which does a similar fruity single malt profile with much more finesse. This just seems clumsy in comparison. Going to be a struggle to finish the bottle.