Tastes

Nose wows with black cherry, old mahogany furniture, brown sugar, creme brûlée, saltwater taffy (?), newspaper pulp. cola, sun dried tomato, and Spanish peanut. Ethanol is low for the proof. I could nose this forever. Palate brings black cherry, gooey chocolate syrup, the crème brûlée from the nose, sticky pipe tobacco, toasted wood, French vanilla, overripe date, and a musty flavor that I can’t quite put my finger on, so I’ll call it “rickhouse funk”. A very “dark” tasting whiskey. Flavors are extremely rich and punchy. Medium length finish gets sharply spicy. Cinnamon, pink peppercorn, an almost charcoal like barrel char, bitter oak, leather, berry, and some unattenuated ethanol. Tart sour cherry after everything else fades. Kind of a letdown with how fast it morphed into a spice bomb. Mouthfeel is unctuous and extremely oily which would be fantastic if the finish was better. I picked this up at Total Wine for under MSRP at $120, and I’m not unhappy with it per se. The best comparison is probably Elijah Craig barrel proof, which is often better for a lower price. That said, I liked it but I feel this this could have been great and due to the flawed the finish winds up being just in the “good” catagory.

8 year store pick from Total Wine in Gilbert Arizona (I understand this review might be useless to anyone outside the geographical area) I have had these before but was intrigued by the extra couple years on this one. Nose is very stereotypically rye; white pepper, lemongrass, coriander, rye spice, honey graham cracker, a hint of pumpernickel, and mild oak. Ethanol is not overpowering, but is certainly present. Palate offers some interesting sweeter notes in the form of snickerdoodle cookie, gingerbread, poppyseed muffin along with caraway seed and toasted sesame. Flavors are nice and punchy, with a fair amount of richness but lacking a little complexity maybe. Long finish takes a sharp turn to Spiceville, with tons of pepper, oak, ginger, clove, mint, chili pepper, and cilantro although the herbaceous is pretty low overall. I would have preferred more of an evolution here. Mouthfeel is medium bodied and oily/slick, which really worked to keep the tongue fatigue to a minimum. I was hoping an 8 year store pick would produce pure magic, but instead it produced a…pretty decent rye whiskey. First caresses with sweetness and then pummels you with spice. At $70, I feel it appropriately priced for the market, but not a rebuy for me as I can think of ryes I’d rather pay $10-15 more for.

Spicy nose with rye grains, mint, pepper, popcorn, vanilla, peanut, grass, and generic citrus zest. Ethanol nicely low. Palate is kind of jumbled; sea salt, hay, Cracker Jack, black pepper, cinnamon, clove, and a savory note (onion?) that when combined with the other flavors gives almost a steak seasoning note. There’s also a slightly sour element here; sourgum maybe. Bizarre. Everything is pretty bitter; there’s some peanut butter that wants to come out but never really does. Finish has herbal notes of cardamom, fennel, and mint along with with white pepper, black pepper, chili pepper (did I mention pepper? lol) almond, dry bitter oak and char. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, but also drying and grainy which really becomes abusive to the tongue over repeated sips. I’m definitely a Knob Creek guy, and have tasted many KC bourbons and ryes I’ve enjoyed, but this expression just doesn’t come together well. Very clashy. At $48, it’s in no way a rip off, but it just…isn’t very good. Yep, i said it.

Nose is both sweet and spicy with cinnamon bear candy, vanilla, caramel, cedar, ginger, nutmeg, green apple, fresh baked bread, and clove. Ethanol very high for a 107 proof product which I found to be distracting. Palate opens with toasted marshmallow, rye spice, nougat, caramel, and applesauce, followed by a usual suspects spice bloom of cinnamon, clove, allspice, and nutmeg. Decent richness and complexity. Medium length finish brings some nicely aged oak, cinnamon, black peppercorn, root beer, chili pepper, tobacco, barrel char, mint, and walnut. Mouthfeel is weighty to the point of being downright chewy, but also a bit of youthful graininess as well. A pretty darn good high rye bourbon but with some minor flaws and I can’t help but wonder what 2-4 more years in the barrel might have done here. As it stands, I paid a wild $104.99 for this and while I do like it; i just don’t like it for the price. Not a rebuy.

Nose is pungent and sweet with soft vanilla, orchard fruits (apple, pear), buttered toast, white grape, nutmeg, and mature sweet oak. Very inviting. Palate opens with a blast of fruits; I hate to use the word “orchard” again but it really fits. Apple, peach, plum, grape, tart raspberry, banana, and strawberry. Also we have vanilla, honey, butterscotch, powered sugar, marzipan, and the buttered toast from the nose. Quite a lot going on here. Finish is drying and surprisingly long for the proof. Warm cinnamon spice, nutmeg, soft oak, white pepper, clove, and a little pot still funk. Mouthfeel is silky and creamy and definitely elevates. A delightful whiskey once again proving that the “Spot” line of whiskies are among the best Irish whiskies in the world. At $104, it’s not cheap but probably reasonably appropriately priced for the quality. Not sure if I’d rebuy, but that’s more a personal budgetary concern than a critique of the product.

Aroma opens with black cherry, caramel chew candy, barrel char, toasted oak, grape, vanilla bean, leather and nutmeg. Ethanol somewhat present, but it’s not a killer. Complex. Palate brings chocolate, black cherry, walnut, burnt brown sugar, red apple, maple, toasted marshmallow, furniture polish, and gingerbread. There is a lot going on here. Oak is definitely prevalent, maybe a little too prevalent as it kind of overshadows some of the more desirable notes. Flavors are rich. Extremely long finish offers more oak, blood orange, cinnamon, pepper, clove, caramel, and an indistinct earthiness. Mouthfeel is excellent; full bodied and creamy. Compliments the flavor profile perfectly. An intriguing whiskey that does a nice job of blending fruit notes with dark sugars. At $79.99, it’s a winner. In fact, after tasting it I went back to the liquor store to get another bottle and surprise, surprise, it was gone. Ranks up there with some of the best of the previous wood finished releases.

Nose is soft and fruity with golden apple, pear, banana, cranberry, and citrus along with some wood scents; both oak and cedar. Slight mossy note. No ethanol to speak of. Overall appealing. Palate brings vanilla creme, banana, apple, honey, malt, and generic nuttiness. Flavors aren’t the most robust, but are nicely balanced. I appreciate the lack of burnt hair note that I find in some single malts. Super short finish offers praline ice cream, white pepper, soft delicate oak, toffee, mint, and cinnamon. Mouthfeel is soft and creamy, which I found to be a plus. Ok I can see why some would criticize this; too mild, not complex enough, short finish, etc, but you know what? I kind of dig it. Now here’s the rub; I paid $79.99 and at that price it just doesn’t measure up to rebuy status. If I could get this at retail which I understand is $49.99, it would probably be a staple. Definitely one of the best Crown Royal expressions I have sampled.

128.8 Proof Nose is very “Buffalo Trace” and by that I mean vanilla+fruit+oak, but in this case we have some additional complexity in the form of caramel, creamed corn, and a weird, earthy, musty rickhouse funk; yeasty and dank, I found the unique aspect quite enjoyable. Ethanol is pretty low given the proof. Palate matches the nose very well but let me try to elaborate a little; vanilla bean, red apple, berry, caramel flan, soft oak, caraway seed, orange peel, and that funk from the nose is also present here; it’s like a mix of shoe leather, wet paper, beet, and moss. While that doesn’t sound great, I actually liked it. Flavors are definitely punchy. Finish does take a bit of a downturn with a prickly and sharp turn into Spicetown. Cinnamon, pink peppercorn, ginger, allspice, and ghost pepper. Basically just a blast of heat and slightly sour, almost reminiscent of sweet and sour sauce. Oak turns disappointingly astringent. Mouthfeel is full but also manages to be grainy at the same time? (Not even sure how that’s possible, but here we are) Overall, while I enjoyed the nose and palate, there’s a lot of heat and sharpness in the finish for something that is often billed as world class. Still a quite good whiskey but falls short of greatness and thus, falls short of my expectations as well. At $199 I paid via mail order this is certainly not a rebuy but my ranking will reflect MSRP, even though none of us will ever find it at that price.

Nose opens with figgy pudding, raisin, cocoa, cinnamon, dark wood, nougat, and peanut brittle. A bit of ethanol where I wanted none, but hey perfection is hard to come by. Omg. Palate is literally a liquid Tootsie Roll; chocolate, gooey fudge, caramel, toffee, malted milk ball, strawberry cream, and nutmeg. Flavors are luxurious and decadent. Finish carries the palate forward turning into carrot cake, marshmallow, peanut butter, date, black pepper, cinnamon roll, and a hint of balancing oak. Mouthfeel is heavenly; full bodied, silky, and buttery. This is absolutely amazing. The best “American Single Malt” I’ve ever had. Definitely on the desserty side and not the most complex whiskey I’ve ever had, but what’s here is stellar. Man, I want to give this a 5 but for that rating I just want a little more depth. That said at $84.99, the day after tasting it I went back to get a backup bottle to find the shelf bare. Doh! Buy, buy, buy.

Woo, first review! I will try to do it justice. Nose offers an equal blend of sweet, spicy, and herbal notes with gingerbread, white pepper, oregano, lemongrass, fennel, wintergreen, sugar cookie, and light oak. Ethanol slightly bothersome given the relatively low proof. Palate is sweeter and less herbal than the nose would indicate. Snickerdoodle cookie, vanilla, cinnamon sugar, chili pepper, peanut, mint, and cake icing. Flavors nicely integrated and balanced. Finish is decently long offering rye spice, Red Hots candy, mature oak, rosemary, eucalyptus, and delightful citrusy zest. Mouthfeel is slightly thin-bodied, resulting in everything being felt under the tongue, but also on the creamy side which serves this well. The extra three years aging over the standard 7 year release has worked wonders here adding depth and complexity. At $69.99, it’s a good value in todays market given the age statement. That said, I have had better with less age although most of those were higher rye mashbills. This is a great offering for a “barely rye” 51% sort of thing. Rebuy dependent on what else is in the cabinet.