Tastes

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.

Nose offers candied tangerine, butterscotch, banana, oak, marzipan, and leather. Bizarrely, ethanol seems to come and go with some sniffs offering a distracting presence and others no more than a mild note. Palate opens with big butterscotch promised in the nose, along with caramel, vanilla, and then some apricot and citrus zest in the mid-palate. Flavors are not terribly complex but decently stout. So far, so good, right? Well sadly the finish runs things completely off the rails; harsh and jagged with young notes of bitter oak, atomic fireball candy, and astringent alcohol. Its exceptionally long, but you wish it wasn’t. Mouthfeel is grainy and abusive to the tongue after repeated sipping. A promising start that ultimately became a big disappointment. All the blending in the world can’t hide the youngness of this whiskey. I know this bottle is en vogue but I call ‘em like I taste ‘em. Sorry, not sorry. Found this mispriced at $50, and still can’t recommend. At its normal price of around $90? Laughable. Not sure what other reviewers are getting here that I am not, but for me we are in hard avoid category.

Nose is full of toffee, cigar tobacco, maple, dried fruits, bananas foster, leather, and a musty moss/forest. A little more ethanol present than expected given the proof. Palate brings French vanilla, plum, apple, pear, date, butterscotch, cherry pipe tobacco, raisin, and the slightest hint of banana. Flavors are complex and punch well above their weight class here. Lingering finish takes a complete left turn and brings a big black tea leaf note, along with more plum, oak, white pepper, charcoal, cinnamon, and a building mint after repeated sips. Mouthfeel is very oily at first, but turns dry; so dry that honestly it comes off as a little abrasive and not the best match to the flavor profile which begs for a more creamy feel. A notable flaw. Overall, this is quite good. I’m not the biggest tea fan so the strong black tea note in the finish was a bit of a detriment, but I also understand that may be just me so hard to mark off for that. What’s less hard to mark off is the $199 price I paid (yeah I overpaid but I found it in the wild and wasn’t missing the chance) Would I pay that price or anywhere near it again? No. But I can’t judge it on that price. At retail of around $80? Would buy again all day. Solid 4.

Nose is unique with cereal grains, lemon pepper, musty cellar, sugar cookie, pumpernickel bread, and grassy rye in the vein of a field of fresh rye stalks. Ethanol next to nil. On the palate, much sweeter than the nose would indicate (thankfully) and there is a LOT going on here but the flavors are so rounded and well integrated that picking out individual notes is a bit of a challenge, but I’ll try; key lime, pancake batter, caramel, nutmeg, vanilla, cola nut, green apple, and a hint of ginger. If that sounds like a bizarre mix, it is. It’s also delicious. Finish is quite long for the proof and is a continuation of the palate with a slow morph into cinnamon, grains of paradise, cookie dough, and pear. Mild chocolate note after everything else fades. Mouthfeel is thick and chewy which is a real compliment. Jesus H, this is outstanding. A perfect blend of sweet, spicy, and herbal notes. I spent $94 on this and regret nothing. New Riff as a distillery is a total sleeper as their standard releases are substantially above average, and their limited releases are truly exceptional. Will seek a replacement when this one is gone.

Apparently MGP started their malted rye in 2013, so there is a possibility that this could be around (or at least contain) 9 yr old whiskey which along with the unusual mashbill, makes me intrigued. Let’s see how it checks in: Aroma has a lot of familiar rye notes of lemon pepper, spearmint, rye spice, and caraway seed, but there’s a few more interesting notes as well starting with a leafy herb (Oregano? Thyme? Sage?), croissant, butter, and a candy note which at first I couldn’t place but then presented itself as red Twizzlers. Ethanol is low for the proof, which is nice. Palate is…kinda wild. Ok, stay with me here; take traditional rye flavors of mint, lemongrass, pepper, and grain, and dunk them in chocolate. More of a clash between the herbal and sweet than say a barely legal 51% rye, but with more intensity of both flavors. Weird but good. Rushes quickly toward the finish without much mid-palate action. Finish takes a more traditional rye path with a lot of white pepper spice, mint, and tannic oak. There is indeed a malt note which lingers underneath and manifests in a way which is less malted milk ball, and more malt liquor/beer. Mouthfeel is grainy, dry, and abrasive, which makes me rethink the notion that this might be comprised of older whiskey. Repeated sips of my tasting pour had me thinking I had sanded my tongue. Normally I don’t write this much about mouthfeel, but this was a serious flaw for me and a real detraction and I can’t help but think that some more softness and body would have worked wonders. Overall a somewhat likable oddity, but that isn’t enough to truly impress. Went from a great nose, to a decent palate, to a lousy finish. At 79.99, there is just better whiskey (and better rye whiskey specifically) readily available. Not a rebuy.

Nose is very Brown-Forman with loads of cherry, brown sugar, vanilla, caramel, and a light hint of generic citrus (at gunpoint I’d say orange) Slight musty rickhouse note which I found intriguing. A hint of ethanol but forgivable at this proof point. Palate offers burnt sugars, ripe red cherry, leather, toffee, oak, tobacco, maple, and banana. Flavors are decadent and punchy. Finish is a slow morph into wood varnish, cinnamon, allspice, barrel char, and pink peppercorn. A tad short as I wanted it to go on because of how good it is. Cherry note persists through the finish which is in no way a bad thing as having it in the aroma, palate, and finish adds cohesiveness to the overall experience. Mouthfeel is very viscous and oily, coating every inch of the tongue. A high point. This is great; delivering all the things I like about some of the best Brown-Forman expressions with no discernible flaws. I paid..uhhh…$149 for this when I found it in the wild due to FOMO because this is a hard find in my area, and I might have a slight twinge of regret. But $30 cheaper (which I believe is MSRP) and that regret would be gone. Hard to call it a “value” but plenty of bang for your buck. Will buy future releases at retail.

On the nose, we’ve got some different stuff going on here; starts with standard rye notes of lemongrass, rye spice, and mint leaf, but as you dig deeper you find caramel, juniper berry, raspberry, and blueberry. A fruity rye? I’m about it. Ethanol is non-existent. Palate is just phenomenal, delivering what was promised in the nose with raspberry jam, boysenberry, vanilla bean, custard, pie crust, and nutmeg. Flavors are warm, rich, and bold. Finish is long and robust reminding you this is a rye in the form of white pepper, cinnamon, and mint. Mouthfeel is luscious and creamy. A unique, non-traditional, and delicious rye offering. The blend of dessert fruit, and herbal notes is executed with perfection, providing a very cohesive experience. While I have always thought the New Riff standard releases were solid, this takes things to a higher level. I paid $76 and regret nothing. Rebuy at that price all day, every day.

Nose offers creme brûlée, brown sugar, molasses, caramel, vanilla, blackberry, ripe plum, Concord grape, date, and cinnamon. Aroma is rich, and ethanol is next to non-existent. A promising start. Palate matches the nose almost precisely so as not to be redundant, see the notes above. A little butterscotch that I didn’t get in the nose. Flavors are vibrant and punchy. Finish turns sharply spicy with pink peppercorn and some slightly astringent oak, but then morphs again into caramel flan, wood varnish, cocoa powder, candy corn, and toffee. Insanely long. Mouthfeel is medium bodied and not much else to say about it other than a thicker mouthfeel would have worked wonders here. All in all, an enjoyable sweet, dark whiskey and vastly better than the BRT-01, but not as much of a hit as say FAE-01. At $76.99, I feel it’s value is fair and thus would consider it a rebuy.