Tastes

Taste: Bourbon mixed with vodka. Not my thing.

Back when I could handle peat, the notes from the nose and palate of a brand new Johnnie Walker Double Black bottle were amazing to me. When I would take my first sip from a new bottle, it tasted like I was almost licking a grill. As time crept on and my bottle hung around, the strength of what I got on the nose and palate wore a bit thin. Based on my previous tastes alone, this would be worthy of at least a 3.5 rating, but since I have moved on from drinking scotch and have discovered many different whisk(e)ys since then, I have to downgrade my rating. Adding to the reasons for my downgraded rating: When I last drank this a couple of years ago, it was $37 at my local liquor store. Since that time, the price has vastly increased to $45.

Unfortunately, I didn't save my tasting notes on this, but as I recall the nose and palate weren't bad. However, what makes me nosedive the rating for Grant's Triple Wood is the horrendous bad breath this gave me for a whole day the day after drinking about 2 fl.oz. of it.

I don't drink much scotch these days as I can't handle peat anymore. As I recall, the taste of this was actually somewhat enjoyable. What completely ruined the experience for me was that stupid ball in the neck of the bottle. I always had so much trouble getting the liquid to come out of this bottle in the quantity that I desired. Either it came dripping out or gushing like a waterfall. If I still drank scotch, I would stay far, far away from this bottle. What a frustrating pour this was.

I've been working my way through a roster of inexpensive whiskeys that have banana bread notes. So, I picked up a 50 mL bottle of Jack and just opened it up. I get the expected aroma of banana bread on the nose. On the palate, the banana bread is there too along with some ethanol. The finish had a slight bit of a burn but nothing off-putting. In comparing this with Gentleman Jack, Old No. 7 beats its more expensive and twice-filtered sibling by a mile. Gentleman Jack was too smooth for me. Also, the banana bread notes were much more subtle in Gentleman Jack. Old No. 7 isn't quite good enough to be a permanent part of my whiskey stash, but it's good enough for me to buy once in a while. It's good enough for me to order at a restaurant or bar that doesn't have many whiskey options. There are certainly better options out there, but Old No. 7 will do just fine for me.

Vanilla and oak on the nose and palate. I get a tiny bit of heat at the tail end of the palate.

The good side of this first: I've been obsessed with banana bread notes in whiskeys lately. So, I had to try this. From that perspective, it has a subtle scent of banana bread on the nose and palate as well. However, what really makes me sink the rating is that it was TOO smooth. I do like to have at least a slight bite in my whisk(e)y. The smoothness factor of Gentleman Jack reminded me of my college days when I would go for a Mike's Hard Lemonade. I kept on sipping because it was so smooth, and I didn't feel the alcohol getting to me until I suddenly had a bit of a buzz going on. To me, this is not at all an upgrade from Old No. 7, but quite inferior to it in my view.

I've been chasing after bourbons with banana bread notes. I recently had this at a gathering, so I couldn't take my usual time to enlighten my olfactory senses. However, on the palate, I definitely singled out banana bread. The banana bread notes aren't super strong on the palate but they are definitely there, and that's good enough for me. This was mostly smooth going down, with a very slight and short-lived kick. I will definitely add this to my collection soon.

After finding and enjoying banana bread notes in Larceny, I searched for other inexpensive whiskeys with banana bread notes. Old Forester 86 did not disappoint. I get things like banana bread and cherries on the nose, and I can really hone in on banana bread on the palate. Midway through the palate phase, I get a slight, but definitely tolerable, kick from the rye in here. This is absolutely a keeper in my bar. For an entry-level and low-cost bourbon, this is crazy good and an excellent bang for my buck.