Tastes

Review transfer from Barreled from November 2016 Tried this at my brother in laws house in Windsor. Wolfhead is a craft distillery from Amherstburg, Ontario. This is batch number 2. I have no real info on this distillery yet so I can only make assumptions on certain things. Since it's a marketed as a craft distillery I would think this is natural color and non chill filtered. The color is light amber and it comes in at 40% ABV. The nose is a little harsh at first but really mellows out in the glass. Unfortunately there is a lemongrass scented humidifier filling the air right now so that is affecting my ability to properly review this one. I can say that it is pretty nice. Orange peel, toffee, caramel, some vanilla and cinnamon. Very light. The palate is also light, but very smooth. Citrusy with light oak flavors. I think the humidifier is really affecting the taste too so I'll leave it at that for now. It's good stuff regardless. Not typical of a Canadian whisky, not as sweet or as rye heavy. More like a bourbon but at the same time not a bourbon. 3.25

Now that the SDT is in a holding pattern between rounds I have time to catch up on a few samples that have been (and continue) accumulating. This sample was provided by @LeeEvolved An Oa is the newest member of the Ardbeg core range. Another NAS, and one that is suspected by many to be a replacement for the staple 10 year. Bottled at 46.6% ABV and is non chill filtered and I believe a natural color of yellow gold. As expected, there is plenty of peat smoke on the nose. A bit meaty and a bit fruity, but no one aspect really seems to dominate. Lemons, apricots, and some lemonade. Chalky/mineral notes. A little mint/menthol and faint chocolate. Earthy, ashes and the tiniest bit of oak. Some vanilla buttercream and an incredibly faint sherry note. Mostly mineral like wet stones at a beach or salty sea shells. Not very complex and seems quite young. Big peat smoke up front on the palate, but that soon fades. In its wake there are lemons, oranges, and apricots. Ashes, overly charred meat like blackened chicken. Like the nose it is very chalky. Some mint and tannins. The chalky aspect becomes dominant. Medium to full bodied mouthfeel with a slight oiliness and mouthwatering. A medium long finish with peat, smoke, ashes and tannins. Well, it’s not terrible, but it’s probably the worst Ardbeg I’ve had. Weak for an Ardbeg, not quite sure why this was introduced as part of their core range. At $60 I think I’d rather buy the 10 and have enough change to get a pizza. 3.75 and thanks again for the sample lee. Cheers

Stop number 54 on the SDT is North British. This Lowland distillery exclusively produces grain whisky, and the vast majority is sold as bulk whisky to use in various blends. This is a single grain bottle from the independent bottlers at Berry’s. Distilled in 1996 and bottled in 2015, this 18 year old is from cask number 224751, 57% ABV, is non chill filtered and natural color of golden straw. The nose starts pretty sharp. Lots of honey and vanilla and strong grains. Dried ginger, oak and golden raisins. A touch fruity with dried apricots and a slight blueberry pie feel. Baked bread and light toffee. Not very exciting so I figured I’d add some water as the high ABV might be masking some flavors. Water reveals a rubbery note and some sweetness but little else. Not looking good so far. The palate arrives somewhat hot as is to be expected from the strength. A heavy grain feel. Oak, fairly bitter. Light fruits, raisins, berries and apricots. Honey and vanilla. Not much else really. Water softens it, but the bitterness remains. Medium bodied mouthfeel that is oily and mouthwatering. A medium long finish that is bitter and oaky. Unfortunately this is another failed independent bottling. I suspect poor casks or just overly rough spirit. 18 years was not long enough to tame this beast. Water takes out some of the bad elements, but makes no real improvements to the point of enjoyability. At $90 it’s really not worth it. I can see why this stuff is relegated for use as a bulk blending component. Thank to @LeeEvolved for the sample, another distillery checked off the tour. 2.25 Cheers

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to grab a couple bottles of this very limited release from Grand Traverse Distillery, located in beautiful Traverse City, Michigan, my home state. Islay Rye is a rye whiskey made from 80% Michigan grown rye and 20% peated malted barley from the U.K. There is no age statement, but per the distillery this is a hair under 5 years old. This is a single barrel that is only available at their 4 tasting rooms in Michigan and only sold in 375mL bottles. Bottled at 45% ABV, non chill filtered and natural color of copper/amber. The nose starts off with heavy rye and oak. Time is really needed here. Warm rye bread/caraway seeds. A good amount of mint and dill with some sawdust mixed in there. Apples, pears, cinnamon and some vanilla. Lots of butterscotch and some caramel. No real smoke to it like you would expect, but some earthy notes. Cardboard, toasted coconut and a distinct fennel note. A little sweet citrus comes through, oranges with dark chocolate. More butterscotch and a slight bubblegum note. Spice cake, and for the briefest of moments I picked up on curry powder or turmeric. Nice complexity, but needs more of a peaty presence to justify its name. The palate starts with spicy rye, but not too intense. It’s not so much peat smoke as there is a charred wood sensation with burnt out embers. Oak, mint and dill. Slightly floral/ herbal. A little malted barley and more warm rye. Toasted coconut and cardboard. Cinnamon, clove and butterscotch. A nice whiskey for such a small distillery. Light to medium bodied mouthfeel that is mouth coating but fairly dry. The finish is medium long, dry with rye, mint and toasted oak. This is a very drinkable rye. While I feel the peated barley content should be in the 30-40% range to help add the smoky component I was hoping for, the barley that’s in there surely helps to temper the rye. At $50 for 375mL, I can’t say it’s really worth the price, but given that it’s a single barrel release that only comes around every few years, I’m glad I bought 2 bottles. I’m especially happy that I only had to drive an hour to their closest tasting room, vs the 5 hours it would have taken me to get to the distillery! A solid 4. Cheers

The final bonus dram of round 5. 25 reviews in less than 2 months is challenging, but also a fun journey. This time it’s a bourbon rather than a scotch and it’s from a distillery I really like, Four Roses. This 2016 release of their Limited Edition Small Batch is bottled at 55.6% ABV, what I can only assume is batch strength, natural color of a rusty orange and most likely non chill filtered. I was surprised to find mint as the first note I picked up on the nose. It’s very floral for a bourbon, honeysuckle and lavender. Orange rind with a light cinnamon. Then just like that the cinnamon becomes stronger with some toffee, caramel and mocha. A little bubblegum in there as well. Dry grass, brown sugar and some green grapes oddly enough. Not exactly what I was expecting, but very nice nonetheless A nice gentle oak greets the palate along with some barrel char. Again it’s quite floral. Some apples and oranges and even grapefruit. Toffee, some light butterscotch, cinnamon and clove. Not nearly as complex as I would have liked, but still very good and quite easy to drink neat. A medium bodied mouthfeel that is dry. It is not so much mouth coating as it is tongue coating. A long finish with oak, lavender and orange pith. Quite dry. Much milder than I was expecting. The single barrel is much more intense at a lower 50% ABV. I can’t get over just how floral it was. A few drops of water cut the flowers off at the stem and brought out more typical bourbon spices. Given its rarity and hefty price tag I have to say I am not quite as impressed as my SDT cohorts were. It’s good and I enjoyed it, I just wasn’t blown away. Having said that I’m still giving a 4.25. Thank to @PBMichiganWolverine for the sample. Cheers

Round 5 of the Scottish Distillery Tour is nearly done, but I needed to make a detour and review this bourbon before my wife and I finished off the bottle. A Kentucky straight bourbon that is Bottled in Bond, which guarantees 5 things; 1) it is natural color (dark copper), 2) it is aged in new charred American oak barrels, 3) it is bottled at 50% ABV, 4) it is a minimum of 4 years old (aged in a government controlled warehouse), 5) it has a mash bill with a minimum of 51% corn... but you already knew all of that. I don’t know for sure, but I would guess that it is non chill filtered. Strong oak and vanilla up front on the nose. Very little alcohol for 50%. Heavy cinnamon, clove and nutmeg. Some mint and a little dill from the rye in the mash bill. A little brown sugar and toffee, but I don’t think this whiskey ever approaches sweetness. There is a corn note but it’s not too heavy. A vague fruitiness, red fruits, maybe apples. A bit of candy corn and a chalky/ mineral note. The palate is heavy charred oak and baking spices, primarily cinnamon and clove. Red apples, mint and light dill. Vanilla, a little walnut and banana bread. Nothing exemplary, but a basic bourbon done fairly well. The mouthfeel is medium to full bodied, a bit of heat, astringent at times and dry. Medium length finish with oak, banana and walnuts. We’ve been primarily using this one as a mixer in hot toddy’s for when my wife’s throat is bothering her, but we also use it for a nice whisky & water. I prefer it with a giant ice cube and a small dash of water. Would go well with as a B&C too. Point is, this makes a better mixer than a sipping whiskey, but that’s really what it was made for. For a BiB that’s only $18, it’s a hell of a value. Price aside it’s solid 3. Factoring in the price, a 3.25, maybe even a 3.5, so that’s where I will mark it. Cheers

Laphroaig was the one. The one that blew my mind and introduced my to the microcosm that is Islay. I’ve had many different expressions from this superb distillery and other that the 18 (which I will try some day soon I hope), this PX Cask is the one for which I have had the highest anticipation. I picked this one up at duty free during one of my many trips over to Windsor. A nice 1L bottle that cost me about $90. I provided this as a sample to everyone in the SDT group even though I believe they’ve all had it before. This NAS, travel retail exclusive single malt is bottled at 48% ABV and is non chill filtered. There is some debate out there about whether it has colorant added or not, but all evidence I can find points to it being a natural color of amber with a faint reddish hue. The nose has most of the standard Laphroaig profile, but much subdued and covered by the sweetness of the PX casks. The medicinal and tarry notes are there but very mild. Smoke but not heavy peat smoke. The sweetness shows up after some time and starts with toffee and caramel and some vanilla custard. Fruitcake, cherry cordials and some nutmeg. Earthy, brine, anise and even some eucalyptus. I added some water (10-15 drops) and it brought out some really nice fruity notes. Grilled apricots, smoky watermelon, dried banana chips and dark berry jelly donut filling. Some sweet syrupy sherry notes follow and finish off the nose. An ever changing chameleon of awesome. The palate is much more intense than the nose lead on, but not at anything approaching too much. Darker than other Laphroaigs. Spicy and sweet, smoky, peat and ashes. Smoky cherries, spiced fruitcake, sherry, anise and burnt honey. Towards the end some beautiful oranges and tangerines come in. Candy sweet at times, but always smoky and peaty. A medium to full bodied mouthfeel that is oily and mouthwatering. The finish is medium long with peat smoke, spices, anise, charred oak and slightly tannic. This bottle was an oddity of an odyssey. When I first opened it I got nothing of the Laphroaig I know and love, just a crazy sweetness and a muted profile. Oxidization brought this one to life rather than killing it. Water was the key to unlocking the fruitiness vs the generic sweetness that is there without it. A very good but understated Laphroaig. If I had rated the bottle upon first tasting it would have been a 3.75 at best. Now with only a few drams left I give it a solid 4.25 Cheers

This one time at Distiller Summer Camp... I know a guy who knows a guy who robbed some of the people @Distiller. So I got to try all 3 versions of this ridiculously limited release. I thought the claim of every good smell you can think of is in there was just marketing BS, but WOW! The PX Finished version has a cornucopia of delicious fruits, creamy vanilla, toffee and some others I’ve never had in a scotch. Pizza, Grandma’s meatballs, axle grease, thunderstorms, a wood shop and fresh wet cement. The red wine finish is full of red wine, but also white wine, rice wine, dandelion wine, red wine vinegar and every other wine you can think of. The biggest surprise was the Old Spice and Hawaiian dinner rolls and solid gold bars. Wow this is good. The port finished version may be the best one. Blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, boysenberries, cranberries, and every other berry you can think of. Jelly beans, cheddar cheese bagels, breakfast sausages, rough granite stones and smoldering cherrywood. The taste of each was such an experience that I think I saw Robert Burns descend from Ben Nevis riding a majestic translucent steed. When I again regained lucidity I declared to my wife and the EMS tech who thought I was having an epileptic seizure that these three were the greatest scotches to ever reach the lips of man. I do declare that nothing again shall ever smell as wondrous or taste as otherworldly as these three single malts...unless they release a 48 year version at 48%. I may just ruin my underwear if that day ever comes.

My experience with Springbank is limited to the 12 year cask strength. I really did not care much for that one and have had mixed feelings about trying other expressions. Thanks to the SDT I’ve had that decision made for me. This 24 year old, distilled in July 1992 and bottled in April 2017, comes from the independent bottlers at The Maltman. Coming from a (probably refill) sherry cask (cask #212214), this Campbeltown single malt is bottled at 47.1% ABV and is non chill filtered and natural color of an orange amber. One of 244 bottles. The nose starts with soft sherry and oak with a detectable peat. Warm baked bread, baked apples & cinnamon. A chalky minerality and earthy peat. Sherried fruits, peaches, oranges, plums, apricots, and pears. Honey, malt, slightly salty. Some chocolate notes, light tobacco and a very light mint. Some vanilla cream makes its way in, strange for a sherry matured scotch. The palate is elegant. Some sweetness that is balanced out with peat. Very similar to the nose. Sherried fruits, apricots, peaches, apples and plums. Earthy, salty. A medium bodied mouthfeel that is oily and mouthwatering. The finish is medium long with earthy peat, apricots, peaches, honey and malt. This really is a wonderful scotch and even though it’s not an official distillery release it has renewed my faith in Springbank. The peat holds up well after 24 years. I feel I could have picked up more if I had more than 1oz to work with, but at $500 per bottle I’m happy to have gotten a tase at all. 4.5 and thanks to @PBMichiganWolverine for the lovely sample. Cheers