Tastes

Between a busy travel schedule for work and simmering over the new tariffs on some of my favorite things, I’m getting behind on my whisk(e)y reviews. I did a simple lineup of 3 budget bourbons (about $25 or less) earlier this week. Let’s see how Knob Creek’s Small Batch Bourbon stacked up. Mashbill: 75% Corn, 13% Rye, 12% Barley ABV: 50.0% Price: $25.99 Nose: Rich, sweet, and spicy. Amber honey, vanilla, leather, cream, almond paste, dark cherry. Herbal notes. Intriguingly complex. Palate: The nose didn’t mislead. Lots of flavors and textures here. Rich, full, sweet, and spicy. Toffee, rye spice, almond paste, cherries, a touch of mint, and oak. A little bit of herbs and salt. A nice flavor profile, but a touch rough on mouthfeel and execution. A splash of water tamed the unevenness a bit but brought more bitter notes forward for me. Finish: Warm and sweet, then drying astringency with whiffs of cherries. This dram hangs around. A bit brash and rowdy, this bourbon doesn’t go down as smoothly as many others I’ve had, so despite its relative complexity at this price point, that (and the bitter off-note) hurts its score a little bit. It’s a decent dram, but I’d reach for other bottles* in this price range before this one. 3.0 ~ 76 ~ Average *As the great equalizer in my tasting, Eagle Rare 10 won against the Knob Creek and the other 2 bourbons I tasted when I added it to the competition. Tough VFM to beat!

Dewar’s White Label Blended Scotch. Blended Scotch dram 2 of 2. This is apparently the #1 selling Blended Scotch in America, but I think that really just means the cheapest Scotch kept in every bar across America for cocktails. As I mentioned in my last review, I had this bright idea to test the calibration and evolution of my taste buds with some budget drams. I went in to this with a fairy open mind and on the first whiff, I was hoping this one might pleasantly surprise me. If only. Nose: Thin, but with surprising vegetal notes to the tune of overcooked broccoli. As it opens up, more medicinal (read: young grain spirits) and damp campfire notes come through. Sweetness of toasted marshmallow (and perhaps one side of that marshmallow was roasted too long). Palate: So light and thin, it verges on cooling rather than warming. Did someone put a dash of Chloraseptic in this bottle? Musty, unpleasant heather, more damp campfire notes, and the non-descript sweetness of white sugar. Young. Finish: Short with more old oak making it to the forefront than it did on the palate. Tannins drifting through smokey, sugary, medicinal water. There’s an odd note reminiscent of something you’d find in a bathroom medicine cabinet (I’ve called it out as that mentholated variety of Chloraseptic) that I can’t untaste or forget, and it completely turns me off from it. I couldn’t use this as a mixer and I’d be horrified if I couldn’t pick this out in a blind tasting. I think my rating is probably generous in the spirit of being polite and not appearing to be snobby (and maybe to show appreciation for the weird, watery, vegetal nose?). Did I get a skunked bottle? 1.75 ~ 60 ~ Nearly Regretting This

I had this idea that I would try a few budget drams to see how my taste buds have evolved over the years. After 2 back-to-back budget blended Scotches (the other review will be up in a bit), I may throw in the towel and self-certify that my taste buds are calibrated and working correctly. Let’s get to the tasting notes for Chivas Regal 12 Year Old Blended Scotch. Nose: Thin and fruity, and not particularly complex. Green apple, Riesling, vanilla, and suggestions of old oak. Hidden, dull fireplace smoke. Palate: Light, with a thin, watery mouthfeel. Vanilla, caramel, and cream with a dash of mild mannered salt. I think there’s some fruitiness to this but it’s lost in the apparent torrent of fire hydrant testing water used to cut this down to proof. Finish: Short and fairly one-note. Sweet, with faint oak tannins, bitterness, and tame spice. Over before you know it. I’m finding that few drams work at 40% ABV for me these days and this is no exception. Really unremarkable and boring. In hindsight, my rating appears a bit polite, but it has an age statement and doesn't have any obvious off-notes that completely turn me off from it. I think you could probably use this a mixer, but personally, I wouldn’t. 2.25 ~ 68 ~ Nearly Regretting This

As the No. 1 selling whiskey in the U.S. and one of the best selling brands in the world, I don’t think there’s anything I can add to a Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 review that hasn’t been said already. Nose: Sweet acetone and ethanol. Like someone spilled a vat of corn syrup in a nail salon. If you manage to emerge from that mild olfactory assault, there’s banana and faint wood. Palate: Thin and a bit hot, with a smooth harshness (like it’s been stripped but not sanded). Thankfully with mild flavors of corn, unripe banana, vanilla, and a bit of barrel char rather than overwhelming with nail salon notes. Finish: Pretty short with some heat for 40% ABV. The nail salon tries to edge back in with some banana-wood, pink pepper spice, and more sweet corn. Verdict: Relatively bland and unremarkable. I’m not biased against it, it just doesn’t have much going for it. Best experienced with a mixer. It’s like a 2-legged chair that needs Coke to work as intended. 2.5 ~ 70 ~ Below Below Average

I’m revisiting a bottle that’s been neglected for a while - Monkey Shoulder.* It’s a blended malt bottled at 43% ABV from three(ish) Speyside distilleries: Kininvie, Glenfiddich, and The Balvenie.** Sometimes it’s nice to revisit budget drams because we can’t always drink from the top shelf. Let’s see how it does this time around... Nose is lightly fragrant - orange blossom, honey, vanilla, floral notes, and a bit of banana. Palate - fruity, but with more fruitiness than the nose suggested. Orange marmalade, vanilla, simple baking spice, and sprightly oak. Young. Finish - starts sweet but it’s short and simple. There’s a rounded mineral quality to it and drying effect that leaves you wishing there was more to it. It feels like licking wax paper and cardboard. Waxed cardboard. Verdict - serviceable and utilitarian. That’s what comes to mind with Monkey Shoulder. And at ~$30 a bottle, it does it’s job better than most other blended (and budget) malts do for me. I think this would be a great mixer (confession - I have never used it for that purpose to date), budget bottle to bring out for folks who don’t know whisky from whiskey, or dram for those who have no predilections about what they’re getting. It has excellent VFM to be sure. 3.25 ~ 78 ~ Average * Full disclosure - it’s probably been neglected for a while for good reason because the last time a bottle of Monkey Shoulder showed up at a bland work function....things perked up considerably. ** Most everyone probably knows this (and then some) about Monkey Shoulder but I still like to sprinkle in some background to my ongoing whisky journal. Thanks for indulging me. :)

I’m one of those folks who likes Oban. There, I got that off my chest. The nose of Oban 14 is provocative - an alluring blend of figs, a sweetness like white chocolate fudge, a gentle smoke (like a pleasant candle that was recently blown out), and a whiff of the sea. The palate delivers - more figs, the sweetness becomes honey, followed by spice, smoke, and sea salted malt. It’s a rich dram with a smooth mouthfeel. The finish is long and wonderfully balanced: fruit, sweets, (light) peat, and dry wood bow out. The fruit/sweet/malt/smoke/salt balance really works for me as a great dram for capturing summer ending and fall beginning. It’s a little lower on the VFM scale at ~$60 per bottle, but I find that easier to overlook given the distillery and the whisky’s unique character. I haven’t tasted anything else quite like it. And then it leaves me wanting another taste. Which I will gladly pour. Sláinte! 4.0 ~ 89 ~ Great

This will be brief, as I can’t do a proper tasting of this like I’d like to (but it’s so good I have to say so!). High West’s A Midwinter Night’s Dram was shared at a tasting among friends and was clearly the stand out of the night. Absolutely delicious stuff. My memory of it is so fond, I’m tempted to give it a 4.5 but I will restrain myself. I would gladly pick a bottle of the older Acts if I happen to come across one some day. 4.25 ~ 90-92 ~ Excellent

I think it’s fair to say I first became acquainted with Michter’s through their rye offerings. Those were intriguing enough that I had to try out others. Simply put, Michter’s US*1 Small Batch Bourbon is a straightforward, NAS delight. My pour for this tasting comes from Batch No. 19B184. The nose is sticky sweet butterscotch, bread, and vanilla, with a touch of the charred barrel coming through. The palate mirrors the nose in many ways: smooth and uncomplicated, with sweet butterscotch and toffee, oak, vanilla, gentle smoke, with mild spice and astringency. There is dried fruit (cherries and oranges) and faint salt and herbal notes. The finish is warm, dominated by lightly spiced, dry oak with more lingering salt. At 45.7% ABV and roughly $40 a bottle, I think this offers good VFM but there are arguably other bourbons in this price range that offer a bit more. This is a nice and easy-to-quaff crowd pleaser that’s good to keep on the shelf and equally easy to replace when you run out. 3.5 ~ 80 ~ Above Average

AnCnoc 12 yo is a fun single malt to review because I think it comes off deceptively simplistic. Also, it’s kind of quirky (to me at least): its marketed as a Highland whisky (although you can make a case for them residing within the limits of Speyside); it’s non-sherried (a non-sherried Speyside?!); the distillery has changed their name in an attempt to be less confusing (is it really less confusing now?); and their process uses a mixture of modern and traditional equipment (e.g., new steel & copper mashtun vs wooden worm tubs). It’s also kind of a wonder to me that this relatively small distillery is still around. Back to the bottle: sometimes you find the 12 yo as 40%, sometimes 43%. I’m not an expert on the global distribution differences of Knockdhu’s range, but I can say that my bottle for this review is 43% and non-chill filtered. (Distiller’s review lists 40%) The nose is crisp and fruity: vanilla, peach, biscuits, and honey. There’s also a shifty quality to the aroma: sometimes I get oak like dried leaves, other times it’s more like book pages. Another nice part is the ex-bourbon barrels allow more of the malt character to show through (same for taste). On the palate, I get more vanilla, cinnamon, green apple, oak, malt, and some gentle spice and caramel smoke. The first couple times I sat with this whisky, I was pondering how best to describe the sweetness of this dram. I was settling to call it more of an amber honey, but that wasn’t right and then it hit me - raisins seems most apt to me. It’s medium-bodied treat with a malty core, acidity to balance, and enough complexity to keep me interested. The medium-length finish brings more oak and spice forward, with a nuanced, warming effect. At $40, I think anCnoc 12 yo is a solid VFM bottle if you feel like a summertime experiment with a distillery that doesn’t come up as often in conversation. I think the smoke element makes it appropriate for transitioning to autumn too. It’s not something I need to replace as soon as I run out, but at the very least it’s staying on the short list to rotate back in. This one’s right on the edge of 3.75+ because of the value factor so I will split the difference with a 3.75 and “very good” recommendation. 3.75 ~ 86 ~ Very Good

Reviewing Eagle Rare 10 yo is a poignant reminder of the inconsistencies in seeking certain whiskies. Some places are deserts of Eagle Rare, and yet I have no trouble finding it. On the flip side, I’d have to give up a kidney to taste some whiskies other folks seem to find so easily. Anyways, on to the review.... The nose is enticing - marasca cherries, almond, and oak. A touch of maple in there. On the palate, more marasca cherries, vanilla, some oaky spices, oily nuts (walnuts/almonds), and the astringency and touches of black tea. The finish is warming and medium-length, with more oak coming out. This is a very oak-forward bourbon, which I totally dig here. It’s well-balanced and delicious stuff that punches above its weight class. 90 proof is icing, and an age statement nowadays seems nearly unheard of. I also give them props for transparency in removing the single barrel statement from the label. At ~$30, it’s a bottle I’d always want to keep around. How long can we keep BT/Sazerac from tinkering with this VFM beauty? (Knock on wood....delicious, oaky wood...) 4.0 ~ 89 ~ Great