Tastes
-
WhistlePig 6 Year PiggyBack Rye
Rye — (bottled in) Vermont, Canada
Reviewed June 6, 2021 (edited July 10, 2021)Whistlepig is overrated and by that I mean overpriced. Yep. I may be alone on this hill but I have never cared about that. Its usually the best seat in the house. Or at least has the best view. and since this is "my" tasting, the best view from here is that this is not as good as the circle jerk will tell you. I dont get it. There are half a dozen ryes that are a third of the price that are not only as good but better than this. Maybe theres something Im missing. Maybe Im a nerd and the cool kids are hip to a current i dont have the faculties to intercept. Maybe. Or maybe this is yet another self-righteous overhyped and pretentious distiller bottling, dressing and slicking back the hair of the same MGP rye you can find in other bottles lower on the shelf. Maybe. -
One almost never gets around to "reviewing" a brand like Makers Mark. Or whatever it is we do here. Maybe review isnt right. In any case the problem with Makers Mark and others like it is they are almost TOO consistent, too solid, too ubiquitous...too available. This is the ADD era...we put playlists consisting of thousands of songs on shuffle. We want the latest hazy IPA even if its the same beer in a different artistic can *coughModern Timescough* We dont know what to DO with consistency! Makers is all these things. Its solid. Its everywhere, its perfectly priced, its a bit dishonest with the whole "first wheated" thing or maybe its just mistaken. Doesnt matter. It really is a great bourbon. The only bad thing about Makers is the plastic screwcap UNDER the lovely wax seal. That pretty much sums up the art of design in 2021 though. So stay you, Makers Mark, and stay everywhere, because one day, we are as a people going to return to our roots and value consistency again, damn it.
-
I love this. It’s weird as hell and wil change your crappy pre-conceived notions of what a rum is or was or wants to be. Rum freedom now. This rum hates the box you put it in. It’s all vegetable earthy spicy citrus peel funk and it don’t need no boundaries. Buy this and drink this and make weird faces and call it weird but love it. Marinate in its own particular unique brand of strange for that’s what sets each of us apart. No apologies. Be you and the people will love you for it. That’s what this rum does. And it’s right. I’m people, and I love the shit out of this.
-
Kirk and Sweeney 12 Year Rum
Aged Rum — Dominican Republic
Reviewed June 3, 2021 (edited October 17, 2022)The brand here comes with some clout. Came recommended. I really dig the bottle. It’s piratey and fun to palm. The cork lets out a nice THOONK sound and I feel satisfied. But then after that I’m confused. First of all didn’t this used to say 12 “year” on the bottle? Now it just says 12 reserva. That would be fun if it tasted the way it used to buy it doesn’t come close and it can’t just be my imagination. Overwhelming vanilla extract flavor that no way came from wood sugars. Fake as fuck. Kirk. Sweeney. Whoever you imposters are, give us the original recipe back and you can have your old reputation back. Until then I won’t be touching your scurvy swill. So there. -
Kentucky Owl Confiscated Bourbon
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed June 2, 2021 (edited November 15, 2021)At nearly $100 I was expecting an underwhelming experience. Instead I was pleasantly surprised to find this was rich and warm and savory. Almost a distinct butterscotch note only with more depth. Like a butterscotch that reads Dostoevsky and smokes from a wooden pipe and and lives in a cabin and chops wood while clenching said pipe between teeth and grunting between puffs and swings from his favored axe with a custom hickory handle he carved and polished himself all while expounding on the subtle forgotten beauty found in a lonely forest pond while a Viennese Waltz plays on a wobbly record in the background. -
High West Bourye (2018 Release)
Blended American Whiskey — Indiana (bottled in Utah), USA
Reviewed May 31, 2021 (edited November 14, 2021)Simply excellent. Every instant in my mind the High West brand starts to slowly develop the hazy grainy glow of fondly regarded ex-pioneers who are now comfortable established and content with the already great things them hath wrought it seems I am jolted back the happy sometimes-reality by excellence such as this. The blend, the mouthfeel…it’s better than mangos even. -
Evan Williams 1783 Bourbon (80 Proof)
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed May 30, 2021 (edited June 9, 2021)I accidentally deleted this tasting but Im pretty sure i was basically saying that this bottle is boring and looks to be a trap. A random year. A meaningless "small batch" label. A generic shaped bottle. But the juice is actually pretty solid. Checks all the common core bourbon flavor boxes, just dont bring the bottle into the bathroom with you. Theres nothing to read. -
Don Pancho Origenes Reserva 8 Year
Aged Rum — Panama
Reviewed May 30, 2021 (edited October 21, 2023)I'm alive but I don't know what it means. Somewhere out there across the moonlit sands there's a line drawn like the lines on my own hands and across those lines, waiting for us all a classy bottle of rum with the stature of an old Tartarian tower and inside is a strange sweet non threatening little rum that reminds of chocolate milk and cola and you can drink it straight from the bottle and collapse on the ocean floor with a dreamy glaze in your eye. Without further delay may I introduce to you Don Pancho Origenes Reserva 8 year. -
I want you to take all those things that are eating away, weighing you down inside, and I want you to pull them all out and put them in a tall clear tumbler and add ice and smother them tall with a generous refreshing gush of this gin. Its so clean and bright it will trick your pea brain into thinking its hydrating you. You dont need mixers but in case youre not in a judgement free zone, anything with bubbles and citrus will do and the less sugar the better. Because this aint candy, bro. Its botanicalifornication , your minds elation that is currently under threat of theft from psychic chinese spies. The packaging is next level. The minimalistic bottle design and label and the way the latin names of the exotic seeming herbs and plants and people that its infused with are done in such a sleek classy design you literally wont even care that you're drinking an elixir made from Melissa Officianalis aka that annoying secretary from your office. Thats how the elite roll, bro, and this heady delightful bottle will give you a glimpse of that sweet out of reach life, even if its just for a day. Thank you Melissa for your sacrifice.
-
Saint James Rhum Paille Agricole
Rhum Agricole Blanc — Martinique
Reviewed May 24, 2021 (edited May 26, 2021)2021 IS EVEN WEIRDER THAN ITS WEIRD PREDECESSOR. IM NOT SURE WHY IM YELLING. The weird Im referring to is that this rum has squeaked...nay...eeked into the highly-coveted-by-noone "Daily Drinker" section of my meticulously unattended-to beer compartmentalizer, where it shall remain until the case is all gone. Yeah I bought a case because he bottles were $8 a piece when purchased that way. So yeah the price is definitely the reason, but I will say, despite this being a little thin, a little watery and packaged in a way that more resembles vegetable oil than rum, it has really grown on me. Its great in cocktails, easy sipping over ice, and is in fact so gentle with a hint of that veggie complexity that comes from the agricole aspect that it legitimately brightens my day when I partake, no matter the format or the context in which I partake, even when trying to overuse the term partake. This will have you smiling and belting out alongside Rufus Wainwright performing Judy Garland classics in no time. I dont know what Paille means or I'd insert some bit of casual rum jargon here to reaffirm your faith in me, dear reader, and the mad skills virtue of my tasting notes but alas I'm about to nail this falsetto bit coming up after the french horn solo right now so we'll do it another time.
Results 91-100 of 162 Reviews