Tastes

Nose: wood varnish, cherries. Palate: malt, botanicals,, smoke, honey, and a hint of cinnamon. The peat is there too, but not in your face. Water: adds a seawater scent and helps even out the flavors in the palate a bit. Overall: fairly complex but the flavor notes all over the map and aren’t necessary complementary.

Nose: mildew, vanilla, honey. Palate: grapefruit, malty. warming. Finish: Fairly short but pleasantly floral. Adding water improves the nose with a slightly smoky aroma, and adds balance to the palate. Overall: a great value for the age. A good “entry level” single malt Scotch.

Nose: wood and spice. Palate: tannins, wood, spice. Very smooth for 46% ABV. Finish: short and spicy. Water adds a pleasant honey vanilla to the nose and tames the harsher flavors on the palate. Overall: very enjoyable neat, and likely a great mixer.

Nose: orange peel, malt, vanilla. Palate: sweet citrus, oaky; with a long malty finish. Water brings forward the malty/oaky taste and makes the nose more citrusy. Overall: very balanced and tasty.

Nose: caramel, black pepper, a hint of vanilla. Palate: pepper and cinnamon; warming even neat. Finish: surprisingly short and to the point. Water: adds honey notes to the nose and cinnamon to the palate. Overall: faily spicy, a pleasant sipper.

Nose: vanilla, cinnamon, a hint of oak. Palate: orange rink, fresh sawdust, a bit of honey. Finish is long and spicy. Water adds a nice spiciness to both the nose and the palate. Much preferred to neat! Overall: a very pleasant “easy sipper”.

Nose: vanilla, peat, a hint of wood. Palate: peat is there, but not “in your face”, malty. Finish is long and smokey. Water: washed out the nose but helped balance the palate. Overall: a delicious, well-balanced, peaty Scotch.

Nose: Sweet vanilla, with a hint of apple cinnamon. Palate: a little citrus, a little spice. Finish is not too long and tapers off nicely into spice. Water added a nice leather aroma to the nose and helped balance the flavors in the palate. Overall: pleasant but unremarkable; not particularly spicy or sweet.

Nose: sweet, vanilla. Palate: orange peel, honey. Finish: long, tapering off to a slightly spicy note. Water: dulls the nose and makes the palate more balanced, bringing forward a hint of spice. Verdict: a nice balanced bourbon, a bit sweeter than I would prefer but a good value.

Nose: vanilla, black pepper. Palate: spice, hints of citrus and malt, finish is short and spicy. Water balances the nose and palate, brings forth a nice sweetness. Overall, this is probably my current favorite bourbon. It has everything I like in a ryed expression.