Tastes

Fairly light old gold color. Very pretty aromas of vanilla, cream, orange zest, heather and honey. There's also a drier baked cookie aroma like honey and orange oil drizzled over vanilla wafers. A bit more density on the palate with plenty of sweet vanilla, ripe yellow apples, some tropical fruit notes, papaya, melon, and citrus. The finish is drier than expected with apple, honey, and citrus fading into dry barrel tannins and black pepper. Excellent!

Burnished brass color with a boisterous and sexy nose of vanilla, honeyed cream, orange zest, tangerine, apricot, Turkish fig, golden raisin (sultanas), and graham cracker. It returns those flavors on palate with a short but soothing finish of dried fruits, honey, and subtle black pepper. Very solid for a widely available sub-$50 bottle of well-made Scotch.

Burnished, deep copper color. Initially very effusive with loads of imitation vanilla aromas, a thin mid-palate, and an oddly spicy finish. However, after a spell, this turns into quite a pleasant, easy-to-drink pour. The vanilla notes become more muted and integrated -- playing friendly with more maple candy, birch beer syrup, cherry waffles, sesame oil, spearmint, and wintergreen aromas. On the palate it has some heft and texture, bringing a pleasant grainy brown sugar sweetness that dries wonderfully into a finish of anise seed, pencil shavings, and cinnamon. At $22 a liter, it is almost exactly the same price as Evan Williams BiB in Oregon. However, it is significantly less nutty, peanut butter fudge. And has much brighter and more focused flavors and aromas. EW BiB has been my budget bourbon for so long, maybe it's time to start mixing it up. Impressive at this price point.

Very thin out the gate. My first dram barely registered above mineral water. It develops into a rather horrific Highland malt with samples of vanilla, cream, and orange zest. The almost blank initial palate morphs into a gas station honeyed biscuit by the finish. Good saltiness. Overpriced in Oregon

An alluring russet muscat colored whiskey that's very aggressive on the nose for those of us that live outside of sawmills and wood shops. There's a wallop across the schnozz of bitter charred wood, leather, dried nuts, and polish. However, after a few weeks open, the bitter wood and leather aromas merge with the softer, sweeter, fruitier flavors apparent on the palate from the beginning. There's rich caramel, vanilla, and toffee sweetness, as well as dried almond, citrus peel, and blueberry aromas rising up to dance with the more astringent saddle bag and barn door smells that feel second nature to this bottle. A keen belief in balance and an ambition for a truly terroir-driven whiskey becomes apparent. On the palate, sweet and bitter two-step with dark bread and cacao flavors twirling in cascades of honeyed malt and unctuous caramel. Then the sherry finish explodes in a whitewater of chewy mission figs, Turkish figs, raisins, and dates that drift downstream into the curls and eddies whispering of dark fruits, red fruits, dried citrus, maple, cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, chocolate, and far-off adventures.

A bit different. Deep color, almost tawny. Takes a few days to really open up, especially the nose. However, it eventually arrives and pulls a pretty orange zest, vanilla, and (delicate?) oak blanket over a very nutty peanut and pecan butter base spirit. There's definitely an attempt at a bridge bourbon here for Scotch and Japanese whiskey drinkers. At moments, I get sort of a Speyside note, like a Glenfarclas 12 vibe. However, it never really develops an interesting personality. It finishes as expected with plenty of peanut, cherry, maple syrup, and cinnamon. It's a good whiskey, but time and money is probably best spent elsewhere.

Stole a skosh from a gift bottle a couple of times over the last two weeks. Took awhile to open up, but seems to be singing now. Borderline chestnut oloroso in color. Boisterous aromas of buttered wood, roasted peanuts, roasted almonds, burnt sugar, spearmint syrup, brown sugar. Rich and spicy on the palate with loads of caramel, strawberry, cream, cinnamon, baking spice, some caraway and some anise seed. The finish dries with the anise and alcohol becoming more pronounced. Very drinkable

Very demure and restrained on the nose for a bourbon with pretty floral, caramel, citrus oil, and apricot aromas. (The alcohol is quite subdued. Sour mash shows up especially on the initial taste.) Surprisingly chewy and unctuous on the palate with soft and sweet flavors of maple, apple, cherry, caramel, vanilla, and deep plum giving way to an herbal, bitter orange, medicinal, and spicy rye finish. A little bit original and a little bit familiar all at the same time. Kind of like an MGP bourbon, a rye, a Speyside, and Jack Daniels had a gang bang in a Lawrence Durrell novel. Raunchy and elegant, Bohemian and disciplined all at once

Pretty boisterous aroma of vanilla, oak, toasted coconut, peppermint, cinnamon, brown sugar. A pleasant bite on the palate with plenty of rich brown sugar, cookie, and mint. Exceptional value!

Much deeper color than 12 yr. More of a russet chestnut. Bold aromas of candied orange peel and oak. Quite a bit of wood on the nose. Very sweet on the palate with a surprisingly aggressive alcohol bite. Some pleasant fruitcake, dried fruits, and vanilla notes on the finish.