Tastes

Its light and sweet with the peat popping sprite-like on the tongue. An excellent 'scotch' and soda. After drinking lots of bourbon and high-proof whiskies this sings and bounces rather than hits. It's got a much stronger set of legs than expected and this fullness gives it weight in the mouth that exceeds its proof as a sipper.

Nostalgia rush: This smells like the fire and oiled rubbed interior of my grandfather's barn warmed by the wood burning stove.

It's easy to get analytical about taste and flavor, but the silvery glances of another empty bottle tell more tales than most reviews. Damn this stuff is good.

What's not to like? If you are deeply offended by peat and the smells and flavors associated with it - ok, there is nothing here for you. Everyone else - give it go! Islay, a region of Scotland renowned for big, peaty whiskies, averages about 30 ppm while Connemara comes in at a milder 13 to 14 ppm. This sweet and earthy double-distilled IRISH dram may be one of the best gateway drugs into Islay SCOTCH that I've had. If you like the rough stuff on occasion, this sweet meat will be an easy drinker.

If this is supposed to be a gateway into rye whiskey - I might just keep the gate CLOSED. Apparently shocking only me - it smells deeply of rye bread (and maybe a hint of spearmint?) All of this puts the nose outside of my normal expectations of 'whiskey' and I'm having a hard time embracing it. The juice itself leaves much to be desired presenting a quick spicy burst and a bit of icy proof and then... nothing. There is nearly zero flavor on the back of the tongue and mouth

Sad to see this bottle go. It's really good without great - will probably be a bit before I see another.

Nice easy heft of corn on the nose with medium-light oak and even lighter notes I associate with wheat but am unsure how to describe. It only starts to burn as I sink my nose really deep into the glass. The flavor out-speaks the proof and the wheat clearly helps lighten the load providing an easy drinking 90 proof. Lingering over smell - I start to detect some light citrus varnish vibes. There is not a lot of depth of flavor as I roll it around but it sits squarely in bourbon (sweet, corn, oak) without pushing strongly in any direction and lighter on the char than most. The mouthfeel is more robust than the flavor and has a nice oily weight that coats the mouth and the glass - it's got some legs! There is very little burn at the backend and I think most regular consumers would call it both easy drinking and smooth. Overall I think it's good without wandering into greatness. I'm not sad I paid nearly $70 for it but it's not a flavor profile that would motivate me to do so again. I have no idea what the whole aged at sea business really adds outside of marketing but to read some of the reviews you'd think the sea soaked into the barrels - I don't really get any of that and feel immediately suspect of the reviews I've seen using the word 'brine'. I think it drinks better straight than on the rocks or as a mixed drink because the lighter flavors get pulverized.

A little bit of heat, a little bit of char, a little bit of sweet corn. This non-age statement whiskey is "local" to me which provided the jostling I needed to buy a bottle. It's a bit fire-y at 100 proof, but honestly I think it helps develop the flavor in this young whiskey. It's not amazing but it's shockingly good for non-aged pseudo-bourbon and am eager to try more of their stuff as the distillery continues to grow and evolve.

Had a friend 'blind pour' this for me and I picked it out right away. No other whiskey I've had tastes and smells like bananas (not in a good way).