Tastes

$130 - Michigan. Mine is the red label with some whiskey from the closed Waterloo Distillery, not the LaSalle Distillery with the blue label. Nose (Neat): Sweet and Spicy. Vanilla caramel, toasted almond and slightly floral. Palate (Neat): Spice of the rye with light caramel hints. Super smooth with next to no heat or burn. Finishes with a slightly bitter butterscotch. Great for sipping and would not recommend on ice or adding water since this is very gentle. Very good, but there are better Canadian blends for lesser prices (Crown Royal Cask 16 if still keeping it in the Crown Royal family).

$65 - Michigan. Nose (Neat): Light alcohol, sweet vanilla, caramel, faint leather and mellow smooth smoke. Palate (Neat): First sip produces an envgorating tingle on the tongue. No burn going down...very surprising. Following sip produces sweet vanilla, caramel with a kick of spice and light rich tobacco and leather. Wow...what a mouthfull. So fragrant and flavorful it is definitely staying in my collection with a reserve bottle on hand.

$35 for 375ml - Michigan. Nose (Neat): Medium alcohol, cabernet, light manderin orange and corn. Palate (Neat): Medium burn going down. Plum, light orange, touch of sugar and light spice. Ends fairly dry. I prefer to have this one on ice to soften the burn.

$56 - Michigan. Nose (Neat): Light alcohol. Spice, caramel, leather and hearty floral notes. Palate (Neat): Bite on the edges of the tongue. Starts with Smooth light caramel, then a growing bite of spice, a little mint and ends with medium smoke. This is not my prefered taste profile. It is very heavy on the spice, but does not rounded out well with other flavors to balance it. It is definitely a cold weather dram. While it is not in my favor as of yet, I still think it has promise and will be an acquired appreciation of taste. I am not giving up on this one yet!

$28 - Michigan. Nose (Neat): Medium alcohol, light smoke, slight leather, warm vanilla, burnt sugar and a touch of fresh baked vienna bread. Palate (Neat): Medium burn going down. Vanilla, light smoke, slightly sweet, spice and some floral notes. I prefer to have this one on ice to soften the burn. It is also great in any whiskey based mixed drink. Definitely worth the price in my humble opinion.

$55 - Michigan. Nose (Neat): Leather, nutty, woodsy, alcohol, light vanilla and a soft sweet note. Nose (Ice Ball): Leather opens up to leather and tobacco. Lighter nut, alcohol and oak notes. Vanilla and sweetness are more noticeable. Slight floral note now present. Palate (Neat): First sip provides a medium burn from tongue to chest. Second sip moves on to a leather and toasted oak, followed by vanilla, anise, floral and a slight sweet kiss. The viscosity of the whiskey coats the mouth nicely, so the vanilla and sweet notes build throughout the glass to catch up to balance with the other flavors. Finish is smokey sweet. Note - I prefer this over ice to cut the burn and strength of all the flavors. It softens all the flavors, but all are still very present to enjoy.

$70

$58

$43 - Michigan. First Glass: Nose (Neat) - Melon, vanilla cream, grass and the burn of alcohol. Palate (Neat) - Burn of alcohol in every sip. Then the notes of light grass, honeydew, heavy vanilla cream, toffee and light oak. Palate (Ice Ball) - Same as above at about 80% of the flavor, but with 25% of the burn. I prefer it on ice for an easy sipping situation that requires less thought when drinking. It is a simple profile and an easy introduction to a soft and creamy scotch. Bottoms up.