Tastes

Best whiskey I've ever had. Peaty smoked bbq magic

Nose • Honey • Oak and spice • Some heat, bit of pepperiness • Fruit, maybe pear or apple? Taste • Very similar to original Glenlivet 12 but more oaky vanillan sweetness and more heat and pepper

🥃 Booker's 2019-02 Shiny Barrel Batch - 62% ABV ⠀ Nose: Strong oaky Beam nose. Wow. Baking spices. Maybe some candied oranges. ⠀ Taste: Stunningly delicious at the start. Sweet burnt molasses with some citric fruitiness. Transitions pretty quickly to intense oak domination. Long drying tannic finish that becomes almost minty from the heat and dryness. The unfiltered texture envelopes your tongue and leaves an astringent and significant alcohol heat that i don't recall from the previous batch, Teresa's Batch 2019-01. Overall, the intense oaky finish makes up 75% of the experience. I think it goes into the oak punch too quickly for me. It's obviously well crafted stuff and quite tasty, but just not my preferred Booker's style. A slight bit of water may help move this closer to perfection - I'll report back another time. ⠀ Current rating: 88/100

Tonight I'm drinking the Glenfiddich 14 Year Bourbon Barrel Reserve Single Malt. This was actually the first scotch I ever tried, so thank you to my father for having good tastes. This scotch is a US-exclusive offering, meant to cater to our bourbon loving palates. And while it's not particularly bourbony, it brings some wonderful sweet bourbon vanilla to the playing field. I picked this one up at Bevmo with a coupon for $36.99 and wish I could consistently buy it for that price. My detailed thoughts and rating below: ⠀ ⠀ 🥃 Glenfiddich 14 Year Bourbon Barrel Reserve - 43% ABV ⠀ Nose: Sweet honey, barley, and a little mint. Brown sugar and vanilla. Mellow apple fruitiness. ⠀ Taste: Barley, honey, sugar, and caramel. There's a nice cerealness to it. The apple notes are more subdued and are only present in more of a sweet apple pie flavor. The barrel influence comes through here much more than on the nose, through both vanillan and tannins. This is a fantastic desert whisky. It's like a spiced creme brulee whisky. The texture is slightly oily and the finish is medium. Flavor-wise, the finish carries nice honey and fruit sweetness along with some tannins and baking spices and warmth. Im very much a fan of this whisky and it might be my favorite of their offerings that I've tried (12, 14, 15, and 18). ⠀ Current rating: 93/100