Tastes

Late bottle pour, neat, sat covered 15 minutes. Nose: leather and vanilla, as all bourbons have, baking spices like cloves and nutmeg. Later I picked up berries, slightly. Palette: spicy and sweet, vanilla, caramel, I think I pulled mint. Finish: ginger, pepper, cloves. Never had a dram nose bourbon and finish rye before, excellent. Will say the rye pepper finish tamed as the bottle aged.

Late bottle pour, neat, capped and rested for 15 minutes. Nose: molasses, leather, astringency, a fig/fruitcake rich sweetness. Palatte: vanilla and nutmeg, feels hot with the high alcohol %. Finish: long and fire, caramal and creamy. Added water, capped and rested another 15 minutes. Nose: sea salt and bitterness emerged. Palatte: oddly enough felt dry even while in the mouth. Finish: dry and full, much less burn.

Drank neat, last pour of the bottle, no ice. Thick legs to this dram. Nose: floral like a garden. Buttery smooth. No hint it is 50% alcohol, crisp, green apples with notes of tobacco. Palette: heather and honey, soft and not distinct like toddler fists on a submarine, there is a lot happening but nothing stands out or drives the taste, yet there is a lot to pick up. Like an Arrowroot biscuit, soft yet smooth. Finish: buttery smooth, soft yet it lingered. Clean like a crisp apple, dry but it stays. Like a cucumber from the garden, not powerful but it wont be washed away.

Neck pour, neat, let sit for about 15 minutes before sampling. Warmed the glass from hand heat a bit too. Nose: so subtle. Leather and sweet, an oaky/woody/sweet aroma like sawing apple/cherry wood, some toasted malt there too. Palatte: very light again, no alcohol bite, very smooth, that apple element persists it feels like a lot of flavours are just out of reach from obtaining, really curious if flavours will be emboldened in 4 or so weeks. Maybe a berry sweetness making a late appearance. Finish: so smooth. This is one you might not realize how much you’ve had until you stand up. This is where the smoke shows up, atypical for an Islay that smoke is so late to the party. The sweet steps into the shadows and the smoke takes the limelight, but there is a baked apple of pie or crumble remnant peeking through. Blind tasting I’d never have guessed this was an Islay whisky, very different from most bottles on that island. Having had multiple Sherry cask finishes, this was surprisingly light on those notes, again, neck pour so will a later sample produce different results, will update later.

Nose: cereal and floral, vanilla and a hint of leather but never to be confused with a bourbon. There is a sweetness here, honey, white flowers/roses, and never like a processed/baked good sweetness. Palatte: sweetness continues. Some astringency surfaces, but doesnt override the sweetness of brown sugar, apples, and baked fruits. There is no confusion this is a rye, it is not. Finish: nice and soft, the baked/stewed fruits persist, feels more like peach/apple instead of berries, subtle, some vanilla and spice, it lingers but not like an unwanted guest, familiar, fun, assuring, delicious. Many layers to this dram, buy a few bottles. Tasted neat, neck pour, tuilip glass.

Nose: sweet grass like tobacco, or sweet bread baking on wood coals with the tinge of smoke wafting through. Salt and brine as well. Palette: this shifts to the bourbon family of flavours, vanilla and leather, and the cask strength shows up in its full force. Finish: the heat arrives here. Oak and bourbon, some sherry, baking spices, so good, savour every drop.

Honey, straw, and beeswax on the nose. Every sip brings a new flavour and image to the mind. Its a sweet dram, honey on the palette a bit of an alcohol bite but not like rye, its still smooth and pleasant. I did not add water but let it sit for 10 minutes or so, a tobacco aroma and flavour pops up. Finish is dry and swift, light and soft. This is a backyard summertime dram.

Nose: sweet, warm, summer. Red berries like raspberries and strawberries and wood/oak like when you walk through an orchard on a hot day smelling sun warmed trees and loam mixed with the fruit/flowers perfume. Palate: the alcohol bute arrives but without burn. I taste baking spices nutmeg/cinnamon, maybe vanilla extract with the alcohol bite. Lots of apple like a liquid apple crisp. Finish: the berries return, apples fade, and the alcohol bite remains. This is from my first pour of the neck.

Lots of flavours here, every nose, every palate, every finish another note to add to the symphony of flavours in each sip. Wood/oak, cocoa, dried berries on the nose. More wood and liquorice sweetness on the palette with some spice but not a rye burn of spice, more like brisket. On the finish some pepper, some leather, some dried fruit, some sandlewood, some that’s dang tasty. Such a worthy dram after Yellow Spot.

Surprisingly bourbonesque. There is a floral element to both the nose and finish. The nose has some sweetness to it, brown sugar/butterscotch. An oily mouthfeel with again the floral notes in attendance. I felt the dram on my tongue in between sips, it sits heavy but not unpleasant. Some brine but to be expected from the Maritimes. It’s soft and tender, no burn. NAS but the distillery is only 10 years old so I’d wager not very mature, nevertheless, a solid drink. This is like a Honda Civic, simple, some nice things about it but don’t expect much aside from it will do.