Tastes

Nose: Dried fruit, dark chocolate, raisins Palate: Rum raisins, PX sherry, dark chocolate cherries, dried fruit. Oak/nutty. Finish: Milky mocha coffee, salted caramel, chocolate raisins, leather. Medium-long but very smooth finish. The overriding feeling throughout is of chocolate cherries with a little salt. Delicious!

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual American Whiskey Tasting, 19 March 2021). Nose: Strong alcohol. Acetone, sweet, summer berries Palate: Very sweet. Earthy/muddy, burned caramel, vanilla, oak/wood, dark chocolate. Oh god - alcohol! Finish: Earthy/muddy, liquorice, tobacco, aniseed, Fisherman's Friend lozenges This is a chewy whiskey! Concentrated and intense. Very tasty - but you feel the burn! Came second out of the six drams, with 28% (10 votes) of the final vote for favourite of the night. 86% (31 votes) of those present said they enjoyed the whiskey. This got my vote for favourite of the tasting.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual American Whiskey Tasting, 19 March 2021). Nose: Acetone, sweet, caster sugar, pear & strawberries, slightly floral Palate: Sweet, berries upfront. Moving towards a more bready/gristy note, then spicy, charred and earthy. Warming. Finish: Leather, burned sugar, tobacco. Dark, earthy/muddy and slightly sour on the aftertaste. The warm spices are lightened by the floral and berry fruit notes until the darker/earthy aftertaste. This is a lovely, contemplative rye. Very nice! Came first out of the six drams, with 31% (11 votes) of the final vote for favourite of the night. 83% (30 votes) of those present said they enjoyed the whiskey.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual American Whiskey Tasting, 19 March 2021). Nose: Sweet, apples, boiled sweets. There is a sour note on the nose Palate: Honey, sweet caramel, Demerara sugar, apples/orchard fruit. There is a slightly salty/saline/savoury note. Finish: Burned sugar, sweet, nutty, leather, vanilla. Baked apples and a little pastry. This whiskey has a lovely mouthfeel - creamy and full bodied. It's edging towards the profile of a Speyside ex-bourbon casked dram. Nice and very easy to drink. Came third out of the six drams, with 19% (7 votes) of the final vote for favourite of the night. 86% (31 votes) of those present said they enjoyed the whiskey.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual American Whiskey Tasting, 19 March 2021). Nose: Sweet, apples, boiled sweets, vanilla. Artificial notes. Palate: Sweet, caramel, Demerara sugar, banana. Orchard fruit on the backnote Finish: Leather, oak, nutty. Burned sugar This has a sweet, burnt note throughout that doesn't really work for me. It's OK, but a little too sweet/charred to be wholly pleasurable as a sipper. I suspect this would be a good whiskey for an Old Fashioned. Came joint fourth out of the six drams, with 11% (4 votes) of the final vote for favourite of the night. 72% (26 votes) of those present said they enjoyed the whiskey.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual American Whiskey Tasting, 19 March 2021). Nose: Acetone, sweet apple & pear, burned caramel, vanilla, buttered popcorn Palate: Hot & spicy (black pepper/chili), orange peel, orchard fruit, caramelised/burnt sugar Finish: Leather, bread, black pepper. Oak/wood on the aftertaste I tried this shortly after the 1792 Small Batch and I've just noticed my tasting notes are very similar - but this is very different whiskey! This is concentrated, hot and with a lovely mouthfeel. The spiciness is well integrated and there is a lovely intensity to it. Nice. Came joint fourth out of the six drams, with 11% (4 votes) of the final vote for favourite of the night. 78% (28 votes) of those present said they enjoyed the whiskey.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual American Whiskey Tasting, 19 March 2021). Nose: Acetone, apple & pear, caramel, vanilla, buttered popcorn Palate: Spicy (pepper/chili), bready, caramel/toffee, gristy Finish: Sweet & spicy. Leather, bread, black pepper. Oak/wood on the aftertaste This is a decidedly OK whiskey. It does have a little spice and heat, but it's ultimately a little bland. Middle of the road. Came last out of the six drams, with 0% (0 votes) of the final vote for favourite of the night. 69% (25 votes) of those present said they enjoyed the whiskey.

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 08 January 2021). Distilled: November 1998 Bottled: June 2016 Cask No: 3666 1 of 316 bottles Nose: Acetone, fruit, wood, orchard fruit Palate: Creamy, spirit forward, baked/(burned) pastry, cooking apples, strudel Finish: Medium long, slightly sour finish. Wood, baked bread, souring orchard fruit. A little spice/ black pepper on the finish. Unfortunately, I couldn't attend the tasting on the night, but the folk at GSC kindly sent me a copy of the video to watch later. This meant I couldn't see the results of the poll at the end!

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 08 January 2021). Nose: Toffee, caramel, bready, slight funk Palate: 'Hot', spirit forward, bready/malty/gristy. There's a creaminess to it; crème brûlée, burned sugar / caramel. Finish: Numbing. Nutty / woody on the finish. It's quite a complex / interesting dram, but I'm not sure if it's to my taste. Mostly used in Bell's blended whiskies - one of the key malts in the blend. It does come across in the flavour profile but with a much creamier mouthfeel. A little harsh, but with the creaminess of the mouthfeel it is quite an odd sensation. I'd describe this as an old-fashioned, spirit forward whisky. Malt from the Glen Ord malting. Unfortunately, I couldn't attend the tasting on the night, but the folk at GSC kindly sent me a copy of the video to watch later. This meant I couldn't see the results of the poll at the end!

(Good Spirits Co. Glasgow – Virtual Whisky Tasting, 08 January 2021). This is from the Macduff distillery. Official bottlings from the same distillery are marketed as The Deveron (or occasionally Glen Deveron) 11 years in a re-filled ex-bourbon hogshead, then finished for 18 months in a PX butt Nose: Dried fruit - raisins & sultanas, citrus and a little wood. Furniture polish! Palate: Very heavy sherry influence, fruity, orange peel, bitter dark chocolate, nutty/woody Finish: Lots of dried fruit, cocoa/mocha, dark chocolate. Souring on the aftertaste Well balanced. You can taste the spirit through the very obvious PX cask character. Marketed as a Christmas edition - which makes perfect sense with all the dried fruit notes and Christmas cake flavours. Unfortunately, I couldn't attend the tasting on the night, but the folk at GSC kindly sent me a copy of the video to watch later. This meant I couldn't see the results of the poll at the end!