Tastes

This is the 1st batch. This one immediately noses like a red hot with rye, sweet maple syrup, and a little green banana. The palate has an oily mouthfeel with a lot of cinnamon, vanilla and a very astringent thing going on. This one has a medium finish that has a continuation of cinnamon and some astringency. I do not like this one. I don’t mind cinnamon, but this is like artificial cinnamon flavoring. It just seems off.

I’ve visited the distillery a few years back and enjoyed the whiskey there, but hadn’t really had it since. Interested to see how I like it now that I know a lot more about whiskey. The nose has Light chocolate, a weird sour sort of wet hot hay note, and sweet vanilla The palate has an oily mouthfeel, but is overpowered by an off putting sour hot hat note that I got in the nose. I’m going to attribute this to it being a single malt. It’s also on the sweeter side. The finish is medium in length with lingering grassy notes. I’ll be honest, I really did not enjoy this one. I’m definitely a bourbon guy, so single malts like this one are off profile for me. I do enjoy some Scotch, but this one just isn’t for me.

This particular bottle is Batch 18 at 118.3 proof which is 6 years and 3 months old. The nose has rye, plumb, raisins, dusty milk chocolate, saw dust, and vanilla. It burns the nostrils a lightly, but not in the same deep nostril burn was as other high proofs. The palate has a nice and oily texture with rye, dark fruit, chocolate and some vanilla and the same dusty characteristics from the nose. It only slightly dries the palate, which I normally get more of at this proof. But the longer you keep it in your mouth, the drying effect goes up. The finish has a nice burn at the top of the throat that lingers with rye. The dust follows through here as well, with an overall medium-long to long finish. I had heard good things about this bottle, so the first time I saw one I had to have it. I’d say it’s unique and I like it, but only time will tell what I really feel about it.

Nose is fairly fruit with raisins and red apple, as well as chocolate, barrel char, oak, and holiday baking spices and yeast rolls. Very pleasant nose. The palate has a thicker mouthfeel with the tongue feeling dry while the bourbon is sitting on it. There are baking and rye spices, leather, raisins, caramel and oak. The finish begins spicy with a little burn as it goes down slowly. Then follows through with lingering oaky and fruit notes on the mid palate for an overall long finish. I enjoy this one a lot. A little more fruit than batch 12. In fact, I think I like this one more. I also get less ethanol on batch 13. Though I’m comparing this new batch 13 to a third empty batch 12 that has been open a few months.

Today I found a very dusty old bottle of this in a very small shop in New York City. It looks to be from 2013. This is batch 303 (somehow it’s really just the 2nd of 2 batches). Forgiven has been discontinued for a while now, so let’s see what this extinct product is like. The nose has that signature Wild Turkey funk (empty dusty peanut can), dusty rye, charred oak, mint, red ripe apples, maple syrup, fresh bread, and slight bubble gum. The palate has a lighter mouthfeel to it and a little spicy. I get rye, peanut can, vanilla, barrel char, and shoe leather. The finish is nice and on the longer since of medium. There is some subtle vanilla/marshmallow notes along with rye/mint that hang out on the finish. This is a nice change up from other Wild Turkey products that I have come to love. It’s very easy to drink. It’s definitely in the same family, but adds some a little more rye than the others do (aside from WT Rye, or 101 Rye).

I reviewed a pick from a different store a few months ago. This one is from Main Street Liquors in Nashville, TN. The nose has cherry and apple fruit noses along with baking spices, rye, barrel char, leather and a hint of peanuts. The palate has a medium body and is nice and spicy with rye and other baking spices, peanut dust and some subtle cooked fruit. The finish is also spicy with some tingling in the back sides of the tongue and middle of the throat. I gets some nutty notes as the finish fades. I like this pick. Compared to the other store pick I have, this one is spicier. Russel’s Reserve Single Barrels are very good, especially if you can snag a store pick.

I’ve had Full Proof before, I want to see how one of my local store’s (Centerpoint) single barrel pick of Full Proof fares against the standard issue. This one is noticeably darker in color when comparing it to the regular Full Proof. Let’s see how it differs. The nose has rye, barrel char, corn, oak wood shavings, raisins, plumbs, peanut can dust, baked bread and brown sugar. The palate has a nice oily texture but it also dries the palate. There’s honey sweetness with rye and baking spices, cooked apples, oak and slight bitterness. The finish is long with and initial burn that tries to come up the back of your nose. There are lingering oaky notes with rye and peanut dust. When comparing the standard 1792 Full Proof side-by-side with this particular store pick, the store pick is really good. It accentuates the fruit notes, which I enjoy and also has more depth overall. Great job to one of my local spots in Hendersonville, TN!

I’ve had the rest of the Weller lineup (Special Reserve, Antique 107, and Full Proof), but had yet to try the 12yr until now. On the nose, I get sweet raisins, plumbs, baking spice, leather, oak and old books. The palate follows through with the nose with similar fruit and spice notes, as well as leather and oak. The finish is medium in length with some lingering spices and oak. I enjoyed this, but had to compare it to its younger brother Special Reserve. They both share the same proof and SR is cheaper and more readily available. They are similar, probably the most similar of all of the Weller lineup. The 12yr is basically a more matured and more enjoyable Special Reserve. The fruit notes are brighter in the SR, where the 12yr they were darker and deeper. Similar spices, but more oak in the 12yr. Although the 12yr wins between the two, it is not worth $100+ more than SR on the secondary market or the stores that mark it up just as much. If you can find it for a nice price, cool. Otherwise, don’t loose sleep over it.

I’ve had several offerings from 1792, and finally getting around to this one, Jim Murray’s 2020 World Whisky Award (published in 2019). We’ll see. The nose has a decent amount of rye spice with oak, cooked red apple, baking spices, honey and brown sugar. A really pleasant nose. There is a slight dustiness that I usually get on other 1792’s, but not as pronounced. The palate is slightly oily. I get some sweet cola, rye, brown sugar, and a little dusty empty peanut can. The tongue almost immediately feels like it’s drying out and becomes almost chalky. Not necessarily a bad thing and somewhat common among whiskies with this high of proof. The finish has a long slow fade of the palate. Lingering heat on the sides of the tongue and throat. There’s a moment on the finish where it kind of reminds me of a Wild Turkey product. This is pretty good whiskey. Is it the best, or my all time favorite? No. But it is very good whiskey and definitely my favorite of the 1792’s I’ve had.

I’ve had standard Jack Daniels and Gentleman Jack. So let’s see how the Single Barrel stacks up. The nose has toasted marshmallow, oak, rye, baked bread and subtle dusty peanut can. The palate has honey, vanilla, oak, rye spice and peanuts. Finish is medium with an undeniable peanut flavor that lingers. There is also an ethanol note that happens right after you swallow following a slight bitterness. This was interesting because I didn’t get any artificial banana notes like I normally do with standard Jack Daniels. This particular barrel had more nuttiness going on, which is not what I get from JD. Obviously your single barrel might be different than mine, but it was a fun experiment and I like this one better than regular JD or GJ.