Tastes

light sherry and oak on the nose, pleasant. unmistakable sherry sweetness on the palate, but its fairly light. Light, some spice and oak with the dry smooth but short finish. I do like Bushmills as a standard base Irish whiskey, and Black Bush is a slightly better bush. 3 stars.

Little sharp around the edges due to youth and grain, but turns into a very smooth and creamy mouth feel. Tastes fruity and cereal, like a jammy biscuit. Goes down very smooth with a finish that doesn't linger. Overall its good for the $20 price point!

I love how different this dram is. Briny on the nose with some oak and sweetness. The taste is excellent, the sweet and salty play off each other nicely. And that finish... Salty like a good salted caramel. And even though it's 50% it goes down super smooth. Overall this one is a mainstay in my cabinet.

More of a 2.5 star than 3, Grant's was my go to inexpensive blend until I tried Ballentines Finest. Grants is still a solid choice for under $20, has a nice mellow sweet taste and smooth finish, just a little bit of alcohol bitterness. Finish is super short though. I actually enjoy the Grant's Ale Cask Reserve better (blue label, right around the $20 mark) but it isn't on here. I would give that one a solid 3 star.

First thing that surprised me was how easy this was to drink. Very smooth, mellow almost creamy mouth feel. Taste was sweet, like vanilla, but only slight. Little bit of smoke in the finish, but balanced well with the sweet. Overall very easy to drink and is now my go to blend at the $20 everyday easy drinking price point.

Strangely enough, the first thought I had with the nose was smoked BBQ potato chips. The taste smoky with a hint of sweet, so smooth and almost softly chewy on the palate. Complex and quite delicious actually. My first foray into a peated Scotch!