Tastes

Nose: caramel, root beer, chocolate, cherry Taste: really not getting much other than peanuts. Bottle was sitting in a cold car for a couple hours so that could be dulling the flavor. Finish: peanuts, pretty dry After reading reviews: I didn’t really get any of the notes listed by Distiller and couldn’t find many reviews beyond that. Really nice nose but fell flat on the palate, so I’m hoping that’s just a function of it being left in the cold and me burning my mouth earlier in the night.

Nose: cinnamon, vanilla, rye, chocolate Taste: brown sugar, molasses, bread Finish: dry, rye comes through toward the pickle direction but not overly so After reading reviews: my experience was very similar to the Distiller notes but less so versus Flaviar and Whizzky - I don’t get the mint, orange, and tobacco notes mentioned there. To me, this was like a snickerdoodle cookie with a dry finish (which could be the oakiness notes by Distiller). Not as similar to the 101 as I was expecting - didn’t get the cherry I that stands out to me with the 101. Looking forward to a head-to-head comparison between the two.

Nose: honey, savory smoke Taste: bready, the smoke is there but not right at the forefront, pepper, can’t place the sweetness - maybe apricot or just a light honey, alcohol tingles the tongue more than I remember from the 16 Finish: minty fresh feeling, the peppery smoke stays with you After reading reviews: my experience was pretty consistent with the reviews I found - lots of mentions of honey, apricot (pear to many), pepper, less smoke but more alcohol. Others find it fruitier than I’m getting, and several focused on the oakiness from the barrel which isn’t jumping out at me. Overall, it’s really nice with no dominating note but a nice combination of several.

Nose: cinnamon, brown sugar, cherry, rye Taste: rye spice, cherry, anise Finish: spicy, oak, long in terms of the warmth After reading reviews: lots of references to vanilla which I can see, less so the chocolate note in some reviews, several things that indicate high rye which is mainly what I was getting

Nose: caramel, butterscotch, smoky, black tea, mint Taste: there’s a sweetness I can’t quite put my finger on, I want to say it’s malty but I think this is a corn whiskey, the smoke is quite pronounced but it’s different than peat - it’s a sweeter smoke versus savory or medicinal Finish: the smoky sweetness doesn’t quit After reading reviews: I don’t get the references to bacon and meat - the savory aspect wasn’t there for me, grilled peaches on the nose is a little specific but I can see where that’s coming from, once I read brown sugar and butter those both made a lot of sense. There’s a lot going on. Looking forward to exploring it more.

Nose: caramel (not a great nosing glass so couldn’t get much) Taste: definite rye notes both in terms of spice and a piney botanical note, cola Finish: spice warms the tongue but kind of a thin finish After reading reviews: found the cinnamon on the taste and finish. Feel like I didn’t give this one a fair shake drinking it at a bar without a glencairn.

Nose: cherry, pine, bacon, mint Taste: cherry cough syrup, mint but more of a fresh feeling than minty taste, leather, some baking spice - maybe clove Finish: a little oakiness comes through beyond the notes in the taste but those do linger a while After reading reviews: distiller references way more herbal notes than I got but I’ve had extreme herbal ryes like High West Double Rye and this isn’t like that, Flaviar noted cherry which was the dominant profile for me (along the lines of Old Forester Rye) as well as the mint that was featured prominently in Whizzky reviews. Also some mentions of savory or smoky notes that align with the bacon I got on the nose. This tasting was from the polishing off of a bottle I bought several years ago, so there could have been some oxidation. Even still, this reminded me that it’s a damn fine whiskey and especially for the price.

Note this is Batch 12 at 132.3 proof Nose: vanilla, cherry, root beer, Coca Cola (this really become prominent once I identified it), maybe some pickle brine, oak - man there’s a lot going on here Taste: cherry, rye - a little of the pickle brine, oak late. The high proof is immediately apparent, numbing my tongue albeit not quite as quickly as ECBP. Finish: lasts forever in terms of the warm Kentucky hug, the lingering flavor is dark cherry After reading reviews: reviews seem pretty varied by batch. I didn’t get the chocolate note mentioned in some. Good to know that I wasn’t crazy in getting consistent rye notes. I saw a couple mentions of smoke on the finish - I got that more on the nose with the oak I identified. I can’t wait to go back for more!

Nose: pear, grassy peat, floral perfume Taste: not much sweetness but something like a light honey or white grape, malty, salt, smoke late Finish: smoke comes through more here, not medicinal but also not meaty, the salt lingers as well beyond just the taste with my mouth feeling like I’ve eaten something salty, long finish with the slightly sweet maltiness coming back when I exhale After reading reviews: wow, I wasn’t getting as many different notes as I do with some other whiskies so I felt like I might be missing something, but I find a lot in common with the Distiller review. I didn’t get the savory aspect of bacon but the lingering saltiness is reminiscent of when you eat a lot of bacon and feel parched - that could also be the dry finish aspect mentioned. Flaviar mentions dried grapes, which aligns though the sweetness I got was more something I couldn’t put my finger on than an obvious grape. Pepper and spicy are common in reviews, but neither really resonates with me - pepper could be what I’m including with smokiness and the lack of spiciness could just be because of high-proof bourbons being my home base right now. Overall, this is a nice option for a non-medicinal peated experience though I favor more sweetness in something like Oban 14 to the saltiness here.

Nose: vanilla, oak, anise, brown sugar, baking spices - cinnamon, molasses, root beer Taste: baking spices, tobacco, leather. Find myself thinking of Belle Meade Reserve and OGD 114. Finish: the alcohol did a number on my tongue, very dry, anise, tobacco After reading reviews: I think the Distiller review nails this pretty well. I didn’t get grass on the nose but man was there a lot to unpack there. Cinnamon was very prominent throughout. I saw one review that made an analogy to tiramisu, and that makes a lot of sense. Thanksgiving in a glass is another apt description. I prefer a little more of the sweet notes personally, but this offers just so much to explore.