Tastes

New bottle. On first taste, lots of pine and citrus. As the dram sat, it got sweeter. Caramel and hazelnut and cinnamon

For a 49.3% bourbon The notes aren’t as dark to me that a lot of 50% bottles in bonds show. Nose: Carmel brûlée, caramel, banana, salt, brown sugar, honey. Reminds me of the way I prepare my ribs: honey, butter, brown sugar and spices Taste: the first thing that jumped out to me regarding this was the banana finish. I’d not tasted that in a bourbon yet. But it had a pasty banana flavor that ends in a bit of spice. Salted caramel, brown sugar, pepper, vanilla.

Nose: On quick short whiffs I get this sharp potpourri, lots of dry fruit, dried mango, raisins, jam. Processed fruit… on second and third whiffs I get sweet brown sugar notes. Palate: You’ve got this dried fruit flavor that’s sandwiched between an initial burst of cigar ash and char. Pepper and Spice. The char reminds me of the burnt end of meat out of a grill. Reminds me of burnt toast and jam prepared by my dad when he was trying to make breakfast while getting ready for work. Sometimes the bread stayed too long so we’d lather it with jam to mask the burnt parts.

When I first bought this bottle, I was not a fan. It may have been because of my few month hiatus from whiskey, but the wood on this was a bit too extreme for me. 3 months later and half a bottle in, I’ve decided to give it it’s fair review. The nose on this reminds me of being at a Christmas tree lot that sells cookies and hot chocolate. It’s sweet smelling but there’s a distinct smell of cut wood. Nose: brown sugar, molasses, musty pine wood, cinnamon, pepper, fruit cake. Taste: starts with subtle dried fruit, flat coke, the mid picks up with sharp wood/ pepper, bitter cigar ash. 3 months in and I’m still not that big of a fan. I enjoy it because it does feel challenging but the beginning of the taste doesn’t match the end. I wish there was more there of the fruity start that carry’s over into the mid, but it goes away to quickly and is replaced by the wood/pepper that lingers to the end.

Nose: black licorice, cherry, cinnamon, fennel, vanilla cream Taste: peat, vanilla, pepper, woody, allspice, burnt toast, black cherry

Sitting at a BJ’s sipping on a double pour of this. Something I hadn’t pulled the trigger on just yet. Nose: tons of sweet honey on my initial nosing. There is quite a bit of butter biscuit that I am getting as well. Nutmeg or may be the oak that I am getting as well. Dried fig rounds out this nosing. Taste: The vanilla and honey just like the nose come first. The oak spice that shows up almost feels like a let down. I love bitter and spice and this isn’t it. For those looking for a sweet sipper this may be all you’re looking for. I’m definitely in the middle of a buzz. So I need to end this here. This dram is alright. I’d rather spend less and drink an aberfeldy 12. I’d be just as pleased

Long awaited dram. Popped it open in celebration of buying a new home. Celebrated with the family we bought it from who blessed my fam immensely by giving us a big cut in cost. This was not a let down!!! Nose: The buttery honey biscuity goodness you expect from a single pot still is all there. It burns a bit more with the added proof, But atop all of that, there is this slight tropical citrusy smell that you get. Quick short whiffs get you closer to that nose. It’s like dehydrated mango cuts. Taste: oh man. Taste just like it smell. The tropical citrus mango note comes out and is more prominent on the palate. Pineapple and grapefruit. It’s what I notice first beyond the burn. As it sits, the bitter of the woods come out. Baking spice, and white pepper. The end leaves you a good combination of both. The tropical notes begin and end this dram which to me is something special. Even my wife is a big fan of this. Mouthfeel: it’s lighter than what I imagine,it starts out refreshing and light but midway through gives you a full mouthfeel due to the growing heat. The spice isn’t anything over the top but it’s the perfect amount. It’s like the difference between hot sauce you use just for heat and hot sauce that tastes good. There isn’t anything too extreme here just a good mildly oily dram that linger on the back of the throat. The bitterness and tropical taste remind me of having hot black coffee with fresh fruit for breakfast at a restaurant overlooking the Taal volcano in Batangas, Philippines. Brought my wife to meet my biological dad there and we were having breakfast with my aunt and uncle who drove us.

Really digging this. Quite different from the buttery melon-y flavors I’m used to tasting in a pot still Irish. Nose: There is initially something that smells off with this dram. Maybe because I was expecting something a little more rounded and subtle like other pot stills. What greets you though is this sharp zesty, lemon, citrus note that sits atop the sweet buttery bread like notes. It’s floral, herbal-like, and piney, which I think comes from the last year sitting in the Irish oak. It’s different than something that sits only in American oak. It might turn some people off but I love something new and different. Palate: The taste for me is pretty damn up there. It’s not super oily which is a bummer . But like I said, I really like something that is different and throws me for a loop. The herbal, piney, almost tea like flavors get you up front. The citrus doesn’t come through on the palate, but the honey biscuit, buttery notes I love about pot stills shines through on the mids. The finish is moderately wood spiced but there isn’t a ton there if you take a single sip. If you take a few, it builds up. This reminds of those days where I’d walk along with my parents as a kid picking out a live Christmas tree. I remember touching every tree I could get my hands on and many times when leaving, I’d get pine residue on my fingers. I hated it because it was always a ***** to wash off but it always left this pine sap smell that this dram reminds me of.

When I first tried this at neck pour I was not a fan. Felt like the nose delivered while the palate lacked much. Last pour of the bottle and let me give you my thoughts. Nose: normally I’m not phased by anything higher than 40% but tonight the smell comes in really sharp. You get your typical bourbon brown sugar molasses notes, there are notes of dark fruit. Spices not sure normally some thing that I smell but this definitely gives off cinnamon spice. Palate: When I initially tasted this dram, the taste didn’t live up to the smell. They still taste a lot spicier than it smells. The smells give you a pleasant sweetness, but the taste is an oak spice that you aren’t prepared for. That must come from the extra toast. The extra spice gives you a bitter aftertaste, from the smell you would think it would be something different.

There was something about this dram initially that I was not ready for. The malt aroma on this is strong. Reminds me of some rice/ condensed milk Asian deserts. Nose: Mashed corn, vanilla and honey. Very dessert-y. Condensed milk. This smells like something you’d throw into a baking mix to make it sweet. Palate: This definitely makes for a sweet dram. The vanilla and honey greet you up front followed shortly by cooked fruits. Did not expect the fruit to appear as I did not catch that on the nose at all. The oak spice shows up but isn’t overwhelming. Mouthfeel: this is a moderately oily dram that coats and sticks to your mouth. The spice breaks through and lingers on your tongue for a while. It leaves you with a light spice that dissipates moments later This dram started off almost to sweet for my liking. Not to say that it’s bad. Some people like the artificial tasting sweets, but I prefer fresh fruit. After spending some time with it though my taste adjusted. Like taking a bite out of dessert that is too rich before finally admitting defeat and taking another bite.