Tastes

Nose: The initial whiff you get is like sweet baked good. Like butter pound cake. The more time you spend with it, you start to get cooked fruit notes. Banana fritters is what comes to mind with some citrus zest to round off the nose. Taste: a really short sip gives me some pine nuts, with some oak spice. A really short burst of smoke that it quite faint. There is also something minty about it, almost like the edge off of a kombucha drink. There’s a round sweetness to it, dark bitter chocolate. Mouthfeel: it’s got this creamy mildly oily feel to it. If you keep sipping it, you get a peppery spice that shows up, but if you sit and sip it occasionally, there isn’t too much there that stands out. There isn’t a ton of heat that lingers. It’s a solid dram that doesn’t give me the fruity raisiny flavors that I’m used to in a non islay single malt.. it’s definitely worth checking out and trying. Not sure that I’d buy the bottle again, unless I was looking for something cheap to up on. I’d rather sip on this as a cheap bottle than a cheap bottle of bourbon.

Well, here we go. One of the more controversial whiskies because of the name it carries. The bottle comes up and people love it or you hate it... in my area, a 750ml bottle sells for $89 but found a store that sold a 1L for 30 less than that. So I decided, why the heck not. Initial neck pour so I’ll revisit this. But back to the drink. Nose: it has a really bright sharp fruity cherry smell, vanilla, it’s lighter nose than most bourbons I’ve had. Light orange peel. Butterscotch. Taste: the initial flavor is a piney, new oak flavor. You get this sweet, dark cherry flavor in the mid that doesn’t last very long. It last about as long as the sweet in dark chocolate. In the finish, you get a mouthful of tobacco flavor smoke/ spice at the end. Mouthfeel: the liquid itself is more watery than oily, the heat is a bit surprising considering how most people call it weak. The residual heat feels like I’ve taken a mouthful of cigar smoke and blown it out. I can really appreciate that. Overall this dram was alright. Nothing I was blown away by. Something I would put on my “daily bourbon” list, but definitely not at the price I got it at. I’d rather eagle rare or buffalo Trace for less.

Picked up another Laphroiag expression which I’ve found to be my favorite distillery this far. initially on my first pour of the neck, I could not smell much or taste much but poured a second glass and was able to identify flavors and smells. Nose: peat smoke is what greets you at the door, not as hard a knock though as the original 10. This is less funky with less beach day smells. But you can tell it was out there with it’s feet in the water. In less than a blink, those smells disappear and you’re greeted with a nice sweet vanilla toffee note. Could be nutter butter. Palate:the palate is opposite of the nose, you get the sweet vanilla flavor up front that’s like a burnt flake of the top of creme brûlée. That is quickly followed by the wood oak flavor which is expected since its the quarter cask. The wood flavor leaves you with the flavor of burnt matches if you’ve ever lit and blew out a match, the flavor is exactly how the leftover smoke would taste if you got a whiff of it. Mouthfeel: the dram is a little oily but smooth headed down the back of the throat, it leaves your tongue a little numb with heat pooling at the back. After quite a bit of time the heat is still present in the throat.

Re-visiting this one after 2 months. Initial whiff is banana cream, vanilla, custard, citrus zest. Taste- heat from the get go, this thing wants to own your soul. Cinnamon, thick honey, tangy, spices, candied fruits, oak for days.

Whoa. After a month of owning the bottle, tried it with a bit of purified water. The nose now has a lot of beef jerky like smells, smoked meats. The taste got aggressive with tobacco smoke being the biggest new flavor that comes through. It’s like I took a puff of a cigar at the beach and the residual flavor of smoke stays in the mouth. It’s still got a lot of kick to it. And the sweet flavors get muted. I enjoy this dram a ton. Very interesting how the whisky changed.

Nose: First time I have gotten this smell, tobacco, burnt toast , oak, dry hay, tapioca. Taste: grapes, toasted rice, apricot,

Bought a little taster of this at the local liquor store just to try it. Nose: it’s got a citrusy smell on the initial waft. Smells like a fizzy citrus, almost cleaning supply citrus. Raisins, nail polish, pears. Taste: pear, light honey, slightly nutty beginning, does this weird thing where the moment you open up your mouth it goes peppery and slightly oaky, and gives you this slight smoke. It’s got a spicy cinnamon finish. Mouthfeel: watery, not a lot of body on this dram. Medium heat that stays for a cup of coffee and not much else, it shows up does it’s job and leaves quickly. The finish is dry like a high tannin wine. I really enjoyed this dram. It was exactly what I was expecting of this whiskey which isn’t a bad thing. I’d purchase this again.

The long awaited highland park. Much has been said about this whiskey since I first came into the whiskey game last year. Hadn’t tried this but was finally able to get a bottle of it. Excited to try this dram. Nose: my initial smell gives me a lot of dried fruit smells indicative of single malts, some canned peaches, banana, browned apple, notes of honey. Taste: A lot of people say smoke, but that’s not at all what I get at all. I’m getting a lot of oak in the mids, leather, tobacco, black pepper spice on the end, the initial liquid on tongue is a short sweet honey that disappears really quickly. Mouthfeel: it’s soft, watery, sweet, and short on entry that intensifies to a spicy heat that coats the tongue. It’s like spicy Mexican candy that tastes sweet on the initial taste but quickly builds to a heat. The heat here doesn’t last long though but gives a small peppery end that makes you wonder if you drank anything in the first place. That was an interesting experience. Typically it is said if whiskey that the tongue verifies what the nose already discovered. That is not true whatsoever for this dram. The nose and palate are 2 different things. I’m not sure yet how to score it. But as of first opening. It is not my first choice. I’d rather something a little sweeter or something islay that is truly smoke. This feels unsure of what it wants to be.

Nose: smoke beef jerky, hint of sweet teriyaki, waxy. Dried fruit, Definitely burnt my nose or trying to figure this one out. Taste: wow, of all the islay I’ve tried, this is the most sweet forward. Not a light sweet but a dark chocolate type of sweet. Normally I catch the sweetness on the end but this shows up almost instantly. Mid notes are oak, coffee grounds and I can tell there is smoke on the mid as well. It’s got a peppery metallic finish. Mouthfeel: This is heavier on the initial taste that spreads across the mouth leaving a heat on the tongue and throat. Just burped and the smoke definitely reappears. The heat lingers on the tongue and the back of the throat. Much later I still know I’ve been drinking this whiskey

Long awaited dram. Excited to try this out. I was not that big a fan of the AnOa. Nose: initial smell is the iodine/ medicinal smell. It’s got this sweet citrus dried fruit smell in the mid. This mint/black licorice end. Further away from the nose, I get a light fruit citrus smell. Taste: Don’t know if I’m so used to the smoke, but I don’t get a lot of smoke flavor which is alright. The initial flavor is a sweet dried fruit. I get a lot of char oak in the mid flavor. Some spice and black pepper. I do get an iodine/ rubbery/ band aid taste as well. Not a bad taste. I’ve let it sit on my tongue for a while. Mouthfeel: you definitely feel the 54% abv hit you. You get a spice through the sip, and a lightspeed of flavor as it travels to the back of your throat. Like mint, it gives you this cooling effect when you breathe in. The finish is dry. Did not disappoint. Definitely one I enjoyed the tasting of. A lot to discovers excited to try this again.