Tastes

good basic bourbon, all the right smells and flavors, thickish coating palate, warming longish finish.

Nose: Lemon tart, strawberries and cream, a hint of ethanol and there's a really nice hint of campfire smoke that wafts in and out. Palate: Great creamy, waxy and viscous entry, vanilla custard and malt appear next. Finish: shortish with subtle vanilla, malt and smoke.

This is the first edition. From the label: "An extraordinary range of mature grain and malt whiskey casks from North British, Strathclyde, Carsebridge, Glenfarclas, Ben Nevis, Balvenie, Kininvie, Glenfiddich, Alt-a’Bhainne, Auchroisk, Glenallachie, Westport, Speyside and (of course) Macallan distilleries, were blended and married in first-fill Oloroso sherry butts..." Nose: Honey, vanilla, berries, oranges, nuts and lemon cake. Palate: Silky, slightly viscous and oily with sherry notes and vanilla. Finish: Medium to long and warming with the sherry and lemon cake making a reprise. This is a tightly wound whiskey that took a long time to open up. Very rewarding though once it did. Wouldn't buy it at retail, but a great deal at near half of that for a blend which contains however small amount of 33 year old Carsebridge and 30 year old Macallan.

The expert review mentioned Japanese nori. I did not know what that was until I looked it up. It's dried seaweed sheets like what are used to wrap sushi. My wife and daughters love that stuff and will eat it with tuna and mayo. Now that I know what it is, I can confirm that I get that on the nose too, along with peat, vanilla, bicuits, a hint of damp camp fire and iodine, all mingling in a strange potpourri. It's slightly silky on the palate with with some honey, vanilla, nori, sea salt and raw peat. The finish is medium length, with all the flavors interplaying until the end. It's, interesting, different, strange, weird, and I think I love it.

A case of more is less. Prefer the standard 12 over this. The nose is ethanol and tea biscuits, plus a strange little cantaloupe like note. Palate is hot, but pretty smooth, with a hint of vanilla and sherry. The finish is long with subtle vanilla and sherry notes popping up.

A biscuit soaked in bog water

Peanut funk and ethanol on the nose. Vanilla and toffee on the palate. Long finish. Better than average basic bourbon.

Apple, pears and a little musty note on the nose. Sweet round palate. A hint of spice on the medium finish.

Sweet rye, light spices and fresh cut grass on the nose. Light, fruity rye and vanilla on the palate. More rye, light spices and slight bitter note on the short finish.

Shoe polish, green bananas and astringincy overpower an otherwise fine dram. It's got the usual Irish whiskey notes in spades, quite good indeed. This would be 4 stars without the unpleasant notes. Edit: Two months later and the unpleasant notes are gone. Oxidation helped a lot. Bumped the score up 1/2 a point.