Tastes

My nose is confused when it enters the opening of my glass. This whiskey is practically scentless. A far away hint of ripe yellow fruites. Vanilla and a whiff of kale. I do not expect to find much taste at this point. The taste suprises me fully. Very light and quite vibrant. Loads of fruit, raisins, dates, MonChou cream cheese. Theres a bit of acidity in there, like a unripe raspberry. Very smooth. Oak. Nice dryness. Aftertaste gas loads of wood, some tannins and liquorice. Quite strong but the burn is friendly. I mean, this bottle is nothing special at all but it's quite uncommon because of the lack of nose and the acidity in the taste. 3.5 start, with the last .5 being there because of the surprise :-)

Never heard of this bottler before, but I found the bottle in a small online liquor store. Welcoming and sweet nose containing chocolate and honey notes with vanilla and cane sugar. I thought there was a little whiff of smoke when sniffing the bottle, but in the glass this is almost undetectable. Strong mouthfeel, this is actually where the smoke does kick in. But it's not a campfire, it's a burning twig. Sweet and delicate, creme brulee, liquorice root, salmiac and a glazed carrot. In the far distance there is a strawberry, but it's mostly sweet notes. Therefore, it's also a little layerless. A bit boring. What I do really like though; the aftertaste is very mellow and smooth, nice and fresh ocean breeze with a flicker of bitterness. Short linger, in a good way. Sweet. Yes, not bad, but definitely not great either. Fun to drink when you are in the mood for a night cap, or to pour at parties.

Slight acidity in the nose, hints of apple, pear and lemon zest. Sweet & sour, quite fruity with some underlying spice like mint and basil. Exciting! Nice amber colour. Suddenly a hint of banana. Let's take a sip. Thick mouthfeel, dusty first taste and spicy on the tongue as well. Earthy. Prunes and cinnamon. Wood. Pear. Very sweet. Undeniably a bourbon, actually. Swirling it around in my mouth, that acidity reappears with a whiff of orange and dark chocolate. Too strong to keep in your mouth for a long time, your tongue will start to tingle. Nice minerality as well. Leather. Not bad! Long and slightly bitter aftertaste, lingering wood and earth tones. Very 'foresty' bourbon this is. It's a good spirit but it's not an easy drinker. Nice whisky after a long and hard day of work, or to mix in a cocktail. Not special enough, though.

Yeah, this is nice. It's not that I like it this much because I am Dutch. It's just that this is exactly the type of whisky I prefer, ripened in wine- or sherry casks. Frysk Hynder is expensive, but definitely worth it if you like wine barrel whisky. Sweet and fruity nose with red berries, chocolate and fresh creme. Banoffee. Light and dry mouthfeel with an immediate hint to the red wine barrels. Grapes and cassis, combined with a ton of sugar, tamarind and spices. Great aftertaste with liquorice root, a good chunk of wood. Good linger, soft burn. It could get a 4.5 or 5 star rating if it would have a few more layers. It's very good, sweet and ripe, but also a little too flat. The mouthfeel is so sugary that you can almost feel the granules of sugar on your tongue. It makes it too boring on the long run. Nevertheless, Frysk Hynder Red Wine Cask is a very approachable whisky and in my opinion: worth it's value! Really like it!

I mean, yeah. What can I say. It's not expensive, even when exported to Europe. But I know that some bottles can be surprisingly good, even the bottom shelf ones. Let's see if it can compete with my standard cheap-go-to-bourbon: Bulleit! Nose is kinda bland, light whiff of caramel, thin. No layers. A few earthy notes maybe. Thin mouthfeel. Slight bitternes of the wood. I must say that the flavour is not so bad at all, actually. Dark chocolate. Coffee. Baked bread. Few layers, but very sweet though. It could do with a fruity note. There is only a very, VERY tiny lemon in the last lingering bit of the aftertaste, which mainly tastes like wood, some tannins. It's okay I guess. It's kinda smooth, not bad at all. But it will never be a bottle i'll be excited about. So can it compete with Bulleit? For me, no. Only Buffalo Trace came close to the taste if the Bulleit Straight Bourbon in this price range. It's a pity, but the search will go on :-)

Being greatly and pleasantly surprised by the Starward single malt, I decided to buy a bottle of Nova, ripened in red wine barrels. I expect a lot from it actually. Lovely, sweet nose of vanilla and chocolate, with a hint of soft, red fruit and tangerines. Mint. Taste is a bomb of fruity sweetness, actually bringing the nose back into the flavour. Citrus. Vanilla yoghurt. Baked cookies. Very good taste overall. The aftertaste is a complete different story, because after swallowing, a strong whiff of wood and liquorice root hits the mouth. Dry mouthfeel. No burn. Hint of bitterness. It's a great composition alltogether, the bitter aftertaste brings a balance to this sweet and fresh whisky, which would otherwise be too sweet. Not too difficult, but special enough for the price. Very nice malt!

Japanese whisky can be great, but can also be disappointing like the Suntory Toki I had last year. The nose is a bit flat and too alcoholic, which makes it hard to divide the scents. Lightly sweet and smoky in smell. In the mouth a tad bitter but opens up to a sweet combination of fresh pears, woodchips and pie bottom. Still a bit bitter, though. Hints of coffee. There is a lingering whiff of smoke throughout the process. All together the taste is flat and uninteresting. Bitter aftertaste as well, with a little bit of anise and brown sugar. It's just not interesting. Boring flavours, barely any layers. Will not buy again.

I figured that for 25 bucks it's always worth a try. Nice golfball-type bottle. The whisky itself looks golden brown and is very invitating. Nose starts with acetone but quickly transforms to slightly sweet notes of caramelized sugar and apple. A whiff of peat. I expected it to be very light and sweet, but it's a bit darker upfront. Tones of dirt, ginger, figs, followed by a liquorice type of sweetness. Nice, dry mouthfeel. When swallowing, the smokiness appears and is followed by bitterness. Dark chocolate and espresso. Dark brown sugar. Bitter aftertaste. Lingers a bit. This whisky is definately not life changing, but for this amount it's a very good bottle. Lacks a bit of depth, but what can you expect. Alltogether a suprisingly reasonable dram.

Mmmmyeahh... What can I say. It's a peated single malt. I'm not the peat-kinda-guy, but I picked it up because the social media ads were quite convincing and I liked the look of the bottle :-D. Typical nose, filled with fruity hints like pear and apple cider, but already the smokiness pops up quite firmly. Fresh but smoky. Thin mouthfeel, chocolate, rhubarb, vanilla, loads of oak, surprisingly little smoke in the taste itself. But don't worry. The smoke kicks in after the swallow. Huge kick of peat and alcohol. Loads of burn, dryness. Bacon and honey. Tad of bitterness. Meh. It's not awful, but I think I will drink this one quickly to get rid of it. Not my steal.

Didn't really know what to think of an Indian whisky but I am pleasantly surprised. Light in colour, very clear, golden. Lovely. Extremely sweet nose, honey, cinnamon, freshly baked gingerbread, lemon and rosehip fruit. Soft on the tongue, light sting, cinnamon, fennel, white chocolate chip cookies, then comes the bitterness of salmiac liquorice, combined with dark chocolate. All along there is this 'syrupy' sweetness, like it's infused with honey. Full of baked pears and caramelized sugar. Not one for the purists, but I like them this way. Would buy again for sure.