Tastes

15 yrs, 46.7% Norlan glass, neat Color: dark amber Nose: flintstones, maple syrup, oak Palate: medium, smooth, lots of honey, cherry Pepsi, caramel, cream soda Finish: long, grapes, oak, honey, wethers candies, no burn I like this, a lot, there’s definitely that dickel minerality there, but so much flavor And cream soda burps (bumps it up a point) T8ke scale: 7, great, well above average

43%, four years old Tasted in a glencairn cairn, neat Rested 12 minutes Color: light amber Nose: caramel, cherries, vanilla, honey-brown sugar, ethanol Palate: mmmm, syrupy and thick, honey right from the start, then vanilla and caramel, hint of white pepper, not as sweet as the nose suggests Finish: nice, moderate with oak and tannins, some residual vanilla and caramel Nice! Not the most complex, but an easy sipper, and props for keeping the price appropriate, unlike some other new distilleries (nods at peerless) T8ke scale: 6, very good, a step above

Sample at Pasquale’s Tasted blind and neat Nose: musty, fresh cut hay, a bit of barnyard funk, alcohol Palate: rich, great mouthfeel, honey on the front palate, leading into sweet tea and maple, then comes the rye, with loads of mint and herbs. Finish: long, the mint and the honey-maple just linger, really really nice Wow, just wow, so impressive on the palate. With the nose, I was like, ‘maybe a Canadian rye’ but was underwhelmed, but the taste was impressive. Is it 250 impressive, 🤷‍♂️? YMMV T8ke scale: 8, excellent, really quite exceptional

Jack 10 yr 48.5% Norlan, sitting ~20 min, neat Copper in color Nose: bazooka bubble gum, bananas foster, vanilla, Carmel, maple, honey— really sweet/desserty; wow Palate: med to thick, NC sweet tea, oak, cocoa, nuts: walnuts and pecans, ending with a rich milk chocolate Finish: lingering with maple syrup, pears, tannic oak and tiramisu No alcohol bite. Ok, I’m impressed, not sure I’d call this Jack in a blind tasting. I keep coming back to it and pulling different notes, but it’s so well structured that it’s actually hard to pull them out Rating: 8 on the T8ke scale: excellent

Rocks glass at BL’s bourbon tasting Luxco, rumored to be Heaven Hill, aged 4 yrs and 100 proof Neat, rested 10 minutes Nose: sweet, like a Cinnabon roll,with some confectionary sugar, hint of almonds Palate: light to medium feel, a rush of sweetness and cinnamon, maybe some allspice and cloves, no burn, really smooth Finish: short, more sweetness, honey with a hint of caramel, some tannic bitterness Not bad, I was surprised. Easy to drink neat, the flavors come together nicely. For about $24 for a 750, it’s worth a try Basically bonded larceny T8ke scale: 5, ‘good, just fine’

Tasted in a glencairn, neat Light rust in appearance Nose: sweet fruit, acetone, some cherries and bananas, hint of vanilla Palate: medium on the tongue, alcohol, thin flavor of orange marmalade and oak Finish: short, some oaky bitterness T8ke scale: 4, sub par Just better stuff out there, and over all ‘meh’

Norlan glass, aired 15 minutes, neat Rusty gold in appearance Nose: musty corn/corn bread, cinnamon, baked walnuts/dates, candied orange peels, flint stones vitamins, marzipan paste (like in stollen) Palate: medium mouth feel, light taste with sweetness and minimum burn, stollen is back with vanilla and cinnamon Finish: medium, oaky bitterness and dryness, cornbread and vanilla linger T8ke scale: 6, a cut above I know the minerality is divisive, but I enjoy it. It’s my baseline that I compare off of, easy to drink, inexpensive and easy to find

Used a glencairn, served neat Light amber visually in appearance Nose: honey, fruit, ‘bready’ Palate: medium on the tongue, sweet honey, peanuts, lots of honey, like honey on white bread, hint of cherry Finish: medium, sweet honey, caramel T8ke scale: 6, a step above Nice, easy to drink

Tasted in a norlan glass, neat Pale amber in appearance Nose: vanilla, cherry, grape Fanta (that fake grape/blue raspberry slushy smell) Palate: medium, oaky astringency, mild honey, walnuts, vanilla, chaw tobacco Finish: short, sweet honey, oaky astringency, alcohol T8ke scale: 5, good, just fine I like, a nice entry level bourbon,

Tasted in a glencairn, neat Light amber in appearance Nose: vanilla, peanuts, hint of fruit, hint of mint, maybe some margarine notes Palate: syrupy and thick, peanuts, vanilla, honey and some dark chocolate Finish: shortish, smooth, peanuts and vanilla, with some bite and astringency T8ke scale: 6, very good, a cut above I really like this and I regret not grabbing another (or three, given the cost) when it was out