Tastes

I'm not tasting the price tag, I just taste a respectable blend of mild Inverness flavors. After all, no distiller is trying to make bad product, and this one is aimed squarely at the budget drinker without apology. It does manage to appeal to whisky drinkers who just don't care for the peat/phenolic flavors and want a clean, mild dram. Thanks for nailing it.

This is very "mild" which is to say it's not peaty nor does the rum cask get in the way of the really good flavor. I'll take a case, thank you.

First sip, I really like this. I'll get back to you with the next one...

To this engineer the concept is really cool: keep the whiskey moving, even rolling at sea, to get the most out of the barrel oak. When I took the first sip it was obvious that the agitation had achieved the desired extraction of all the oak's secrets. As I understand, these extracted compounds break down in some cases, combine, or polymerize in others as the whiskey ages in a typical warehouse. Pulling out the extra lactones and what not darkens the blend and adds tons of flavor, but no maturity. So I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the end effect struck me more like an oaked moonshine than a fine bourbon. I'm not an expert, so maybe it's just me. Still worth trying, because you never know until you try.

Second round, and I get the Carlin reference in the expert review. He made his point and it's a good one. This bottle will empty too soon, but with rich full flavor as a reward for the effort.

The rye note is obvious, but 10 years in the barrel adds a lot more to the flavor, so this one is a keeper. Maybe earthier than my usual favorites? Overall I can see how the expert ratings make sense though.

I'm going to go higher than the expert on this one because I favor less rye and a sweeter finish. This is very drinkable (when you can get it).