Tastes

I have told you before that if you ever google "the king of wines" you will get "Barolo" as the first result. Well, did you know there is a "Queen of Wines"? It is Barolo's sister, Barbaresco. Made out of the same grape, nebbiolo, which means that it grows in the fog, at Piamonte, Italy. Edradour has fully matured this single malt in ex Barbaresco casks, and bottled it after 12 years, at 48.2%abv. On the nose, it starts with Latex notes; water balloons, tropical punch and gooseberries. Mostly farm fruits. Very floral. On the palate, very light and winey. Farm fruits, milk chocolate and spices. It feels like being hit by a water ballon, when you accidentally drink a little water of it. Aftertaste is a different thing. Tobacco, chilli, cigarrettes. Very rich. Overall, this wasn't near the Barolo Cask from Edradour. It is a fine, enjoyable dram, but it felt very light and gentle. Maybe too gentle for me, since i am more on the "punch in the face" side of whiskies. A good dram, not my favorite Edradour. My score for it is 88 over 100.

Chivas regal has released for the travel retail market some nice 18yo expressions called "The Wine Casks Series", and the first one was this Chateau Margaux. The name comes from a Bordeaux Winery, who make a premier grand cru red wine, mostly made from a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc grapes. Of course a very good looking 1 litre bottle, at 48%abv which is very nice and interesting for a blend. On the nose, this is SUPER FLORAL. Peaches clove and flowers. It is like a thorned rose in the aroma. Red fruits, herbal and.... smokey?. Eucalyptus. It feels "hippie". Nice. On the palate, very winey and dry. Red fruits and floral notes. Red berries everywhere. Aftertaste is very good as well. Dry mouthfeel, tobacco, red berries and ginger. It is actually slightly smokey. Beautiful. Overall, this is a fantastic everyday whisky. Most whisky connoisseurs might feel that this one lacks some complexity, but it is so enjoyable that is a dram you can share with friends and family in an important gathering. Nicely done by Chivas, my score for it is 88 over 100.

The final dram of the Bourbon and American Whiskey night tasting event that i went om late december, was one that i have been craving for a long time: Wild Turkey Rare Breed Barrel Proof. A very good looking bottle, actually a label that has already been changed, this whiskey was bottled at 58.4%abv (116.8 Proof). Lets see if it was any good: On the nose, i get Banana, ice cream; it doesn't seem to have 58.4%, since it doesn't have a strong alcohol note. Creamy brie cheese. Vanilla, honey and recently made coffee. Burnt caramel. Sour prunes. A very nice aroma here. On the palate it was a lot more normal. Honey, caramel, sugar, sour prunes. Ginger. Aftertaste was a little rough and very sugary. Hints of burnt tobacco; not very enjoyable due to roughness. Very dry. Very short. Overall, this started with a great nose, then a normal palate, and finished with a sub-par aftertaste. The nice notes on the nose were i told you that it didn't seem to be a 58.4%abv dram, became too rough on the finish. It lacked some complexity as well on the palate. A whiskey that manage to barely pass the test, my score for it is 80 over 100.

The best whiskey i had on a Bourbon and American Whiskey tasting event that i was invited was this great Rittenhouse Straight Rye, bottle in bond. A 100 proof whiskey, (50%abv), it has a 4 age statement declared in their website. It belongs to Heaven Hill distillery. On the nose, it was out of this world. The first note was a crazy one: trout food, the one people use in trout farms. Rye and red fruit marmalade. Letting it breath will release marschino cherries and hints of capuccino. After a sip, it gave me notes of coffee and caramel, sawdust. Very mellowed. Spicy pepper and chilli. This is my type of aroma. I loved it. On the palate, it is very good. Red fruits syrup and brown sugar. Capuccino coffee and strawberry marmalade. Aftertaste is outstanding as well. Spicy red fruits, cherries and red chilli. Absolutely amazing. Very well delivered. Overall, this is one dram that even if it is not super complex, it is quite enjoyable and delicious. The nose is full of wonderful layers of aromas. If you can get your hands on this one, you definitively should. My score for it is 93 over 100.

Continuing my journey through some rather difficult for me to obtain bourbons, i got my hands on a bottle that i have only had one other expression ever: E.H. Colonel Taylor. This is the small batch, which is actually not a real whiskey term, lol; since there is no legal quantity standard to determine what constitutes a "Small Batch". This one has been bottled at 50%abv (100 proof). On the nose, i get some classic notes of honey, apples, dim hay, yeast and pear. After letting it breath, it releases a nice note of caramel. On the palate, it has a nice spiciness upfront. Red apple peel. Cinnamon. Quite spicy really. Aftertaste is great. If the nose and palate were a little dissapointing, the finish was a good revival moment for this dram. It has a really mellow finish; lovely honey and burnt hay. Tobacco. Nice stuff. Overall, the wonderful aftertaste it has, made this dram pass the test. I can see how people enjoy this one due to its great finish. For me, a whiskey i can soon forget, but an average score of 80 over 100 to be fair with it.

I went to a Bourbon and American Whiskey tasting party, where i got the opportunity to taste some rare expressions, and one of them was a Chattanooga Whiskey, my first from this Tennessee distillery, but this one was very special, because it was matured in an Islay Scotch Cask. I have already told you that after studying the subject a lot, peat ppm does not come from "peated water" or charred casks, but from kilning peat to smoke the barley. Having said that, an Islay Cask can't give enough peat ppm by only imparting the flavors and aromas that have sticked into the oak staves. But this whiskey is about to prove me wrong. On the nose, it has the peat aroma i love!, wet Converse shoes; cigarrette, smoke and actual peat. It resembles a lot to an Ardmore which is mildly peated. On the palate, crushed almonds. Smoke in a very aromatic way, it reminds me a lot to a Bowmore. Cotton. Aftertaste is delicious. Smoke, raisins, tamed aromatic peat and hospital gauze and tape. Overall, a surprising whiskey, i really had no expectations out of this one and i got impressed by it. It is obvious that the peaty profile has come from the Islay cask, that imparted a mild appearance of peat. Nice dram, my score for it is 92 over 100.

You don't often read the words "Kentucky Straight WHEAT whiskey". It gets specially unexpected from a renowned distillery like Woodford Reserve. Of course, the mashbill here is mostly wheat (more than 51%), and that is why it gets that name. This very interesting release from Woodford, is bottled at 45.2%abv. On the nose, i get notes of rice, paper, yeast, bread. It is like a yellow apple infusion; red fruits. After letting it breath, i get creamy Gelatto Ice cream. After a couple of sips i get a nice burnt caramel like crème brulèè. On the palate, dulce de leche and "Brazo Gitano" which is a dry dulce de leche roll with flour and impalpable sugar. Honey, hay and some spices that clearly come from the alcohol. Aftertaste was not very good. It feels a little young and rough; it has a powerful bite. Honey and hay. Overall, in my humble opinion, the experiment has failed. There is not much to see here, the flavors feel underdevolped. This is one whisky i am glad i have had before some of you do, since i can give you a heads up, for you to pass on this one. My score for it is 68 over 100.

When Dalmore releases something, (that i can buy, since they release a lot of things that i cannot buy) i try to fetch it immediately. I know Dalmore has a little backlash in some Connoisseur groups who think that Dalmore is overpriced and overrated, but i happen to think most Dalmores are very good. Having said that, i have had some dissapointments with some expressions from "my first love". Yep, my first single malt ever was a Dalmore 12yo. It opened my eyes forever, and i still consider it to be a wonderful single malt, after having tasting 1260 whiskies in my life. Well, they have released this beautiful bottle, with an enormous marketing behind it. It has been done inspired in the architecture of Kengo Kuma, a Japanese visionary that created the Victoria & Albert Design Museum in Dundee and the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo. Actually Dalmore didn't solely released this one, but also a super high end, unaffordable expression called Luminary No.1, that comes with a pedestal made of wood using Kengo Kuma style. Well, this is the "normal" expression, a 15yo whisky, called Dalmore Luminary No1 as well. Pretty confusing stuff. Bottled at 46.8%abv. On the nose i get this marvelous tiramisu. It is exactly as a Vanilla and Cookies Cake with hazelnut. Tobacco, Milk cream. Hazelnut and Deep raisins. Wonderful on the nose. The palate is absolutely perfect. Extraordinary orange marmalade. Acid fruits. Tangerine. After a first sip, i get orange caramel, very fancy, so beautiful. The velevety body here is uncanny. Incredible. Aftertaste has makes a good spin, changing the course the rest of the whisky had. Tobacco, acid orange marvel. Cigarrettes, hay, cowboy-ish. Amazing. I would not guess this is a Dalmore in a blind tasting. Overall, this was impressive. I found a store in Amsterdam Airport where i could fill a sample. I deeply regret that i didn't buy the full bottle which is a little expensive, but it is worth it. Even as an investment (which i always encourage as well after tasting an expression) is a good deal. My score for this wonderful dram is 94 over 100.

One day i woke up and found out that Jack Daniel's, the giant pioneer of Tennessee whiskey, had release a single malt. Yes my friends, a single malt requires it to be 100% made out of malted barley, from one distillery, matured for at least 3 years in an oak barrel and bottled at least at 40%abv... And guess what, Jack Daniel's did that. And they bottle a litre of it. This new release has been matured in sherry casks, bottled at 45%abv and it was only released for travel retail markets. My first aroma impression: it feels like it has a bourbon spirit. Red fruits, sherry, coffee with caramel. Toffee dessert. Impressive hazelnut, really impressive, "Hanuta". After a little while there is a note of chocolate rice krispies. Great nose. On the palate: Caramel, sherry, red fruits. Reminds me a lot of a rye whiskey on the palate. There is this feeling like a corn balls snacks. A very nice maple syrup, brown sugar, chilli. Aftertaste is Dry. Oloroso sherry, spicy ginger. Lovely spiciness. After a long while i got cotton candy. Overall, this is completely different from any other Jack Daniel's. I would never be able to tell this is a "JD" in a Blind tasting. It is a single malt, it smells like one and tastes like one. This is a great step for mankind, undoubtely. My score for it is 90 over 100. I am really surprised with this one.

It is so rare to talk about different Tennessee whiskies besides the Classic Jack Daniel's and the nowadays very famous Uncle Nearest. Actually, there are more than 12 Tennessee whiskey distilleries and George Dickel is one of the most recognized, even if they write "whisky" as the scottish do. George Dickel's Barrel Select is charcoal mellowed (in order to be called Tennessee whiskies) and double distilled. Bottled at 43%abv. It is aged between 10-12 years and it is hand selected from only 10 barrels. On the nose, this has classic aromas. Hay, honey and lemonspice. Vanilla and lemon peel. Vanilla ice cream. On the palate, it is sweet and definitively passes the test. Honey, sugar, hay. After a first sip, it gave me an italian gelatto vanilla ice cream; more honey. Aftertaste could be better. Smokey, hay, cigarrette and ashes. Slightly sulphuric and very cowboy-ish. Overall, i had high hopes for this one but i was a little dissapointed with the actual experience. Not complex at all, too simple and straightforward. There is nothing new here, in a blind tasting this one can be confusee with any below average bourbon. My score for it is 74 over a 100.