Tastes

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.

I have been dying to try Legent, the bourbon form Beam Suntory that is basically an American Whiskey with a Japanese technique and collaboration. This one has been matured in wine and sherry casks, and it was made by Fred Noe & Shinji Fukuyo, which should offer you a high level of complexity. It starts in standard bourbon barrels, then it is transfered to french wine casks and finished in sherry oak. It has 94 proof (47%abv). On the nose, a proper Bourbon aroma. Bananas, cherries, prunes and coconut. It is Ferrero's coconut sweets called Raffaello. Beautiful thick caramel. Very complex and rich. On the palate, it is sour and yeasty. It has maraschino cherries notes. Metallic. After a couple of sips, the flavor fell a little. Dim vanilla water. Aftertaste is the best part. Long, spicy and sulphuric. Red fruits and spices; it resembles a lot to a rye whiskey. Overall, this is a nice bourbon, with a high floor but a low ceiling. I would be glad to have a bottle of this since i believe it is better than most "normal" bourbons, and the bottle is very good looking. Good flavors and aromas, a nicer finish. My score for it is 85 over 100.

The third release of Glenfiddich's Perpetual Collection, exclusive for travel retail, is this 15yo called "Vat 3", describes itself as "Rich & Sweet", which is always a bad sign in my humble opinion. It is matured in vats that have never been emptied, something that "Fiddich" have been doing for years. Bottled at a surprising 50.2%abv. On the nose, it starts with spicy gooseberries, Spicy pears. There is this spongy cake note as well. Definitively pear. Not very powerful. After letting it breath, i get sweet milk & coffee. Fruit salad. Dulce de leche with red apples. On the palate, classic Glenfiddich notes: Pear and apples. Some caramel sweetness. After the first sip i get apples dipped in dulce de leche. Aftertaste was really incredible. Powerful spice bomb out of nowhere. Wasabi and chilli. Nice stuff. There is a lovely fruitspice and Tobacco. Overall, this is an above average Glenfiddich and that is because it has a great finish. The rest of the criterias were the expected profiles on any release from this distillery. I could enjoy this whisky any day, but i won't buy it again, since it can also be forgotten easily. My score for this one is 84 over 100.

Edradour, that beautiful small distillery that loves to experiment with diferent wine casks for their maturations, have release some crazy expressions like this Blaufränkisch Mariental Cask Finish, which is harder to pronounce that to taste. A Blaufränkisch Mariental is basically a dark skinned grape used in german red wines. This one is an Edradour bottled at a lovely 57.5%abv, with a beautiful chesnut color, 12yo, one of only 408 bottles ever made. On the nose, fantastic stuff. Red fruits, grapes, moka, marmalade, dates and drak chocolate. Wow, just wow. After letting it breath it gave me maraschino cherries in steroids. Then it became more lactic. White milk chocolate. On the palate it is powerfully delicious. Red fruits and Hershey's strawberry syrup. Yummy. Aftertaste is beautiful as well. Ginger and macerated red fruit liquor. Very winey. Powerful and long. It reminds me of a very high end Maker's Mark Bourbon, like the FAE-01. Overall, this is a masterpiece. The best part is that this one is not expensive at all considering the level of complexity and flavor that is delivered here. An absolutely lovely single malt, i hope you can pronounce Blaufränkisch, because i can't. My score for it is 96 over 100.

Australian malt, Starward has a peated finish expression, a 48%abv bottle, with a nice curiosity: it has been finished in an Islay peated barrel. Much has been said about peated water or peated barrels, but the reality is that peat ppm only comes from peated malt. This was filled in 2017 and bottled in 2022. On the nose, it is not peaty. A classic red apple note, cinnamon and toffee. Vanilla powder. Not much else. On the palate, i believe this is a sub-par whisky. Cinnamon, apples, some spiciness and sulphur. Aftertaste is where the peat can be found. Smokey, burnt hay, grass, salt and some spices. Overall, this one did not impressed me at all. It has some classic flavors, but it is far too simple for a 48%abv dram. Peatiness is almost inexistent till the finish and then it is very dim. My score for it is 73 over 100.

Another day, another Ardbeg Committee Special limited release with lots of marketing behind it, and of course, people like me who keep buying their stuff. I know that lately i have been a little rough on my critics to this legendary distillery, but i guess they heard the complaints of certain whisky enthusiast because let me give you and spoiler to this review: this expression was actually amazing. Ardbeg Anamorphic tells a story in 4k. It is labeled as a "multidimensional" whisky. The alleged technique behind it is that they have removed the barrel heads and charred them separatedly. Also they used a heavy charring on the ex bourbon barrels to produce an efect called "High Mocha", which honestly seems made up. Bottled at 48.2%abv. On the nose, it is great and super interesting. Aromas should take you to some realm of memories and the first thing anamorphic gave me was the aroma of the gas used to replentish the A/C in my house. Dark chocolate followed with some notes of moss and grass. It is spicy on the nose. After letting it breath, it gave me plastic, latex, a fresh can of tennis balls. It also became lactic; like some home made dulce de leche. Impressive really. On the palate, it was outstanding. Starts sweet and lactic with vanilla and chocolate milk. Then it became a "matahambre" which is a very popular pork cut for BBQ here in Ecuador. Aftertaste was beautiful. So peaty and powerful, moss and rubber. Overall; i have to be honest, i was incredibly surprised on how good this is. I drank it alongside various friends and this was the clear winner of the night. This is Ardbeg in a fine state. It has to be said: this time they nailed a pseudo-limited release. My score for it is 24 points in each criteria, leaving it with 96 points out of 100.