Tastes

Copper-caramel color. Nose is caramel, vanilla, toffee, a little bit of cinnamon, reminds me strongly of stroopwafels. There's not much oak, but it's in there. Not a lot of complexity, but it's your classic bourbon. Taste follows the nose. Caramel, rich and buttery, but not overly, a nice pepper at the back of the tongue. Not quite as sweet as the regular Evan Williams-- which is a major plus for me-- this has a better balance. The finish is medium, slightly bitter, but somewhat covered up by some slight pepper going back up the nose. For the sub $20 category, it's absolutely awesome. I'd highly recommend to anyone looking for an easy, enjoyable bourbon. It's good enough to sip on neat, and cheap enough to put into cocktails. Keep it stocked!

Nose: mainly fresh dry wood, have to search a bit for the vanilla. Not a lot outside of that. Earthiness, grass, soil, if anything else, and a little sweet corn. Taste: sweet and spicy. Slight numbing effect on the tongue. Vanilla, pepper. Orange? The onset is quite quick, and lingers for quite a while, with a pleasant pepper at the front of the tongue and back of the nose. Adding a little water intensifies the heat greatly for a while, and subsequently emphasises the woody vanilla, and adds a little fruit. I got this on sale for 25, and for that, it's a great deal. I'd pay regular retail to keep it stocked.

Nose is fresh banana bread. That's the whole picture for me. Sweet and heavy bread, banana, vanilla, baking spice, raisin. Taste follows the same, sweet bread, banana, vanilla, walnut, chocolate, raisin. Rich, buttery, and so smooth. This has been one of my favorite easy-drinking go-to's. It's simple, consistent, and thoroughly enjoyable. I've seen a lot of hate from bourbon enthusiasts, and if you're looking for a bourbon, this is not that. It's not like a single malt either. It's a weird hybrid beauty. For 38, I'd do it again.

Burnished color. Nose has honey sweetness, peat, anise, clove, some fruit somewhere between banana and pear, and some iodine character that's not unpleasant. On the bottom end there's a good deal of earthiness, some grass, moss, older wood. Neither the peat or the iodine dominate. One of my favorite things about peated whiskeys is the smell often conjures for me a specific scene of some kind. Sometimes specific memories of being in a forest, the smell of a rotted old log, or a fire, or the smell of leaves and trees. This one conjures the image of being on the edge of a forest near a beach with a campfire burning nearby. The taste bears this image out, emphasizing the earthy aspects, with some zest. There's a little bit of chocolate with some cherry towards the end, and a long warm peppery mellow finish.

It had it's good points, but was a let down for a first impression of the distillery. There was plenty of peat, but many of the subtler smells were covered up by a burnt rubber smell. The taste had it's good points, but the finish was like wet paper. I ended up mixing it with Bushmills to balance out the sour notes. I'd be willing to give it another chance because it's Laphroaig. I've heard that older batches were better. Maybe I was just unlucky, but for the price point, Ardbeg 10 is unbeaten.

Fresh apple, honey, citrus, slightly floral on the nose. Like an apple pie being assembled. Very light, and unagressive. Taste is similar profile, very light, almost like an irish whiskey, little to no finish. Adding two drops of water yielded best results, smells became more pungent, like apple pie fresh out of the oven. The finish became peppery at the back. Adding any more water just diluted. A couple drops is the sweet spot. This is a good whiskey for the price. Can really taste that Glenlivet coming through.

I love this whiskey. It's hard to fool time, but they do a pretty good job of it. There's some damp wood mixed on with the vanilla and cherry notes, stone graham cracker, and butter. I've noticed that if this whiskey is served too cold, it acquires a bitter lacquer-like smell, that subsides as it warms, which can be confusing. My first experience was very positive, and when I went back the second time, all the good notes were covered up by that smell until it warmed in my hands.