Tastes

About a year ago, before I got super seriously in to bourbon, I tried a few pours of this at a friends house. I was floored. It was amazing, and I rated Voyage 17 a 4.25. Ever since, I've grown to know more about bourbon and expand my palate. It is no longer the only <$50 bourbon I have drank. So, reviewing this again I am torn. It is delicious. It goes down super easy and has really unique fruity flavors that just pop, backed up by a rock solid caramel and vanilla sweet core. It is a very sweet bourbon, with a surprisingly solid mouth feel for 90 proof, and a pretty lingering finish. A sweet and fruity nose that really has a lot of citrus and yes, like I spoke about before a year ago, tropical feeling notes. Is it as good as I remember it? No. Is it still quite good? Yes. Would I spend my own $70 on it? This is the hard question, but no, I probably would not. I think a lot of quality bourbons, if watered down to 90 proof, would shine like this and be a lot more 'unique' than the currently taste. I may have to try this theory.

My specific store pick is from a local store in Houston. It starts out with a really nice nose - solid vanilla with burnt sugar with rye bites of spice and cooked fruit type flavors. Palate is classic bourbon with caramel and vanilla swirling together, small bit of nuts? Then rye takes over - spice and cooked fruit take over with plenty of pepper and a hint of mint with some more hearty oak. Really well done. The $30-$40 price range is an awkward window in bourbon. A few bucks more get you greats like Rare Breed and 4R SiB, and Knob Creek store picks. A few bucks less gets you Buffalo Trace, Knob Creek and Elijah Craig. But in the 30-40 range there’s not a lot of respectable stuff, besides Makers 46 and 4R SmB, and definitely some over priced juice like High West Prairie and Basil Hayden’s and Heaven Hill 7 year BiB. This store pick definitely falls on the “respectable” side of that list. This is great stuff. I’ll need to try another store pick in case I just got a super honey barrel, but I can easily recommend this.

Truly outstanding - especially for $50. I wish this was available stateside! Nose: A nice strong nose for an Irish, which I find typically have more mild noses. The graham crackers and malty grain is immediately present, with floral tones and a nice hearty, oaky chocolate also appearing. The nose sets expectations high, which the palate is able to deliver on. Palate: Honey, and incredible toasted graham crackers flood the scene, with vanilla and rich sweetness close behind. It is almost like a full smores, with slightly bitter baking chocolate coming in at the end. The palate is truly exquisite, and shines strong, despite the alcohol. A nice color shows that it likely has some age, but the high proof (62 is likely close to entry proof) shows that it may be younger than it first appears. Regardless, it has a lot of really great classic flavor, from the graham crackers and honey, to little bits of delicate hay floating in. The finish lingers quite a long time, as expected for the proof, and a little surprising for the likely young age. A tiny kick of potstill spices and bourbon barrel oak, but what I find really lingers is the graham crackers and rich malty taste. All in all this is a steal. If I could buy this in the states I would get a case to have spares. The value for money is unreal, but at a more basic level this is just a wonderful dram to have. Once they get some more age on it, and maybe NCF it, then it would be truly exceptional. This will tide me over until I can get some of the highly touted Blue Spot.

I really wanted this to be a home-run. 8 year age stated, cask strength, bourbon barrel, NCF, and single grain? There are so few cask strength irish whiskies on the market that when I saw this was available in Ireland I snatched it up. Nose: Pleasant, almost docile, with faint sweetness and graham crackers drifting up. From the nose alone, one really wouldn't guess this to be 59%. Palate: The palate is probably the best part of this dram. Really oily and amazing mouth feel, with gentle grassy and floral, with a clear bourbon barrel influence shining through in vanilla and butterscotch flavors. Similarly to the nose, from the palate alone you would not guess this to be 59%, although the legs give it away. The minimal alcohol burn for the proof is a testament to the age. Finish: The raw alcohol rises up, with almost no oak, sweet, or potstill spice to cover it. The finish is unfortunately the most disappointing part of this dram - it doesn't have enough ooomf to get it over the hump, even at cask strength and NCF. The pure ethanol taste, not even that much of a burn, but just a really strong 'vodka/neutral alcohol' flavors comes through. This makes me think there's probably a good bit of grain alcohol and not as much malt compared to other Irish drams. From a sheer novelty standpoint, a cask strength, age stated Irish, I would buy this again, even though it isn't great value for money. I love Irish whiskey, and this is a very pleasant, although not outstanding, dram.

The nose is punchy, with lots of alcohol coming through immediately with a slight touch of sweet green apple and a tad of rye spice. The palate follows it up as hot as well, drinking more like a 115-120 proof range more than a relatively mellow 104. I don't get the strong vanilla that others here comment about, but rather very intensely sweet and somewhat tart fruit - citrus, green apples, mint. The palate and finish turn in to a somewhat overly spicy cinnamon making it again feel much higher proof than it actually is. Despite supposedly having less rye in it and almost being the same proof, it drinks hotter than the 4R SiB. I think that has to do with age, as the SiB is closer to 10 years and this is only 6-7. I am overall not a fan of high rye bourbons, but this especially is too brash for my taste, really drinking hot and lacking nuance. Does it have a lot going on, and would it probably hold up great in cocktails? Absolutely, but that's not exactly what I look for personally. The thought that this is $10 more than the SiB is appalling. Reach for the SiB instead if you want to enjoy 4R. This doesn't suck, it's just not something that I myself will ever be buying again.

Nose: Mellow and almost bland on the nose - generally sweet, dried fruit, a tiny little bit of barrel spice and oak. Palate: Very nutty to me, so much so that it makes me think it may be sourced from Beam. Not particularly noteable on the palate, besides wiffs of generic 'bourbon' from the loose vanilla and corn grain/baked bread. Nothing really sticks out, likely due to the low proof. Finish: The finish is pretty nice, with a solid hit of sweet dusty oak and barrel spice, with some sweeter berries rounding out a decently long finish. Maybe that's the port? But it doesn't smack you in the face. Sourced KY juice, probably around 6 years old, with a 6 month 'finish' on it, bottled at 86.6 proof. Sounds like a fine enough proposition, until you catch wind of the price tag. Almost $50?!?! Other bottles <$50: 4R SiB, RR 10 year SiB, Rare Breed, Woodford DO, etc, I could go on. These are all much older, higher proof, and not sourced! Are they finished in Port barrels? Obviously not, but I really don't get a strong influence in the first place, and proof doesn't do it any favors. If placed in a line up with EW SiB (86 proof, ~7 years old) and watered down KC, I really am not sure I'd be able to pick up on the port (and EW SiB and Knob Creek are both about half the price!). Maybe that means I have poor tastebuds, or maybe that means that the port doesn't really come through that much. As the barrel finishing trend gets more popular, Angel's Envy will have to do a lot more to stand out, especially at this price tag. For example: Doc Swinson's has a version, 12 year old sourced, and higher proof, for only a few bucks more. Although a perfectly fine enough bourbon, from a value for money stand point Angel's Envy really falls short. If this was $35, or closer to 100 proof, then it would receive a much higher rating. Is it mellow and perfectly sippable? Yes. Would I drink this if I was at a a friends house and they offered it? Probably, but it depends what else they have. And that simply won't do for a $50 bottle.

I'm a big EC fan, and I actually had a friend mule this bottle to me from Georgia. I am, admittedly still getting my bearings in the rye category. Compared to bourbon, I have consumed much less, and they have been very hit or miss to me. This one is a hit. The easiest, most obvious comparison to me is my beloved Woodford Reserve Rye, which is also a 51% rye mashbill, and also comes in right around $30. Nose: Definitely a bourbon nose, with a good bit of wood and fruit hitting, with some sweet faint vanilla. The longer you nose, the more the rye spice starts to come out. Inviting for sure. Palate: This drinks almost like a bourbon/rye mix, rather than a barely legal rye. The bourbon definitely hits the senses first, and has a really nice rich sweetness to it, but the rye hits quickly after. Finish is the same as the palate: starts out classic bourbon, with a surprising amount of wood and leather (I believe the 'extra aged' statement for once, I think it is more than a pure marketing gimmick), that fades in to a spicy finish, and it's almost hard to tell apart what is barrel spice and what is spice from the rye. The finish lingers a surprisingly long time, coming back in waves of sweet (but not sickeningly sweet, like some ryes) berries. At ~$30, this gets a 'buy' certification from me. I would absolutely suggest this over other popular ryes (Sazerac pales in comparison to this, it is no contest). Is it robust enough to stand up in cocktails? No, and it doesn't give you a huge big bold rye flavor. But that's not its place - it is sippable, and an extremely well done barely legal rye made for bourbon drinkers to sip slowly as they foray in to the land of rye whiskeys.

This is the bourbon that really got me in to this, when my girlfriend got me a 1.75L for my 21st birthday. The nose is the best part, lots of really nice sweetness, giving the classic vanilla and caramel, with some nice baked bread or dare I say fresh out the oven cookies. The nose lures you in and excites you through a sheer sweetness overload, without any notable fruit/floral/spice/oak supporting it. There is no doubt that this is a wheated bourbon, after the nose. The palate delivers with some of the promised sweetness, but lacks some character/depth, really just hitting you with a thin vanilla frosting. Mouth feel wise, it's also thin. The vanilla is really dialed up, but fades pretty fast, with no caramel or fruit or citrus there to follow it up. The finish is really where it loses me. Pretty astringent and bitter, and without the rye spice there to cover for it, it really just dries out the mouth without providing any extra flavor, which is disappointing. All in all: A solid bourbon? Undoubtedly. When you've been distilling for this long it has to be good. A standard at weddings when the only alternative is 80 proof Beam. Towards the top of the "under $25" category? Frankly not really. My major issue is that it is so ''smooth'/mellow/tame that no one thing sticks out and is memorable. The finish is non-descript and relatively short, which while expected for the proof is still underwhelming, and surprisingly bitter at that. The nose is by far the best part of the experience, and the palate doesn't live up to it, and the bitterness on the finish, while showing it has some age, doesn't keep you coming back for more. If you like the sweetness, reach for Old Forester 86 or Weller SR instead, and save a few bucks while getting something with more depth. Or, if you want something that has loads more complexity, is cheaper, and is FAR more memorable, reach for standard Buffalo Trace. The fact that this costs MORE than OGD 114 is laughable. This couldn't hold a candle to EW SiB, for a four bucks more. The wax is really what keeps this in bars and on lists. From a value for money standpoint, to me it will have a hard time competing until it costs less than $18 (OF 86 price).

To be transparent, this is an old bottle that was just bottled by Willett and not their own distillate which I believe they began releasing earlier this year in the same bottles, with 'distilled by' rather than 'bottled by'. NAS straight KY bourbon, guessing around ~5-6 years from color and price. Really unremarkable nose, nothing coming off super strong besides the basic notes (char, little sweetness, and cinnamon). Palate makes it clear it is high rye, strong but tasty cinnamon red hots. Distinct taste of walnuts as well, which is certainly a unique note to me. Lots of 'deep' flavors, not a lot of sweet vanilla or sugars showing. Char and a little bitter oak to finish with a tad more spice. It gets 3.5 because it is a unique flavor profile, and I appreciate that it is different. It doesn't get 3.75 because of the price. For almost $45, you can get many much better bottles. I'll probably try the new version which is their own distillate, but won't keep this bottle stocked in the home bar and don't necessarily recommend you buy it either.

Due to the rye boom just beginning, there really are no bargain bottom shelf ryes out there. A quick search of Total Wine shows that there are only 3 reputable ryes they sell under $20. This, WT 81 proof, and old overholt. I haven't tried the others, but the 90 proof separates Ezra Brooks from the other two in a positive way. 24 months old and sourced from MGP, why not. Don't listen to distiller, the mashbill is 51% rye not 95%. Nose: lot of mint and green herbs, with punchy ethanol and tinge of sweet. Palate: Good rye spice bite on the tongue, and no clear ethanol burn which is suprising for a 2 year old spirit. Sweet tangy fruit (cherry, peach) show up without much caramel or vanilla. Definitely get the rye aspect of the mashbill, without much of the traditional barrel aspects showing up. Some pepper and cinnamon of course too. Finish: tangy rye, not quite bitter, but drying and herbaceous. Some spice, and a tiny bit of fleeting vanilla. Verdict: This is nice at $15. Definitely not as good as Ezra Brooks bourbon, which is even cheaper and even tastier. But, compared to other whiskies (rye and bourbon) at the under $15 price range, it competes with the best (OGD 100, EW BiB, VOB 100, etc) in terms of quality. Because there aren't many other cheap ryes, it's hard to compare apples to apples. But as a cheap barely legal rye, this does everything you expect a bottom shelf whiskey to do, and then some. Not a big rye guy, and not much of a rye palate, so I can't give that last quarter star with confidence. Certified buy for a party or gift, maybe not for a collection.