Tastes

Longrow Red 11yr Pinot noir N: sweet smoke and funky peat. There’s some really nice wine and grape notes that come through on the back of the nose with a little vanilla and wood. I’m reminded of a mulch smell in the spring. P: ash, peat, plum, old moldy oak and more mulch. It’s surprising salty and wild. I feel like there’s notes of grapes, vanilla, cookies, chocolate and more but it’s so complex and powerful. F: long, woody and funky but not in a dusty way, in a rotten earthy mulchy way that so weird but so nice. This is stupid how unique it is.

Benriach The Twelve N: light raisins and chocolate. Sweet plums and oranges. Cinnamon, ginger and figs. There’s a lot of bright, sweet citrus notes jumping out. P: vanilla, raisins, orange peel, dark chocolate and caramel. Touch of tobacco, cherries, green apples. F: spicy candied ginger, vanilla, green apples and cinnamon. Dark chocolate bitterness jumps out towards the back. 88 Surprisingly good and pretty awesome that it’s ex-bourbon, sherry and port. The blend is fantastic. I wish it had a little more body but it’s good.

Nikka from the barrel N: sweet cinnamon toast, boozy vanilla and barrel charr, chocolate and caramel. There a of a really pipe tobacco but it disappears really fast. P: boozy baking spices, bitter chocolate covered orange rinds, touch of smoke, old funky leather and cinnamon. There’s a nice sweetness in the middle with burnt caramel, cherries and green apples. F: more boozy spicy cinnamon with gingerbread and vanilla. Touch of charr at the end with some oaky tannins and more bitter orange. Honestly, this is good but it’s a little too alcohol forward for being 51%. Seems a little off balance in a way that I can’t put my finger on. 87

Ledaig 18yr N: sherried, sweet and slightly peated with salted smoked BBQ qualities to the nose. There’s also a nice leathery funky and oaky notes dancing around in the back. P: fantastic oaky smoked and salt meat with a dark cherry gaze feeling going on. Green fruit like apples and pears come up when the BBQ steps aside with a burst of cinnamon, ginger and pepper. You get a little bit of oaky bitterness but it doesn’t last and isn’t unpleasant. This is a very chewy whiskey which I really dig. F: long, sweet/salty smoked meat and sherry. The age comes out a little more on the finish after the BBQ calms down with some oaky tannins but the smoke really stays with you. Solid, chewy mouth coating whiskey which has some great notes and surprises. 89

The Balvenie Peat Week 2003 Color: straw N: flowers in the summer, smoked fatty meats, moss, sweet coconut, honey and earth. I want to say there’s an under ripe fruit in there too but I’m not finding what it is. P: oily mouth coating feeling with green bananas, bitter chocolate almost cocoa, ash, moss and earth. It’s a little salty under ripe pears touch at the end. F: soft, long and wonderful. Hints of the green banana and salt lingers with a faint hint of bitter chocolate. I remember this being good but damn, it is good. 91

What smooth, smokey wonderful whiskey this is. I really thought it was going to punch in the mouth at 86 proof but damn was this smooth. I could sip on this one all night. Its all worth its 90+ rating.

For the cost +$100, it's not great. I really thought it would be better than the Single Barrel "Vintage" but it's not. Nose: Tons of caramel with a little vanilla and oak. Taste: Sweet and spicy heat. Full bodied. I really enjoyed the Single Barrel more.

I'd wouldn't drink this neat. Just add it to a coke or something.