Tastes

The smokiest and spiciest Lagavulin for sure! There is a lot going on and it does need time to open up and breathe. After it does you get campfire at the beach while using your travel size charcoal weber grill smoking heavily peppered meats along with some tart lemon vanilla merengue pie topped with plenty of barrel spices for dessert. The finish is all smoke, spices, and vanilla. I highly recommend this if you like peated Scotchs. I will be purchasing back ups before its not available.

Smoked heather honey mangos..delicious! Definitely more smokey/peaty than any other Highland Park release I have had. My favorite of all the cask strength batches released so far.

This has a wonderful PX sherry profile on the nose of raisins, figs, sticky sweetness that showcases the Sagamore rye profile after letting it sit for a short while or some swirling in your glencairn. The palate is PX sherry in the beginning that transitions to a gentle rye towards the middle and end. This has to be my favorite finished rye whiskey. Definitely recommend.

Smells and tastes like ripe berries that have been lightly salted and smoked. It definitely is more fruit forward than the 10 year. The smokiness and saltiness is more balanced and subdued. This whiskey is perfectly balanced in my opinion. The only thing keeping it from a perfect score is I was wanting the finish to be just a bit longer. It disappears sooner than I'd like and makes me want to have another sip. If you love the 10 and can afford the 18 it's a 100% recommend.

Smells and tastes similar to the Blue Spot (vanilla frosted pineapple upside-down cake), but with berry compote notes followed with a hint of Bordeaux on the finish before the pot still spices take over. The vanilla notes are not thick vanilla like the Blue Spot. It's balanced by the berry compote flavor and surprisingly the pot still spices are more pronounced on this offering compared to the Blue Spot. The only negative aspect about the Gold Spot is I wish that the finish was a little longer. Honestly at the moment I'd say it's a short to medium finish and that brings the score down just a bit. Overall a definite buy and has definitely climbed up my whiskey charts. Top 10 for sure..top 5 is very likely after I revisit my current line up..top 3 ehh I just wish the finish was longer.

Jim Beam's best offering in my opinion. I usually always keep a bottle for an old fashioned or this is good enough to sip neat. Caramel corn, cinnamon, peanuts, and orange.

Way too much barrel spice to be enjoyed neat. Only notes I got were barrel spice, vanilla, and caramel. It got downgraded in my bar to only on the rocks or in an old fashioned. It does get better in both situations, but it should be good neat first and foremost with the price tag it carries. Wild Turkey 101 is better than this and it's less than half the price!