Tastes

This whiskey is no southern bell. This is a Calamity Jane kinda whiskey. So if you want to get tossed around just a bit...she’s your kinda girl. They’ve dialed in the mesquite smoke since their first batch. Allowing the oak spices, brown sugar, cherry pie and vanilla to come through on the nose and not just MESQUITE SMOKE. I’m always left with a big whiff of sweet pipe tobacco before I take my first sip. Don’t worry, the smoke comes through on the palate. But, again. Unlike other mesquite smoked whiskeys, they have really learned how to find their balance and not just smoke out all the other flavors. Mesquite BBQ, leather, jerky, and crem brûlée burnt sugar, and a flavor that only kids who grew up climbing mesquite trees will recognize...mesquite sap and bark dust. Such intriguing stuff

In a word “buttery”, which is very odd for a rye. It still has all of the rye spice goodness, but if you are looking for a rye that’ll beat you up a bit, and call you mean names. This isn’t it.

It is hard to imagine a more perfect single malt. I didn’t believe it till I tried it. It has everything ...EVERYTHING...you’re looking for. A big whoop of smoke. But, not Laphroaig’s burning mermaid hospital smoke. It’s a smoked fish mixed with BBQ pit smoke. Then, the salty sea air comes in. Fresh, and cresting. Then this coastal earth comes in, like turning over a semi buried driftwood log. Then! You get the rich malty notes, warming and pleasing like a perfectly poured pint, and then the rich sherry nuttiness, woody spices, fig and carmalized lemon come in. Just when you think it’s all over, a whiff of cold smoke, menthol maybe, lifts everything off the palate. But fret not, the smoke and fruit linger in your throat well past your dram’s last drop. Perfection.

I love Laphroaig, but why doesn’t it love me back? I’ve had a few bottles, but it still takes me a while to acclimate to it’s punishing beauty. Laphroaig in a word is “medicinal”. But the gnarly iodine, bandaid, knock-off Vick’s is quickly replaced by a pile of seafood steaming next to a burning stack of driftwood. Once the ocean air blows away the smoke...then and only then will you smell the crisp pears, and honeyed lemon ginger tea. This sweetness, this elusive sea salt caramel hiding beneath it all...that’s why you come back for another sip. I love it all, but it is just too unbalanced towards the iodine to really push it over the edge for me. For me it’s a 3.75, but I still love it.

Find me a $25 whiskey with this rich of color, palate and sherry finish. The nose isn’t the prettiest, there is a metallic note that messes with the sherry, cocoa and caramel apple aromas. The palate, especially the tail end, is where this beauty really shines. Sherry nuttiness, toffee, dried fruit, and a malt chocolate milkshake sweetness. The finish holds on, despite not being very heavy or oily. Is this going to compete with $60+ sherry cask scotch? No. But, it does punch far above its price point. $25 well spent.