Tastes

I feel like I’m have a Goldilocks moment here. I’ll drink the original Makers any day, but it can come across a bit thin. On the flip side, the Makers CS was too much for me to handle, time and air did t open it up, and I ended up gifting it to a friend. This seems to be filling that “just right” bucket for me. On the nose...... A lovely nose to ponder. Brown sugar, butter, cinnamon...like a softer version of Wild Turkey but no less full bodied. It enters the palate gently, with a burst of spice on the mid palate, and then its smooth as butter going down. That mid-palate is important. That’s what I’m missing in the classic Makers, and that’s the clear influence of the French Oak (a lesson won by spending all last year getting to know a bottle of Compass Box Spice Tree). The finish is subtle but lingers. A gentle reminder of what you just drank, like a liquid cinnamon bun. A worth purchase. I was looking for a bourbon to get me through the summer, and this will do ever so nicely. At $30, it’s a great price too. I like the wheaters, bit I don’t really want to shell out for Weller, and this fits the bill well. Cheers!

Another pour from yesterday’s socially distanced drinking. This was a unique funky adventure the only way American craft spirits can be. At first sniff I thought I was drinking a lager instead of whisky. It smelled mostly of hops! My buddy said the distillery does use hops in the whisky production. The adventure continued on the palate. Definitely didn’t taste like any whisky I’ve tried. A mixture of cookie dough and sweet’n’sour sauce. Most bizarre. But I applaud these folks for making something different that stands out in a (potentially soon to not be...) crowded market.

A buddy brought this over for some socially distanced drinking this afternoon. It’s not that it was bad, but it was just...there. The nose is a funky adventure, with sweet and sour notes (emphasis on the sour...), sherr rancio, and a mild vanilla from the bourbon casks. Palate and finish are much better, but still a little meh at 40%. It’s like Glendronach 12 on Valium. Fine to drink when offered by a friend. Not something I’d seek out, especially given the price for entry.

What is the hype around this exactly? How did this become a rare trophy bottle? Is Buffalo Trace the MacAllan of the bourbon world? Discuss... I found this for $17 while stocking up on bourbon for the summer, so clearly not scarcity pricing ala Weller 12. As the years slide on, I find myself gravitating farther and farther away from bourbon (‘Merica?) and reaching for one of the single malts in my cabinet. I try to revisit the category every so often to regain my bearings but it’s been a while since I had anything that truly knocked my socks off. This certainly didn’t do the trick. The nose is somehow both weak and astringent at the same time, which after a few minutes calms down into some funky brown sugar, like oatmeal you left out on the counter too long. The palate is similarly anaemic. Watery mouthfeel, weak bourbon notes, and a very funky (Read: mouldy or partially cooked) finish that would be more characteristic of a rum or Campbeltown malt. Boo. Ok, so not a winner. I’ll shove it in the back of the cabinet and see where things are in six months. My neighbor and I have been discussing bourbon cocktails from over the fence and six feet apart the last few weeks so I’ll toss this one in with our Old Fashioned and Mint Julep recipes and let our wives decide which is best. Approach at your own risk. Certainly not worth the hype...

Mother of God. I'd wager that for most of our whisky drinking experience, we come across pours where we think, "Oh, that's nice. I might buy a bottle" or "That was ok, but I'll skip a purchase" or maybe even "Holy shit, that's awful. Who made this?!", but rarely am I left dumbfounded at how mesmerizing something is that makes time stand still and all I can think of is "Mother of God...". It's no secret that I'm a Glendronach fanboy. I continue to hunt down their various expressions like a kid completing his set of baseball cards. I like the integrity of their bottlings, the distillery character (and characters...), and the commitment to exclusive sherry maturation. Each successive expression I've tried has something wonderful to offer, which culminates in this 21 (ish) year old masterpiece. Back in the 80's when Transformers was still a new thing, there were a set of robots that each had their own powers, but they were also able to combine to form a super-Autobot of sorts to create a hero that was greater than the sum of their parts. My experience with this whisky was the same. I get the robust quality of the GD spirit from the 8 year old Hielen, the youthful exuberance and approachability of the 12 year old Original, the spicy, sticky Christmasy quality of the new 15 year Revival (the Revival Revival?), the penetrating, old oak of the 18 year Allardice. Somehow, inexplicably, these flavors happen all at once in the 21 year; a sum of the best of GD's other core offerings, culminating in an experience that can only lead to me expressing "Mother of God...". I'll go easy on the tasting notes. This one is best experienced for yourself. I may have overpaid for this, but I'm not concerned at this point. This is far and away the best whisky on my shelf, and quite honestly, the price point stands up when you compare it to other popular 21 year olds (cough, Macallan, cough, Balvenie). Pull the trigger and see for yourself, and yes, I think this is better than the "old" 18 year bottlings, which to be fair, are fantastic in their own right (gave it a 4.75 myself), but this one takes the experience to a whole new level for me. Post in the comments below what whisk(e)y gave you that "Holy shit, now this is whisk(e)y!!!" moment in your journey, and if you haven't arrived there yet, I hope you do soon. Cheers.

So, I gave up drinking for Lent. Today's Easter. Despite the global pandemic, I made it the 40+ days through the wilderness watching y'all post one great review after another while resisting the temptation to raid my own cabinet. After such a drought, what do you pour for yourself? Macallan 18? Glendronach 21? Wild Turkey Rare Breed? No folks, instead I present to you the humble Glendronach 8 Year Old, "The Hielan'". This pour is a Europe exclusive for Glendronach, and in a departure from their typical sherry monster aging process, this one is aged in a combination of bourbon and sherry barrels (more on that later). Since I don't live in Europe, I ordered it from Fine Drams (the only online retailer that'll ship to Texas...) for a grand total of $32. A bargain for Glendronach. It comes out of the bottle a remarkable golden amber color, is not chill-filtered, natural color, and bottled at 46%. I'm reviewing a neck pour here, and I'm planning on this opening up more over time, with subsequent reviews to follow. The nose reveals classic Glendronach spice and creamy malt. It's similar to the GD 12 Year, but with more caramel and vanilla from the bourbon barrels. It's more spirit-forward too; not surprising given it's young age, and I'm guessing that the vatting had more bourbon barrels than sherry barrels, as the sherry influence is hardly noticeable on the nose, which is unusual for GD, typically known for their sherry monsters. As I tip it back, the palate is coating and creamy; classic GD profile, but it's light and effervescent. Hardly any fruit. The finish comes in soft at first, but the proof eventually catches up, leaving a slightly astringent note that lingers, albeit not an unpleasant one. There's the sherry barrels. That astringency is likely from tired, refill sherry casks that once held more heavy-hitting Glendronach spirits. The bottle doesn't specify what type of sherry this one is aged in, stark in comparison the the 12, 15, 18, 21, or pretty much anything else they put out. I don't have a final verdict for this one yet. I'm gonna let it sit and open up. It's not bad, or poorly made; rather, it's a challenging and compelling dram, that strips away the sherry veneer of Glendronach's usual offerings and showcases their robust, spicy Highland spirit. This bottle certainly isn't for everyone. Glendronach fans need not apply. What this pour did serve to do in it's initial outing for me was to highlight more of the distillery's spirit character and help me discern it better in their other offerings, thereby enhancing the overall GD experience. 3.75 for now, but I expect this will go up with time, oxidation, and patient exploration. Cheers.

This isn't a review for this particular bottle, but rather a five star rating for the individuals who helped turn me onto this bottle. This isn't available in the US, and getting anybody to ship liquor to Texas is next to impossible (Whisky Exchange and Master of Malt won't do it), so thank you to whomever turned me onto Fine Drams (it was either @jonwilkinson7309 or @dhsilv2 ), and bless you and your loved ones. After reading glowing reviews on this one from @Generously_Paul, @LeeEvolved , and @Telex, I had to get this to round out the GlenDronach core age-statement range. Review forthcoming, but just sticking my nose in the bottle shows a very different GlenDronach indeed. Characteristic GD spice, but enveloped in bourbon flavors of caramel and vanilla. Very excited to further explore this one. Just wanted to say thank you to the community here for helping me along my spirits journey and make intelligent choices with my cash. Cheers!

Review coming soon. Gave up drinking for Lent, and we’re close enough to the finish line that I decided not to let the global pandemic derail that. In the meantime, I picked this up today, and when I popped the cork, it was moldy. The juice seems unaffected, and luckily I had an old GlenDronach cork that I swapped it out with (always save your corks folks!). Seems like the bottle sat in the back room at Total Wine for a while (2017 bottling), and some condensation built up. Anybody else had this happen before?

Re-review at bottle kill. Purchased: March 17, 2019 Bottle Kill: February 2, 2020 I'm almost embarrassed at how long it took me to finish this, but I really just couldn't get into the idea of cask strength Redbreast after a while. Every time I drank this I found myself not enjoying it very much, and diluting it down to the point where it was pretty much the standard 40% Redbreast 12. Eventually, I just proofed down the entire bottle, which made it go much faster, but then I wonder why I paid the extra $20 for the CS version. Perhaps I got a dud batch, but I think next time I go a-hunting for Irish whiskey, I'll go back to the old standard Redbreast 12. Cheers all.

Re-review at bottle kill. Purchased: June 20, 2019 Killed: January 24, 2020 Treacle. Bacon. Bonfires. That's what is printed on the bottle. How appropriate. Couldn't have said it better myself. I've said it before, there's no bad Ardbeg, just good Ardbeg and better Ardbeg. As is sipped on the last remnants of this bottle I tried to think of anything that wasn't great about this bottle. It's so popular on this platform and raved about by whisky reviewers around the world. Surely it can't live up to the hype. As I kept sipping, I for once couldn't come up with anything. Peat? Yep. Sherry? Yep. Good ABV? Yep. This may perhaps be a rare example of a bottle getting better as you get to the bottom. At the risk of cheapening the five-star review, I'm sending one out here. I've even gone so far as to adjust past five-star reviews I've given (in this case lowering them) to reflect my current opinions about those pours, and to illustrate just how good this one is. It maintained its integrity from neck pour to bottle kill, and quite honestly, was a steel at the price I paid for it. While Talisker will always have my heart as my top peated dram, Ardbeg remains a fond friend and close confidant. Cheers!