Tastes

A casual survey of American reality dating shows or online dating sites and apps consistently advertise their quest for "the one". The one who will make all your dreams come true and help you reach maximum self-actualization in the form of romantic bliss. If bourbon and rye are some of America's finer exports, than our contributions to the world dating pool are the antithesis of that. I met Mrs. Whiskey_Longhorn the old way, and we're quite happy. No swiping necessary. Anyway, here's a whiskey. A Kentucky straight rye whiskey to be exact. Damn good rye too. From our friends over at Wild Turkey, this is a Single Barrel rye whiskey, 104 proof, NCF, bursting with flavor and character, and my new favorite rye. Pulled from the center ricks at the [now] famed Camp Nelson warehouse (home to many recent RR SiB Bourbons and this year's Master's Keep BiB), this comes in a fetching bulbous decanter with a forest green label that brings out the rich mahogany color (cue Ron Burgundy) of the liquid. Before I go any further, please understand that with single barrel picks, your mileage may vary, though I've found that most distilleries only put out a single barrel line when there's a reasonable level of consistency (at least within 1 standard deviation of flavor profile). I've been quite deliberate about letting this one breathe. The pour I'm writing about tonight comes from a bottle that I've been sipping on for about 2 weeks now, the fill level is below the label, and I let it air out in the Glen before sipping. NOW, that said, it's sitting on the desk next to me and I can smell it billowing out of the glass from 2 feet away. It's an old school American bakery in here. Rye bread, cinnamon buns, cherry pie with graham cracker crust, some bitter dark chocolate, caramels, and the ubiquitous barrel spice (almost too much but juuuuuuuust the right amount). If you give it the time, the nose rewards you with many tasty treats. I'm generally not one to tell you how to drink your whiskey, but with this one, please, please tip it back and just let it sit on your tongue for 10-15 seconds. It is THE best way to experience it. It has a slow build, similar to a hot pepper that enters mild enough for you to say "OH, that's not so hot", only for it to smite you moments later. This rye blooms on the palate, gently at first with a chewy caramel cherry flavor. Giving it a little chew brings out some more of the oak tannins (I'm guessing this is 6-9 year old rye), and then as you swallow, BAM, there's the pepper, opening and expanding into your chest with the force of an erupting volcano. If it feels uncomfortable at first, that's normal. Ride the wave. So the final verdict here is a 4.5. Highly recommend. This holds its own against Pikesville (though the profiles are different), leaves the standard RR rye dead in the dust, and though I haven't had the Cornerstone, multiple reviews say that it's this rye but with a longer finish. Not worth $175. Not when you can get this for $60. Availability may be limited in your area from what I hear, as Wild Turkey makes a lot more bourbon than rye, but if you see this and you're a rye fan, buy on sight. Damn good rye. Dare I say, I think I've found "the one". Cheers!

It's interesting tracing the history of whisky production and consumption. It seems like what has been "in vogue" changes over the decades and centuries the same way fashion, political movements, and the baking soda in my refrigerator. For many, many years, blended whisky was the preferred tipple of both commoner and gentry alike, while single malts were either bottom shelf slag or not made available to the public. It was only in the late 70's and 80's when the marketing mucky mucks decided to elevate single malts to the place of prominence that we hold (and pay for) them at today, while blends have been regulated to the bottom shelf and the back of the store. I've always admired what Compass Box has done in terms of innovation with an eye towards history. This blend and its brother, Glasgow blend, are a clear nod to that history. What comes to mind when you think of Scotch Grain Whisky? Could it be the harsh, metallic notes of JW Red or Cutty Sark? How about inferior and obscure relative to your favorite single malts? Ever heard of North British or Cameronbridge? What about soft, creamy, coconut, and vanilla? Not what you might expect, but that's what you find in the Artist's blend. Wakey wakey to a sunshiney nose of grass, hay, apples, pears, sage, white pepper, graham crackers, and cream. It enters on your palate a bit thin at first, but blooms into peaches and cream, vanillas, lemon bars, macaroons....it's pastries in a glass! The finish takes a turn I wasn't expecting, moving into a drier, spicier mouthfeel that lasts for a medium to long amount of time. No sharp edges. No metallic notes. Just a nice sip. Repeated tastes remain consistent, and the finish builds up on the palate the more you drink it. So at the time I'm writing this, it's about 106 outside. I love my high proof bourbons and sherry or peat monsters as much as the rest of you, but when it's this hot, I want something light to sip on. This fills the bill just right. For those of you new to whisky or looking for a good gateway into Scotch, this is your dram. It's eminently representative of the Highland/Speyside style, and comes with 43% proof, NCF, and total transparency from the production team (Take notes, Diageo!). If you watch the Whisky Vault channel and you've tried Monkey Shoulder, this is comparable to that one, but I think you get a little added complexity with the grain whisky element. Final score is 3.5, with an added .25 for value. Cheers!

A classic. An American workhorse. Good in cocktails. Better on ice. For $20, you could do a lot worse. Neat, it’s brash and unapologetic. Not so much hot, but you feel the rye spice. Initially shocking to the palate, it calms down to give you nutty, classic bourbon notes. Pecans in particular. I would highly recommend you have a bottle of this around. I do NOT recommend you drink this in a glencairn looking for a thoughtful sipping experience. Put it in an rocks glass on ice and turn up the TV. Sometimes you just need a drink. Cheers!

Time to continue our American whiskey summer. I've avoided rye for years; never quite reconciling it's flavor profile with my preferences. With my recent return to bourbon, I've decided to explore the ryes offered by some of my favorite bourbon distilleries. We'll start with Old Forester, and you'll see some other offerings from Wild Turkey down the line here. This is a new rye offering from Old Forester, which makes some of my favorite bourbon on the planet. They're reviving an old, old rye mashbill that Brown-Foreman acquired from another distillery they bought on their way to world domination. What makes this unique is that after the rye in the mashbill (around 62%), the next highest grain is malted barley at around (17%), with the remainder being corn. That ought to create a unique profile for any American spirit. What's in this one? The nose is softer than it is spicy. Already different from many ryes. The black pepper is present, but not in your face. If you're an experienced single malt drinker, you'll detect the barley sugars and maltiness on the nose, almost like Whoppers candy. No hint of the proof, despite the relatively high ABV. A fine start. It hits your tongue and BAM it explodes with flavors with the force of rocketing down a water slide. There's cherry, allspice, clove, semi-sweet chocolate, ginger, spearmint, and a hint of cinnamon. This all leads into a gentle, warming finish that lingers for a long time on the palate due to the proof, though at no point is it harsh or astringent. It's also oily and mouth coating due to the high barley content. Repeated visits to the glass bring out more cherry on the nose and more notes of toffee and graham cracker in the palate. What a ride! This is good rye. Bordering on great. Did I mention that this is around $25 MSRP? At that price this is a must buy. I can also report that it's versatile in mixed drinks (best old fashioned I've made so far in quarantine) and on ice (because Texas summer). I've had ryes that cost 3X what this does that I like a whole lot less. It packs a wallop of flavor and complexity for an almost criminal price. Highly recommend. Cheers!

Blended Scotch often gets a bad rap, and in many cases, rightfully so perhaps, but this one is certainly worth a look. I’ve always enjoyed and appreciated the thought and craftsmanship that Compass Box puts into their products, and it seems with their Great King Street line they’ve sought to dispel the notion that blends are just bottom shelf slag. Being a blend, this is both malt and grain whiskies. It’s got peated malt (Laphroaig), sherried malt (Benrines), highland malt (Clynleesh...which I can only assume John Glasser is a minority stakeholder in by now), and well aged grain whisky from either Cameronbridgre or North British. Any blend with peated malt, especially Laphroaig, runs the risk of it overpowering the other elements. Thankfully that doesn’t happen here. This is a thoughtful and tasty marriage of peat, sherry, and grain. Really the holy grail for Scotch. And for $40 no less. The nose is my favorite part. One of those noses that changes a bit each time you go in. Sometimes peat, sometimes gentle sherry, even sometimes the sweetness from the grain. The palate matches the nose. The peat manages to be present without overpowering the other flavors. The sherry sands off the harsher elements of the Laphroaig (a malt I tend not to enjoy on its own), and the grain adds a creamy, rounded depth to the taste. The finish is drying and medium length. Easy 4 star dram for me. Extra .25 for value. Big thanks to @Richard-ModernDrinking and @ScotchingHard for their upbeat reviews to help me pull the trigger on this one. Forget Highland Park 12. This is the new “great all rounder” in Scotch.

So I'm starting to see more finished bourbons on the market. Some are crackers, like Belle Meade or Angels Envy (you can already see where this is going...), and some don't quite stick the landing, and fall short of a memorable pour. I like finished bourbon as a category, and it's shaken up what was perhaps if not a stagnant market, then not a very diverse one. Sadly, this bottle does not offer much to run out and buy one. The nose feels like two drinks working against one another. I get the deep, fruity, grapey notes from the wine, and I get the neutered rye spice from the bourbon. It's been a minute since I had regular Jefferson's bourbon, but the fact that I can't recall much in the way of tasting notes moves it more into the "forgettable" category. The combination of the two noses leads to an uncomfortable olfactory experience; not a promising start. It enters HOT on the palate. Much hotter than 45% should. The comedy of errors from the nose returns once the alcohol simmers down. Grape must, boarding on cough syrup, with caramel and barrel tannin from the bourbon. These are flavors that are lovely on their own, but combined it's like peanut butter and mustard. Not for me. Or most sane people. The finish is warming, but not enough to salvage this mess. So after sifting through the wreckage of my tasting notes, I remembered that I also paid $60 for this bottle. I've made some bad purchases in the past, but this one may take the crown. Fortunately, I have a good friend who's into cocktail alchemy, and I'm sure he'll be able to make this palatable with some combination of bitters, vermouth, or amari. I will happily bequeath it to him. In the meantime, don't buy this bottle. Instead get one of the lovely Belle Meade cask finishes (or hell, regular Belle Meade) and be much happier with your purchase. Cheers.

Just say no. For $20, you can do better. There’s nice bourbon notes...somewhere, but it’s just buried under a mountain of acetone. I only tasted a sample bottle, but I couldn’t finish it. No more Beam for me. Save your $20, and buy a bottle of Wild Turkey 101 or Evan Williams Single Barrel. You’ll be glad you did.

Story time. I don’t believe I would have ever crossed paths with this bottle if I hadn’t received it in a trade. Early on in my whiskey exploration, I was only into bourbon. Hadn’t tried much scotch yet and hadn’t developed a palate for it yet (obviously that’s changed...). My father in law, bless his heart, had heard I was into whiskey, and gets me a full handle of Chivas 12 for Christmas. Now I still don’t think Chivas is that great, bit back then it was downright revolting. I had a coworker who I knew was into cheep scotch, so we arranged a trade, and I ended up with this bottle. I’m not sure who came up with this concept. It’s basically MGP bourbon blended with Stranahans single malt, cut and bottled in Denver. It’s watery and one note. Brown sugar on brown sugar. Not bad, but not something you want to rush out and buy either. Since acquiring the bottle, Tincup has released a 10 year age statement expression and a rye. Wondering if those might be any better.

The best of the bottom shelf. What else needs to be said about this beguiling bottle? Under $15? Check. Bottled in bond? Check? Packed full of flavor? Check. Good sipper neat or on ice? Check, especially with ice. Good mixer? Really holds up in a spirit forward cocktail. This may be one of the best values in bourbon. I don’t often comment on color, but this one is DARK. Must have been a hot rickhouse over at Evan Williams. The nose is a bit sharp, yes, but a few drops of water or a big chunk of ice settles it right the hell down, giving you the nose you’d expect on a bourbon with a little extra dusty wood shop for good measure, not unlike Wild Turkey 101. It’s hot on the palate with a long finish. It’s not complex but that doesn’t make it bad. When my wife and I were first married and both in grad school on a shoestring budget, this bottle got me through. Long before the special editions and fancy single malts, Evan Williams and I had some fine late nights together and I can’t help but add a few points for sentimentality. At around $15, what do you have to lose? Pick up a bottle and see for yourself. Cheers.