Tastes
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My other favourite everyday bourbon. Nose: Maple, honey, caramel apple, cinnamon. Palate: Sweet with fairly thin mouthfeel. Orchard fruits and baking spices. Finish: Long, warm, buttery. From start to finish this about as close to eating a warm slice of classic Ameican apple pie as you can get in a flavour profile. Hopefully someday my area will start offering some of the barrel strength options. Until then, I'll always have a bottle of ECSB in my rotation.
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Woodford Reserve Bourbon
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed January 17, 2024 (edited January 20, 2024)I've been drinking this for years but might as well do a proper review. Even before I knew anything about whisky, I was a fan of WR bourbon. It was one of the first spirits I thought about tasting as opposed to pouring down my gullet. Nose: Caramel, maple, oak and dried fruits. Palate: Classic bourbon profiles, a little watery mouthfeel. Smooth, oaky and lots of caramel, vanilla and burnt sugar. Finish: Medium length and sweetness dries up. Fruity and tannic. This and Elijah Craig small batch are my go-to every day bourbons. I think Distiller's rating is a little high, but I also don't get the people that say it's overrated. It may not be tremendously complex, but damn it's a balanced and tasty dram. -
Maple Leaf Spirits Pear Williams
Eau-de-Vie — British Columbia, Canada
Reviewed January 9, 2024 (edited January 18, 2024)This is my 100th Distiller review. I wanted to try something a little special for this one. I came across this distillery when trying to find Kirsch, and decided to order 5 bottles of their offerings. Their pear Williams is made from 100% distilled Okanagan pears. This is the first review of the five. Nose: The ripest pear you've ever smelled. White pepper. A funk that took me a while to realize was the exact smell of rendered pork fat. Good but not amazing. Palate: Oily mouthfeel. Slightly sweet. An explosion of pear. Hints of Pinot Grigio. The pork fat also comes through but in a good way. You feel like you just ate a quality pork chop with a side of pear sauce. Getting better here. Finish: Surpsingly lengthy. Dries up completely and you're left with floral, almost perfume notes. It's the essence of pear blossom and just stays. Spectacular. The finish brings this from a 3.5 to a 4.25 for me. -
Del Maguey Minero Santa Catarina Minas Mezcal
Mezcal Joven — Oaxaca, Mexico
Reviewed December 31, 2023 (edited January 20, 2024)My first time trying mezcal. Really looking forward to this one. Nose is agave, vegetal, rubber, and lemon. Palate is an absolute fiesta. Savoury herbs, clay, and smoke along with the slightly sweet agave. Finish is warm, lengthy and tremendously complex. This is a completely new experience for me and just as mind blowing as the first time I tried an Islay single malt. -
The Distiller expert score has thus far had me steer clear of BH due to the price. I also recently tried their rye offering and it wasn't for me. I now have a bottle though, and a good friend swears by it, so let's give it a go. Nose: Savoury for a bourbon. Leather, oak and a touch of rye spice. Palate: Also spicy and savoury, with heavy wood notes. This is probably the least sweet bourbon I've tried so far, and it's a nice change of pace. Finish: Medium length, dry and warming. The wood really comes out to play hear, and I get a lingering taste of cedar that reminds me of being in a sauna. As a straight sipper it's good, but it lacking some depth. Could be the low ABV I suppose. It does make one hell of an old fashioned though. Would I buy another bottle at $56? Probably not when there are so many other solid offerings at that price. I will enjoy making some cocktails with this bottle though.
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Found a tester of this at the back of one of my cupboards. It had likely been there for 8-9 years, so the choices were: leave it for another 8-9 years, pour it, or try drinking it. Naturally I chose the last option. Upon cracking it open, it smells like what an alien would create when told to make a raspberry. Palate was ethanol mixed with alien generated raspberry. Finish is shorter than a $5 lap dance. Mixed with cranberry and soda, it's actually not terrible. I guess there's a reason $5 lap dances exist.
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I remember as a young boy, smelling Grand Marnier and thinking it smelled like oranges soaked in gasoline. Hopefully my nose has evolved a little bit since then. This time it smells to me like the most heavenly Moroccoan clementine grove, with little hints of Napoleon's courage. The palate is syrupy, but the cognac helps keep the sweetness in check. Along with orange you get notes of spice and Earl Grey tea. The finish is warm and lingers a little longer than you'd expect for a liqueur. It dries up and you're left with a hint of oak. All in all, I can safely report that after 35 years between whiffs, I now understand why people like this stuff. It's one hell of a spirit.50.0 CAD per Bottle
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Writer's Tears. I enjoyed the double oak but wasn't blown away. It's been a while since my last good cry, so let's give the copper pot a go. Nose: Apple explosion. A bit of honey but you could easily be tricked into thinking this is a calvados. Palate: Delicate mouthfeel. Apple forward, sweet honey and then the malty grains. Smooth as butter on a slip and slide. Finish: Medium length, and the sweetness dries up entirely to leave you with a pleasant oak with a hint of spice. I was surprised to enjoy this more than the double oak. Maybe I'm just turning emo.55.0 CAD per Bottle
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Aberlour 12 Year Double Cask Matured
Single Malt — Highlands, Scotland
Reviewed December 18, 2023 (edited January 20, 2024)Love this bottle with the extra wide cork. Nose is fruits galore, especially cherry and fig. It's been a while since I've had a Speyside, and forgot how gorgeous the fruit bouquets can be with these malts. On the palate it starts off sliky smooth, and drier than the nose would indicate. The wood notes are front and center with stone fruits and raisins playing harmony. The finish is lengthy and warm. The apple and spices really come through at this point, and you'd swear you just sipped a high quality rye. This dram does everything very well, but nothing spectacularly. Would be a great choice for introducing someone to Scotch (and subsequently ruining their life 😉 -
This is the least I've ever paid for a bottle of Scotch. Couldn't resist picking up a bottle for $35. Nose is very promising. Sweet brown sugar greets you along with oak and a hint of smoke to remind you that this is from Scotland. Palate starts hot and vert sweet. The rum influences knock you down like a blunderbuss. The flavours then round out with some dark fruits, chocolate and a puff of smoke. Finish is short, and leaves you with all of the notes of a golden rum. The youth of the spirits is apparent, but the blender has done a great job keeping the edges from being too rough. I have mixed (blended?) feelings on this one. On one hand, it tastes pretty good overall and you can't beat the price. On the other, it's a bit too sweet to drink neat. I can see it really shining as an interesting alternative to dark rum in cocktails or just with some cola and ice.35.0 CAD per Bottle
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