Tastes

An UCF BiB for just over $20 that mixes very well and even has some elements of a decent sipper (especially the nose, for me).

Nose: floral, sweet dark fruits and roasted nuts Palate: oily with red fruits and honey Finish: short-medium Overall: For the most part this is a solid whisky. The red wine finish is integrated well throughout. The nose is the best part - interesting and packed with fruits. The only real drawbacks are a finish with little to it and an abv that could definitely have been higher.

Nose: lemongrass standing out in an herb garden; cool and flinty with a hint of bubble gum Palate: mixture of herbs and light fruits with hint of citrus Finish: short to medium; light-tasting Overall: interesting and worth trying

This is a good bourbon at a great price. Makes a solid cocktail (Manhattan for me) and is even a decent sipper. It would be nice to see the single barrel at this strength.

Light nose and a mild palate, which makes for a poor cocktail whiskey. This one is decent when used to follow some beer, when a mild sipper is desired.

Nose: honey, apple, vanilla, light non-peat “smoke”, Palate: juicy fruits, honey, pear, light stone fruits, creamy, wood, ginger Finish: light woody flavors with sweet red fruits Overall: with little love for blends I find this to be surprisingly good

A great whisky, both in terms of its quality and price. 2 ppm phenols. Vatting of 75/25 bourbon/sherry casks. As the distillery’s standard bearer this is also nearly in a league of its own, and is one of the great basic scotches available, in the group with Springbank, Highland Park, & Lagavulin. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FiZD6nFo5KQ ; https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=c0nqz_4Q_XM Aroma of sherry barrel, toasted nuts, and vanilla (brine and/or very light peat?). Palate includes sweet caramel and a bit of brine and ginger. Finish is medium length with light spice. Overall this is a lightly salted caramel and slight funk (brine/peat).

Edradour 2006-17. Aged 10.5 years in a single sherry butt. 59.3 abv. Strong nutty and sherried aromas. With water there is a bit of tropical fruit. Similar to the description on this site, I get cocoa, coffee, and pepper in it with the sherry. Add a little water to bring out more sherry, honey, and red fruits. Unfortunately, on the nose and palate there is also a ton of sulphur in this, perhaps more than should be there (maybe low quality casks?). After opening it took months for the sulphur to subside to a more reasonable level. If not for the sulphur this would get a higher rating, and sure enough, after about six months it starts to open up more and more, becoming a very nice sherry bomb. Only available from U. K. distributors [2017-18].