Tastes

My shortest note ever – Oogie is simply liquid bacon Kansas City BBQ in a glass. Delicious from nose to finish.

Noses like apple marzipan. Goes in slightly sweet, with a good bit of oak. Finishes out sorta rapidly, but with a burn. Water helps the burn, but don't overdo it -- you don't want oak juice. Almost a disappointment for the name, but as a drink, it's about as drinkable as the white wine it looks like.

Started out with a whiff of good clean grain whiskey for me, maybe a little pear... was something muted. Went in with a touch of apple, a little vanilla. Finished with a sweet burn. Not actually bad, but not worth the price. Having it with water, or making a highball outta this, yields increasing amounts of apple.

I must be having an off day, so I might come back and update this later. Wasn't immediately able to place this. Greets you with a nice grain whiskey aroma. Maybe a little citrus, something slightly dark. Goes in very smooth, sweet, possibly a hint of toffee or something dark like it. Long finish, passing through from darkly sweet to oak. Great taken neat.

This darker amber dram greeted me with a hint of peach and oak, both on fire. Going in, it was almost sherry, definitely smoky wood. Finished with a lingering caramel. Very, very smooth all around. A few drops of water seemed to add a bit of a spice. As a highball, it was rendered into an adult peach and apple drink (no judgment on that particular outcome...). To me, there was an odd (but NOT unpleasant) fleeting signature to the taste. I'm not sure what it is. It's unique.

This greets me with hints of wood, and hints of fruit. It goes in a little spicy, a little charred -- not quite peat. Finishes warm and a little spice, something bittersweet at the brief end. It's kinda generic with increasing amounts of water. It was pleasant enough as a highball, but I wouldn't drink it that way.

I got this and my Hakushu 12 in little 180ml bottles at Narita, cause a tour group cleaned out the terminal of normal sized bottles while I was there. Glad I got this anyway! "Sound" greets you with fruit fruit fruit, then goes in as honey and nuts. A little water enhances the fresh oak essence. It finishes smooth and sweet; you can almost imagine this bowing to you. It's just an immensely enjoyable blend. Don't bother with this in a highball. It doesn't hold up to THAT much water. Glad this is finally in the US... much cheaper in Japan, though.

Hm. "White Sandbar" here is an interesting animal. It's champagne colored self greets you with a vaguely "typical Speyside" fruit bouquet, and is fairly sweet with hints of peat and caramel in the mouth. It finishes kinda smoky. Stands up well to the Japanese highball treatment, making it a nice dinner drink. Not too hard to find in the US... possibly with good reason. It's not expensive, it's solid, but it's not amazing or stunning. I've got other things to buy, so probably wouldn't buy this again.

This is one amber treasure. Miles of smoke greet you, and this develops into a bonfire with hints of pepper in your mouth. It finishes in about a year, with a little burn. I apparently can't ever taste salt, and so I didn't really notice this. It's certainly not at all sweet. A little water of course helps with the burn, and opens up the peat character. Strangely, the peat seems to go away if you decide to try this as a highball. It just ends up fruity.

I really wanted to like this. I even fought my friend for the last bottle at the local store. He won, but I found another... long story short, battle not worth fighting. This amber dram opens pungent and peaty, with an earthy character. It progresses to something oily, salty, peaty, and ok, a little fruity. It finishes peaty, some burn... water helps settle some of the mishmash, but that's what it is. To me, this was the kitchen sink of scotches. It's got something for everyone! But uh, all at once is off-putting. Maybe I'll come back to this in a year or two and see if I like it better then.