Tastes

It’s 2020. It’s December. Let’s shut this year down with a brand new whiskey (or whisky) every day. It’s my own personal whiskey advent calendar. +6! Dec. 22, 2020 How dare you accuse me of purchasing this scotch today for $49.99 at my grocery store simply because it came with two really cool looking glasses. It’s not that easy to win my affection. This is an outrage. When I uncorked this whisky, the black part twisted off leaving the cork still stuck in the bottle. I have never seen that before. Not a good start, Dalmore. You will now have the cork formerly owned by Ezra Brooks. I hope you’re happy. Nose has sugar, raisin, pickle juice. It’s a head-scratcher. Sugar like a bourbon, raisin like a sherry-finished Speyside, pickle like a rye. Body has raisin, vanilla, ice cream. It’s delicious. If I had to pick one thing, I’d say a raisin cookie with soft vanilla icing. Finish is malt chocolate, toffee. If I force the dill pickle note, trying to trick my palate into viewing this as a rye whiskey, the sweetness on the finish kind of takes a backseat to a briny, salty note. But I can just as easily focus on the raisin to get turned back on to those sweet, desert notes. It’s substantially more enjoyable as a sweet, desert whisky than as a briny one. This is just delightful. I just read into how they make this stuff, and the choose your own adventure bit makes sense now. After nine years in ex-bourbon casks, half of it goes in ex-Sherry butts for 3 years while the other half stays in ex-bourbon casks. This introduces the sherry sweetness without completely overriding the bourbon influence, which I’d bet a nickel was a high-rye bourbon influence. Very cool whisky witchcraft here, and I’m very glad I took a flyer on this scotch. (Even with that busted cork nonsense, which I’m going to assume is an anomaly.) ‘Tis the season. I’m day-to-day on my whiskey selection, so if you’re reading this and there’s something readily available out there you’d like me to enjoy/suffer through this holiday season, leave it in the comments. Merry whiskey to all, and to all a beer flight!

It’s 2020. It’s December. Let’s shut this year down with a brand new whiskey (or whisky) every day. It’s my own personal whiskey advent calendar. +6! Dec. 21, 2020 Compass Box round 3. Once every 397 years, when Saturn, Jupiter, and Milliardo’s 200th tasting are in perfect alignment, the monster is released. I am not afraid. I recently tried Octomore. That forever changes a person. Very light in color. I may never get used to that in scotch. Nose is corned beef. I can’t tell if I can smell thousand island or if that’s the reuben talking. Bit of vinegar, bit of steak sauce. This smells delicious, meaty, and yet still distinct from the other peaty scotches I’ve had to date. That vinegar kicks in on the body. It’s acidic, but there’s a sweetness on it too. It’s barbecue sauce. I actually really like it. Finish could be burnt meat, but I think it’s smarter to call it a mild cigar. It’s mild spice, mostly smoke. This is my least favorite of the Compass Box trilogy, but it’s still decent. Peat crosses the line for me when you feel like you’ve just puffed on a cigar. I’m sure that’s a thing many folks like, but it’s not my cup of tea. This one only does it at the very end, and if I could chop that off, I’d really appreciate this scotch like its siblings. ‘Tis the season. I’m day-to-day on my whiskey selection, so if you’re reading this and there’s something readily available out there you’d like me to enjoy/suffer through this holiday season, leave it in the comments. Merry whiskey to all, and to all a beer flight!

It’s 2020. It’s December. Let’s shut this year down with a brand new whiskey (or whisky) every day. It’s my own personal whiskey advent calendar. +6! Dec. 20, 2020 Compass Box round 2! Okay, this may be my favorite nose on a scotch to date. There’s apple, cinnamon, sugar, vanilla. This smells like a delicious desert, and to be frank: I thought only bourbons could pull off a nose like that. Body carries that tart green apple. It is so good. There’s vanilla, honey. Maple syrup. But that apple wins the show for me. Finish is where that cinnamon comes back. It’s a lingering buzz, and though I don’t really get any other flavors, the cinnamon is well executed. I finished my sample after after letting my palate rest, and when I first returned, it tasted like a scotch. Over time, the flavor density builds up, and after 2-3 sips, if you were to put this in a lineup with bourbons, I wouldn’t blink. There is a mild grain note on the nose that betrays it’s scotch heritage, but the flavor density and specific profiles achieved are something that (10 minutes ago) I would’ve sworn a scotch simply can’t do. I’ve been an intolerable bourbon snob for so long. I don’t know what to believe. So @Jan-Case kind of warned me this was coming. I liked the Spaniard. I freaking love this. Looking forward to my final Compass Box tomorrow! ‘Tis the season. I’m day-to-day on my whiskey selection, so if you’re reading this and there’s something readily available out there you’d like me to enjoy/suffer through this holiday season, leave it in the comments. Merry whiskey to all, and to all a beer flight!

It’s 2020. It’s December. Let’s shut this year down with a brand new whiskey (or whisky) every day. It’s my own personal whiskey advent calendar. +6! Dec. 19, 2020 I was about to hunt down a particular Compass Point, at the recommendation of @Ctrexman then saw this THREE PACK of Compass Point 50 mLs for just $20. So (kind of) by request, here’s the first of the three. If it’s a winner, I might have to restart the hunt! Nose is delicious. Grape juice, cane sugar, fresh cut grass, in that order. Body gives me sweet cherries, hint of vanilla ice cream on the back end. Finish is sweet grapefruit, slight black pepper. So that was actually phenomenal. I had relatively low expectations for a 50 mL in a “budget” 3-pack, but this is an incredibly complex and juicy whisky. I also don’t have to make any compromises for this one. I would’ve accepted a trash finish for that cherry body, but each part of this drink holds its own independently. Running the math: 750/50*6.66 (repeating of course) = $100 for a 750mL. I don’t know if that’s the actual retail of this scotch, but I’d gladly pay that for this one. ‘Tis the season. I’m day-to-day on my whiskey selection, so if you’re reading this and there’s something readily available out there you’d like me to enjoy/suffer through this holiday season, leave it in the comments. Merry whiskey to all, and to all a beer flight!

It’s 2020. It’s December. Let’s shut this year down with a brand new whiskey (or whisky) every day. It’s my own personal whiskey advent calendar. +6! Dec. 18, 2020 I picked up this whiskey to round out my scotch section. I needed a lowlands scotch, was eyeballing anything with the number 18, and my whiskey lady gave this a high recommend. In retrospect, none of those are great reasons to take a flier on a $170 whisky, but here we are. Nose is sea water, taffy, faint apple. Body is creamy in feel, and I get cheddar cheese, fresh dough. Finish has an incredibly pleasant spicy finish. I get jalapeño, more cheddar, and some pepper. I just realized that the thesis statement of this drink is a grilled cheese. And I don’t hate it... I just don’t understand. I mix this with Octomore, and I got myself a damn philly steak. —— So that was day 1. Here is day 2: Nose didn’t change. Body is sweet now. The main flavor I get is red delicious apples. Also sugar, possibly some watermelon. Finish is black pepper, and there’s an amazing rolling buzz that hits your lips in waves. I really really like the feel of the finish. I’m getting a hint of peat here too now. —— I’ve never quite had a drink like this before. I feel like I keep saying that, but it’s true here too. I enjoy it, and it’s really interesting. Tonight I identify this drink as sweet with a spicy finish, but last night I was convinced this was savory. I don’t know how that happens, unless it’s a neck-pour thing. I’m having trouble now getting back to that profile I would’ve sworn by 24 hours ago. Regardless, I’m glad I took a flyer on this distillery that I have trouble pronouncing. I’m excited to see what the rest of this bottle could bring. Note: a splash of water opens up the sweet notes even more. ‘Tis the season. I’m day-to-day on my whiskey selection, so if you’re reading this and there’s something readily available out there you’d like me to enjoy/suffer through this holiday season, leave it in the comments. Merry whiskey to all, and to all a beer flight!

It’s 2020. It’s December. Let’s shut this year down with a brand new whiskey (or whisky) every day. It’s my own personal whiskey advent calendar. +6! Dec. 17, 2020 A while back I tried the 12 year Very Olde St. Nick, and I was so intrigued that I did a bit of research. Here’s the pertinent info on this Very Olde St. Nick 17 year and its brand: 1. Owner Marci Palatella appears to be the only owner ever, despite rumors that this brand appeared to be resurrected and rebranded in 2000 overseas. 2. Olde St. Nick first showed up in the 1980s using old barrels Palatella sourced from the likes of Julian Van Winkle and Evan Kulsveen (Heaven Hill juice). 3. In the past, the Olde St. Nick labels have been flagged by whiskey enthusiasts to be in violation of 27 CFR 5.40 (a) - non straight whiskies without an age statement. 4. In the past, the Olde St. Nick labels have been flagged by whiskey enthusiasts to be in violation of 27 CFR 5.36 (d) - failure to list state of distillation (potentially not a problem if this was distilled in CA, only state mentioned on labels in question). 5. There are rumors Marci has been involved in college admission scandals. 6. Marci claims that Diageo sold Very Olde St. Nick some barrels that Diageo perceived to be aged too long to still have value. (Over 12 years.) 7. These barrels were allegedly crafted under the care of Julian Van Winkle at the old Stitzel-Weller plant, circa 1981. 8. 17 years later, they were vatted to get the juice out of the barrels and shipped to California, for... reasons. 9. Over the next 21 years, the juice sat in steel doing nothing, once again, for... reasons. 10. In 2019, the juice was bottled and released in 375ml bottles at MSRP just under $600. I’ve heard another batch has been released in 2020, but I haven’t seen it. Tasting notes: This nose is predominantly tart cherries. You can smell it from across the room. Hint of lemon, cedar, molasses. There’s a dustiness there too. Body hits with a cherry bomb up front. The natural kind of cherries too. Grape and pear follow after. There’s a strong resemblance to a really solid sangria. Molasses hits on back end of the body. I swear you could sip slowly on this for hours and keep finding new things. I just got maple syrup. Finish has orange, cinnamon, pepper, cherry, leather, cedar. Surprisingly spicy finish given the fruity body. Unbelievably smooth. I include the history of this whiskey and Marci in reverence to the Sagan standard: “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” This whiskey makes some extraordinary claims, but the evidence? It drives me batty that a company could have something this special and be so nonchalant about it. If my juice had a story this special, I’d tattoo it on my face. VOSN won’t even put a meaningful blurb on the back of the bottle. They say. “This Lost Barrel is the very last of some of the rarest Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey in existence.” That’s it. This may be the biggest indicator to me that the story I just mentioned isn’t true. It doesn’t make sense that you wouldn’t brag about that pedigree if it were true. On the other hand, it is very rare that a whiskey tastes so special that it can freeze time around you. This drink takes me back to sipping sangria on the coast of Calpe. I enjoy taking a sip and then sitting in silence for 5 minutes before going back. I’ve shared this with good friends, and they’ve been taken aback by the quality as well. All of that makes me want to believe so bad that the story I just told you is true. So I will. ‘Tis the season. I’m day-to-day on my whiskey selection, so if you’re reading this and there’s something readily available out there you’d like me to enjoy/suffer through this holiday season, leave it in the comments. Merry whiskey to all, and to all a beer flight!

It’s 2020. It’s December. Let’s shut this year down with a brand new whiskey (or whisky) every day. It’s my own personal whiskey advent calendar. +6! Dec. 16, 2020 This whisky sample was given to me by @PBMichiganWolverine so a big shoutout to that guy, because spoilers: I enjoyed the hell out of this one. Hope to repay your kindness one day. Dat nose tho. Wow. If I have ever noted beef before, I take it back and give it all to this. Beef jerky, Slim Jim’s, fresh slow-cooked pork barbecue. This nose is what it means to be a carnivore. I love this. Body hits with a perfect delivery of the nose. Sometimes peat can taste like more smoke than meat, but this is pure meat. It’s rauchbier, beef stroganoff, a hearty vinegar-based Carolina BBQ. Finish is the first place that I’d say a smoke element distinguishes itself from the meat. It’s not cigar smoke though (which I typically don’t care for). This is charcoal smoke, grill smoke. Mild rubber, but the meat and smoke are the dominant notes. It’s also noteworthy that this finish fades faster than other heavy peat whiskeys I’ve had before, like Lagavulin. I don’t think of that a weakness, just something to note. I’m concerned I’ve missed something, not because I feel something is lacking, but because I just typed the words “beef” and “meat” a collective 7 times. Based on my knowledge of “oak walls,” I could intuit there being flavors behind this “peat wall” that I’m too novice to detect. That said, if this is a one-trick pony, I’ll say it again, I like this trick. I’ve never had anything like this before, and later this week I’m going to try to track down a bottle from this distillery. Edit: I added a splash of water to the last few sips. A sweetness developed in the body, possibly apple. I could even go so far as to call that a tangy note now. Fascinating! Edit 2: I have already called my bourbon enforcer to inquire about Octomore. He’s acquiring me two different bottles from that distillery, next time that distribution happens! ‘Tis the season. I’m day-to-day on my whiskey selection, so if you’re reading this and there’s something readily available out there you’d like me to enjoy/suffer through this holiday season, leave it in the comments. Merry whiskey to all, and to all a beer flight!

It’s 2020. It’s December. Let’s shut this year down with a brand new whiskey (or whisky) every day. It’s my own personal whiskey advent calendar. +6! Dec. 15, 2020 When I was at Jim Beam, before I really had fallen in love with bourbon, the tour led us into a room where I could pull some levers and press some buttons. A KC bottle with my sticker on it got filled up and corked by machine. I grabbed it on the other end, dipped it in hot wax, and put my thumbprint in the top. It was then shipped to the gift shop, where I had my name and a date laser etched onto the bottle. Now, I have an entire shelf devoted specifically to Knob Creek bottles and swag, including this personalized bottle, 5 distinct KC variants, a bar mat, and 4 different KC glasses. And after all this: I think Knob Creek is okay. The only other product line that gets this much love on my shelf is Angel’s Envy, who (incidentally) allowed me to bottle my own AE that same summer. Hey Four Roses. Hey Boone County. Hey EH Taylor. Just sayin. Random thought: I always enjoy the process of cracking a Knob Creek more than any other bottle out there. That wax pull tab is joy. What’s your favorite bottle to pop? This nose is amazing, and I wouldn’t have pulled it out of a lineup as KC juice. If anything, it reminds me heavily of Weller or Hancock’s, with a dusty Jim Beam influence. This nose has whipped cream, vanilla, green apple, caramel, and leather, in that order for me. The body does not stray away from the Knob Creek wheelhouse, and that’s not a bad thing to me. It’s comically gentle. Thick caramel hits your tongue first, and then the sugar transitions you to vanilla. It turns slightly bitter in the backend with oak and dusty leather, that Jim Beam fingerprint. The finish is also really gentle, and oily too. There’s mild cinnamon, honey, slight brine. This one leaves your lips buzzing nicely. I dig it. As a 9 year product, Knob Creek has always struggled to keep me invested. There’s just too much to drink. But once you cross that 12-year threshold, KC juice begins to do some really special stuff. To me, this is as good as Knob Creek can get at the 100 proof mark. Due to the flavors they go for, I don’t think Knob Creek has the ability to be my favorite juice, which is funny given the aforementioned achievement of their marketing team with respect to my basement. Still, I can respect greatness even in bourbons that aren’t optimized for me, and Knob Creek fans owe it to themselves to try this. It’s a worthy celebration of Knob Creek potential. Edit: I always check Knob Creek on the rocks too, as this juice tends to excel that way. This bottle is no exception. The Jim Bean dustiness and leather notes are toned down. The remaining sweet notes blend to a crème brûlée desert profile. Genuinely good. ‘Tis the season. I’m day-to-day on my whiskey selection, so if you’re reading this and there’s something readily available out there you’d like me to enjoy/suffer through this holiday season, leave it in the comments. Merry whiskey to all, and to all a beer flight!

It’s 2020. It’s December. Let’s shut this year down with a brand new whiskey (or whisky) every day. It’s my own personal whiskey advent calendar. +6! Dec. 14, 2020 I was on my way to work last February, and I stopped at my favorite liquor store. The time doesn’t matter. It was 8:37 am. The guy mentions to me that they were in the process of picking a barrel from Russell’s Reserve, and he pauses and says: “Say, you wouldn’t want to... nah, I’m sure you have better things to do than drink whiskey at 9 am.” I was offended. It’s like he didn’t know me at all. When it tried the three samples, there was a crappier version of Russell’s Reserve 10, which is truly impressive if you think about it. They also had a much softer, more tolerable version of Russell’s Reserve 10. I think they poured like 5 cups of sugar in the barrel, or cocaine or something. But then, in the middle, was a sample that was very different. It didn’t taste like Russell’s Reserve at all. It tasted like exceedingly high quality WT juice. I could easily see this barrel aging for another decade to become a Master’s Keep contender. It was almost impossible to believe it had any affiliation with RR. I like to think I had something to do with the section of this barrel. Or at the very least, my bourbon landlord knew that if he picked either of the other two barrels, I was going to give him shit every time I walked in there. Basically forever. Either way, I am no enjoying barrel # 20-0637, warehouse E (which I believe stands for excellence), floor 4. It’s aged just under 9 years. Nose is bourbon standard and well done. There’s cane sugar, lemon, caramel. Hint of cedar, possibly orange, but lemon is my main takeaway. Body has caramel, leather, cream, chocolate. Delicious. So smooth. Finish is black pepper. There’s salt too, and a very dry mouth feel. This finish reminds me of rum-finished bourbons, which I’m also typically a big fan of. This is simple, but so enjoyable. I would consider this to be a barebones, high quality representation of bourbon made by people that know what the hell they’re doing. At 55%! It’s not barrel finished, and nobody ever took this on a boat. It’s technique and experience from my favorite distillery in KY. I literally could drink this all day. Here’s my beef. I hate Russell’s Reserve. I’ve always hated Russell’s Reserve. I tried RR10 side by side with this bottle just to make sure I still hate Russell’s Reserve. I do. But I freaking love this. If someone over at WT takes heavenly pure barrels like this and then mixes it with whatever swill brings the batch quality down to the Draino substitute often referred to as Russell’s Reserve 10, then... I shall wag a finger at them. Verily. I can’t be objective. This is my baby. 5 stars, and I’ll defend it to the death. ‘Tis the season. I’m day-to-day on my whiskey selection, so if you’re reading this and there’s something readily available out there you’d like me to enjoy/suffer through this holiday season, leave it in the comments. Merry whiskey to all, and to all a beer flight!

It’s 2020. It’s December. Let’s shut this year down with a brand new whiskey (or whisky) every day. It’s my own personal whiskey advent calendar. +6! Dec. 14, 2020 I’m moderately alarmed by my lack of knowledge about my own whiskey collection. The other day, I learned Monkey Shoulder wasn’t a bourbon. Apparently, I also have a Flaviar sample kit? I don’t know much about Flaviar, but my initial impression based on what I just saw online is that it’s a way to charge absurdly too much for anything worth three-sixths of a damn and fair prices for all the stuff nobody wants. This effect seems amplified within their sample kits. Enter Wolfburn. This is frighteningly clear. I can’t recall the last time I saw a whisky look like this. I swear I’ve seen yellower white dog. Nose is caramel, sugar, and cigar smoke. Overall unpleasant nose. Body is intense. Jalapeño, smoke, cream. Possibly some chocolate. It’s interesting, but I can’t call it pleasant. Finish is spicy, acidic. Liquid hot sauce. It turns your stomach. I think I just developed GIRD. After you recover, there’s a decent peat runoff (decent duration, not intensity). The last 2 seconds of this drink are the best. But then you don’t want to go back. I’m relatively new to scotch, so with all the appropriate caveats and humility I assert: this is not great. If I’m way off, please let me know. I have a drop or two left in the vial, but unless there’s something major that I’m missing, I’m pouring it out. This reminds me a lot of that Dickel Tobasco nonsense: it’s interesting on paper, and introducing an acidic hot sauce note does foster some mildly interesting interaction with other notes. However, I can’t say that it’s enjoyable, and I want nothing to do with it. ‘Tis the season. I’m day-to-day on my whiskey selection, so if you’re reading this and there’s something readily available out there you’d like me to enjoy/suffer through this holiday season, leave it in the comments. Merry whiskey to all, and to all a beer flight!