Tastes

The nose on this definitely has the port and sherry cask influence upfront. With the vanilla and jammy notes, this isn’t unlike vanilla ice cream with a raspberry swirl. It’s delicious!

On the nose, this is straight up Speyside. It could sit between any of the typical “Glens” with the heather, honey, floral, orchard fruit nose. The balance leans fruity, but it’s all there. The pallet is a bit different. It’s maltier with lots of vanilla. Citrus rind and a little pepper come in at the end. This is right between the lines and nothing unexpected but it’s good. Really good. *this is from the 4 pak of tasters*

This is pretty nice. The highland peat bounces off the sweetness very nicely. There’s some fruitiness running up through it too.

On the nose, mostly honey, malt funk and just a lite whiff of peat smoke. Those notes of dark fruit show up once it’s been in the glass a minute or two. On the pallet it’s mostly honey and malt, the peat/sherry are subtle. This may be an island whisky but it comes off more like a highland. Overall it’s good but an easy sipper. *edit* as this bottle opens up…I dunno about it. I keep getting a distinct fishy note on this that’s a bit off putting. Now, I love seafood and I love coastal/maritime scotches but this doesn’t come off as a good thing. Its a lot like if I had eaten strong, oily fish such as mackerel (which I do like) but its then clashing with the taste of my whisky. This also turned a bit bitter and sweet on top of it all, and again…I’m not digging it. Dropped the rating from a 3 to a 2 today.

Really spicy, oaky on top of a thick slab of toffee flavor. Very good stuff especially for the price.

Weird that to me, this comes off like an Irish or a Speyside scotch on the nose, super vanilla and malty. But it’s a straight up bourbon on the taste/finish. Just damn good stiff.

A very straight up the middle bourbon casked Speyside. Honey, cereal grains, a bit of ambiguous fruit and floral notes. It’s not reinventing the wheel, but very enjoyable.

This is yet another bang for buck champ. $17 for 103pf of brown sugar/baking spices and oak. Perfectly serviceable sipped neat at a price that’s friendly for mixing, shots or as I’m doing right now…seasoning my BBQ sauce and campfire beans.

On the nose, you get the peat first then it settles into honey, graham crackers, a salt air note and floral sweetness. On the palate its honey nut cheerios and maltiness, reminiscent of Speyburn and Lismore but “cleaner”, and of course a mild briny peat. Definitely the best JW I’ve tasted and just a damn good whisky on its own.

Definitely better than the original, but that’s not a high bar. This comes off as the lower end highland that it is but at least this one is enjoyable. It’s still got an acrid bittersweet note that I can’t place or shake…maybe its a taste of wet leaves? *edit* After a few days and coming back to this, it’s opened up nicely. Its more balanced with less of that bitter/saccharine taste which is still there but at least now its in check. Im gonna bump it up a bit.