Tastes

Sweet, buttery with some caramel/vanilla/toffee…basically liquid boozy cracker jacks.

Definitely different on the nose than the standard TX single malt. It’s lighter and fruitier smelling with an underlying grainy richness but this is still a robust smelling whisky. The flavor is a continuation of the nose with a hint of melon. This is the more approachable version of a hairy chested American single malt. An excellent pour!

This is what I imagine blended scotches *could* be if they skipped the grain for straight malt. MUCH richer mouthfeel and flavor than a blend, but a similar “down home plate” flavor profile. By comparison, Chivas is 80 proof same as this, has less flavor and is $40 vs $30. Overall…its pretty tasty, if accessible and middle of the road.

The nose on this is thick, heavy…AMAZING. Lots of oak, dark fruits, baking spices, malt funk…and Im getting a similar cola note like on Bull Run and Westward S/M’s out of Oregon. The flavors are very rich and oily. That same dark fruit/cola/oaky goodness but I also get a finish that reminds me of an Irish pot still, cranked up a couple notches. EXCELLENT whisky!

At 2 years it’s a bit young but it’s not bad at all. Very grain/malt funk forward. A bit of a chocolatey note…tastes a bit like Whoppers candy with the boozy ethanol spikes. As it opens up, I get a bit of a cola note—nowhere near as pronounced as Bull Run’s S/M, but it’s definitely there. Overall, I like it.

This is the pinot noir barrel finished, batch #14. Basically, its a bourbon sourced from MGP and then finished another year in Oregon pinot noir wine casks. Nose is like a berry cobbler and vanilla ice cream. The flavor is sweet corn, butterscotch, buttercream frosting, some red wine notes and a little bit of tannins on the finish. It’s sweet without being cloying. Really really nice stuff.

Pretty bog standard blend. Lots of vanilla, a bit of must. Not the worst thing out there, but it’s definitely a mixer

Not sure on this one. VERY light in aroma and flavor, ethanol and bright shiny grain mostly. It comes off like a blended scotch that’s very thin on the malt. Kind of a bummer since their vodka and gin are pretty good.

Very coastal with a suprising whiff of menthol on the nose. Definitely has those salt water notes that I love in a coastal scotch.

$15 for 90 proof KY straight bourbon? Sore dick deal all day: ya can’t beat it! Yes, this is bottom shelf. Yes, there’s better bourbons, and we all know how allocated and hyped many of them are. But the standard EB is proof that if you’re looking for high value at low cost, bourbon is where you want to be if budget is a factor. And no, I’m not talking as a cheap mixer—although you won’t feel bad using it that way. Im sipping it neat in a glencairn and it’s perfectly serviceable if not super complex. Brown sugar, vanilla, some light baking spice is whats up.