Tastes

This is a good classic bourbon. I like the proof and extended finish. I like the pleasant caramelized peanut/popcorn fragrance. I don’t like the price. I think this should be about $20 cheaper. It’s not interesting enough to be subject to price hikes and bourbon spotting adventures. I’d probably not buy again but that’s mostly because at the price point (even at msrp) there are better whiskies. Other tasting notes: Baking spice, cloves and syrup

Not every day you get to taste a linkwood. UCF - check. 46% - check. It’s a bit thin, oily and has a green apple/unripe light fruits vibe. Sweet honey akin to Meade. Short finish but licorice is present. It’s light and refreshing but not exceptional. I’d drink it again if offered but probably won’t buy it again.

This is just fine. Drinkable to be sure but it’s a bit too sweet for me. It’s also very expensive as is anything Japanese and I suppose I dock some points on my score simply because it’s so hard to find any Japanese product near me it feels as if I’m supposed to get excited about a NAS corn whisky blend and trip over myself to drop $65 on it. Won’t be doing that again. I prefer dropping an ice cube into this and using it as a summer sipper. And if it were $35 I would be happy to do that.

Really enjoyed this bottle in particular as it oxidized. It’s refreshing to have a scotch these days that’s not either a peat/smoke or sherry bomb. The mouthfeel is very unique. The adjective I’ve seen most used to describe the distillery characteristic is ‘waxy’ and it took me some time to get that. The neck pour was a bit hot and I got something that coated my mouth but I wouldn’t have called it wax. The more I drank it the more I started getting a honey wax, like sucking a honeycomb. It’s sweet and has elements of vanilla. It’s not too hot but has a light peppery element. I’m interested in trying an IB of this to really explore the juice. I’ll buy this again to have something different in my cabinet.

Sweet light fruit and brown sugar gives way to some mild spice - like cinnamon with a touch of sugar on French toast. The more I sip it the more I get allspice and a bit more heat. It’s a good bourbon. What’s weird about this is I might have rated it higher but there is so much hype and it’s so hard to find that when I do find one and taste it, it’s almost disappointing. Of course I won’t pay more than msrp +$5 so that mitigates the pseudo disappointment since it’s hard to argue this isn’t worth $30-35. If this were more widely available it’d be a daily drinker for sure. But I’m guessing everyone feels that way which is why it is so rare.

Has a few distinct yet separate taste elements, like you’re having a flight of very different whiskeys. First you get a little heat, and the bourbon char. A few moments later you get the malt, bready notes of a highland single malt, then the edge of the sherry barrel. The finish is a bit spiky, like an orchestra mildly out of tune. Or is it Spiritualized? I can see this being a divisive dram as it was for me. Half the time I drank it I gave it a 3, the other half a 5. So I split the difference more or less. Very enjoyable and complex, especially for $30-35. I’d buy again. Update: couldn’t keep this at 4 stars with eagle rare at the same score. If I saw them both at the same price I’d buy the eagle rare every time.

I enjoyed this. I always enjoy drinking ledaig. The reason I rated this 3.75 is that the ledaig 10 is a solid 4 and this added nothing to it, and cost an extra $20-25. I’ll stick with the 10 in the future. I’m also learning that, much the same as with other peated scotch you don’t really need/want a lot of time in the barrel. It might smooth the edges a bit, but that’s where the fun and flavor are for the peated ledaig funk. I think the sweet spot for ledaig is the core 10, which is a great value, and younger IBs finished in sherry, wine or port casks. 5-7 years seems to do the trick.

Smoke, peat and lemons. Herbaceous. Adding a little water sweetens it up. Reminded me of a lemon head candy with water. Had it as part of a blind taste. I’d buy a bottle of this one.

Very sweet. Burnt caramel and brown sugar. Malty character. Lots of vanilla. Tastes this blind and swore I was getting some sherry. So light fruits I guess? Very smooth. Wish this was bottled at 43-46%.

Very smooth. Very drinkable. Sweet cereal malty bouquet and flavor. Has a pretty typical Jameson flavor.