Tastes

Taking someone else’s distilled product and slapping a label is freakin’ easy. In fact, I can do it, and come up with some snappy marketing slogan and label. But, taking someone else’s distilled product and doing something to that is a another game altogether ( Barrell, the new darling blenders come to mind, as does the previous darlings High West). BUT...working with a distiller to come up with your own mashbill, and aging it yourself is a whole new game! These guys at Wanderback work with different distillers, using their own mash bill, and age it in Oregon. If anyone’s been to Oregon, it’s crazy beautiful weather. You get sunny balmy climate, cold as hell winter climate, sandy dunes dry weather, and ‘Islay style cold ocean water smashing against rocks ‘ climate as well. So, that variation has to be a factor here. This was made using a custom mashbill with Westland, out of Seattle. I’ve had many Westland products before, having visited their distillery while on a business trip to Seattle. If tastes blind, I’d not guess this was Westland. But then again, what I remember most out of their tasting was the Garryana and Peat Week offering, so I’m sure my not guessing this was Westland more so was just me and not indicative of the product . Taste sweet...but not overly. Fruity a bit, not citrus-y like what you get from Caol Ila, but almost like plum or other stone fruit. Mixed with a hefty dose of cocoa. Thanks @jonwilkinson7309 for the pour! I’m glad I got batch 3...if batch 3 is better than this, and I really liked this one, then in retrospect, I think I made a good choice.

Wow...this one surprised me. SMWS was at one point a real good independent bottler, but of late has become mediocre. This is not one of those. This is a single cask 10 yr cask strength Caol Ila. Matured in simply refill ex-bourbon...nothing fancy. How do you know when a whisky is a good whisky? I think it’s pretty simple: 1) reasonable price, which makes you want to open and share, rather than keep stashed away; 2) great distillate and cask quality; 3) no marketing, flying under the radar, and let the liquid speak for itself ; and 4) fly off the shelves despite lack of marketing and hype. Kilkerran 8 was one of those, at least in my recent memory. This is another. I paid barely $60. In minutes it was sold out. I had to dilute with some water, which is generally the case for me and CS whiskys. But the aroma...wow. Lemons grilling over a flame. Taste is grilled lobster, eating it in an old style diesel operated fishing boat. It’s simple and straightforward, just well crafted Islay. At USD $60..BUY on sight. Skip the hype and price gauging from others, and go for this instead.

Remember as a kid having your first school ground fight? Usually some bully challenges you, and to save face or impress a girl, you accept an after school brawl? If you were like me ...top math and science student, but barely topping 100lb and 5’4” as an 8th grader, your top math or science didn’t suddenly make you a black belt in jujitsu. So, you’d go in knowing it’ll be bad. Maybe a black eye. Maybe a split lip. But it’ll be just one hit, and once you fall to the ground, it’s over. Not quite. You see, the other guy is usually an asshole. Probably takes his fighting points from watching WWF, not some gentlemanly fight like fencing. It’s much worse than you expected. It’s a hard punch to the face, followed by him sitting on you and beating you to a pulp till that cute girl ( the source of all this) pulls him off you. Yeah...I felt like that while having this Ardbeg. I knew a 5 yr Ardbeg will be bruising. It’ll be young and brash. But...it’s an Ardbeg, so I’ll like it. Maybe the first sip will be harsh, but then it’ll be fine. Nooooo. This Ardbeg is sitting on you, pounding your taste buds till it goes numb. I never was a masochistic guy, but if I were, this is a drink to have with butt cheek showing leather attire, spiked collars and some madame you’ve hired for $500 to whip you as you’re tied to a pole. It’s a brute. I’m getting brine and smoke aroma, except it’s amped up a lot. Palette is an onslaught of medicinal peat. Long finish. There’s no two ways about this. Either you’ll like it (4 + stars) or it’ll be like taking a school yard pounding. If anyone wants samples...let me know...not sure I can take more beatings from this guy anymore... Update June 2020: I very much stand corrected. Once the bottle got some air, the oxidation really subdued the heat. Still not at the level of 10, but much better than their core NAS releases.

For me, Kilchoman has been one of my favorites. They’ve consistently produced top notch products, with a very reasonable price tag. We don’t give enough credit to those distilleries that have such a consistent output across all their lines, and yet you can readily find it and pay not more than $110-125 in the US and $80-100 in EU. And, this , their Loch Gorm has that magical peat + sherry maturation to make it smoky sweet. This sample comes courtesy from my kiwi buddy @Soba45. I had my first Loch Gorm years ago, probably 2015 or so . That was a brute, but really well made brute. This is a different Loch Gorm. Creamier, more elegant. It’s aged well, adding a layer of elegance to the peat. You get the classic smoke up front, but the mouthfeel is more like liquified butter. If you see this around $100, it’s a no brainer buy. Skip the Ardbeg latest release hype or the Macallan “how deep are your pockets “ releases. This is better. Thanks @Soba45 for the pour !

There’s a few general rules or tenets in today’s life that we should live by: 1) wear a face mask when stepping out where there’s public 2) keep your 6 ft distance from others. The risk isn’t worth the possible pain 3) don’t listen to folks , who couldn’t even pass basic high school biology, act as if they know what’s best when it comes to CV19 4) do NOT follow people jogging, and shoot them. Regardless of race and creed!! And 5) do try a bourbon finished in good quality wine casks. It’s so worth the experience This one is sent by my buddy @LeeEvolved. ( side note: Lee—-i hope you’re taking it easy at home and recovering from that CV19 hell). This is a blend of 3 sourced bourbons, finished in Pritchard Hill Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s 15yr old stock, finished in the wine barrel. 15 yr + now explains the price tag. I wasn’t impressed with this as I was with the earlier Groth reserve. This has tannic flavors up front, and seems like the wine is fighting with the bourbon. But once you get past those tannins, you get the classic berries and oak soaked fruit flavors. Is it worth the $100-120? Honestly...I’d rather get the Groth over this. But I’m guessing the Groth as long since been sold out. Either way, one thing for sure: you have to put red wine finished bourbon on your try list, preferably ones finished in high quality wine like the ones made by Groth or Pffifer Pfavit ( Bardstown ). Thanks for the pour Lee—I hope you’re feeling better !

Opened up my 3cl sample while watching Planets on Amazon Prime with my kids. As an aside, anyone even remotely interested in astronomy should watch this series. Tonight’s episode was “ Saturn”...of which our “ on my god” moment was learning that Saturn’s moon Enceladus is in the same formative state as when Earth formed billions of years ago. It has ice water and super-heated vents in its salty ocean ( which were the source of life on Earth ). In fact, Cassini which was launched to probe Saturn was destroyed on purpose when NASA learned of this, just so as not to interfere with Enceladus’ formative state of possible life. Unfortunately, this dram was no where as interesting as Planets. But fortunately...Jura is true to form for me again, and presents itself with another let down. If I ask you what do you think of having a 21yr Islander for a pour this evening, your mind would race naturally towards a 21 yr Talisker or a 21 yr HP. But then I bring this guy out. What a freakin let down. They’re not in the same category. This has a bit of a bite, as if it’s younger than it’s age. I’m also getting sherry, which is strange, since I think this was matured in American oak, and then finished in ex-peated casks. I’m not getting the classic Islander sea breeze and salinity. This is a hard pass. I paid about $10 for the sample. Not worth it...unless you’d like to check off having a 20-something Islander.

Here’s another sample that has traveled more than most of us here. From Scotland, to New Zealand, to Virginia to New Jersey, generously sent by my kiwi buddy @Soba45 . So, I poured my sample ready for my Saturday night routine: watching Netflix or Amazon Prime, relaxing over a dram. This evening’s show was with my kids—-they’ve been hooked on Planets by Nova; a documentary on how the universe and each planet came to form and what role each had to play. I’m so proud these two youngsters are watching science shows, as opposed to me that watched Scooby Do or Brady Bunch when I was their age. They’re watching the role of Jupiter in Earth’s formation, while I was learning why a guy that looked as if he was homeless and a drunk drug addict was hanging around a dog that talked in bad grammar. Anyway, so—-at first sip I was surprised why this got great reviews. Seemed too metallic. Too young, the peat - sherry combo, which is my favorite, just not well integrated. But an entire 30 minutes through, all the sudden the flavors melded together. The peat isn’t anything like Islay. I’d say it’s more like when Balvenie does it’s annual peat. It’s more earthy and mushroom-y. The sherry seems light. It’s not a heavy hand, like Lagavulin Distiller. More like maybe 2nd use sherry casks. I think this started off more in the “2” range, and then settled in “3.5-4”. If you’re a fan of peat-sherry, it’s worth the try. I had bought a bottle for $70...at that price, it’s definitely worth it, considering something equivalent like Balvenie Peat Week is about $30 more. Thanks @Soba45 for the pour!

It’s been ages since I’ve opened a new bottle. Been going through an immense backlog of samples. But I braved putting on a face mask, and venturing into a wine store to buy some red wine for the pizza sauce I was making at home. While there, I noticed this strange little bottle on the shelf. Nestled neatly between a variety of American craft whiskey offerings. Buckwheat whiskey? I like buckwheat pancakes. Maybe this might be just as interesting. And heck..$25 for a 375ml isn’t bad. Theoretically I guess buckwheat isn’t a grain. It’s a seed. So...this can’t be whiskey, but instead “spirit”. Either way, seems interesting. Color is interesting...like a well aged Armagnac. At first whiff, this is more like a brandy than whiskey. I’m getting floral aromas mixed with some grape and oak. Taste nothing like buckwheat pancakes. But that’s not to say it’s not good. It’s just different—-tastes of Cedar wood , some brandy flavor, allspice. Okay so—-this isn’t for fans of straight normal whiskey. But if you’re looking to deviate from the norm, try something different, and not beak the bank for the experiment, this is well worth the try.

Damn Canadians. Generally, Canadians are the nicest people in the world. But, when it comes to their whiskey, they’re hoarding all good stuff!! They have great free healthcare , a leader so good looking that would make me reconsider my sexual orientation , and now this!!?? I was sent a pour of this by my buddy up the I-80 just a bit northeast of me in NJ, @Richard-ModernDrinking . This is really good stuff...with an interesting history and recipe. It’s made by using 5 grains, 2 distillations methods, and 2 woods. Some permutation there resulted in eleven distinct whiskeys which were blended together. Eleven was also the number of children the founder had adopted, hence Eleven Souls. This is buttery smooth, with flavors of bright cherries, toasted bread, and almonds...with a hint of rye spice in the background. If you ever visit Canada, this has to be on your buy list. Meanwhile...my dear neighbor to the north: please stop sending the likes of Canadian Mist, Crown Royal, Seagram’s, and Canadian Club. Send this instead. Thanks @Richard-ModernDrinking for the pour!