Tastes

And so it begins: round 5 of our trading team. This trading journey began over a year ago, when @LeeEvolved thought of this brilliant idea of sampling one item from every active Scottish distillery. We’re five rounds in, with maybe two more to go. In addition, we usually provide ‘bonus’ samples; items we come across which we think are interesting enough to share. In reality, because of the guard rails on the official samples ( less than $100, most are averaging $50-60), it’s been the bonus samples that end up stealing the show. We’ve had everything from locally available only craft whiskies, top shelf Hibiki 21, Macallan Rare, and HP25, to mezcal, purchased in Oaxaca during vacation, made in an ultra-micro distillery run by a donkey named Chico and two guys. So, now we’re starting round 5, this one provided by fellow northeastern’er @Scott_E . I really liked this one... almost like a Balvenie 12, but better. Waxy, oily, honey and heather. Starts off like freshly baked bread, then goes into beeswax and heather. I can see why Compass Box uses this as a base so often. This is one of those that i’ll keep as a regular on my shelf. One of the reasons I guess I liked this is because it’s “normal”. After having recently Laphroaigs and Springbanks, this is a dial back to normalcy. Sort of like coming back to good old home cooking after a week on a cruise ship. Thanks @Scott_E

I’ve had a few of these LESBs lately—-2014, 2016, and 2017. One year ago, I’d have thought all of these are the same, makes no difference. I’d be dead wrong. Four Roses has a 4 letter nomenclature which indicates yeast strains used. It’s always in the format OxSy, where the first letter is usually an O, meaning location of distillery ( Lawrenceburg, KY). The x is either E or B. E = 75% corn, 20% rye, 5% malted barley. B= 60/35/5 corn/rye/barley. The E is probably sweeter. The next letter S means straight whiskey. The variable letter y is the yeast strain. Can be either V = Light Fruitiness, Light Vanilla, Caramel and Creamy K = Light Slight Spice, Light Caramel and Full Bodied O = Rich Fruitiness, Light Vanilla, Caramel and Full Bodied Q = Essences of Floral F = Essences of Herbal Aromas So there you have it. These four letters amount to 10 possible recipes. Anyway, this 2016 version was my hands down favorite out of the three I’ve tried. Quite rich, sweet but not overly, and complex. The prices of course are just plain silly...I think I’ve seen this one go,for $350. It’s really good, probably hands down my favorite bourbon,..but $350 is quite pricey. You can get most of the way there by getting one of the single barrel Four Roses ( which means just one of the recipe variants, like an OESK, for example), for $60-80. Or maybe 80% of the way ther with an Elijah Craig full proof for $60. Is it worth $350? Depends...for me, this was the best bourbon I’ve had, so yes. Maybe not for others, just very individualistic. Fortunately I didn’t pay a dime for this... got it as a gift for teaching someone how to do puts and calls

After seeing ridiculous prices on barrel proof or good BiB (bottled in bond) bourbon, this is a refreshing change!! If you’ve ever had Elijah Craig 12 yr barrel proof, this comes almost as close as it can, at a $50 cheaper ( I got it for $30). Oranges and vanilla. A strong dose of oak, but not overpowering. $30 for a good quality 10 yr old bottled in bond!!?? How did this miss the bourbon craze? Honestly...at this price, go get 2 bottles. Keep one for later when the masses catch on, drink the other now. Seriously, can’t go wrong on this for $30...

Our monthly date night, which actually is just an excuse to have dinner outside without breaking up a fight between a 9 yr old and a 5 yr old ( funny thing is that the 5 yr old kicks the 9 yr old’s ass despite her having a black belt ). Of course, I noticed this at the bar, and immediately had to try it. So different than their last one I tried, the No Name. This is almost diametrically opposite. It’s fruity, waxy (Clyneish?), vanilla-infused. Definitely well aged components. Have they released the components? CB is usually pretty good about that. I’m guessing a well aged Clyneish as the backbone, maybe followed by a bourbon cask Speysider (Tamdhu?), which explains the vanilla. If I had to buy only one, it would be the No Name over this...but nonetheless, this is very, very well made.

This is a unique Springbank. Either you’ll love it or hate it...all depends on your tastes. As soon as I opened the bottle, I got huge aromas of coffee and tobacco. Palette follows with more coffee, dark 80% cocoa chocolate and oranges. The nose is the best part in this. I can whiff it all day. The love it / hate it part will come at the palette. If you’re a fan of coffee/tobacco/oranges, you’ll love the depth and slightly bittersweet complexity. One thing for sure to others that’ll have it: DO NOT ADD ICE OR BEYOND A FEW DROPS WATER. I tried it with a few drops water, and it was amazing. I then tried it with a cube of ice, and the coffee taste became drastically bitter, like two day old airplane coffee.

Dinner out, and bought myself a pour. At $8 /pour, a pretty good value for money. This is surprisingly so very different than the 10. I expected a difference of course, but this is nothing derived from the likes of the 10. The earthy soot is replaced by more of a sweeter floral profile with just a wisp of smoke. Tasted blind, I’d peg this for a Speysider. One of my favorite distilleries; can’t ever go wrong with a Springbank. Just a question of whether it’s good or excellent.

I’m batting 0-3 this week. This is my third offering for our trading team. Taste like monkey dung. And this is where you as the logical person would ask “how do you know, have you ever tasted monkey dung?’ Well yes sir and ma’am, I have, not on my own volition of course. Long story, but net -net, did you know monkeys can defecate at will, roll it into a ball, and throw it with such precision that it’ll make Tom Brady envious? Yes...lesson learned during a backpacking trip through Belize in my younger days. Anyway, this went down the drain. Not wasting my liver on it.

First of all, I want to give a huge thanks to Mikael and the Distiller team. I asked them to put several independent bottlers that our little tasting team will be going through, and they did it with amazing turnaround. Thanks guys! ( now if you can teach our IT team on the same turnaround for requests...😊). So this was my offering to the tasting team. We have maybe 2 more rounds to go, and we’ll have covered a sample from every operating Scottish distillery, and 2-3 ghosted ones too. I don’t know what the hell to write about this. I already forgot what it taste like. This is like that time in college art class ( the only subject I never got an A+ ). You’re sitting there listening to the teacher about some Renaissance era painter, and then you’re supposed to mimic his drawing after looking at a few examples. But if you found art dismally boring and useless ( cut me some slack, I was a triple chemical engineering, biochemistry and political science major), then you would’ve been like me and literally forget what the hell you looked at. Of course the teacher gets mad, and gives you a D-. You’re probably wondering what the hell was I doing take art class??! There was a pretty girl involved. And she was so worth the hit to my GPA. So goes this. I think this had a faint floral nose like honeysuckles ( which by the way, are a freakin pain to get rid of, they take over the entire garden...anyway I digress ). Taste? I don’t know. What the hell. Maybe faint citrus-y? Like an orange peel dipped in turpentine? Who gives a rat’s ass...no one’s gonna buy it after reading the next few upcoming reviews. @Generously_Paul knock this out early in the game too. And @LeeEvolved @Generously_Paul @Telex @Scott_E I won’t be offended if you guys share this with a spittoon. Two stars and not one because at least I didn’t gag.

This was my sample offering as we start round 5 of our Scottish distillery trading team. About 2 more rounds to go, and we’ll be wrapping up this brilliant journey concocted by @LeeEvolved. Lochnagar, or officially Royal Lachnagar, is interesting in the sense that there’s nothing exceptional or worthy remembering about it except that it somehow got itself a Royal warrant. Which in essence is a title given by the king and /or queen for their favorite distillery for 5 years. So that means that for a period of 5 years, Lochnagar was the provider of whisky to the royal family. A huge financial windfall. It doesn’t have to be whisky, but can be any product. The key is that it would be the provider of that product’s brand to royalty. It’s been given to Aston Martin, Cadbury, and Twinings tea. Lochnager was given the title by Victoria and Albert, being so close to their Balmoral home. And so there you have it...an interesting ( albeit utterly freakin useless) lesson on granting Royal warrants. Now to the whisky tasting: it’s meh. Decent. If I’m ever born into the Royal family, not sure this is where I’d grant a warrant (for me, it would be Springbank). But to each his/her own...whatever floated Queen Vicki and King Al’s boat.