Tastes

After reading @DrRHCMadden ’s rare 5 stars, I simply had to hunt down my sample and give it a try. I knew I had about 6cl of this, buried somewhere deep in a box full of maybe 400 other samples. Looking for one sample vial buried in 400 is test of patience. Especially when all the vials look alike. Poured 3cl of it, let it sit…and on to trying this bad boy… After going through the toils of the search, I was so looking forward to trying it. Not sure if it expected more, as is the case with anticipation, or that it just wasnt my type, but I felt a bit of a let down. The aroma is the best part. Sherry goodness. Nuts, fruits, a hint of smoke, sandalwood. I can nose this all day. The palette is a step down. Dates, cinnamon, dried fruit. The wisp of smoke is gone. But for me, it fell apart in the finish. Was simple too hot, with a lingering cinnamon heat. Didn’t feel like a 17 yr old, but much younger. Just to make sure, I poured the the other 3cl with a few drops of water. It probably needed to open up a bit? Years of sitting in a sample vial could’ve had an impact. Nope. Even worse. The palette fell apart. So, I see I’m probably the outlier in these reviews. Maybe I had a bad sample? I purchased this sample from an online retailer ages ago, so they could’ve poured the open oxidized bottle into the vials? Who knows. More like 2.0 for me, given the price…but bumping it up to a 3 considering the variables that could’ve gone wrong when purchasing a sample pour. Hopefully I’m the outlier. I do have a full bottle of this somewhere, so will have to simply try it again someday

I finally got to try this, after having it open for over an year and sharing samples with several folks here. For whatever reasons, I just never got around to it, and then totally forgot about it. It was just recently that I finally remembered I have this bottle open, while having some family over for Christmas and talking about Blanton’s. I remembered I still have this, and suggested all to try it, that it might be better than Blanton’s. We tried this alongside Bardstown Plantation rum finished, and a Wolves 2022 rye /hop whiskey. The Bardstown was the favorite, but all agreed this was much better than a Blanton’s. My take is that this is as classic of a well aged bourbon profile that you can get. Vanilla, caramel, oak, and a bit of cherry. It doesn’t live up to the previous releases ( my favorite being 2014 and 2016), but if you can buy this under $200, it’s much better than most of the things in the market. I wouldn’t go hunting for it, but well worth a pour or a reasonable asking price.

We had our quarterly online tasting this past Sunday ( we as in @pkingmartinartin @Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington and me). This one of @pkingmartinartin’s contributions. Distillery only bottles are hard to get. But seems like Bunna was selling some, and able to ship to the US as well. It’s matured for 21 yrs in amontillado Sherry, which is a bit drier, with taste of roasted nuts and caramel. Unlike Oloroso and PX, it doesn’t impart the same level of sweetness. So, knowing that, I fully expected this to be a bit too dry. Surprisingly, no…rather with some water, it really opened up to reveal taste of aromatic apricots , roasted nuts, and a tinge of smoke. I’m surprised to get a tinge of smoke, considering it’s the unpeated version of Bunna. Either way, it’s an amazing Bunna, well worth the experience , but debatable on the premium price tag. Thanks @pkingmartin for the pour !

I grew up in a small suburb of NYC. I remember there was this one corner store, in a prime location, that sold only stuffed animals. We’re not talking stuffed children’s toys like teddy bears. We’re talking stuffed squirrels, badgers, birds, and other small furry forest creatures. It was a taxidermist. I never saw any foot traffic. Never saw any customers. Just one shady looking owner and his weird dead forest creatures. To my 7 year self, even without knowing the capital mortgage and debt markets, I wondered how he managed to stay in business. Turned out it was a front for a mafia money laundering. That brings me to this weird offering from Tamworth. They are about as weird as one can get in the whiskey world. They have whiskey infused with some mammal’s glands, one infused with venison, another infused with a stinky flower. This seems relatively mainstream, with Thanksgiving flavors. Imagine yourself sitting in front of a Thanksgiving feast. Mix up all the items on the table, liquify it in your trusted Ninja food blender. And voila…you have the essence of this abomination. There’s no roasted turkey. There’s no chestnuts. There’s no cranberry sauce. It’s just a very young whiskey infused with a cornucopia of flavors, all melding into an inconsistent incoherent mess. So…I again start to wonder….how do these guys stay in business? It’s gotta be a front. Maybe their main business is shady like money laundering, or straight arrow like making hand sanitizers….but making weird whiskey simply can’t pay the bills. @pkingmartin @Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington @ctbeck11 @Richard-ModernDrinking i sent this one over to y’all for our tasting. I suggest we pass this one, and instead choose something else. Sorry….I meant well…didn’t quite work out.

I just accepted a new job offer as Global Head of Data Management for a large pharma/biotech…so, I figured about time to open up one of my best samples I have, courtesy of an online whiskey reviewer from Malt-review.com. I don’t think I’ve ever had a BTAC. Actually, I can definitively say I’ve never had a BTAC. It’s not one of those things that if you’ve had it, you’ll ever forget whether you’ve had it or not. It’s like attending a World Cup game (I’m sure the tickets are as expensive as a BTAC). You won’t ever forget you attended it. I’ve been more and more hesitant to give a perfect 5…I used to give it more often, but I think over the years, it’s rare. I’ll go as high as 4.75, but not a 5. This here is a 5. No question or doubt about it. I was surprised by the nose: freshly cut flowers? Cherries. Nutmeg. Let it sit, and it blooms into more fruit. Mixture of red fruits…and cardamom?!? That’s a welcome change. Taste is just as surprising. Rose water. Oak. Cherries. Wow. I’m getting rose water? Like a Turkish delight…rose water, almonds, fruits. And a hefty dose of oak, like when you’re in an old wooden lodge. This is amazing. I added a few drops of water, and it opened up even more of the Turkish delight flavors. Not sure if I’d ever buy a bottle…I’m always hesitant to shell out this much money on distilled corn water (albeit, one of highest quality) , but I’m so very thankful to Taylor at Malt-review.com for sharing a sample! One of the best whiskeys I’ve had to date.

This was my contribution to last week’s extended family gathering over Thanksgiving. TWE releases an annual Christmas malt, and last year’s (2021) was this 16 yr old from Orkney. Which of course means Highland Park. Total of 5 casks—-3 hogsheads and 2 sherry. Nose is slight smoke, but surprisingly fruity—-pineapples, grilled lemons, and a hint of tobacco. Taste is slightly more peat, but really held back…the focus is on Christmas spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, oranges and red berries. Wow…very Un-Highland Park profile. Some chocolate and maple syrup. This is an absolute stunner of a whisky, with an amazing price to match. I think I got it for about $100-120. The best HP I’ve had after the old bottling of the 18. It’s amazing how good HP can be…if they only can get out of that Viking marketing infatuation.

This was one of our two whiskeys we had over an extended family Thanksgiving dinner. The consensus word used by all that had this was “wow”. At $600 / bottle (and a generous item to bring over by a family member), this wasn’t cheap. But it’s amazing. Fruits galore. Peaches, cream first. Followed by roasted nuts, almonds. Finish is lingering with sweet cream and spices. Wow is the right word to describe this. The entire bottle was polished off in one night between us all…was one of the highlights of Thanksgiving dinner

I’ve always been curious to try this one, having heard good things of it from folks here. Unfortunately, the distribution isn’t wide spread yet. But, thanks to @soonershrink , who sent a generous sample, I was able to try it. Texas whiskey is in a category all by itself. It’s big, burly, loud, and makes its presence known. Nothing nuanced about it. If you think of other Texans, like Balcones and Garrison, they’re the same way—-very robust, making it known it grew up in the Texan heat. This is no different. In fact, Garrison Small batch probably wishes it were more like this one. At approx the same price point, I’d choose this over Garrison small batch any time of the day. What I like about these guys is that it’s full grain to glass. Made with Texas red wheat, and Texas rain water. Nose is sawdust and molasses. Dark cherries. Palette is Oak,thick vanilla and molasses. It’s young, but the Texas climate makes it act older than it is. If you like Balcones and Garrison, see if you’re in their distribution network. It’s a no-brainer buy at its price point of $45-60. Thanks again to @soonershrink for the pour!

Two beer derived whiskeys. One rye whiskey. Blend them together …what can possibly go wrong ? A lot…if you don’t get the proportions or balance right. Fortunately that is not the case here. I had a small pour of this while pouring out samples for our online tasting in a few weeks ( tasting with @pkingmartin , @ctbeck11 @Richard-ModernDrinking and @Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington ). This blend here is about as risky as you can get. It has a MGP rye aged in California, a whiskey distilled from stout beer and aged 9 years in French oak, together with whiskey distilled from California pale ale aged 7 years in French oak. About 12,000 bottles. You would think that beer would take over and outgun the rye, but no…you get elements of gunpowder, grass, apples and cardamom. All with a slight hoppy background. Now the strange thing is that it keeps changing…every sip seems to change a bit. It’s a lot going on , and in a good way. The only beer derived whiskey I’ve had is St George from California, which was decent…but this is much better with that rye balance. I can see why these fly off the shelf…pricey, but really good. And more importantly , unique. And those two are criteria for which I don’t mind paying a premium.

I’m pouring out a few samples for our ( our as in @Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington @pkingmartin @ctbeck11 and @Richard-ModernDrinking ) online tasting in a few weeks. This one is one of my contributions. So, while pouring out some samples, I poured myself a wee dram into a glencairn….middle of the week, and out of character. But YOLO. I was never a fan of Plantation rum. In fact, the few times I’ve had it ( usually at a friend’s), I felt as if I either need to pour it down the drain, or mix it into some colorful sugary cocktail. But I put my hesitation to the side, and gave the benefit of doubt to Bardstown’s blending skills. The only other blender I’d blindly buy would be Barrell. A $150, about 80% more than a blend by Barrell, is a steep price for a risk to take. But in this case, was well worth it . Generally I find rum finished bourbons unbalanced, where the rum is pushed to the forefront, leaving the bourbon notes as an afterthought. Bardstown did a damn good job of combining molasses, vanilla, oak, fig, and chocolates. Really well balanced, well blended. The finish lingers with notes of coffee and molasses. For those that aren’t a fan of sweet rum or rum finished bourbon, give this one a try. Deviates from the norm, for the better.