Tastes

This is my contribution as we start our round 4 in our little trading team. While pouring out samples for the team last night, iI took a wee bit for myself as well. Nose: woody vanilla. Take some oak, mix in that vanilla powder from Starbucks...and voila! You get this. Taste: resin, sweet caramel. I'm a huge fan of Cambeltown, but this falls a bit short compared to its cross town cousins over in Springbank. Then again, honestly---it's a fraction of the Springbank price. What do you expect for $40-50? It's not earth shattering, but really not too bad as well considering the price. Cambeltown for the budget-minded.

Starting round 4 of our trading team a bit early...this is one of my contributions. While bottling the sample bottles for the team last night, I sampled a wee bit for myself as well. This is going to be one of those where you like it or don't like it. It's reminiscent of cherry cough drops. For 60% ABV, it's doesn't have the burn as you would think, but instead comes across as silky smooth. Nose is certainly like cough drops. Taste: cherry NyQuil. Personally, I"m not a fan...but, I can see the appeal. Note: mine was batch 46.

I had bought this bottle years back, and finally opened it last night with some friends. First thing that strikes you is the appearance of the bottle itself. Twenty four sides to it, and a heavy weight and feel. The liquid itself is deep mahogany...not sure if coloring is added. Pop open the cork and you immediately smell sandlewood and cherry blossoms. Floral taste. Some incense like you smell in Asian temples. I think that might be effect of the mizunara? Overall, it's a really good dram, worthy of a special occasion. I'm sure I paid much less years ago, but prices now seem to be $500-600...not sure if I'd spend that much on it today, certainly not ' blow your mind' level that warrants anywhere close to that price tag. At $150, a no-brainer 5 stars. But at $500-600...not so sure. On a side note: Do not add water or ice. It kills the floral aromas and sandlewood taste...turns it bitter. Update 12/1: now that bottle is almost empty, oxidation has set in. I had a small taste last night, and got a pronounced sandlewood aroma. Never tasted that in a whisky before, and certainly never smelled it anywhere outside Indian or Buddhist temples

Many thanks to @RichardofModernDrinking for this sample. I'm a huge fan of High West. I think it's one of the few craft distilleries that actually create a sum of something greater than the individual components. Now that they've been bought by a bigger spirits company, it'll be interesting to see if those talents can be more widely taken, or will it fizzle out. This one had a nose of mint and eucalyptus, classic rye aromas...but, a bit subdued from the bourbon's vanilla and caramel. I was expecting the taste to be a conflict between the rye's mint and the bourbon's vanilla, but it was rather well done...the bourbon backbone played well with the rye upfront. It's good...but personally, I'd rather have the bourbon or the rye, not both together. It's maybe me personally rather than a representation of this blend. Out of the hundreds of ways High West could've screwed this up, fortunately they found the one way to make it work right. Thanks Richard for this!

Thanks to Jason as part of our little trading team, I got to sample this craft distillery. Craft distilleries are really a hit or miss. How do they stay in business while waiting for their own product to mature? Make gin? Source from others? Most do both, but it's rare to see one source from others and make something better ( like High West). These guys at Sagamore seemed to have taken the route of blending two different ryes, hoping to create a sum greater than the individual parts. It'll be interesting to see where these guys take their future products. For now, seems like this one has some ways to go. Nose is a bit artificial, almost like polish. Taste is young rye, thin and minty. It was interesting to try, but they have some ways to go before becoming the next High West, Wyoming Whiskey, or Westland.

And this year's award for Hardest Name to Pronouce goes to this thing, however you say it ( I call it Bunna Habain Coo Bunch). Don't let the name throw you, this is a really good Dram. Thanks to Telex, as part of our little trading team, I got to sample this. Lemon curd on the nose. Unlike other Bunnas, there's no brine or salinity? Or very little, but certainly not like your typical Bunna. On the palette, crisp and clean, lemon cheesecake with a slight campfire smoke. Reminded me a lot of some of the better young Caol Ila. Quite good. Thanks Jason!

Thanks to the newest member of our trading team, Jason, I got to sample this one tonight. We're in round 3 of knocking off every active Scottish distillery, with maybe a few more rounds to go. This one is really perplexing. I don't dislike it, but not sure I like it either. It's like Bruichladdich was experimenting, and decided to put this out as "what the heck, it might just work". Have you ever had durian fruit? It's this big aromatic fruit from SE Asia. It's sold at the all the fruit carts in Kuala Lumpur. When it's opened up, it smells like gym socks. But everyone around you is eating it and loving it. So...is it good? Is it just you not liking it, when clearly everyone else is? and when you finally have it, it's a strange one, where you just don't know if you like it. That's what this reminded me of. Having durian in Kuala Lumpur. Ok...so the best part is the nose. ( clearly unlike the durian). Lemon and peat. Clean. Crisp. Then the palette carries through that lemon crisp, with a STRONG peat backbone. But I think I just realized something. Just because it has 169 ppm doesn't mean it's any more depth in peatiness than an Ardbeg or Lag. Ppm is indicative, but not the only metric. So it's at the finish this has its WTF moment. It's strange. Not bad strange, or good strange. Just strange. Like durian. I have no idea what to make if it. Thanks Jason for the experience...and taking me back to my college years backpacking through SE Asia and having durian.

Another instance I was praying to the TSA gods that they'd let me pass this through on my trip to Denver. Thankfully, it worked. So I maybe the outlier here, or it could've been the mile high Denver altitude, but I really liked this. I got a warm blueberry cobbler on the nose, with a summery berry fruits on the palette. Short finish, with a kick of bitterness . A good Dram to share with friend who may not appreciate the complexity and gut kick of the Ardbegs and Lagavulins. Solid 3.5. Thanks Scott for the sample.

I love trying American craft distilleries, gotta hand it to their ingenuity, trying various techniques to overcome the shortage of time. They don't have the luxury of waiting 18 years. No, they need to get 'er done in less than 2 years. How else are they going to sell this otherwise to Diageo or LVMH or Pernod-Ricard? Show a great IRR, strong customer segment, and a unique market. They're going the route of George Clooney, High West and Del Maguey. But American craft distilleries are caught in a bind. They can't just overnight produce a 18 yr old, and yet their sheer labor cost elevate prices to those of 18 yr olds ( $100 for a 2 year Westland anyone?). This sample was provided by Scott as a bonus sample in our trading team. Sour apples. Strong strong oak...like new wood. A bit bitter. It's a good effort, and you really gotta commend the hands-on craftsmanship. But, needs a bit more time to ease things off or maybe a finishing to hide the bitterness.

I was a bit torn on this one. I wanted to like it. I really did. Afterall, it's 18 years old, and it's got a come-hither fancy label. Thanks to Paul, as part of our little distillery trading team, I got to try this one. Aroma starts off really nice. Sweet honey, cereals and summer fruits. Palette starts off really nice as well...more summer stone fruits and butterscotch. But, the mid-palette falls apart. Turns bitter. Really bitter. What just happened? I feel like Forest Whitaker in the Crying Game. You know that scene. Just when I thought was going to have a sweet sweet Speysider, it then turns on me. Solid 3 to 3.5 though, based on the nose and palette entry alone.