Tastes
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Spirit of Hven Sankt Claus Single Malt
Single Malt — Sweden
Reviewed August 5, 2016 (edited August 2, 2018)I had a sample of this, curious to try Swedish whiskey, but wasn't willing to purchase a full bottle for that curiousity. I love the color of this liquid. It's reddish brown, like fall maple tree colors. The nose is of blackberries and red wine. Flavor carries through a clean wintergreen red berry flavor. This is such the wrong season to have this. I think it's meant for winter or a chilly fall night. Finish is sharp and quick; minty. I was pleasantly surprised by this. It's clean, fresh, and warming. I bought a sample of this last year from the UK, I wish I simply saved it for the winter. It's really a great cold, windy night drink. On a side note...the bottle takes me back to my Chemical engineering days at U of Michigan ( go WOLVERINES!!). I swear those crafty Swedes simply took a bunch of 500ml beakers from the local chem lab. -
Hands down one of the top three blends I've ever had. This is incredibly smooth and complex. Nose is floral, like honeysuckles and lillies. I can smell this all day. Really a more floral aroma than the 12, and even the 21. 21 might have more depth and complexity, but this certainly beats it hands down on the floral aroma. Taste is strangely a bit salty and nutty. I had it with a small round ice, I didn't get chocolate but I did get caramel. Ironically, I feel as if I'm having a Scottish Highlander on the palette and a Lowlander on the nose. Not getting a classic eastern taste. Either way, it's really good. Thanks to Davie for the sample!
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Ilegal Mezcal Reposado
Mezcal Reposado — Oaxaca, Mexico
Reviewed July 24, 2016 (edited January 17, 2020)In my new attempt to go outside my comfort zone of red wine and whisky, I'm trying mezcal today. Truth be told, it was actually an unplanned buy. I was at my local wine /liquor store to pick up a cheap bottle of white wine. Was planning on making crimini, shiitake, portobello mushroom risotto, and needed white wine as an essential ingredient. I ended up taking a walk over to the whisky section, just to see if anything new was on the shelf. It was---the Compass Box Circus. Too expensive for me right now, at over $150. I then fell for the oldest trap in consumer selling. A beautiful clerk asked if I needed help deciding. Twenty minutes later, and a conversation about her native Oaxaca cooking, I ended up with a $55 bottle of mezcal in my hand. She recommended this one, if you're a fan of Laga 16. It's actually pretty good. Nose is smoky and grassy. Taste is minerally, herbal and sweet smoky. Not like Laga at all, but surprisingly quite good. Finish is lingering and almost like a minerally finish of a Pinot Grigio. Note to self: to avoid spending another $50 on an impulse buy, don't go when the lovely clerk from Oaxaca works there. As much as I love talking Oaxacan moles like the next guy, not sure I'll need another mezcal in my collection. -
Macallan Fine Oak 15 Year
Single Malt — Highlands, Scotland
Reviewed July 22, 2016 (edited May 22, 2020)I wish Distiller had a rating beyond 5 stars. Something called " I'll remember this one 25 years down the line". I honestly can't recall ones I've had a week or two back, but there are my top 5 that I'll remember 25 years later. Those top 5 are experiences that you'll remember for decades. For me, it's been a Brora 30, High West Midwinter, Yamazaki 18, Hibiki 21, and now this Macallan 15 Fine Oak. I need to get a full bottle of this one. Thanks to Davie---not for just a sample, but for one that I'll remember for years to come. The aroma is vanilla and freshly cut oak. Taste follows through nicely with brown sugar, honey, oranges. Really take small sips, you'll savor it more that way. I had it with a small round ice. Bought out more chocolate flavors. Finish is back to the fresh cut oak and orange peels. Definitely need to pick up a full bottle. -
We all stereotype. Yes, it's human. After my last few Canadians (Crown Royal Northern Harvest and Crown Royal Noble Collection), I was led to believe all Canadian whiskey is affordable and very good. Stereotyping. It's like assuming just because macaroons, mousse, and cassoulet are good French dishes, all French cuisine must be good. Till you run into the Ortolan (Google it...horrifying ). This here is pretty bad. First of all, let's talk about how it's made. It's about 90% of 50/50 rye from a pot still and column still. The other 8-9% or so is from bourbon. And the remaining 1% from Sherry. Not Sherry cask, but actual Sherry. As in the wine itself. I can imagine the Nazi like Scotch whisky association screaming blasphemy. So what does it taste like? Like when a bunch of frat boys decide to mix their leftover liquor to create the next evening special. I had this at a local tasting, where the guy was selling me on the point that it's one of the few whiskies under $30. The kicker was that he had this tasting along with Crown Royal Northern. Sort of like good Canadian and bad Canadian. The only positive is the color. Really nice mahogany dark tea like color. They might as well have injected 0.5% squid ink for the color. Just for kicks.
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I've been trying outside my comfort zone of red wine and whiskey, and started dabbling a bit in rum. So far I've had two other rums---a Kraken and Don something-or-other. I found both extremely sweet, like sucking on an artificial sweetener. It turns out the reason is that most rums add sweetener, while this one is without sweetener or coloring. Sort of the non-chill filter and caramel color in whiskey trend I guess. I think this is the first rum I didn't find overly sweet, and complex enough to make it a hot midsummer night sipper. I still can't find anything on the nose like a whiskey, but the taste is definately of papaya, caramel, and tangy sweet fruits like kiwi. Quite good. I paid $50 for it...which makes think if good rum is any cheaper or not than a decent whiskey. Probably not.
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High West, if nothing else, does have a knack for making the sum of its parts greater than the individual. Midwinter really blew me away, probably one of the top 5 of my all time favorites. This one is good, but not anywhere close to Midwinter. While the signature in Midwinter was the Christmas mulling spices, this one's calling card is maraschino cherries. If I were to rank my top ryes, it would be clearly Midwinter by far as #1, followed by Crown Royal Noble Collection. This might round out out my top 5 ryes...but I've only had 5 ryes...
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Considering this is all grain blend, it's really silky smooth. My very few experiences with grain whiskey (Nikka and Teeling) have been unimpressive because of the rough edges. I think what Glaser has done here is prove that not all grain is harsh i f blended correctly. This is definately a hot weather sipper---you get coconuts, vanilla and butter smooth creaminess. Finish is short and smooth. Now---if we pivot to value for money...I'm not sure this is a convincing buy considering it's all grain, little to no complexity. Instead his Great King street is a much better VFM. If you look at the numbers, data kind of proves the VFM. Price per avg rating is 18 in Great King st, while 19 here. (Lower the number, the better VFM)
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Lot No. 40 Canadian Rye (2012 Release)
Canadian — Canada
Reviewed July 1, 2016 (edited June 23, 2018)I remember back as a geeky chemical engineering major in college, I was dating this one girl who was the nicest, sweetest human being. She was also stunningly gorgeous. But...she was at a all girls college in a rural part of the state, which had a dozen others that looked like her. Her value there I'm sure was minimized because everyone was good looking. When she started hanging out with us engineers, she stood out like a gem amongst coal pieces. That there is Lot 40. For years, this whiskey never got its true credit. It probably was overshadowed by the Scots, Americans, occasional Taiwanese Kavalans and Indian Amruts. But, it's a gem. Probably one of my top 3rye based whiskies (along with Midwinter, and Crown Royal Noble). It's slowly creeping up in price, so might be worthwhile to get it while it's still reasonable. -
These notes are from memory---I bought a bottle about 8 months ago, at a colleague's recommendation. I think it's discontinued now. On to the notes----I really wish I was a fly on the wall at Amrut's creativity lab. I am so sure those chaps there first smoke something mind enhancing , and then come up with these ideas. Their Intermediate sherry was where it starts off in bourbon, then sherry, back to bourbon, all the while shipping back and forth from Spain to Bangalore. Another one of theirs was sent to mature at a small island in northern Germany. And now this. I can imagine some guy in the Amrut lab sitting in a chair, smoking mind enhancing products, and then "dude, what if we take slabs from 6 different woods, krazy glue them together, and mature our stuff in there?" And there you have it...Spectrum. Or better known as Bat S**t Crazy Experiment #4. That aside, this is a pretty solid drink. I remember the nose was all over the place, from red wine to candy apples. Taste was thick and sweet. Walnuts and pecans, roasted marshmallows, a bit of sea salt (??? Bangalore isn't anywhere close to the ocean!!). Finish is long and lingering of Christmas spices and cardamon. Now that I think of it, all of Amruts have that cardamon finish. I gotta google map them, I'm sure there's a cardamon plantation close by their distillery. Looking forward to another experiment of theirs. In fact, I think they should open up a contest to see who can come up with the next crazy idea, and the next whiskey will be named after them. I'll partake if they provide the mind altering smoking products.
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