Tastes

I tasted this blended scotch at 40%abv. in the evening neat and with water added. It is lightly sweet and has a slight toasty character. Other than that, it does not excel at anything in particular. It does well as a cozy, cheap sipper.

I tasted this Highland scotvh neat at 43%abv. in the evening. It is chill-filtered and with added artificial colouring. The nose is sweet with honey and maybe some dates in the backdrop. It smells sweet like some sort of honey toffee candy. I get the hint of apricots as well. The taste is sweet up front in the heat of the alcohol. Sherry cask influence is there but not overbearing. The finish is medium in length but lacking in substance.

I tasted this bourbon neat at 43%abv. in the evening.

I tasted this blended Canadian whisky neat, with water, on ice, and in an Old Fashioned at 45%abv. in the evening. It is noticeably drier than the regular Crown Royal Deluxe with much more punch in the wheat and herbal notes. It succeeds in its balance and its ability to bring me to a remote Canadian wheat field. The palate is bright honey and a very long herbal finish. Superb! I would pair this with canoeing on a moose wearing snowshoes in a Mountie jacket.

I tasted this blended Irish whiskey at 40% and with a drop of water in the afternoon. From the lack of information on the label to suggest otherwise, I think it's a fair assumption that this golden-coloured spirit was slapped with the ol' E150a artificial colouring treament, and likely chill-filtered. I find it a shame that they only bottle it at 40% as well, because you can tell from the nose and the taste that there are beautiful bouquets of flavours trying to shine here that fail to come into cohesion. The nose is ripe with green apple and baking spices, some figs, and a wonderful citrus / menthol / eucalyptus zest that tugs at your nosehairs before fading quite abruptly before getting to know it better. I found the taste astringent at first, but that dispersed after sitting in the glass and with added water. The ripe fruits in caramel come out after that, with fresh ginger and camphor notes on the sides. This is a very gorgeous, sippable whiskey that seems to reach just shy of its potential.

I tasted this 10-year old Islay single malt neat at 46%abv in the evening. It is non-chill filtered and of natural, pale gold colour. The first things that are obvious and apparent from this juice before even putting your face near the glass is the oily, light colour of the liquid coating the sides, and the sharp characteristic Ardbeg peat flying in every direction. It's reminiscent to me of a chimney smoke mixed with burnt paint funk, but is strangely pleasing. It is discovered why upon the first sip - The honeyed maltiness and lemon let the briny stings of the peat play without exhausting the senses. Later on, I get some bold spearmint and camphor in the back. The finish long, but not as long as the Uigeadail. It is a gorgeous dram. I now can see why the Ardbeg cult of fans are so devoted, with such a powerful core line-up.

I tasted this single malt scotch neat at 40%abv in the evening. It is chill-filtered and of artificial colour. First impressions on the nose are lots of nuts and some spices. The sherry influence is very present and truly makes itself the centerpiece on the palate. Loads of dry fruit and some juicy grapes come out to play on a backdrop of oak. The oak is nice and powerful but I do get some dank basement twinge to it on occasion that does not quite sit well with me.. The texture is thin which leads to a short finish of sweet sherry and orange zest.

I tasted this American Rye neat at 46%abv in the afternoon. I could not find details on the post-treatment of this whiskey. The nose is full of black licorice/anise, dill, dill, and lots of dill for me. With a drop of water, the spices part into a big splash of red apples. The palate opens up more spices and a long leathery note with vanilla that lingers. Sometimes the dill weed spice blooms into an almost astringent dill pickle. The finish is nice and medium-long, however, and pleasant.