Tastes

Nose: Vanilla, light sugars, some musty wood notes, peaches, apricots, tropical fruit like mango, sweet yeasty background notes with a touch of a grassy herbal hint. Flavor: Creamy mouthfeel with more tropical fruits, vanilla, and crème brulee. A background hint of toasted macadamia nuts. Finish: Medium length, sweet barrel char, spices like clove and cinnamon, a little drying as well. I like this. A lot more than I thought I would as I'm a pretty picky Scotch guy. Super nice especially for the price point this is a huge value. Not particularly interesting or complex but super pleasant. Going back after trying the four varieties in the sampler pack: I actually like the original 10 year best. Interesting....

A sample as part of the "whiskey transfer program" from dthom. I'm leery here as I don't like peaty whiskey (sorry peat heads!) and this was sold to me as "smokey without the peat". I always taste peat as burned plastic so I can't get past it. Nose: Very smokey and sweet. Like BBQ that is cooking in someone's backyard. Some wood and dark sugars. Flavor: Dark sugars and sweet BBQ rub. It tastes like the rub I use on my ribs. The smoke is so overpowering I can't get anything else. Finish: No clue. My palate was so overwhelmed with Mesquite smoke flavors that I couldn't tell anything else. Not balanced at all. Sorry guys...I hate this. This whiskey isn't a touch of smoke but all smoke. Any good flavor that I thought I was catching was quickly overwhelmed by Mesquite.

A sample from dthom as part of the "Whiskey Transfer Program". Excited to try this. Nose: Dark almost burnt sugars, toasted wood, yeasty bread notes, vanilla, and clove. Flavor: More dark sugars but I'm hit right away with super bitter burnt sugar wood notes that are a little off putting and shove all of the rest of the flavors aside. Finish: More dark bitter wood with a little spice, kind of a short finish. I wanted to like this more. Maybe it's a weird barrel? So much bitter burned barrel that I couldn't get much else out of this. It's not bad but just...weird.

A sample as part of the "Whiskey transfer program from dthom". I'm excited to try this but, as always, wary of the hype and ridiculous prices this stuff goes for. Nose: Holy toasted coconut Batman! Toasted coconut, dark sugars, candied pecans, vanilla, Flavor: More toasted caramelized nuts, creamy buttery mouthfeel with dark sugars, vanilla, more coconut, some cinnamon and anise. Almost like root beer candy. Finish: Cedar and dark wood sugars with some spice, long finish that gets more interesting as I wait. A little bit of peppermint and drying anise on the finish here. Wow this one is complex and interesting and delicious. A great whiskey if you can get it at MSRP but don't hold your breath. I've seen this for $500 which is not good value.

A sample as part of the "Whiskey transfer program" from dthom. Nose: Very sweet red wine and grapey notes like brandy hit my nose up front. Dried dark fruits like figs and cherries as well as toasted pecan. Flavor: Not as sweet as the nose suggests. Ripe red fruits, caramelized sugars, vanilla, and more wine notes. Finish: Long finish that lingers. Starts off with a little bit of spice and more toasted nuts and fades in to some dark caramelized wood tannins with baking spices then finally pencil shavings and more wine notes. My favorite Port finished bourbon to date. Complex with a lingering interesting finish. Kind of sweet so I wouldn't start my night here but would maybe end a nice meal with this. Definitely a good after dinner dram.

A sample from dthom as part of the "Whiskey Transfer Program". I'm very excited to try this as I'm a fan of Blanton's but feel like SFTB is too high proof. I've often felt that the sweet spot of proof versus flavor for bourbon is 100-112 proof and this one is 103 proof. Nose: Smells like...Blanton's. Shocker! Heavy caramel apple, vanilla, dark sugars, but more cinnamon and allspice than I'm used to and some background yeasty bread notes. Flavor: More dark sugars and poached apple but with a lot of barrel char on the front with lots of baking spices. Finish: Quite a bit of spice and barrel char offset the sweet notes and finishes a little drying and peppery. Medium long finish. I'd say this is my favorite Blanton's to date. More complex than the traditional single barrel which has always been my one issue, it's a little simple.

I had wanted to try this for a while and finally got to at Whiskeyfest SF. Admittedly I'd had several tastes before this but I did remember enjoying it so I picked up a bottle the other day and got to it. I should preface this by saying this is not technically rye in the traditional sense. It's rye with rum added and is NOT rum cask finished. You really need to approach this from the perspective of "it's something completely out of the box". Nose: Bananas foster! Dark caramelized sugars, molasses, ripe banana, vanilla, rum, and some ripe apple notes. Flavor: More bananas foster and I like it! Tastes just like it smells though with a little bit of heat. Kind of thin but very approachable with the lower proof. Finish: Finishes a little dryer than the taste but that isn't saying a lot given how sweet this is. A hint of rye black pepper spice and herbal notes on the finish with just a little bit of barrel char. I like this! It's very desserty and sweet. Does not check the box if I want a rye at all but definitely a great after dinner dram. It's more of a digestif.

A sample bottle dthom picked up for me in San Francisco. Can I just say it? We're all thinking it. The bottle, especially the full size one, is stupid. It barely fits in a liquor cabinet and is super hard to pour. This is a case of someone in marketing not consulting with anyone before making a decision. Nose: Punches me right up front with peanut, peach, nougat, vanilla, and caramel. If someone were to make a peach flavored Payday bar this would be it. Kind of weird but also kind of pleasant. A little bit of citrus and grass in the background as well. Just a little bit of background funk that is sort of like banana or mango (tropical fruit) and sort of like the notes you get from a sherry finished single malt. Weird but sort of good. Flavor: Not nearly as complex or interesting as the nose suggests. Kind of vaguely sweet with vanilla and brown sugar. A little more background nuttiness but more like pecans or brazil nuts. A bit bland really. Finish: Medium length with more barrel bitter than I'd like. Some woody notes that clash a bit with the tropical fruit notes that assert themselves at the end. Just a little peppery as well with some background mint notes. Clashing flavors on the finish. This one is just all over the place but the contradictory and seemingly random flavors don't really work for me. Plus the bottle is stupid.

A generous sample courtesy of bourbonjosh24. Nose: A little unpleasant. Acetone, vague grain notes, yeasty background notes, lemon peel, light sugars, light vanilla, just a little bit of oak. Not particularly complex or interesting up front. As I get more in to it I get just a hint of peach or apricot. Flavor: Sweet, vanilla, oak, and not much else. Finish: Pretty short with a little bit of wood. Just a little drying with some spice. Well...it's not bad. Kind of bland but a background acetone note the whole way through was a little off putting. Just not much substance.

I liked this. A lot. Nose: Super classic bourbon with vanilla, brown sugar, caramel, pear, and some charred oak notes. Very sweet smelling. A little bit of background yeasty notes like fresh baked bread. Flavor: Not as sweet as the nose suggests. Still plenty of sweetness but it is offset by leather and tobacco that mixes nicely with the apple and pear flavors and the vanilla caramel notes. Still nothing super surprising but a great representation of a bourbon. Finish: A little spicy, black pepper, heavy barrel char, medium length. This is a super smooth whiskey that doesn't punch at the weight its proof suggests. I liked the extra char notes as they offset t he sweetness nicely.