Tastes

This one is super weird. I feel like I maybe didn't like it but it was so confusing I just don't know. My thought is that I need to give this another shot in a highball with soda water. To be clear: I'm not a whiskey cocktail guy but this seems like it might make a good whiskey cocktail. Nose: 100% lychee but without the sweetness from lychee. Background smoke, vanilla, and some light herbaceous notes. Flavor: Floral but with heavy overtones of ashtray and expensive soap. Finish: Super short with more smokey ashtray flavors and a little bit of sweetness.

I'd like to point out that this wasn't my bottle and I would never buy this myself but I was curious to try it. I'll say I'm a Conor McGregor fan and a fan of MMA in general so I'm happy I can say I've experienced this whiskey...once only. Nose: Sweet cereal notes with floral background scents. Some vanilla and honey. Flavor: VERY sweet. I mean like cloyingly "hurts your teeth" sweet. I am assuming this comes from the aging in bourbon barrels but I'm missing the characteristics I expect with an Irish whiskey. Just sweet on sweet with a tiny background floral note. There is just no character or anything interesting going on. Finish: this finishes as soon as it's begun. Nothing going on in the finish at all other than a little alcohol burn. So I can't say this is a bad whiskey because it's not. It just isn't good in any way either. It has no character or interesting flavors. This is "frat boy cola mixing whiskey" and that's ok. We need whiskeys for that because a lot of folks like whiskey and coke. Let them purchase this (and not stray in to my harder to find stuff) and I'll stick with my complex barrel strength selections and we can each stay in our respective lanes.

Interesting to find an age stated bourbon (mine is just over 8 years) for under $30. I'm skeptical about the quality given the cost versus age comparison. Nose: Very mild flavors of vanilla, brown sugar, and a background floral scent like honeysuckle. A little bit of cedar and peanut as well just at the end. This sounds weird but I'm getting a little bit of pineapple. Not particularly complex but a pleasing nose. Flavor: Sweeter than the nose would suggest. Interesting that I'm not getting any of the fruity, floral, or nutty flavors that I expected from the nose. Very one note with sweet vanilla flavors and a little bit of oak. Thinner than I'd expect at 8 years. Finish: Very short finish with some spice and a little bit of wood. A little drying and tannic but it didn't hang around long enough for any interesting flavors to develop. This was an ok whiskey but not at all what I'd expect from an 8 year age stated bourbon. Very thin and one dimensional with a short finish. The most interesting part was the nose. I feel like this would have benefitted significantly from a higher proof like there were more interesting flavors and scents lurking in the background that would have been brought forward by maybe 100 proof? Good for the value under $30 but compared to other age stated whiskeys under $30 like Eagle Rare or McKenna 10 I found this lacking.

I've been wanting to try this for a while and when I ran across a couple bottles of the 2017 I couldn't resist at $80. Wow is this good! Nose: Very complex. There is a lot going on here probably because of the blend of three types of whiskey. Leather, molasses, vanilla, lemon peel, cinnamon, cedar, green apple peels, dried cherry, and heavy ethanol punch given the high proof. This keeps getting more interesting and deep the more I smell. Flavor: Maple syrup right up front, cigar, leather, dried figs and dates. Wow. Punches way under its weight for the proof. Very smooth and buttery. Finish: Long finish with lingering wood notes, rye spice, baking spices. Big Kentucky hug with lingering warmth and flavor. Changes towards the end to peanut butter, nougat, and caramel. Tasted a lot like a snickers bar as it lingered in my mouth. Truly one of the best drams I've had. Outstanding with some of the Beam flavors I'd expect. Cousins flavor wise to some of the Booker's that I've had but way more complex and interesting. I may have to buy another bottle off the shelf. Snag this if you can find it.

I don't know why I waited so long to open this as I've had the bottle a minute. Nose: Traditional wheated bourbon with vanilla, brown sugar, poached apple, and quite a bit of alcohol punch. Smells a little yeasty like fresh baked bread. Flavor: More sweet vanilla with poached fruits, cereal notes, and a little bit of grassy herbaceous flavor. Finish: Kind of short and still sweet though drying out some with a little bit of oak and a little bit of heat and baking spices. Overall a solid bourbon though my least favorite of the Weller line. Classic wheated bourbon flavors and nose and a great value at MSRP or just over.

Not my favorite but not horrible. More of a bourbon and coke whiskey than anything else. Nose: Very forward corn smell, kind of young smelling. Sweet white sugars, orange peel, heavy ethanol for the lower 90 proof. Flavor: Sweet and vanilla and not much else. Too simple for my taste but in its defense it doesn't have a lot of punch from the alcohol and goes down smooth. Just not much character. Finish: Fast finish with a little wood and a little spice transitioning in to a bitter tobacco /pine tar flavor that I did not appreciate at all. This was ok up until the finish and then turned not so good. Overall a decent value and I can see where this would be a good mixing bourbon but for me, a neat whiskey sipper, this was not my style.

This is a great value whiskey. Even more so factoring in the high proof and high flavor. Why haven't I heard more about this before? Nose: This has some classic bourbon scents with vanilla, dark sugars, and some rye spice coming right at the front. After a little nosing I'm getting strong baked apples, oatmeal, and baking spices. This smells a lot like apple cobbler to me and I like it. The nose is has some ethanol bite which is expected with the 114 proof. Flavor: More caramelized sugars with baked apple right up front. The grain really comes through with oatmeal-like cereal notes and I'm getting even more baked apple cobbler with just a hint of roasted nuts. Very smooth for the proof. A buttery mouth feel that I like though not as thick as some barrel proof bourbons. Finish: Medium length finish. From sweet apple cobbler to oak and some real rye spices plus a barrel dryness that contrasts nicely with the sweet flavors at the initial sip. It finishes with a little barrel bitter that I wasn't super fond of but another sip solves that problem right away. What a value! Certainly not my favorite (or even top 5) barrel/high proof whiskey I've tried but at under $30 a bottle this is good stuff.

This one has a ton of hype so I went in with some skepticism. Nose: Vanilla, brown sugar, classic bourbon nose. Orange peel and oatmeal as well. Flavor: More caramelized sugars and vanilla, more ethanol burn than I'd expect. Some grassy notes and baking spices. Finish: Spicy finish with quite a bit of wood. The sweetness quickly faded in to a long finish with baking spices and red hots. I liked this but it wasn't nearly as good as its reputation. I'd think at $35-$45 this is a good whiskey for a BIB but at current secondary as much as $100 this is not worth the cost.

A mini bottle gifted by dthom. Nose: Poached pears, light wood, light iodine scent, some sweetness, a wisp of smoke, lemon peel, and a little bit of a musty soapy quality like a fallen mossy rotting tree. Flavor: Super smooth, some sweetness, a little iodine, more musty wood, and rosemary like herb notes. Finish: Shorter than I would have expected. Heavily peated finish with wood smoke and earthy flavors. Quite a bit of medicinal iodine flavors here and it finishes with an almost rubber glove note that I didn't like at all. I have mixed feelings here. I'm not a peated whiskey guy typically and this whiskey has some nice qualities but some really off putting flavors too. I enjoyed how mellow the alcohol was and how smooth it drinks. The nose was excellent and lead to a fairly bland initial flavor with an off putting medicinal finish that tasted kind of like when the dentist puts rubber gloves in your mouth.

I should point out I'm not a huge rye guy but this one is definitely my favorite I've tried so far. I was hesitant because I didn't think much of the Michter's 10 year bourbon despite liking some of their other items. Nose: Some grassy herbaceous notes that I always expect from a rye, some sweet notes, barrel char and wood smoke, and toasted almonds. Flavor: Spicy notes, leather, more toasted nuts, sweet caramelized sugar in the background, herbaceous flavors, and a nice oily texture that I really liked. Finish: Spicy rye punch with deep dark flavors like dark chocolate, bitter wood notes like coffee but pleasant, a long spicy finish that I really enjoyed. This was my favorite rye to date and if it wasn't so expensive and hard to find I think I'd go out and give it a buy.