Tastes

Here is yet another example of the many different experimental finishes that is occurring all over many different whiskey brands with Sagamore trying out a Manhattan style finished rye. I used to give a hard pass on anything that was finished outside of port, sherry or red wine, but there have been some really interesting ones lately that have impressed and piqued my interest in trying some different finished whiskeys. A huge thank you to @Scott_E and @PBMichiganWolverine for the samples provided to find out if this is a winner or something to throw in the failed experiment data pile. The nose starts with a mix of cinnamon apple and cherry pie filling along with fronds of dill, graham cracker crust then comes barrel spices of ginger, cloves, nutmeg and light oak with medium ethanol burn. The taste is a medium mouthfeel starting with those apple and cherry pie fillings then comes some orange peel followed by chewing on more dill fronds of along with nutmeg, cloves, sage, highly drying oaky spice and medium ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with fruit by the foot, dill, orange peel, sage, cinnamon apples, dry oaky spice and cloves. This was an interesting experiment that starts with a pleasant balance of sweet, herbaceous and barrel spices on the nose, but the taste quickly gravitates from sweet fruit pie filling towards chewing a mouth full of freshly picked dill, sage leaves and playground wood chips that continues through the finish and ruins the experience for me. This experiment didn’t work for me neat or even on ice, but I’m grateful for the chance to try it and will be interested in trying some of Sagamore’s other experiments.

These are incredibly hard to get and usually require a wait in line in the early hours or incredible luck to be picked in a lotto, but thankfully I didn’t require either as @Scott_E was very generous to provide this sample. The nose starts with cinnamon spiced caramel covered baked apples along with star anise spiced poached pears then toasted walnuts that transitions to barrel spices of ginger, cloves, leather and lightly charred whole wheat toast with medium ethanol burn. The taste is a medium mouthfeel starting with a fruits of caramel apples and star anise baked pears before toasted walnuts that transitions to barrel spices of ginger, cloves, nutmeg and lightly charred whole wheat toast with medium ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with caramel apples, baked pears, toasted walnuts, ginger, cloves, nutmeg and lightly charred whole wheat toast. From the nose to the finish, this is fairly simplistic and uncomplicated whiskey that brings in some citrus fruit, caramel and light barrel spices that doesn’t overwhelm the senses and is well balanced, but also doesn’t bring in any big, bold or complex flavors that I’m looking for to validate those $100+ secondary prices. If I were lucky enough to find one of these in the wild for $50 or under, I’d probably pick up a bottle as it’s an easy sipper and would be fun to explore a whole bottle, but could also see myself walk past and grab an OF 1920 or Wild Turkey Rare Breed instead.

The nose is very light but starts with light caramel with banana runts along with cherry hard candy and macadamia nuts then transitions to light barrel spices of ginger, clove and low oak tannins with light ethanol burn The taste is a thin mouthfeel starting with light caramel covered banana pudding along with macadamia nuts that slowly transitions to barrel spices of cloves, ginger and charred white bread with light ethanol burn finishing short with banana pudding, vanilla wafers, macadamia nuts, cinnamon, nutmeg and light tannic oak. Overall, this is a fairly uncomplicated and easy drinking whiskey that brings in some sweet banana flavors along with light barrel spices. For the cost of $45, this is an alcoholic banana pudding with vanilla wafers and some barrel spices which works great for me as banana pudding was one of my favorite childhood desserts.

The nose starts with a rich butterscotch caramel then fruits of chocolate covered raisins, cherries jubilee, caramelized white peaches and candied orange peel followed by peanut brittle, light barrel spices of cloves, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, leather and polished mahogany with medium ethanol burn. The taste is a viscous mouthfeel starting with rich caramel and fruits of figs, sour cherries, orange zest and lemon meringue followed by peanut brittle and bubble gum before a medium pepper spice comes in mid palate that slowly fades revealing dark chocolate and light barrel spices of ginger, cloves, nutmeg, leather and polished mahogany with medium ethanol burn. The finish is long with chocolate covered raisins, orange push-pop, peanut brittle, gingerbread cookies, a light spice, leather and polished mahogany. This is a complete masterpiece and manages to combine bourbon, Irish along with slight sherry notes to create a balanced and complex whiskey. From the first nosing of this you are greeted with bourbon notes up front, but can tell there is something different about it with the Irish whiskey adding a subtle lightness to the normal bourbon profile. The taste is similar to the nose with the bourbon notes blending harmoniously with unique Irish notes until that spiciness I get from Redbreast 12 cask strength appears in a lighter form mid palate that then fades away revealing some sherry influence with dark chocolate and balanced wood that finishes with all those wonderful bourbon, Irish and light sherry notes that linger and continue to reveal additional flavors for minutes after each sip. These cost $100, which might seem like a lot for a 10 year bourbon, but this comes together with more complexity and depth than their $500 Heaven’s Door Bootleg Series Volume 2 which was a 15 year bourbon aged in older rum casks. If you’re a fan of bourbon and Irish whiskey, you will want to grab one of these before they sell out as I grabbed two based solely on the review from @dubz480 and wish I grabbed more. Huge thanks to @dubz480 for putting this one on my radar, as I never would have purchased this otherwise and would have missed out on this incredible whiskey.

For this release, Penderyn aged their whiskey for 15 years in an old Buffalo Trace bourbon barrel resulting in only 114 bottles from the cask and bottled them at 59%. This is the oldest Penderyn that I’ve had and am eager to try it as their previous single cask versions of the 10 year Madeira Cask and 13 year Rich Oak were incredible. The nose is lighter and not as rich as previous single casks, but you still get those Penderyn fruits starting with a fruit mix of apricots, mangoes, guavas and lemon zest followed by candied almonds, then comes fresh baked blueberry muffins dusted with cinnamon sugar then bourbon caramel over a piece of medium charred sourdough toast with medium ethanol burn. The taste is a medium mouthfeel starting with that fruit mix of apricots, mangoes, guavas and lemon zest followed by blueberry special k cereal then a high spice along with medium tannic oak overwhelms blocking the other flavors with high ethanol burn that slowly fades into a medium finish with guava, orange peel, lemon grass, vanilla cupcake, Sichuan pepper and medium tannic oak. Overall this is an enjoyable but underwhelming drink that the additional years in the cask seem to have made it thinner than previous releases, toned down those rich fruit flavors and added a high chili pepper spice along with tannic oak that doesn’t improve the experience. In comparison to the 10 year Madeira Cask and 13 year Rich Oak, this unfortunately comes in last of the three proving that older is not necessarily better.

This sample is courtesy of @PBMichiganWolverine and seems rather interesting as it’s from a new distillery in Lowlands that has aged their whisky for this bottle in a combination of sherry, bourbon and STR burgundy barrels. The nose starts with Honey Nut Cheerios then oak aged Sprite soda followed by a light sherry sulfur note with some rocky minerality, band aids and light barrel spices with low ethanol burn. The taste is a thin-medium mouthfeel starting with caramel, citrus fruits and Cheerios followed by a medium chili pepper spice and chalky powdered ginger that lingers before transitioning to light tannic oak with medium ethanol burn finishing medium length with citrus zest, Cheerios, peppercorns, powdered ginger and light oak. This is a young whisky that needs more time and the flavors from the sherry, bourbon and burgundy casks don’t really surface for me outside the sherry sulfur on the nose. There’s not a lot going on with this one besides some malt, sour fruit and spice, but the whisky is young, so that’s not surprising and it will be interesting to see how their whisky develops over the coming years. Another huge thanks to @PBMichiganWolverine for the sample of this hopeful up and coming distillery.

This bottle has been sitting inside my cabinet for months, untouched and often scowled upon as a pariah for taking up valuable space in my bottle collection due to a prior experience with regular Nulu bourbon which was dreadful, sour, made disastrous cocktails and eventually met a brown waterfall death as an $80 bottle of Drano. So why would I get another bottle, well sometimes the bourbon gods bestow gifts to their faithful partakers as my cancelled bourbon of the month club failed to notify their distributor of my departure which serendipitously resulted in a free bottle of Nulu Toasted and Blanton’s single barrel. Curiosity has gotten the best of me, it’s now open, and I will now find out if bourbon Loki is playing a trick to create another brown waterfall or if this will be brown nectar to be utilized in daily bourbon communion. The nose starts with a chocolate covered toasted marshmallow followed by burnt orange peel and caramel cinnamon apple fritter then spices of nutmeg, cloves, and roasted chestnuts with medium-high ethanol burn. The taste is a medium mouthfeel starting with a rich caramel along with chocolate covered toasted marshmallow followed by fruits of apple and orange before the spice of a Sichuan peppercorn takes over and lingers before finally transitioning to barrel spices of cinnamon, clove, nutmeg and light oak with a high ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with toasted marshmallow, walnuts, graham cracker, chocolate, orange, caramel apple and light oak spice. Surprisingly this was not a trick, but rather an enjoyable bourbon that the toasted finish has helped polish out the flaws found in normal Nulu. This isn’t a complex whiskey, but a well-executed young bourbon that adds a toasted marshmallow flavor to traditional bourbon flavors and is easy to drink, but won’t result in any wow factor. I’ll no longer be shunning this one and enjoy it until it’s empty, but for the $80 this would have cost, I would rather just pick up another MGP like George Remus ($40) or anything from the Belle Meade range ($40-$80).

For this one, Garrison Brothers transferred their four year old small batch bourbon into stainless steel tanks, threw in some upcycled bourbon barrels repurposed into wooden cubes that were soaked in Burleson’s Texas Wildflower Honey to the tanks, pulled it out seven months later and lastly bottled it at 80 proof. A huge thanks to @ctbeck11 for the generous sample as I’m curious to find out if those honey bourbon cubes, stainless steel aging and low proof make for an easy sipping bourbon treat. On the nose, it’s very simple and light with freshly rolled raw cinnamon roll dough topped with a cinnamon sugar/butter mixture and some light barrel spices with light ethanol burn. A taste reveals a thin-medium mouthfeel that starts with that raw cinnamon roll dough with some toasted pecans then chocolate, light fruit followed by light barrel spices with a light ethanol burn that finishes medium length with cinnamon honey butter on toast, a cup of Mexican hot chocolate and candied pecans. This is almost like a sweet tea that has been spiced with bourbon that tastes mediocre at first, but the more I drink, the more flavors emerge with more raw cinnamon roll and lingering honey. It’s not complicated, but it’s extremely easy to sip on without turning into a sickly sweet drink with those bourbon flavors coming through and honey emerging on the finish. These appear to cost $70 which is more than I’d want to pay, and would rather have a WR Double Oak (Hershey’s syrup covered banana split with cherries) or an OF 1920 (chocolate covered alcoholic cherries with creamy center) for my sweet whiskey craving, but if a raw cinnamon roll with honey butter is more your style, you’ll really like this.

The nose starts with a rich fresh baked chocolate pecan pie with a slightly burnt pie crust followed by fresh cut oranges and cherry chutney that transitions to barrel spices of cloves, nutmeg, leather and gold medal flour with high ethanol burn. The taste is a rich mouthfeel starting with that rich pecan pie, then orange and cherry fruit that is quickly disrupted with a high tannic bitterness with a mix of raw flour, black tea and wet log that encompasses the rest of the dram with high ethanol burn that finishes medium length with 100 percent bitter dark chocolate, burnt pie crust and cherry flavored NyQuil. This seemed promising at first with that rich nose and similar profile of a whiskey baked by the Texas sun, but the taste is just a slight glimpse of those flavors before the highly tannic flavors overpower the rest of the dram. These appear to be selling for $100 which is an easy pass and a side by side comparison with a Jack Daniels Barrel Proof Single Barrel revealed that the Jack is a far superior whiskey at just $70 that brings a rich barrel proof experience with a balance of flavors that doesn’t veer towards a high tannic bitterness. Huge thanks to @ContemplativeFox for the sample.

The nose is extremely light and very hard to pick out flavors outside of cinnamon, caramel sweetness and light pear with light ethanol burn. The taste is just as light as the nose with a thin mouthfeel with flavors of pear, cinnamon, caramel and icing sugar with light ethanol burn that finishes short with a slight bitterness with caramel, icing sugar and light pear. This is a lackluster whisky with light sugar flavors and faint fruit that is better than the Mars Lucky Cat “Mint”, but only because there are no bitter dirt flavors. These appear to be selling for around $30 which is a much better value than the Mars Lucky Cat “Mint” and could be an addition to your bottle blockade that helps protect your better bottles from those magician family and friends that ask for your “smoothest” whisky followed by performing their only trick of “The Disappearing Bottle” as this can be characterized as sugary alcoholic brown water. Big thanks to @jonwilkinson7309 for the generous sample of this one.