Tastes

This appears to be a limited release of 3830 bottles that was selling around $120 per bottle based off the old price I found from K and L at the time. Those have sold out and trying to find this through a quick search online revealed that the only shop selling these is Cask Cartel for an astonishing $1k. Big thanks to @Richard-ModernDrinking for the sample of this rare and expensive drink. Time to find out if the collectors have lost their minds for the cute cat picture on the bottle or if this is an epic treat. This has a very light nose with flavors of runny honey, orange blossom, grapefruit, vanilla then slight sulfur and light oak with light ethanol burn. Going in for a taste reveals a thin-medium mouthfeel starting with light fruit that quickly turns bitter and sour with grapefruit pith and clay soil with a medium ethanol burn that finishes short with bitter grapefruit, a slight hint of vanilla to soften the bitterness, along with pencil eraser and clay soil. What a disappointment that with every taste seems to add more dirt and bitterness that is no way near worth the initial asking price or the secondary prices of today. If someone wants a bottle with a cat picture on it, just save yourself the $1k and buy a Springbank 12, print out a cat picture of your choice and paste it on the front of it. You’ll be rewarded with a delicious whisky with a cute cat on it and save yourself a lot of money.

So, I’m going in blind on this one and big thanks to @Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington for taking the time to set this up and provide the sample. Let’s see how I do without knowing anything about this until after the taste. The nose starts with chocolate covered pecan caramel clusters then fruits of apple, fresh cut orange slices, and banana bread then spices of nutmeg, cloves, spearmint, leather and medium oak with a medium ethanol burn. The taste is a rich mouthfeel starting with chocolate covered pecan caramel clusters then fruits of apples, oranges, banana pudding followed by a medium spicy chipotle pepper that slowly fades away to reveal other spices of cloves, spearmint, leather and medium tannic oak with high ethanol burn. The finish is long with dark chocolate covered pecan clusters, apple, orange, banana runts, spearmint, leather and medium tannic oak. So this is definitely a bourbon with some age to it and high proof, that has all the traditional assortment of bourbon flavors with a creamy and rich mouthfeel but drifts to a spicy hot pepper note mid-palate that lingers for a little while before the other spices can come through that then finishes long with sweet notes and a medium oak spice. I have no idea what this is, it reminds me a lot of some of the Old Carter Single barrels or a Barton product with those banana notes, but those could just be in my head. Either way, it’s a very well done bourbon that I enjoyed each sip of and just need to prepare myself for that medium pepper note on the mid-palate to reap the reward of that long tasty finish. Perhaps if I put a little water in it, it would have toned down that spice kick, but I’m awful at that and usually end up ruining my drink. Anyways, time to open that piece of paper and find out what this bourbon treat is: Four Gate Split Stave. Wow, I’ve been curious about this one with the zebra casks they use to age these in and really grateful that @Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington was generous enough to provide this sample as these appear really difficult to find.

The nose starts with a campfire by the ocean with a light breeze blowing the salty air towards you then charred fruits of lemon and orange followed by candied bacon, smoldering peat briquettes that transitions to a mix of new car/tire, gingersnap cookies, and toasted pumpernickel bread with light ethanol burn. The taste is a medium to viscous mouthfeel starting with fruits of lemon, tangerine and dragon fruit, then sea salt caramel, smoked pork belly, freshly opened bag of rubber mulch, gingersnap cookies, white pepper, toasted pumpernickel bread and light oak with medium ethanol burn. The finish is long with tangerine peel, dragon fruit, gingersnap cookies, campfire ash, chocolate covered pretzels, charred pork belly, pumpernickel bread and new tires that lingers for minutes. The rye flavors aren’t big or bold in this one, but play as a background note to the Ardbeg character that comes in right towards the end of the nose, taste and light on the finish to help complement those Ardbeg notes and provide something a bit different and interesting. The peat notes are toned down in this much like an older Islay whisky and are well balanced with the rye spices adding some additional notes to the Ardbeg DNA without any note overpowering the rest but work harmoniously together in this tasty dram.

Heaven’s Door does an annual Bootleg Series where they package up a whiskey into a stunning hand-made ceramic bottle with one of Bob Dylan’s paintings on it, then add it to a leather bound book case. I tried the 2019 version which was a 26 year aged whiskey finished in Japanese Mizunara oak barrels, fully expecting to call it an overpriced celebrity swill in fancy packaging, but found it to be a stunning drink. The Bootleg 2020 Edition is a 15 year old straight bourbon whiskey finished in Jamaican pot still rum casks that had previously aged rum for between 30-35 years and is bottled at a cask strength proof of 104.6. Let’s see if they can repeat the same magic of the previous year’s whiskey. The first nose is rum forward without any bourbon notes; it’s fruity with sugar cane and banana foster. Coming back for a second sniff starts to allow those bourbon flavors to emerge behind the rum starting with a light rum flavor of banana foster followed by the bourbon notes with fruits of cherry and orange peel, then comes vanilla iced bread pudding before light oak spices of cinnamon and leather with a light ethanol burn. Going in for a taste starts with a thin mouthfeel starting again with those rum flavors first with days old rum soaked monkey bread topped with dark muscovado sugar coated caramelized bananas followed by the bourbon peeking through with cherries jubilee, candied orange peel then mild spice with ginger, leather and light tannic oak with a medium ethanol burn that finishes medium length with rum soaked monkey bread, cherry liquor, candied orange peel and light oak spices. This is an older, well-aged, gentle and balanced whiskey that brings in all the traditional bourbon flavors with some light rum influence, but isn’t very complex and comes across as a rather boring whiskey instead. If you’re looking for something that is balanced, light, fruity and an easy sipper, this would probably fit the bill, but if you want something complex with many different flavor components that come together in a captivating performance this will sadly disappoint. For the $500 cost, I'll gladly let these run off into the sunset that was painted on the bottles and use my money elsewhere.

This one appears to be a late to the game of Game of Thrones style whisky marketing with Ardbeg’s marketing people making the simplistic idea of Drogon dragon scorching barrels. So I guess the thought would be that after Daenerys Targaryen is flown away by her dragon Drogon, they land in Islay and Drogon picks up charring barrels for Ardbeg instead of charring King’s Landing. So how does dragon charred whisky barrels affect the whisky taste, thankfully @PBMichiganWolverine gave me a sample to find out. The nose starts with a medium peat smoke and freshly cut open vanilla pod, followed by soft orchard fruit (pears, peaches, apples) before chocolate nibs and spices of ginger, lemongrass and fresh bandages with light ethanol burn. The taste is a thin mouthfeel starting with fruits of orange, charred lemon and grapefruit followed by light vanilla pudding with campfire ash before spices of ginger, lemongrass and medium tannic oak with light ethanol burn that finishes short with campfire ash, chocolate nibs, soft fruits of peaches, mangos and papaya and lingering tannic oak. This is actually very mediocre and thin to the point the taste seems watered down making notes hard to find outside of peat and wood. The nose is light and enjoyable, but going in for a taste the mid-palate goes to a mix of campfire ash with tannic oak that continues through the finish. You basically get King’s Landing that has been Drogon scorched in liquid form with some fruits mixed in. If you’re wondering how this compares to other Ardbeg whisky though, I ran it through them all and it wasn’t even close to competing with any of them including the cheapest of Wee Beastie that you can find for under $50. Wee Beastie is a thicker mouthfeel with more flavors and a longer finish. So if you want to buy an Ardbeg, my recommendation is to skip the $120+ these cost and go for anything in their core line.

This whisky is composed of an undisclosed blend of ex-Islay casks which have been finished in Oloroso sherry casks and bottled at 56.8%. I’m a sucker for Islay whisky, so mystery blend finished in sherry sounds wonderful to me, but let’s see if this one works. The nose greets you first with a rich sherry note followed by tangy barbecue sauce covered smoked meats transitioning into fruits of grilled peaches, apricots and stewed cinnamon apples then dark chocolate covered candied bacon, burnt rubber, ocean brine and smoking matchstick with a medium ethanol burn. The taste is a medium mouthfeel starting with sherry grape must, caramel covered cinnamon apples, peaches then charred pork belly covered in tangy barbecue sauce followed by ocean brine, blazing tire fire, ginger, leather and moderate oak spice with a medium ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with a tire yard engulfed in flames, ocean brine, stewed cinnamon apples, caramelized peaches, dark chocolate covered raisins, candied bacon, and leather. This is probably not for everyone, but if you enjoy basking in the warm glow and enticing aromas of a tire fire by the beach along with some barbecue and a glass of sherry this will make you happy. In comparison with Ardbeg Uigeadail, Uigeadeail has more balance and complexity without the slight tannic and rubber finish of the Elements of Islay; however, in comparison to Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength, they are very similar and this could probably be labeled Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength Sherry finish. If there are other components in here, they are overwhelmed by Laphroaig, but it’s still a delicious drink. With the possible idea of what a Laphroaig Cask Strength Sherry finish would taste like, I think they should highly consider it for a future release. Huge thanks to @PBMichiganWolverine for the sample of this tire fire treat.

The nose starts with a light coffee aroma reminiscent of stale Folgers left from the previous day’s batch then chocolate nibs, light fruit of orange peel, and light barrel spices with no ethanol bite. The taste is a thin mouthfeel starting with coffee, chocolate nibs, then orange peel and light spices with light ethanol burn that finishes short with stale coffee with chalky undissolved powdered creamer. So drinking this neat, it is flawed with the coffee flavors overpowering the whiskey notes to the point that it feels like just another coffee liqueur and not a coffee/whiskey blend. I’m a big fan of combining whiskey with coffee, but this doesn’t accomplish that balance of roast coffee notes mixing with fruits and barrel spices of the whiskey. So if you’re stuck with a bottle and don’t enjoy this neat, I might have a possible concoction that might solve the conundrum of how to finish this bottle without utilizing it as drain cleaner. I took the remainder of my sample, made a 1:1 ratio with chocolate milk, added a few frozen cherries, tablespoon of maple syrup, ice and stirred which then transformed this into a very enjoyable cold cherry mocha with some maple syrup richness. 1.0 neat, 4.0 for the cocktail. Thanks @PBMichiganWolverine for the generous sample.

The nose starts with a mesquite smoky caramel Texas hug followed by smoked meats (leaning towards pork belly) then fruits of stewed cinnamon apples, charred orange, and figs, before roasted chestnuts, incense, barbecue spice rub, and tannic oak with medium ethanol burn. The taste starts with a medium mouthfeel with mesquite smoked caramel apples, peaches coated in brown sugar then grilled to caramelize, then cornbread, pecans followed by spices of chili pepper, ginger, leather and tannic oak with medium ethanol burn that finish medium length with coffee rubbed brisket, dates, bit-o-honey, candied pecans, leather and tannic oak. This is a whiskey that you need to be in the mood for as the smoke and tannic oak can simply overpower the other flavors. It’s a woody, smoky and spicy Texas unbalanced barbecue, one that I think those that enjoy Whiskey Del Bac Dorado would probably enjoy a lot as well. The mid palate goes bitter with tannic oak and smoke that overpower the other flavors, but then the finish slowly drifts towards those coffee and dark fruit flavors that other Balcones whiskies tend to have. For me, if I’m going for a smoky Balcones, I would rather reach for the Peated that has a better balance and isn’t as tannic. I’m sure wherever the sample @jonwilkinson7309 disappeared to, is being enjoyed and huge thanks to @ctbeck11 for the replacement sample to finish off this Balcones series of mine. Balcones top three for me still stand at Peated Single Malt, Blue Corn Bourbon and True Blue Tequilla Finished, but I hear they have plenty of more experimental whiskies in the works and I look forward to trying them one day.

The next dram on my Balcones tour is this triple matured single malt, thanks to @Richard-ModernDrinking for the sample. If I have this correct, this was aged in new American oak before being finished in an ex-rum cask that was used to finish a stout then came this single malt to get some of the rum and stout flavors. Balcones definitely doesn’t shy away from trying out new and unique ideas, but let’s find out if it worked. The nose starts with fruits of charred pineapple, caramelized bananas, apricots, then Jamaican jerk eggplant followed by soapy floral notes before spices of dill, chicory, dark roast coffee, leather and light oak with medium ethanol burn. The taste is a thin-medium mouthfeel starting with fruits of pineapple, charred plantains, dehydrated apricot followed by soapy floral notes before chicory, espresso beans and light oak with a high ethanol burn. The finish is medium length with chocolate covered espresso beans, chicory, charred pineapple, toasted marshmallow, leather and light oak. This is an interesting experiment from Balcones that’s very unique with a mix of tropical, coffee, floral and wood notes, but the balance of the flavors seems off with the soapy floral notes overpowering the taste before a really enjoyable finish with chocolate covered espresso beans. It’s an enjoyable drink, but not one of my top three Balcones products, which would go to their Peated Single Malt, Blue Corn Bourbon, and True Blue Tequila Finished.