Tastes
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Daftmill 2007 Winter Batch Release (USA)
Single Malt — Lowlands, Scotland
Reviewed April 4, 2021 (edited November 11, 2021)The Daftmills I’ve had to date have had the light elegance of the best Japanese whiskies — and with the 2007 winter release they now have a price to match, an extortionate $250 a bottle. That might be tolerable had the quality taken an equivalent step up, but something’s gone very wrong here. There’s a bitter oaky finish that erases the pleasure of satsuma segments on the nose and a burst of lemon at the front of the mouth. I spent several days revisiting my sample on the assumption that my palate must be having an off day or two, but the sensation of chewing wet wood dominated through the very last drops. Everyone’s allowed mistakes, but this is a costly one that squanders a lot of good will to this distillery. -
A deliciously bonkers amaro that tastes like a serendipitous experiment after a trip to the farmers’ market. Sassafras, figs, cucumber, cloves and celery, spritzed with mint, will stimulate the less-exercised parts of your palate, though it’s perhaps a touch too medicinal on balance. Still, full marks for originality. Thanks for the samples @pbmichiganwolverine
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Laphroaig 10 Year Sherry Oak Finish
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed April 3, 2021 (edited November 11, 2021)Since there’s no way to “follow” a bottle and get notified when people post reviews, could whoever gets here first please let me know via a comment? Thank you! -
Balcones True Blue Tequila cask finish
Single Malt — Texas , USA
Reviewed April 2, 2021 (edited February 4, 2022)I’m not a big fan of corn or tequila, but they combine into something amazing in this whiskey. The corn spirit presents itself with a silky texture and a delicate sweetness that is tempered by the herbaceous tequila barrel notes. The creamy aftertaste brings to mind melted vanilla ice-cream from Cornwall, a part of England whose name is 100% unrelated to the 100% corn mashbill. Guaranteed to cure the blues. -
L'Encantada Lous Pibous Hail Yak 1995 #135
Armagnac — Bas Armagnac, France
Reviewed March 29, 2021 (edited April 9, 2021)Passover week provides an annual incentive to dig into my teetering pyramid of samples that are not whisky and I’ve been looking forward to starting an exploration of Armagnac, which I’ve been told can provide the elusive funky notes I crave. I don’t get any of them here, but what I do get is something akin to a spectacular aged bourbon, with well rounded notes of chocolate raisins and caramel. The oily mouthfeel is sublime and the oak influence more restrained than you would find in any bourbon of a similar age. This was priced at $125 when it was bottled for one of the online communities I frequent, making a strong argument that there’s never been a better time to broaden my horizons beyond grain spirits. Hail yak indeed. -
Bunnahabhain Moine Amontillado Finish (Fèis Ìle 2020)
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed March 10, 2021 (edited September 9, 2022)The cancellation of Feis Ile last year had a tarnished silver lining for drinkers as the Islay distilleries moved to sell their festival bottlings online. This one was relatively easy to get hold of and reasonably priced as these things go. It’s one of the best I’ve tried from Bunna recently. As much as I like the distillery overall, not every exotic cask maturation or finish works well with the spirit, especially in its more heavily peated Moine version. Here, the Amontillado sherry cask brings just the right amount of tangy, marmalade and apricot influence to bear on the malt’s dusty cigar smoke, while mouth-coating oils keep the embers smoldering at the back of the throat. There’s no world in which my ability to buy a bottle of this offsets the loss of two years of festival income for Islay, but on my short list of serendipitous pandemic opportunities this merits a grateful acknowledgment. -
Torabhaig 2017 The Legacy Series
Single Malt — Skye, Scotland
Reviewed March 9, 2021 (edited November 11, 2022)Apologies for the bad picture of an empty bottle, but between my greedy gulps and the many requests to share this went from open to empty in a matter of days. It comes with a reputation of the most promising debut since Kilkerran and I think the comparison is a worthy one. While the Campbeltown upstart took its time to show its full potential, this three-year-old release arrives fully formed, suggesting the second distillery on Skye is a worthy neighbor to Talisker. The nose bristles with crushed sea shells, salt and lemon and once the bottle has had some time to breathe the liquid yields a compelling mix of tangy peat, salt and grapefruit in the mouth that tapers to a citrusy aftertaste. There are none of the grassy off-notes or feints that one associates with young whiskies. The balance and intensity of the flavors suggests there must be some kind of voodoo at play over on Skye and for a second I wondered if they were sneaking over to Talisker at night and stealing a few barrels. I don’t want to overhype this - the initial pours were a little disappointing beyond the nose. But once it opened up it proved hard to resist. That empty bottle will be replaced immediately. -
Creamier than the 12 and less aggressively spicy, this is perhaps more balanced than its age-announcing peer even if it lacks the intensity of flavor. I prefer how the spice presents here versus the 12 — it comes in a little earlier and in better proportion to the rest of the dram. A hint of strawberry ice cream adds a fun note to the nose.
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I keep writing that I’m not a big bourbon fan but the more I taste the more I realize that it’s a certain profile of bourbon that I don’t care for. Specifically, the creamy, corn-heavy variety, which I associate most often with Four Roses. What I do like in bourbon is the darker, richer flavors, and they’re here in plenty: caramel, ginger snaps, brown sugar, oak tannin. My sample was perhaps a little too spicy mid-palate, but the caramel on the finish wraps it up nicely.
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Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban Port Cask Finish 14 Year
Single Malt — Highlands, Scotland
Reviewed February 21, 2021 (edited May 6, 2021)I ranked this second in a blind tasting of the six finalists for the Whisky Exchange whisky of the year in December and was shocked when it turned out to be the new version of the Glenmorangie Quinta Ruban. I’m not a huge fan of the distillery and rated the previous version of this whisky just two stars, so sickly did I find it, but this 14-year-old edition is a revelation. It leads off with a surprising amount of strawberries on the nose, tastes silky sweet in the mouth — the strawberries joined by a syrupy cream — and finishes pleasingly tart. Alongside Signet and the 19, it joins the exclusive club of Glenmorangies I would be happy to have at home.
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