Tastes
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According to the people at Oregon Spirit, this whisky is a limited edition they made just for Total Wine. A bottle cost me $44.99. I couldn't find any information about the mash bill, but since it's a rye whisky it has to have at least 51% rye, and of course there's wheat in it. It's 90 proof, four years old, and is copper with a slight golden tinge. ๐ก๐ผ๐๐ฒ: The most prominent note is a minty eucalyptus, which I've learned to associate with wheat. I also get dark honey, a fresh note that I can't otherwise describe, and a hint of what might be smoke. ๐ ๐ผ๐๐๐ต๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐น: Creamy. ๐ง๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ: Honey, butter, eucalyptus (the wheat again), a little cinnamon, and brown sugar. ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ต: The finish is short, with eucalyptus, bitter oak (but pleasant), and semisweet chocolate. ๐ฆ๐๐บ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐: This is a very interesting whisky. It doesn't come across either as a rye whisky or a wheat whisky - it's different from both. But it's very good, and I wish it was a permanent offering. ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด: On my hick scale, which has eight levels with 1 at the bottom, this comes in at 6, Fine. That comes out to 3.75 out of 5 stars, 75/100, or 7.5/10.44.99 USD per BottleTotal Wine & More
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Wild Turkey has just one bourbon mash bill - 75% corn, 13% rye, and 12% barley. This bourbon is 116.8 proof (all Rare Breed is this proof, which tells me that they're kind of playing with the meaning of "barrel proof"). This bottle was $58.99 at the Total Wine store in the Uptown area of Albuquerque. There's no age statement, and the whisky is the color of old copper in the glass. ๐ก๐ผ๐๐ฒ: Smoke, honey, creamed corn, and something warm and savory that I can't identify. ๐ ๐ผ๐๐๐ต๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐น: Viscous, creamy, and oily. ๐ง๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ: I get honey, cinnamon, a little oak, and brown sugar. ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐๐ต: Very short, with cinnamon and brown sugar. ๐ฆ๐๐บ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐: If you just go by the number of notes I got on the nose, taste, and finish, you'll probably conclude that this isn't very good. But you'd be wrong to draw that conclusion. I don't think I've encountered such a beautiful mouthfeel anywhere else. And this whisky tastes great too. There's more to it than I've been able to quantify - it's liable to be a good while before I can fully analyze and describe what Rare Breed gives me. ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด: On my hick scale, which counts eight levels from bottom to top, this comes in at 7, Right Fine. That's the same as 4.375 stars, 87.5/100, or 8.75/10.58.99 USD per BottleTotal Wine & More
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Stranahan's Blue Peak
American Single Malt — Colorado, USA
Reviewed April 30, 2025 (edited May 3, 2025)This is a barley whisky - an American "single malt," meaning in plain English that it's made from 100% sprouted barley in one distillery. It's 86 proof, cost me $47.99 at Kelly Liquors, and has no age statement. It's the color of beer in the glass - a yellow-brown. ๐ก๐ข๐ฆ๐: This is the best part of the whisky. I initially get a melange of fruit, which with continued nosing I'm able to resolve into mango, pineapple, apple, a little bit of orange, and finally a hint of chocolate. After the first sip I got, in addition to this, a distinct undifferentiated grain note. ๐ ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐๐๐๐: Surprisingly smooth for something that's only 86 proof. ๐ง๐๐ฆ๐ง๐: All I got was honey butter and brine. ๐๐๐ก๐๐ฆ๐: Sour! It tasted so bad that I didn't even notice how long or short it is. ๐ฆ๐จ๐ ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ: The first glass I had of this whisky was all right, but as the bottle has opened up it's gotten less and less good, until now I just don't like it. I'll not buy it again. ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ก๐: On my hick scale this comes in at 3, Mediocre (1 is the lowest and 8 is the highest on this scale). This is the same as 1.875 stars, 37.5/100, or 3.75/10.47.99 USD per BottleKelly Liquors -
I got this bottle at Kelly Liquors in the Mountain Run shopping center, where it cost me $45.99. The mash bill is 55% rye (which makes it almost a barely legal rye), 36% corn, and 9% sprouted barley. This whisky is 93 proof, according to the label it's "over" three years old, and in the glass the color is mahogany. ๐ก๐ข๐ฆ๐: Honey butter, with a generic floral note, and something vegetal which made me think of mullein. ๐ ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐๐๐๐: Creamy. ๐ง๐๐ฆ๐ง๐: On the palate I immediately got honey with brown sugar and red pepper. There were oak and smoke underneath that, and then stronger notes of cinnamon and dark chocolate appeared. ๐๐๐ก๐๐ฆ๐: This is, alas, short, but delicious. It gives notes of red pepper, black pepper, and dark chocolate. ๐ฆ๐จ๐ ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ: This is excellent whisky. I could wish for a longer finish - this one fades out too quickly - but it tastes so good, as does the whisky overall, that I won't complain. This is a different mash bill from the Sweet Mash Rye (that's 96/4), and it tastes different; moreover the lower proof results in a different experience. I can't decide which I like more, though the higher proof might tip me toward the Sweet Mash. But this is, as I say, excellent, and I'll definitely buy it again. ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ก๐: On my hick scale (8 levels, with 8 as the highest) this comes in at 7, Right Fine. That's the same as 4.375 stars, 87.5/100, or 8.75/10.45.99 USD per Bottlekelly Liquors
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Old Forester 1910 Old Fine Whisky
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed March 30, 2025 (edited March 31, 2025)This is, of course, a straight bourbon whisky. It has no age statement, which means that, as a straight whisky, it's at least four years old. The mash bill is 72% corn, 18% rye, and 10% barley. It's 93 proof, a fifth cost me $58.99 at Kelly Liquors. It's a bronze color in the glass. ๐ก๐ข๐ฆ๐: The first, and dominant, note is a dense caramel - I could sit and sniff it forever. Next in strength is a vanilla cream note - or perhaps marshmallow cream; I dithered somewhat, and settled on vanilla, but I won't swear to it. Underneath all that there's a light floral note, and a tinge of smoke and honey. ๐ ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐๐๐๐: Creamy but a little thin. ๐ง๐๐ฆ๐ง๐: Smoky honey, with a hint of cinnamon and brown sugar. ๐๐๐ก๐๐ฆ๐: Cinnamon, which turns into a growing chocolate that lingers - medium long. ๐ฆ๐จ๐ ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ: This whisky is all right, but it's certainly not worth $59. It's not as good as the 100 proof, it's only 93 proof - seven points lower than the 100, and it costs almost twice as much. I won't buy this bottle again. ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ก๐: As y'all know by now, I have devised a rating scale that draws on my hick vocabulary and thinking. On that scale, in which the numbers are higher the better a whisky is, this comes in at 4 - Okay. That's the same as 2.5 stars, 50/100, or 5/10.58.99 USD per BottleKelly Liquors -
Garrison Brothers Small Batch Bourbon Whiskey
Bourbon — Hye, Texas, USA
Reviewed March 5, 2025 (edited March 31, 2025)๐ ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ธ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ช๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฅ๐ข๐บ, ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ค๐ฉ 5, ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐'๐ฅ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฑ๐ช๐ค๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ด๐ช๐ค ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ, ๐๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฏ'๐ต ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ฃ. ๐๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ, ๐ช๐ต'๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฃ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด. ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ, ๐ข๐ต 0226 ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ค๐ฉ 7, ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ต๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ช๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ณ. This is an expensive whisky, at least for me, at $80.99 for a fifth. It's a wheated bourbon with a mash bill of 74% corn, 15% wheat, and 11% barley. It's 94 proof and is three years old. In the glass it's a dark reddish brown, darker than I'd expect based on the proof. It got this bottle at Total Wine. NOSE: Smoky honey, old lumber (which sounds bad, but is actually pleasant), something floral (perhaps forsythia?), fresh chocolate cake, alfalfa hay, and graham crackers. After I began sipping the whisky a corn tortilla note also appeared. MOUTHFEEL: Viscous. TASTE: Honey, milk chocolate, a little citrus, dark chocolate, and red pepper. With good whisky I always get more on the nose than on the palate, so the disparity shouldn't cause you to believe it's not good or not complex - it is both. FINISH: Medium long, and simpler than the rest of the whisky - oak turning into dark chocolate. But I like oak that turns into chocolate, so for me this is a nice finish, its only drawback being that it's not long enough. SUMMARY: People talk about Texas whisky, but most Texas whisky that I've had imitates Kentucky, at least to some extent. This stuff doesn't - it's proud to be from Texas. It's not worth $81, but it is very good. At that price I probably won't buy it again, but if it were $60-70 I probably would. RATING: On my hick scale, which I created and which I keep because it works for me, this comes in at 7, Right Fine (with 1 being the lowest and 8 the highest). This translates to 4.375 stars, 87.5/100, or 8.75/10.80.99 USD per BottleTotal Wine & More -
Garrison Brothers Texas Straight Bourbon (2016 Release)
Bourbon — Texas, USA
Reviewed February 15, 2025 (edited March 31, 2025)I'm a Texan and so I want to try every Texas whisky I can get my hands on. That progresses slowly, here in Albuquerque, but recently to celebrate the conclusion of a long term personal project I got a bottle of Garrison Brothers Small Batch bourbon, out of Hye, TX. This is a 3 year old bourbon, with a mash bill of 74% corn, 15% wheat, and 11% barley. It's 94 proof, a fifth cost me $80.99 at Total Wine, and it's a deep copper color in the glass - almost the tone of a stained wood. ๐ก๐ข๐ฆ๐: On the nose I immediately smoke, reminding me of Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Proof, though not identical. Then there was a pleasantly sharp note I couldn't identify but seemed familiar from when I was young. There was some sort of spice, fresh wood - but not pine or anything you're likely to find where they're building a house, peanut shells, and then a note which made me think of balsa wood or sawdust or punk. This seemed very much like the wood note I got earlier, but not quite the same. Then there came a honey note, and finally - and strongly - some sort of nutty cereal. ๐ ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐๐๐๐๐: Thick and oily, far more so than I would've expected from a mere 94 proof. ๐ง๐๐ฆ๐ง๐: Right off the bat I got milk chocolate. Then a honey note came in, followed by puffed wheat, and finally a light black pepper taste rounded things off. I never get as much on the palate as I do on the nose, so this is actually not a step down; the palate matches the nose in quality, if not in variety of notes. ๐๐๐ก๐๐ฆ๐: The finish is the only part of the whisky that I find somewhat disappointing. It's short, and begins with puffed wheat which that quickly fades into sweet chocolate, before vanishing altogether. ๐ฆ๐จ๐ ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฌ: This is a good, unique whisky. It's as distinctively Texan, in its own way, as Balcones Texas Pot Still Bourbon. (As a side note, Garrison Brothers was the first legal ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฏ distillery in Texas. Balcones Distilling was the first distillery, getting to market a year before Garrison Brothers, but Balcones didn't begin distilling bourbon until a few years later.) This juice isn't worth $81, but it is very good, and I'd consider $65-70 a fair price. At that price I'd buy it every time I could. ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ก๐: It's the seventh level (counting from the bottom) on my hick scale, Right Fine. That's the same as 4.375 stars, 87.5/100, or 8.75/10.80.99 USD per BottleTotal Wine & More -
George Dickel 13 Year Bottled in Bond Tennessee Whisky (Fall 2005)
Tennessee Whiskey — Tennessee, USA
Reviewed February 6, 2025 (edited February 9, 2025)I really didn't like the review I posted, because it didn't fit my previous experience with this whisky. But I had to be honest, and I put so much concentration into a review that I wasn't ready to junk what I'd done and try again later. What I decided was to violate my rule, and put this bottle ahead of the rotation the next time I randomized the selection. It's now 0115 on the morning of February 9, and I'm sipping another glass. I'm not going to give any detailed nosing notes, but it does smell good. Tonight there's a waxy note, like an unscented candle, which I like. On the palate I'm getting honey, cinnamon, generalized spices, maybe some citrus... This is more like it. My palate must have been way off with the last glass. The finish is of course giving me serious walnuts, some spice, and a bit of semisweet chocolate. If I were doing a full review I'd move the rating up by at least one level on my personal scale. This stuff is definitely better than it seemed last time. ********** This whisky is, of course, 100 proof, and is 13 years old. A fifth cost me $46.99 at the Kelly Liquors in the Mountain Run shopping center here in Albuquerque. In the glass it's a dark copper color. The mash bill is 84% corn, 8% rye, and 8% barley. NOSE: Right off I got alcohol, but then the notes started coming in. I detected caramel, a general nuttiness, cornbread (which appeared suddenly out of nowhere), a musty and fruity note, sweet smoke, a pleasant odor of cork - not corked whisky, but the actual cork, and finally Spanish peanuts. I don't often get this much on the nose, and I loved this experience. MOUTHFEEL: Smooth. TASTE: Much to my surprise, the only note I got on the palate was oak. FINISH: Medium, with oak and walnuts. SUMMARY: My first glass of this was superb. The second glass was very good. But this glass is all nose, with only one note on the palate and two on the finish. I don't understand it. I've never had a whisky which was so good on the first glass drop so far in quality as it interacted with the air. Tonight it was just so-so. I don't know whether this process of becoming bland is typical of this whisky, or if it's just this bottle, or if I just picked the wrong night to review the stuff, but whatever the reason, I found this disappointing. I hope it's just that my palate's having an off night, because I like Dickel whisky, and at first this was significantly better than anything else I've had from Dickel. RATING: I would like to rate this higher, but I have to be honest, and base my rating on how the whisky was to me when I drank it tonight. I give it an Okay rating, which is #4 on my hick scale (which counts from the bottom up). That's the same as 2.5 stars, 50/100, or 5/10.46.99 USD per BottleKelly Liquors -
Heaven Hill Bottled In Bond 7 Year
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed December 2, 2024 (edited March 31, 2025)I got this bottle at Total Wine, where a fifth cost me $42.99. As a bottled in bond whisky it's 100 proof, and is a dark copper color in the glass. It's 7 years old, with a mash bill of 78% corn, 12% rye, and 10% barley. NOSE: When I nosed the whisky I got smoke right off - it reminded me of Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Barrel Proof in that one respect. Next came caramel, butter, brown sugar, and the pleasant smell of the lumber from an old barn. MOUTHFEEL: Smooth, and slightly thin. TASTE: The first note was brown sugar, though cinnamon was nearly there, rushing in second. Then I got honey butter, powdered sugar, red pepper, and a hint of artificial lemon. FINISH: The finish is medium in length, and begins with a little mint, then brings in cinnamon, and ends with chocolatey oak. SUMMARY: I think a better price would be a couple of dollars lower, or perhaps a higher proof would bring the quality up to what I paid. But a couple of dollars is not a lot of money, and so this is going to be just a quibble. This is good bourbon. I'm glad I bought it, and while it's not certain, I just may buy it again. RATING: On my hick scale, which has 1 at the bottom and 8 at the top, this comes in at 7 Fine. This is the same as 4.375 stars, 87.5/100, or 8.75/10.42.99 USD per BottleTotal Wine & More -
I found extremely little information about the mash bill. I only found one place which gave percentages, and I discounted it because it omitted entirely one of the four grains. The other place I found information on the mash bill was Oregon Spirit's own site, which didn't give any percentages, but said that it contains corn, rye, wheat, and sprouted barley. I had expected to find wheat in the mash bill, because this whisky gives me notes that recent experience has associated in my mind with wheat whisky or a high wheat bourbon. The bottle cost me $44.99 at Total Wine. It's 94 proof, has a four year age statement, and in the glass is a dark copper color. NOSE: When I nosed the whisky I immediately got honey and mint mixed. There was a faint butter note sliding underneath, and then as I continued to nose the whisky I got notes of mint chocolate chip ice cream, a pine forest, and a warmth that spread over anything. Everything I got on the nose, I got before I took the first sip; this is unusual, because normally after I have a sip or two I can get a little more from the nose. MOUTHFEEL: Buttery. TASTE: It began with a light honey note, then a light cinnamon, and then peppermint, black pepper, and brown sugar. Both the nose and the palate are unique in my experience - while they resemble both Oregon Spirit wheat whisky and Redemption wheated bourbon, they're not identical. FINISH: The finish is medium long, though the length is merely the slow fading of the last note. I got first a generalized spice, then mint, eucalyptus, and black pepper. SUMMARY: This is a fantastic whisky. It's a four grain bourbon, with characteristics of bourbon, rye, and wheat whisky. It's worth every penny of the 45 bucks I paid, and I highly recommend it. RATING: My hick scale has eight levels, counting from the bottom, and this comes in at 7, Right Fine. This equates to 4.375 stars, 87.5/100, or 8.75/10. I think the only thing that it would take to move this up to the highest level would be more age or more proof (and there is a bottled in bond expression, which I've not tried, but I expect to be excellent).44.99 USD per BottleTotal Wine & More
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