Tastes

I got a pint for $32.99 at the Uptown Total Wine store here in Albuquerque. I wish it were cheaper, but I'm not sorry I spent the money. Of course single barrels vary, but this bottle is 128.2 proof. There's no age statement. Jack Daniel's uses a mash bill of 80% corn, 8% rye, and 12% barley, so it's a low rye whisky. In the glass it's deep copper. NOSE: Right off I got a rich smoky caramel. Then came musty corn, oaky smoke, cinnamon, and finally buttercream icing or cheesecake - I couldn't decide which - at the sides of my mouth. There's a lot here I can't sort out. MOUTHFEEL: Creamy and oily - this may be the best mouthfeel I've ever encountered. TASTE: Cinnamon, brown sugar, black pepper, a tinge of oak that increases but never becomes very strong, butter and honey, and finally waffles with cinnamon. FINISH: This is medium, consisting of oak and black pepper. If anything in this whisky were going to disappoint me, it would be the finish, but in fact it's not a disappointment, though it isn't as long and complex as I expected. SUMMARY: This is a superb whisky. It's plenty hot, but it's delicious, and complex enough that I could spend considerable time sorting it out. I can't afford to buy it often, but I will buy it again. RATING: On my hick scale it comes out as a 7, which is next to the highest level - I call it Right Fine. That is equivalent to 4.375 stars, or 87.5/100 or 8.75/10.

George Dickel is primarily a Tennessee whisky distiller, though in my view Tennessee whisky is a variety of bourbon. However, they label this bottle as bourbon - from what I've read, because it comes from barrels that don't fit their standard profile. It goes through the exact same Lincoln County process as Dickel Tennessee whisky, but when picking barrels these went to the bourbon line while the rest become Tennessee whisky. This stuff is 90 proof and eight years old. A fifth cost me $31.99 at Kelly Liquors. The color in the glass is copper gold. NOSE: The nose is the best part of this whisky. It begins with corn sweetness, then brings in a little honey, something musty and warm, a faint nuttiness (but not the pecan note that I associate with Dickel juice, and which was present when I first opened the bottle), and vanilla buttercream icing. MOUTHFEEL: Thin but soft. TASTE: All I got from this glass was honey. FINISH: The finish is also a single note - oak - and is just shy of being medium length. SUMMARY: I've waited for this stuff to get better as it interacts with air, but it never did. Indeed, it lost the signature Dickel pecan note that I like. This bourbon is little if any better than Jim Beam. I won't buy it again. RATING: On my hick scale there are eight levels, 1 being the lowest and 8 the highest. This juice comes in at 2, which I call Poor. That's the same as 1.25 stars, 25/100, or 2.5/10.

This is a Texas bourbon, and so it's different from the traditional Kentucky style bourbon. It's young by the calendar, but in Texas aging moves more quickly because of the climate (just as whisky ages faster in Kentucky than in Scotland). The mash bill is 70% white corn, 25% Elbon rye (making it a high rye whisky), and 5% Wildfire barley. It's 98.4 proof, cost me $39.99 for a fifth, is copper colored in the glass, and the label says it's at least two years old. NOSE: Sweet potato pie spice (NOT pumpkin pie, which I can't stand), almonds, corn sweetness, vanilla buttercream icing, smoky cashews, cinnamon chocolate. I don't think I've ever come across a whisky which melds things together into discrete notes (e.g. cinnamon and chocolate merging into a note of chocolate with cinnamon in it) the way this one does. MOUTHFEEL: Medium creamy. TASTE: Cinnamon chocolate, brown sugar, black pepper butter, dark chocolate. FINISH: Medium, beginning with black pepper, bringing in some oak, and mixed in with the other notes a hint of chocolate orange. SUMMARY: This is definitely a superior bourbon. It's now one of my standards - whiskies which I may not always have on hand due to limitations on fundage and storage space, but which I definitely will buy again and again. It's definitely worth the price, and I'd be willing to pay $50 (though it would mean I could only afford it perhaps one or two times a year). RATING: On my hick scale, which goes bottom to top 1-8, this is the 7th level - Right fine. That's the same as 4.375 stars, 87.5/100, or 8.75/10.

This is the second time I've reviewed this whisky, the first being a bit more than two years ago. Looking over that previous review I see that my palate has changed - or the whisky has, which might also be the case, though I suspect it's my palate. At any rate, I'm better qualified to evaluate this (or any other whisky) with two years experience than I was then, with two months. I see the price hasn't changed a penny in that time - a pint cost me $15.49 then, and now. The mash bill is 95% rye and 5% barley, it's 90 proof, there's no age statement, and in the glass the color is light copper. NOSE: First there's a mineral note - it doesn't smell like grus, the sand that granite forms when it weathers, but that's what it makes me think of. Next I got vegetable leaves, a summer lawn, twigs, moss, mint, and a really unpleasant note of acrid weeds - thistle, perhaps. MOUTHFEEL: Smooth - I could have said "creamy," but after evaluating it I decided smooth is a slightly better description. TASTE: Butter (which surprised me - that's a note I get fairly often from bourbon), a slight cinnamon note, brown sugar, and black pepper. FINISH: Short, beginning with sweet tea and ending with weeds. SUMMARY: This isn't bad whisky, but it's simple and the finish, while e starting well, ends badly (who wants to have the taste of weeds in his mouth?). Perhaps it's just that I'm not a rye guy - I'm trying to find that out - but this whisky doesn't impress me. RATING: My hick rating scale has eight levels from bottom to top, and this one is the fifth, Good. That translates to 3.125 stars, 62.5/100, or 6.25/10.

I got a pint of this, since I'm experimenting with rye, for $21.99 at Total Wine. There's no age statement, the whisky's a blend of two different mash bills, and in the glass the color is copper. It's only 83 proof. NOSE: I'd only gotten a couple of notes on my first glass, but after sitting for a few days after opening the nose really opened up. I got notes of mineral or salt, perhaps both together; alfalfa hay, milk chocolate and caramel; red berries (perhaps raspberries or thimbleberries); something that was both meaty and buttery; a note that made me think of sunshine on a meadow; another reminder, this time of a summer lawn; honey; and pine lumber. This is definitely not a bourbon nose. MOUTHFEEL: Thin, which makes sense at 83 proof, but creamy nevertheless. TASTE: Spring water, spiced honey, a little oak, and mingled salt and sugar. FINISH: Grass and hay, faint honey - short. SUMMARY: After waiting for a few days the whisky opened up considerably. The nose became very promising - but the rest of the whisky doesn't measure up. Overall this whisky turned out to be unimpressive. RATING: On my hick scale, it's 4th out of 8, counting from the bottom - what I call Okay. This is the same as 2.5 stars, 50/100, or 5/10.

I have a sample only, so I don't know what it actually cost, but the Total Wine site tells me that here in Albuquerque a fifth would run $85.99. The mash bill is 80% corn, 12% rye, and 8% barley. It's 107 proof, if there's an age statement I don't know because I don't have the bottle, and it's a dark gold in the glass. NOSE: On the nose I get vanilla, caramel, corn sweetness, butterscotch pudding, ambrosia, maple syrup, waffles, whipped cream, and mandarin oranges. Overall the nose is soft, sweet, and warm, and it includes notes I've never gotten before anywhere. MOUTHFEEL: Oily. TASTE: Brown sugar, Red Hots, oak, char, buttered waffles, and sugar syrup - again, some notes I've never gotten before. FINISH: Long, beginning with honey and then going to sweet oak. SUMMARY: This is DELICIOUS whisky. It's sweet and sunny, with just enough dark notes. I wish I could afford to buy it myself, because there's more to it than I can sort out from just a sample. I would love to spend a while working through a bottle, and sorting out all the notes in the nose and taste that I could tease out tonight. RATING: I give it the highest of eight possible ratings on my hick scale - Mighty Fine. That of course is the same as five stars, 100/100, or 10/10.

This bottle was a gift, and I don't know what the individual who gave it to me paid, but the Total Wine site lists it at $45.99. All I could learn about the mash bill is it's Buffalo Trace's Mash Bill #1 - for some reason which I've never been able to fathom, they don't want anyone to know what their mash bills are, even though no one, with that information, could ever replicate their whisky, and releasing that information has never hurt other distillers. It's 100 proof, of course, since it's bottled in bond, and there's no age statement. NOSE: On the nose I got bananas, vanilla, caramel, butter, butterscotch, creamed corn, and niblets. MOUTHFEEL: Soft. TASTE: Honey, oak, cinnamon, and brown sugar. FINISH: Medium, with oak, honey, and a brief citrus note. SUMMARY: Just looking at the notes I got from this whisky you'd think it's simple, but I don't believe it is. There's more to the whisky than the individual notes I got. I think that over time I'll be able to get more out of the juice than I've gotten for this review, but of course that'll require going on through the bottle. At any rate, it is good whisky even if I'm having trouble sorting it out, and I think the price for it is fair. RATING: My hick rating system puts this one at #6, counting from the bottom and going all the way up to 8 - I call it Fine whisky. This equates to 3.75 stars, 75/100, or 7.5/10.

This was a sample, so I don't know what it cost the person who gave it to me, but here in Albuquerque Total Wine lists it for $87.99. The mash bill is 75% corn, 13% rye, and 12% barley. It's 110 proof, and in the glass the color is copper. If there's an age statement on the bottle I don't know it, of course, since it was a sample. NOSE: Butter! right off the bat, like I was actually smelling a stick of butter. Then came vanilla, roasting ears, birthday cake (I couldn't be more specific than that, though I tried to determine what flavor of cake and icing the note was indicating), and something else warm and sweet that I couldn't identify. Perhaps over time I could sort the nose out better. MOUTHFEEL: Thick and creamy. TASTE: Cinnamon, brown sugar, oak, red pepper, and a faint honey note. FINISH: Medium, beginning with oak and a little honey, just plain alcohol heat, and finally lingering oak. SUMMARY: This strikes me as being less complex than I expected, but it's definitely good bourbon. I'm not sure that it's better than some standard whiskies - that is, not single barrels or other special expressions - but it is good, and of course single barrels do vary, so another bottle might be better (or worse) than this. I will say that though I like it, I wouldn't pay nearly $90 for it, but at $50 I'd call it a good deal. RATING: On my hick scale, it's the fifth (counting from the bottom), which is Good. That translates to 3.125 stars, or 62.5/100, or 6.25/10, if you prefer those kinds of ratings.

I'm a Texan, and so I want to try, eventually, everything from Texas I can get my hands on. This was my first chance at this bourbon, so I took it. A fifth cost me $54.99 at the Mountain Run location of Kelly Liquors. All I could find about the mash bill is that it's a wheated bourbon - the mash bill is corn, wheat, and barley. The color in the glass is old copper. NOSE: Something that's musty or dusty or both starts things off. Then come vanilla, grass hay, a hint of honey, melted butter, and a touch of spice - cinnamon, and then other things in the background of the spice. MOUTHFEEL: Thick and buttery - this is the best part of the whisky. TASTE: Honey, butter, and a very faint grass note. FINISH: Medium long, with nothing but oak. SUMMARY: I found this very disappointing. It's a moderately good bourbon, but not more. The most is fairly complex, but it's simple on the palate. At $20 I'd buy it again, but not at the actual price. RATING: I give it the fourth level of my hick scale, which is merely Okay. That translates to, 2.5 stars 50/100 5/10

This whisky has a mash bill of 63% corn, 27% rye, and 10% barley, so it's a high rye mash bill. I paid $32.99 for a fifth at the Uptown Total Wine store here in Albuquerque - and I waited months, nearly a year I think, for it to return to the shelves; when I started looking, it was already out of stock, so it might have been missing for long than the nine or 10 months I think I looked. It's 114 proof, of course, and there's no age statement. In the glass it's a copper color. NOSE: Honey, caramel, corn sweetness, creamed corn, pine lumber (I suspect that the occurrence of such vegetable and fruit notes has to do with the high rye content - it's nearly a third of the total mash bill), spice - cinnamon and red pepper?, fruit - grapes and oranges?, wood smoke, a hint of pickled jalapeños, a little bit of grass, Baker's chocolate, and a slight grain note that might have been puffed wheat. MOUTHFEEL: Buttery. TASTE: Honey!, black pepper, dark chocolate, rye bread. I never get as much on the palate as I do on the nose, so the disparity in the number of notes between the two shouldn't put anyone off. FINISH: Long, beginning with dark chocolate, bringing in a note of sweet tea, then honey and orange, and an oak that stays and stays. SUMMARY: I waited for months to buy this, and it was worth the wait (though the wait was very frustrating). It's considerably more complex than I expected it to be, and there's not a thing about it I don't like. I'll absolutely buy it again...assuming it remains available. RATING: On my hick scale, it's Fine, which if you're counting from the bottom is the sixth rating out of eight. That converts to 3.75 stars, or 75/100 or 7.5/10 depending on which way you want to use those numbers.