Tastes

I can't find any information about this bourbon or the distiller online. There's a URL on the back label, but the Web site seems to be defunct - at least the URL leads to an error message. I thus know nothing of the mash bill. There's no age statement on the bottle, and it doesn't call itself a straight bourbon, so I presume it's aged less than two years. The whisky is tawny in the glass, using a Whisky Magazine color chart I found online, and it's 90 proof. I paid $5.99 for a 200ml bottle. NOSE: Heavy vanilla, pears, alcohol, and mint. MOUTHFEEL: Watery (the legs form and run immediately, so it's clearly not a viscous juice). TASTE: Caramel, vanilla, semisweet chocolate, watered down apple juice, cinnamon, bananas and brown sugar, vanilla icing, cinnamon toast. FINISH: Oak, faint chocolate, pears, and mint. SUMMARY: This is the most surprising whisky I've ever tasted. It's cheap, and initially the nose and the taste seemed congruent with the price. But as I nosed and tasted, the whisky opened up rapidly and gave me much more than I expected - much more than I'd paid for. This size bottle would be worth a dollar or two more. I don't know what's going on with the distillery, but if they'll get their act together, get out there in front of the public, and get some distribution out of New Mexico this could be perhaps the best budget bourbon out there.

This is, of course, an 86 proof bourbon - lower than I prefer, but I didn't have much money to spend when I bought this, and among the small bottles it was the only one I wanted to try. It was $11.49 for a pint. The mash bill is 72% corn, 18% rye, and 10% barley. There's no age statement, but since it's a straight whisky it has to be at least four years old or an age statement would be mandatory. In the glass it's a "burnished" color, according to the chart I use. NOSE: Caramel, butterscotch, vanilla, marshmallows, honey, honeysuckle, summer leaves (it doesn't actually smell like leaves, it's just that's what this note makes me think of ). MOUTHFEEL: Thin. TASTE: Watered down honey, orange, salt, brown sugar. FINISH: Long, but it's just faint oak, a vague citrus note, and a warmth that lingers. SUMMARY: This bourbon begins great, but the mouthfeel, taste, and finish are disappointing compared to the nose. It's not a bad bourbon - I like it - but it's not what the nose promises.

This is 90 proof, and a fifth cost me $30.99 at the Kelly Liquors store at Mountain Run. It's deep copper in the glass. The label says it's at least four years old, and it turns out - I hadn't known this - that it's a blend of whisky from four different states. NOSE: At first I just got alcohol, caramel, and a faint grass note. After letting the juice set for 20 minutes I got candy corn, butter, summer grass, and butterscotch. MOUTHFEEL: Medium creamy TASTE: It's hot, more so than you'd expect from just 90 proof whisky. At first all I got was something astringent, but 20 minutes later that was gone, and I got butter, grass, mint, and oak, though it was still hot. FINISH: The only note is oak, and it's a short finish. SUMMARY: This isn't a bad bourbon, but it's not worth the price, not to me anyway. It's all right, but not more, and I don't think I'll buy it again, since there's so much more out there.

This is an 86 proof whisky that is, of course, 10 years old. It cost $54.99 for a fifth at the Kelly Liquors location in the Mountain Run shopping center here in Albuquerque. Using the Whisky Suggest color chart I found it's "burnished," but I'd call it a coppery gold. NOSE: The dominant note - and it is extremely dominant - is sharp and medicinal (I suppose it's iodine, but I've never smelled iodine that I know of, though the smell is familiar from somewhere). I also got salt, something earthy, a faint floral and honey note, a bandaid smell, a very faint smokiness, orange, and something warm. MOUTHFEEL: Thick and creamy. TASTE: Sharp and medicinal again, with a meaty note, a note of scorched orange, and lemon. The taste is considerably less complex than I expected after the multiple notes of the nose. FINISH: Again sharp and medicinal, with a tinge of oak, and going on for a very long while. SUMMARY: This is a good whisky, but it's mighty pushy. It's so aggressive that I'll not drink it regularly, just now and then. After I'd finished my notes I decided to put in a little water. That was a mistake. The water made no difference in the nose, but the taste became nothing but acid - totally undrinkable. This is a whisky which doesn't play well with water.

As a single malt Scotch, this has a mash bill of 100% malted barley. It's yellow gold in the glass, 80 proof and 12 years old. A 375ml bottle cost me $26.49 at the Uptown Total Wine store here in Albuquerque - at that price you'd think that I can't afford a fifth, but in fact doubling the amount doesn't come anywhere near doubling the price, and next time around I'll get a fifth. NOSE: Granny Smith apples, pineapple, bananas, honey, apple juice, a very faint hint of liniment which actually isn't unpleasant, musty grain, and toasted oak. MOUTHFEEL: Thin. TASTE: Watered down honey, astringent oak, apple pie without the crust. FINISH: Long, with gentle oak, spring water. I really dislike the metal seal - I thought initially that it was plastic, and so I didn't take great care using my thumbnail on the tab. It was more of a painful surprise than actual pain, but it did hurt, and pulling the metal strip off to break the seal was at least as difficult as pulling the tape from a wax seal. But the whisky itself is good. It's not terribly complex, especially on the tongue - the nose is considerably more complex - but it's a nice, light, and fruity whisky.

A 375ml bottle cost me $14.99 at Total Wine here in Albuquerque. It's 80 proof, and it's aged for three years. It's a corn color in the glass. NOSE: Flowers, honey, a slightly sour note, alcohol, pears. After a couple of sips I picked up an additional note - something sharp which I think might be the malt, since I've encountered this note before in Balcones Texas Lineage Single Malt Whisky. MOUTHFEEL: Watery. TASTE: Honey and pears, very faint oak. FINISH: Medium - oak, honey, and an alcohol sting. This isn't a bad whisky, but I suspect it's at most on the middle shelf of Irish whiskies. I'm just beginning to experiment with Irish whiskey, and this is just my second, but I already have a ranking - Jameson is better. This is just much more simple than I like. I will, however, possibly buy it again, and I'll certainly try other Bushmills expressions.

I got this on a recommendation, but even at the price I won't buy it again. It's just not that good. It ran me $8.49 for a fifth, is 80 proof, and aged for three years. It's an amber color in the glass. NOSE: Rubbing alcohol - after a good while a little sweetness came in, with something sour and medicinal. MOUTHFEEL: Thin, slightly creamy. TASTE: Honey and a faint floral note. FINISH: Short - brief light sweetness, alcohol. This is a very simple whisky, which is perhaps worth the price but certainly isn't worth more.

I got a 375ml bottle for $16.99; a fifth would've been 23.99, which I consider less than it's worth, especially considering it's an import. This isn't a great whiskey, but it's not half bad at all. It's a nice contrast to the more robust American whiskies (mostly bourbon) I've been drinking this past year. It's 80 proof, and is a light copper gold in the glass. It's blended, so who knows exactly what proportions of malt and grain there are in the mash. There's no age statement. NOSE: Sour, metallic - unpleasant notes, but with cereal (malt?), some kind of sharp biting fruit (pineapple?), some kind of wine?, and sharp citrus coming in. After a couple of sips honey, a floral note, salt, and something musty add themselves to what overall isn't a bad nose; it would be a fine nose if it weren't for those two beginning notes. TASTE: Light and cool, with notes of tea with honey, flower petals, sweetened lemon, salt, cherries?, and brown sugar. MOUTHFEEL: Creamy and smooth. FINISH: Oak, salt, spice, and orange - and it lasts all day.

I paid $8.99 for 200ml at Total Wine; a fifth would have been $23.49, which is more than it's worth, though of course importation raises the price. This is an adequate whisky, but no more, and the nose and finish are unpleasant, especially the nose. It's old gold in the glass, the stuff is 80 proof, and there's no age statement. Of course knowing the exact mash bill is impossible, since it's a blend of 40 single malt and single grain whiskies. NOSE: Sour, with fruit hiding behind the sourness, metallic, honey, something that made me think of a summer meadow, and salt. This is a really unpleasant thing to have in my nose. The sourness reminds me of corn whisky. TASTE: Orange, honey, flower nectar, Constant Comment Tea, salt, a light fruit - peach? MOUTHFEEL: Creamy but thin. FINISH: Very faint oak, citrus, sour, metallic - medium. This stuff might work well in a mixed drink, but for drinking straight this will be my only bottle ever.

A year ago this was the second whisky I tried. I thought it was better than Jack Daniel's - certainly good enough to keep trying whisky. After a year I figured I'm better equipped to properly evaluate the stuff, and now I have a Glencairn too. It turns out that this is worse than I remembered. Nose: Alcohol, dark chocolate, candy corn, grass - it's an unpleasant nose. Taste: Chocolate and corn, with a thin mouthfeel. Finish: Short, with nothing but a thin oak.