Tastes

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.

A year ago I began drinking whisky with a glass of this stuff. I thought it tasted awful. After a year, and with a Glencairn glass to better appreciate it, I thought I'd try it again. It turns out it's not as bad as I remembered, though it certainly is at the bottom of the whisky scale. Nose: Everything's weak - I got alcohol, vanilla, and something fruity that could have been apples or bubblegum. Taste: The mouthfeel is watery, and the only notes I got were corn and a very faint oak. Finish: All I got was oak, with a medium length. This was the least pleasant part of the whole thing.

I got a 375ml bottle at Total Wine in Albuquerque for $29.99. There's no age statement, and it's 90.4 proof. The mash bill is 72% corn, 18% rye, and 10% malted barley. The color in the glass is a deep copper-gold. NOSE: Begins with a heavy (but pleasant) woody caramel note, which reminds me of Balcones Texas Pot Still Bourbon. Then there are vanilla, bananas, butterscotch, toasted oak, hardwood smoke (which reminds me of Balcones Brimstone smoked corn whisky, though it's not oppressive like the Brimstone), melted butter, salt water, and apples. TASTE: Honey, lemon, a different sort of citrus which I think may be kumquats (though it's been a long time since I ate a kumquat), salt, caramel, a little oak, and cinnamon toast. FINISH: Long, with just one note - a pleasant toasted oak. This is the only place where I really experienced any alcohol burn.

I got a pint at "my" Total Wine for $17.99, and it's well worth the price. The only reason I didn't give it five stars is that it's just a hair short of being as good as whiskies that I have given that high a rating to. The mash bill is 72% corn, 18% rye, and 10% barley. It's 90.4 proof, and is dark copper in the glass. NOSE: The nose is warm, and so gentle that if I didn't know better I'd say this was a wheated bourbon. I got notes of apple, butter, something woody that makes me think of a paneled room, roasting ears, butterscotch, and vanilla. TASTE: The mouthfeel is fairly creamy, and it just feels good. I got notes of baked buttered apples, butter, grapes, honey, and spice, but I'm sure that as I work my way into the bottle I'll find more. This whisky isn't giving up everything with the first glass, I don't think. FINISH: Corn and oak - medium in length.

This isn't a very complex whisky, but it's the best simple whisky I've ever had. It constantly amazes me that it's so good while still as simple as it is. A fifth cost me $34.99 at "my" Total Wine. It's a 90 proof whisky, and is copper/gold in the glass. The mash bill is 51% wheat, 37% corn, and 12% malted barley. This whisky ages for seven years. NOSE: Caramel, butterscotch, butter. TASTE: Honey butter, puffed wheat, lemon, bread crust. FINISH: Short - honey and a little oak. I don't know that I'll try to always have a bottle of this whisky on hand, but I'll definitely buy it again.

I got a quart for $7.99 here in Albuquerque, and it's not even worth that. This is one of the simplest, apparently youngest whiskies I've had - it's mediocre at best. The mash bill is 78% corn, 10% rye, and 12% barley, and it's 86 proof. In the glass it's a dark wheat color. There's no age statement, though since it's straight bourbon it had to age at least two years. NOSE: Caramel, vanilla, rubbing alcohol. TASTE: The mouthfeel is thin and watery, and the sole note is honey. FINISH: Medium, with nothing but oak. This might do in a mixed drink, and I'll probably try it mixed with some Buffalo Trace White Dog to give it flavor and authority, but drinking it straight will always be a disappointment.

I got just a quart (375ml) since I didn't know whether I'd like this whisky - it cost me $18.99. A fifth would of course be more. This whisky is 93.7 proof, which I like since I prefer higher proof juice. According to unofficial information I found online the mash bill is 75% corn, 15% rye, and 10% barley. In the glass it's the color of new copper, and there's no age statement. NOSE: I found it very hard to get at the nose. Alcohol comes right out of the glass, but any other notes are hard to tease out. This is the only whisky I've ever come across which at first seemed like it had no aroma at all. But finally I was able to discern vanilla, caramel, a tinge of grass, creamed corn, caramel apples, and dark toast. TASTE: Butterscotch, buttered corn, buttered honey, dark toast. I expected a more complex taste after I finally was able to get such complexity out of the nose, but nope, this is all there was. FINISH: The finish is long, and begins with a little too much oak. Finally some honey comes in, a buttery note, and some very faint grass. This is a good bourbon, but not a great one. It would be worth a price about three dollars lower; at $19 it's a little overpriced. But it is good.