Tastes

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.

I got this for $24.49 (375ml) at Total Wine. It's 125 proof, the maximum proof that white dog can be going into the barrel, and it's Buffalo Trace's #1 mash bill, which seems to be 75% corn, 10% rye, and 15% barley. NOSE: I immediately got a creamy sweetness which I suspect is the large corn component of the mash bill. Then came a little bit of slightly charred grain, melted butter, puffed wheat, dark chocolate, and something musty and woody. Finally there's something nutty, and a sourness. It's surprisingly complex on the nose; I never expected unaged whisky to have so much in the nose. There is much less burn from the alcohol than I expected given the proof - I had to put my nose right down into the glass to get any sting. TASTE: This is simpler than the nose, containing a beginning sweet note, then corn, butter, and again the nutty and sour notes. There's plenty of alcohol here, but the burn is considerably less than I expected from a 125-proof liquor. FINISH: This is long, but it's the simplest aspect of this whisky - it's just a woody note, with the recurrent sourness. I don't believe I'll buy another bottle of this, but for what it is, it isn't bad at all.

I got a fifth for $29.99 at the Mountain Run location of Kelly Liquors here in Albuquerque. It's 80 proof, which is lower than I generally like but didn't hurt the whisky in this case. There's no age statement, but since it's straight bourbon it had to age for at least two years. It's a nice golden straw color in the glass. NOSE: Bananas, butterscotch, and a faint medicinal/grass note which I didn't care for, but which didn't mar the taste. TASTE: Butterscotch, butter, brown sugar, coffee cake, and a tiny bit of oak. FINISH: There's an oak note which is there throughout, ad which lingers, making this a medium finish. And right at the beginning there's a very short but definite impression of cool spring water. Overall this isn't a very complex bourbon, especially in the nose and the finish, but it's a very good bourbon. It doesn't necessarily drink better than its price, but for what I paid, I definitely got what I paid for.

I got this on someone's recommendation because it's a wheated bourbon, and he knows I like Maker's Mark. I got a fifth for $28.99 at Kelly Liquors in Albuquerque. It's 92 proof, and comes from a mash bill of 68% corn, 20% wheat, and 12% malted barley. There's no age statement, but it had to age at least two years to be a straight bourbon. I first tasted it right after I'd had a bad cold, and it took a month for my palate to get back to normal; this is the third or fourth glass I've had from the bottle, and the first one which I liked without reservation. The nose presents caramel, apple, and butterscotch notes. The taste begins with cereal, then moves on to oak, and then chocolate. The finish is short, and consists of chocolate and oak. I wonder how much of what I tasted previous was artifacts of my retreating cold, since on previous occasions I detected notes that I didn't tonight, including a hay or grass note that I've never liked no matter where I've found it. Tonight I found Larceny to be a pretty simple bourbon, but a much better one than I'd previously experienced. I'd begun to think I'd just chuck the bottle, but if it's going to taste like this from now on, I'll keep it. It isn't complex and intense enough to rate four or five stars, but it's a lot better than some I've tried.

Having tried three other corn whiskies, and found two of them awful, I wanted to try this both because of recommendations, and to see if everything other than Balcones was sour and undrinkable. Well, this is NOT sour and undrinkable - it's actually pretty good. It's 100 proof, and being bottled in bond it's aged at least four years. I found two separate mash bills online, and I don't know which (if either) is the right one - 90% corn, 10% rye and malted barley; 80% corn, 8% rye, 12% barley. The fifth cost me $17 and change, but either I didn't get the receipt or I lost it somewhere, so I can't give an exact price. NOSE: Sweet alcohol, roasted slightly scorched corn, butterscotch, caramel, and a slightly sour note TASTE: Creamy mouthfeel, caramel, honey, sweet corn FINISH: Honeyed corn, faint oak - lingers longer than you'd think This isn't a complex whisky, which isn't surprising considering the barrels it ages in, but it's a good whisky. It's not great - I just gave it three stars - but it's much better than Longhorn or New Mexico Blue, which are foul. It can't compare with Balcones Baby Blue, but overall I'm glad I bought it, and I'll buy more in the future.

For the price this is great whisky - it drinks at least $5 more than I actually paid for it. I've had several tastes recently that greatly underwhelmed me, but this one exceeded my expectations - which were pretty high based on the No. 8. This is a nice, sweet, authoritative whisky that's liable to become one of my favorites. NOSE: Alcohol, corn, vanilla, fried bananas. TASTE: A generic sweetness, brown sugar, cinnamon, pie crust, and honey - it's like apple pie, except I didn't taste any apples. And I didn't detect any oak here, which surprised me; it also surprised me that I didn't mind, because I've come to enjoy some oak flavor. FINISH: Alcohol, spicy honey, and finally an oak that lingers and lingers.

I couldn't find any information on the mash bill, but I'd guess it's very low rye - indeed, if I learned it's a wheated bourbon it wouldn't surprise me, though I don't believe that it is. There's no age statement either, and it tastes like a young bourbon - not bad, but young. It's 90 proof, and the color in the glass is copper with a hint of gold. I got a fifth for $30.19 at Kelly Liquors here in Albuquerque. NOSE: Sweet corn, a pleasant sting of alcohol, and a candy note that's either butterscotch or caramel, but which I couldn't be sure. TASTE: Alcohol, a quick strong spice bite, a slight saltiness, and a corn undertone. FINISH: Long, with an alcohol sting fading into oak. This isn't a complex bourbon, and it's not as good as the hype. But it's certainly a good bourbon, and perhaps its reputation will adjust to fit the reality.

This was on a recommendation from an employee at "my" Total Wine store, when he learned that I wanted Bulleit rye but they were out of fifths and I didn't want to get an entire liter. I had hoped, therefore, that this would remind me of Bulleit, but in fact it's the weakest rye whisky I've had thus far. I couldn't find any information about the mash bill - all I know, therefore, is that it's at least 51% rye. It's 90 proof, the age is a minimum of three years (according to the label), and it's a coppery gold color in the glass. On the NOSE this is a simple whisky. I got a light whiff of alcohol, and spicy grass. When I came to TASTE the whisky, I found a creamy mouthfeel. There was some spice, but nowhere near what I expect from a rye whisky. There's a faint grassy note, and an undertone of milk chocolate. The FINISH is short, and gives chocolate, oak, and spice. It's an all right whisky, and unlike some things I've tried I won't toss this out, but it's not worth the price.