Tastes

This one is truly a lovely whiskey. The flavors are rich and balanced overall, displaying red fruit, honey, clove, toasted cereal. While there is a noted creaminess in the mouth, to me it is less than the Green Spot. This also has slightly more heat and has a slight astringency on the finish---not uncommon in sherry finishes.

This is a really solid single malt. It has a great mouthfeel, notes pf honey, sweet biscuit, ripe orchard fruit and toasted oak on the nose and palate. The finish is medium and true to these flavor notes. I don't pick up any hint of smoke. This is a great malt and a top pick for me when the price is right. I have been able to get this for $30 lately, but many stores are selling it for $45-50. At that price there are some even better choices to catch my money.

Larceny wheated bourbon is slightly sweet, tastes of banana bread, spice, nuts, and brown sugar. It is livelier than the typical wheated bourbon. There is a spiciness here, a surprise in a wheater. If you add a small water splash, the spiciness is replaced with a sweet floral note. Quite remarkable! This is not quite as good as Weller, but it deserves to be at least sampled by bourbon drinkers. Honestly, this is good,, and is readily available, so give it a go. I prefer wellers, but can only purchase it about two months of the year.

Bushmill's Red Bush is sorta like the non-identical twin of the standard Bushmill's white label. The best I can determine both of them are of the same “:juice.” The difference is that the Red is aged only in first fill bourbon barrels, and the traditional white label is aged in bourbon (not only first fill) barrels, and a few sherry casks. To me it compares to how you prefer one of your favorite meal entrees to be prepared. For example, two servings of shrimp scampi being prepared side by side; one with extra butter, the other with extra garlic. Both are shrimp scampi, but with nuances of flavor differences. That is how I view these two Bushmill whiskeys nosing and tasting them side by side. The Red clearly has more oak wood and vanilla influence, and the traditional white label has less vanilla and a slight hint of fruitiness from the sherry casks. (I don't think they use very many sherry casks, for it is truly a “hint” of sherry influence.) Which you prefer I think boils down to which flavor profile you prefer. If you require something more distinct or special, I suggest Black Bush, with 80% malt and a strong sherry influence.

Let me say this first--I drink sherry cask finish Scotch less than 50% of the time, and, when I do usually prefer a nice strong accent as you would find in Aberlour 12 or Glenfarclas 10. However, when you are in the mood for a sherry-bomb, this is your ticket. It has a super-strong sherry influence. I would guess that all of it is finished or aged in sherry casks, not just a certain portion. This is not a one-trick pony, besides the heavy sherry notes there is malt, fudge, vanilla, nuttiness and a bit of spiciness. This is a great Scotch. The downside is that it usually costs as much as a good 15 year old.

The nose is gentle honey, malt, touch of oak spice, and sherry fruitiness. In the mouth it is soft and enveloping, showing what I consider to be a perfect balance of malt and grain in the pot still mash. Honey, malt, grain notes, orchard fruit, vanilla, a light touch of chocolate, a sherry depth and a sweetness fill the mouth with flavors. The sherry is in perfect balance for this single pot still, not a sherry bomb, but the perfect depth of fruit flavor to make this a nearly perfect Irish whisky. I admit I have never tasted Redbreast, Powers John Lane, or either Green or Yellow Spot; but, of the two or three dozen Irish whiskies I have tried, including a few single malts, I think this must be my favorite for balance of flavor. On the downside, I suspect this is being discontinued. I don't know this as a fact, but it is no longer listed on the Powers web site, the big stores in the KC area told me the last time they could get it was November 2018, and the online stores are either closing it out at sale prices or boosting the price on their few remaining bottles. I for one have purchased a few of the sale bottles while they are available. If you have never tried this expression, I hope you can find a bottle before they are gone---if my suspicions are correct.