Tastes

Sampling this beside the 12 you can easily tell it is from the same distillery; but, this is the grown up beauty while the 12 is the young teenager. The orchard fruits are there, but more well rounded and perhaps slightly caramelized. The sherry influence is more pronounced and is underlain with the vanilla. (This is still not a sherry "bomb" if that is what you seek.) The wood spices are still there as well but don't come across as bitter, but as a spice to accent the ripe fruit and malt notes. Overall this is a very good and well balanced malt that is easy to drink, but complex enough it deserves contemplation.

How have I not reviewed this before! Glenfiddich 12 Is one the most available and recognized single malts. The nose of the pale gold dram is very inviting offering orchard fruit, vanilla, and a little spice. It reminds me a little of hard cider. In the mouth it is soft and the fruit flavors are there, apple and pear, with a touch of sherry influence and vanilla throughout. The wood spice comes through toward the end and comes across as slightly bitter and astringent. There may be a touch of smoke in this, but what I am picking up may simply be part of the wood spice of the European oak casks that a portion of this is aged in. Overall this is a solid, safe dram. I don't purchase it very often simply because this is not my favorite flavor profile.

Young, underdeveloped Dalwhinnie. There is ripe orchard fruit. vanilla, pepper, a little butter toffee. The finish is short and peppery. You will not find the floral and fruit smorgasbord the 15 year offers. It is rather tasty and worth it at the right price. I paid $20 US. However, I have seen it typically in the $45-60 range, gouging because of the Game of Thrones label.

Rock Town makes some pretty good bourbon. The current "Whisky Bible" raves on the distillery. I have been tasting my bottle since Christmas--a gift. This review is for the single barrel, cask strength version, barrel 303. bottle 73of 99, 55.9%ABV. At that proof the entry is a little hot, but is full of luscious flavor. There is brown sugar, oak and barrel char, vanilla, spice, and a little old leather. The finish lingers and is slightly astringent. I think this is a fairly young bourbon, but using small barrels gives a lot of wood interaction. Now, with a few drops of water: nose has a hint of floral honey, little heat on entry, all the flavors are there but less intense, the finish is smoother and allows a touch of sweetness come through. Overall a very satisfying bourbon.

This is good. It is a blend of imported Irish whiskey from the stocks of John Teeling and Michael Shannon's (Restless Spirits, Kansas City, MO) own Irish style whiskey. This noses of honey, ripe orchard fruit, vanilla, and a slight floral note, It is very soft in the mouth, almost oily. The flavors promised by the nose interplay well on the tongue and linger well on the finish. A slight burn is evident as you swallow-- after all, it is 92 proof. Add a few drops of water and the burn is gone--but, the flavor is much less intense, though really still quite nice and SMOOTH. Michael Shannon is proud of his Irish heritage and Stone Breaker is named to honor the hard work of those who came before him. Look carefully at the label on the bottle pictured here at distiller.com--enlarge it if you can. It is a copy of Michael Shannon's great, great, great, grandfather's immigration document in 1853. It is worth buying a bottle of this lovely dram just to see that. By the way, the bottle I am sampling from was purchased over two years ago and is batch 7, bottle 41. I had been reluctant to open this one because the Shannons had signed it for me. I am sure they would want me to enjoy it--I can still keep the bottle. FYI: Restless Spirits now offers their own single malt called Gullytown, young but very good. (Gullytown is an old nickname for Kansas City because many of the early arrivals lived in the gullies in the river bluffs, some even digging their homes in the bluffs.)

This is a very good Irish whiskey bottled here in Kansas City, MO. Michael Shannon of Restless Spirits Distillery is making his own Irish style whiskey, but needs time to age his own stock, having opened in 2016. (He is producing good vodka, gin, and poitin to have some positive cash flow immediately.) He decided to get stocks directly from Ireland to sell as Irish whiskey or to use in his own blends. Getting the Irish government agencies to agree seemed nearly impossible. That is, until they found out that it was none other than the father of the Irish Whiskey Renaissance, John Teeling, who was collaborating with him. Then the obstacles vanished. My last tour of the distillery was nearly three years ago, but I think it was said the Irish imported whiskey is rested in new barrels before bottling. This is a solid dram. Nose and taste exhibit all that you have come to expect from a good Irish whiskey. There are bits of apple and pear, a touch of floral, a hint of vanilla, only a touch of sweetness, and just enough burn to confirm it is whiskey in your mouth.

I had heard both praise and horror stories about it; but, had never had it and seldom seen it. A spirits company sales rep once told me my area was a really tough market for Scotch. So, even the giant stores seem to carry mainly the best known brands. After a search I found a single dusty bottle in a smaller shop. I looked up the UPC barcode and found it had been bottled in early 2016. I was impatient to try my new dram and opened the bottle once home, poured a dram and immediately sipped. I was flooded with flavor notes. A positive view would be it is complex, a less charitable opinion would be that it is too busy and not sure all facets really work together. HOWEVER, if you don't rush the dram, allow it to rest and breath a few minutes in the nosing glass; there can only be one opinion---this is a wonderful, complex, and unique beautiful dram of Scotch. The pour is a light, bright gold. The nose offers much: malt, ripe fruit, wet moss, peat, seashore breeze. In the mouth it is soft and offers sweetness, malt, fruit, bashful peat smoke, pepper, and salinity. This all really works together, especially if you are patient with your dram. The finish is medium--the hint of smoke, light sweetness, and salinity linger. Trying it with a few drops of water it seems sweeter, less pepper--but less complex. Ripe fruit, smoke, and salinity now make very little impact.

Pours a lovely light straw gold in the glass. (No color added and non chill-filtered.) The nose offers earthy peat smoke, honeyed malt, oak, and a little nuttiness--perhaps walnut. On entry the peat and malt appear first, quickly followed by a little oak peppery note and a touch of salinity. The second sip shows an underlying sweetness to this dram. The finish is rather long and the peat really lingers. At this point there is a clear astringency. Now, trying this with a few DROPS of water a touch of vanilla is discerned, the mouthfeel is softer, and the hint of sweetness is more apparent. Overall a very enjoyable dram. (Price wise it seems over priced. Here In the states I think it tends to run around $80--if you can find it.)