Tastes

Nose: Hints of sherry and dried fruit, honey, malted cereal grains. Not very nuanced but an inviting nose nonetheless Palate: maltiness and honey dominate, the sherry is still there just less assertive than the nose. A bit of astringent citrus rounds it out Finish: The sherry is back followed by honey and bit of slalinity . A small bit of oak rounds the short finish. Overall not a bad pour for the price, bushmills has a profile that works well but doesnt have the complexity you can find in similar single malts. Maybe with a couple more years or proof points it would shine.

Nose: buttery vanilla cream, salt, seaweed, meaty peat, dark fruit, smoke, a little malt and a touch of citrus Palate: salt, charred meats, pepper, smoke, buttercream, sweet jammy fruit rounds it out Finish: toffee, oaky vanilla, a certain bit of light fruitiness, Cinnamon cookie with heavy smoke dominant and lingering nearly forever. A divisive whisky, however it delivers on big on flavor and not simply overwhelming peat. That said this is absolutely still peat forward and the high abv flushes out flavors that might not be noticed, along with an oily, silky feel. Must have if your an ardbeg fan or enjoy heavily peated cask strength whisky.

Nose: light, vanilla, butterscotch, spiced fruits, bready malt, slightly floral Palate: pastries, caramel and vanilla, a bit of fruit and what is certainly toasted coconut Finish: butterscotch, more semi sweet malt, a bit of oak but does not linger Light, sweet and delicate basically the typical Japanese whisky with an interesting texture probably from using a Coffey still instead of a pot still. Definitely worth a try to branch out from scotch or bourbon, even with price being a factor.

Nose: caramel, ripe fruits, vanilla, a bit of floral oak Palate: salted caramel, sweet cherry and berry, vanilla bean, leather, a touch of spicy cinnamon Finish: caramel, maraschino cherries, vanilla, baking spices with oak and cherry lingering pleasantly Within the whiskey row series the 1897 gets lost behind the double oaked 1910 and high proof 1920 despite being a flavorful easy to drink bourbon, there just isn't anything that stands out, especially given the price point of all of the old Forester whiskey row series that approaches some single barrel offerings.

Nose: light: malty, vanilla, a slight bit of honey and Oakiness Palate: more sweet malt, citrus, caramel, vanilla, something herbal I can't quite place Finish: short; nougat, honey, slightly bitter oak A decent blended malt for the price in the Speyside style, light and sweet. Something to make highballs with and not feel bad about but also enjoy neat. Better than jw Black if your on a budget but they are two different animals.

Nose: ashy peat, fruit preserves, brine, citrus a hint of cinnamon and a certain mineral quality that reminds me of the ocean Palate: smoke, sweet fruits, citrus, black pepper, burnt sugar, more of that delicious salty ocean water Finish: smokey ashy peat, charred wood, fruit jam, salt, lingering sweet smoke An excellent example of sherry finishing and good peated scotch. All the character of talisker is rounded by sweet fruity notes...for better or worse. This is better than the 10 year but I think I prefer the bold salt and red pepper in the original 10 year Talisker. Still absolutely worth the money for anyone interested in Talisker or Sherry and smoke.

Nose: honey, cereal grains, fresh fruits, tobacco, sweet vanilla Palate: the sherry casks come through, dark jammy fruit, tobacco, honey and vanilla, and more of the cereal grains Finish: short, charred fruits, vanilla, the oak lingers for a little bit but in a sweet good way Not the most interesting sipper, there just isn't the complexity that make a great scotch. However the dark Sherry plays well with the lighter honey and vanilla making this a very easy drinker with no ethanol burn whatsoever. A great daily drink or an intro to single malts, I always have a bottle on hand.