Tastes

33 open bottles in my collection ranked through multiple blind tastings. Counting them down! #19: Ledaig. Single Malt Scotch. 46.3% ABV. 10 year old. Paid $60 Yes. I will probably keep going back to this bottle on an intermittent basis. I don’t know about terroir, but this whisky tastes like terrain. It is melted down building material. Soil, clay, Playdough, and rubber on the palate and on the nose. Some fruitiness underneath all that mulchy earthy peat. A pleasant lingering ginger and saltiness on the finish. This is a lovable oddball compared to the peat staples of Ardbeg, Laphroaig, and Lagavulin; satisfying in its own way. PUN ALERT: water unearths this dram and exposes more vanilla bourbon sweetness. I prefer without any water. Please: pronounce this “late chick.” MARK: 87/100 PREVIOUSLY, ON BATMAN: #20: Longmorn. $94. 48%. 16 years. 87/100 #21: Maker’s Mark 46. $35 (375mL). 47%. NAS. 87/100 #22: Benjamin Prichard’s Double Barreled. $104. 45%. NAS. 87/100 #23: High West Campfire. $62. 46%. NAS. 86/100. #24: Balvenie Single Barrel First Fill. $59. 47.8%. 12 years. 86/100. #25: Bulleit Barrel Strength Batch 5. $55. 62.7%. NAS. 84/100

33 open bottles in my collection ranked through multiple blind tastings. Counting them down! #20: Longmorn. Single Malt Scotch. 48% ABV. 16 year old. Paid $94 I don’t regret buying. This is the discontinued gray box. The newer purple box (I heard) is not as good and is in the $110-120 price range. Not worth it anymore. This is just a solid example of a bourbon influenced Scotch. When the bottle was fresher, it had a wonderful spiciness that made me think this was finished in French oak. After a few months opened, the spiciness is mostly gone. What remains are the typical notes and flavors of a younger and cheaper bourbon matured Scotch, but richer and more confident, and accentuated by a maritime saltiness. Similar in profile to the Balvenie 12 year Single Barrel First Fill, but sweeter and more rounded. Orchard fruits, buttery vanilla, honey, just the right amount of wood. Still got some spice and salt, even now that the bottle is almost done. The bottle and the box have some panache without going overboard. The leather cushion on the bottom of the bottle is luxury with a purpose. The simple “Long no more,” greeting you when you open the box, has got to be the best marketing phrase printed on a box of whisky ever. MARK: 87/100 PREVIOUSLY, ON BATMAN: #21: Maker’s Mark 46. $35 (375mL). 47%. NAS. 87/100 #22: Benjamin Prichard’s Double Barreled. $104. 45%. NAS. 87/100 #23: High West Campfire. $62. 46%. NAS. 86/100. #24: Balvenie Single Barrel First Fill. $59. 47.8%. 12 years. 86/100. #25: Bulleit Barrel Strength Batch 5. $55. 62.7%. NAS. 84/100

33 open bottles in my collection ranked through multiple blind tastings. Counting them down! #21: Maker’s Mark 46. Kentucky Bourbon. 47% ABV. NAS. Paid $35 for 375mL bottle I got nervous about paying ~$50 for a full bottle, and ended up overpaying for a half bottle. This is good enough to buy a full bottle for ~$50 to restock I had the regular Maker’s Mark once at a bar, and didn’t like it. I like this. Super caramel, cinnamon, and wood toast. Nice buttery mouthfeel with a taste of caramel cinnamon candy. The wheat influence is definitely there. Rum molasses on the finish. So decadent. So friendly. Not challenging at all. I would give this to a baby. You hear stories about giving babies pacifiers dipped in Jack Daniels to calm them down. How unsophisticated! Why not start the baby down the road towards refinement with Maker’s 46? Now for two nitpicks: This is 47% ABV, which is better than 46… so why not call this Maker’s 47? And I hate the red wax seal. I almost cut myself opening this bottle. MARK: 87/100 PREVIOUSLY, ON BATMAN: #22: Benjamin Prichard’s Double Barreled. $104. 45%. NAS. 87/100 #23: High West Campfire. $62. 46%. NAS. 86/100. #24: Balvenie Single Barrel First Fill. $59. 47.8%. 12 years. 86/100. #25: Bulleit Barrel Strength Batch 5. $55. 62.7%. NAS. 84/100 #26: Glenkinchie Distiller’s Edition. $46. 43%. 2004/2016. 83/100. #27: Macallan Sherry Oak. $66. 43%. 12 years. 82/100.

33 open bottles in my collection ranked through multiple blind tastings. Counting them down! #22: Benjamin Prichard’s Double Barreled. Bourbon. 45% ABV. NAS, but states aged a minimum of 8 years. Paid $104 Overpaid. Regrettable purchase. At $100, I should be able to get a good cask strength bourbon. Prichard’s gimmick here is that they age in charred new oak for 8 years, cut from 125 to 95 proof, and then age a second undisclosed length of time in charred new oak. This is supposed to return the flavor lost during the cut, while remaining true to bourbon because the company specifically lashes out at wine finishes. 1) Wine finished bourbons (and ryes) can be delicious. 2) Whatever this second aging does, I would prefer just giving me one 8 year maturation at cask strength. Having said that, this does have more depth and richness than the average bourbon at $30-40. Very honeyed and candied on the nose and palette. There’s a decadent spicy molasses on the finish. But it’s rather simple for the price, and this countdown has two much better bourbons for around half the price. MARK: 87/100 PREVIOUSLY, ON BATMAN: #23: High West Campfire. $62. 46%. NAS. 86/100. #24: Balvenie Single Barrel First Fill. $59. 47.8%. 12 years. 86/100. #25: Bulleit Barrel Strength Batch 5. $55. 62.7%. NAS. 84/100 #26: Glenkinchie Distiller’s Edition. $46. 43%. 2004/2016. 83/100. #27: Macallan Sherry Oak. $66. 43%. 12 years. 82/100.

33 open bottles in my collection ranked through multiple blind tastings. Counting them down! #23: High West Campfire. 46% ABV. Batch 17J31 Paid $62 Probably will restock at a similar price if only because you can’t pin this whiskey down even after an entire bottle. “Campfire” suggests a straightforward whiskey. This ain’t. I would have named this “Smoking Peyote by the Campfire.” It is a blend of bourbon, rye, and peated Scotch. Islay and Indiana. Made by the sea; and as-far-from-the-sea-as-possible. There are a lot of notes on the nose, but if I had to pick just one: barbeque potato chips. Tastes like schizophrenia, with rye usually leading the charge. I could handle peat and bourbon, but the rye spices takes this dram from contemplative to psychotic. It composes itself in the finish. A little dill and green herbs in, well, Campfire. No way to guess what Scottish distillery is in this blend; the peat is much less than the bourbon and rye components. It’s real up and down: some days I adore this; but recently, it’s failed to captivate me. In the end, it probably beats my infinity bottle. MARK: 86/100 PREVIOUSLY, ON BATMAN: #24: Balvenie Single Barrel First Fill. $59. 47.8%. 12 years. 86/100. #25: Bulleit Barrel Strength Batch 5. $55. 62.7%. NAS. 84/100 #26: Glenkinchie Distiller’s Edition. $46. 43%. 2004/2016. 83/100. #27: Macallan Sherry Oak. $66. 43%. 12 years. 82/100. #28: Eagle Rare. $37. 45%. 10 years. 80/100. #29: Old Pulteney. $40. 43%. 12 years. 80/100.

33 open bottles in my collection ranked through multiple blind tastings. Counting them down! #24: The Balvenie Single Barrel First Fill. Single Malt Scotch. 47.8% ABV. Cask 3376 Paid $59 Sale price. If I can find this again for a similar price, I will probably restock. Much better than the standard DoubleWood, which was friendly and predictable on opening, and just went downhill to become frail and flaccid with time. This single cask first fill bourbon 12 year started out awkward and autistic; but blossomed into a well-composed, crisp, and highly enjoyable sipper. Green fruits on the nose. Vibrant honey, green tea, and Juicy Fruit gum on the palate. A delicate smoky finish. This bottle definitely improves over the months. MARK: 86/100 PREVIOUSLY, ON BATMAN: #25: Bulleit Barrel Strength Batch 5. $55. 62.7%. NAS. 84/100 #26: Glenkinchie Distiller’s Edition. $46. 43%. 2004/2016. 83/100. #27: Macallan Sherry Oak. $66. 43%. 12 years. 82/100. #28: Eagle Rare. $37. 45%. 10 years. 80/100. #29: Old Pulteney. $40. 43%. 12 years. 80/100. #30: Balvenie DoubleWood. $50. 43%. 12 years. 78/100.

33 open bottles in my collection ranked through multiple blind tastings. Counting them down! #25: Bulleit Barrel Strength. Kentucky Straight Bourbon. 62.7% ABV. Batch 5 Paid $55 I’m a relative newcomer to the bourbon journey, and I’ll probably replace this with another untried brand’s barrel strength rather than buy another bottle once it’s done. This is the highest ABV, and also most challenging dram on the list. Challenging not so much in the complex-and-contemplative sense; but more in the is-this-going-to-give-me-mouth-and-throat-cancer? sense. Neat, Bulleit BS is potent butterscotch, firewood on fire, and the transition goes from mouthwatering sweet to mouthpuckering dry. You can add water until this is 40% ABV, it will still burn due to the high rye mashbill, not so much alcohol. This is almost too sweet and too hot. These crazy Americans almost make peaty Scotches feel meh. MARK: 84/100 PREVIOUSLY, ON BATMAN: #26: Glenkinchie Distiller’s Edition. $46. 43%. 2004/2016. 83/100. #27: Macallan Sherry Oak. $66. 43%. 12 years. 82/100. #28: Eagle Rare. $37. 45%. 10 years. 80/100. #29: Old Pulteney. $40. 43%. 12 years. 80/100. #30: Balvenie DoubleWood. $50. 43%. 12 years. 78/100.

33 open bottles in my collection ranked through multiple blind tastings. Counting them down! #26: Glenkinchie Distiller’s Edition. Single Malt Scotch. 43% ABV. D2004/B2016 Paid $46 Decent purchase at a sale price. I would consider again if I can find it for under $60. The original Glenkinchie 12 is the abomination of Diageo’s classic malts. Please don’t bother with the original Glenkinchie 12; it put me off this distillery for years. You can literally do anything to that juice and make it better. The 2016 Distiller’s Edition does make improvements by finishing in Amontillado sherry casks. The raw grass, oatmeal, green fruits of the original is balanced well by delicate sherry and dark fruit notes. Pleasant medium body and silky mouthfeel. Sweet, fruity, and floral arrival transitioning to some spices, followed by vanilla and cocoa flavored black tea or even coffee. Not mindblowing stuff, but better than expected. In a blind tasting, I thought this was Balvenie 12 DoubleWood, which is clearly not as good. MARK: 83/100 PREVIOUSLY, ON BATMAN: #27: Macallan Sherry Oak. $66. 43%. 12 years. 82/100. #28: Eagle Rare. $37. 45%. 10 years. 80/100. #29: Old Pulteney. $40. 43%. 12 years. 80/100. #30: Balvenie DoubleWood. $50. 43%. 12 years. 78/100.

33 open bottles in my collection ranked through multiple blind tastings. Counting them down! #27: The Macallan Sherry Oak. Single Malt Scotch. 43% ABV. 12 years. Paid $66 It’s overpriced, but what can you do, but keep it stocked in a bar? Women love it, and it’s a good decoy bottle for Bougie men as well. The smell is delicious and instantly recognizable as Macallan. Rich, bready, plums and raisins. Floral perfume. Palate is a letdown, and the more recent bottlings are getting thinner and thinner. Very round, and very sweet. Everyone will tolerate this, but I do not love this. MARK: 82/100 PREVIOUSLY, ON BATMAN: #28: Eagle Rare. $37. 45%. 10 years. 80/100. #29: Old Pulteney. $40. 43%. 12 years. 80/100. #30: Balvenie DoubleWood. $50. 43%. 12 years. 78/100.

33 open bottles in my collection ranked through multiple blind tastings. Counting them down! #28: Eagle Rare. Kentucky Straight Bourbon. 45% ABV. 10 years. Paid $37 If under $40, I am definitely keeping this stocked. This used to be Eagle Common and less than $30. It was blatantly underpriced, and people smartly bought this up. I recently had trouble finding this in stores, and have seen it now go for as high as $50. This is just a solid easy-sipping bourbon. Classic red berries and cinnamon. Marshmellows drizzled in maple syrup. A little too quick and one-noted (honey) of a finish, but it serves a purpose: brunch bourbon? Hell yes. MARK: 80/100 PREVIOUSLY, ON BATMAN: #29: Old Pulteney. $40. 43%. 12 years. 80/100. #30: Balvenie DoubleWood. $50. 43%. 12 years. 78/100. #31: Compass Box Oak Cross. $35. 43%. NAS. 78/100. #32: Johnnie Walker Black Lable. $36. 40%. 12 years. 71/100. #33: Larceny Kentucky Straight Bourbon. $21. 46%. NAS. 41/100.