Tastes

PRICE: $400-800. The suggested retail is $500. Some stores do have it on shelf for less, some still try to mark up an already high price. INFO: Indiana rye whiskey distilled at MGP, barrel aged for 14 years, and finished in French casks that once contained Armagnac. This is bottled barrel-strength at 59.6% ABV. This won best whisk(e)y in the world at the 2017 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. NOSE: 96/100. Bottomless complexity. Definitely fruit forward, but the rye spices are not quiet either. I’ve tried the 3rd Boss Hog, The Independent, which was aged in ex-Macallan casks, and the rye was really shut out by the scotch. Since then, WhistlePig has changed the source to MGP rye, which is definitely standing up firmer than Alberta rye. There’s plums, toffee, molasses on top; dark, dark, sweet, rich stuff. Underneath, white grapes and Bartlett pears; vibrant and juicy stuff. Deeper still, are the herbs: dill and mint. PALATE: 98/100. Huge breathtaking explosion of fruit on the arrival that on my first try literally made my eyes bulge. I am instantly reminded of one of my white whales I finally got to try this year: Bruichladdich Black Art 4. But this is even better. Full disclosure: I don’t like strong American ryes yet. I’m trying to develop the appreciation, like someone new to peat might take a while to appreciate Laphroaig 10. Rye is a mere passenger in this bottle, which may upset traditionalists, but I am more than fine with that. In fact, somehow by combining aged rye with Armagnac, there are flavors from almost every other spirit here. There’s a fruity Speyside scotch in here, dark sugars and molasses of rum, roasted cactus of mezcal, caramel and cinnamon of bourbon, and the green herbaciousness of rye. There’s a Christmas baking element to it; and there’s a Christmas tree, pinecones and all, element to it. The intensity is turned up to a thousand, but you don’t get any burn, and this does not need any water to enjoy. FINISH: 97/100. Long, satisfying finish, that is wood-dominant, but has great complexity. I am reminded of roasting marshmellows impaled on a Maplewood twig on an open campfire. Crème brulee. Flowery essential oils. Apricots. And the gentlest amount of peppers and pine needles. OVERALL: This is my whisky of the year. Black Prince translated to the fine dining world would be like Eleven Madison Park. If you like something traditional, like grandma’s lasagna, you’re not going to get it there. But you’ll get something new, bold, and yet honest enough to win over a curmudgeon like me. It’s aged 14 years and costs $500. Why? Because Armagnac casks are expensive and hard to find. Plus it tastes great, is an experience you cannot find in any other bottle, and is presented elegantly. Conveniently, it also prices the bourbon flippers out of the picture, and you actually find this on a shelf. MARK: 97/100. VALUE FOR MONEY: I paid $480 for my bottle, and was previously paying $55 per ounce at a bar. Whether or not you think it’s worth it paying that much to have a whiskey better than any other one you’ve had all year is a matter of how much you make, and how much of it you are willing to spend on a dram, isn’t it? MY RUNNERS UP (i.e. what Black Prince beat): to qualify, this had to be a whisk(e)y that I tried for the first time in 2017 (not necessarily released in 2017). 1) Yamazaki 18 year 2) Longrow Red 12 year Pinot Noir finish 3) Bruichladdich Black Art 4.1 4) Octomore 7.3 Islay Barley 5) Cadenhead 1984/2013 Caol Ila 29 year

PRICE: $60-80. INFO: Single malt scotch whisky from Islay. Port Askaig is not a distillery. The contents are officially from an undisclosed distillery, but they are widely known to bottle Caol Ila, which is located only 1 mile away. This 110-proof is NAS, and bottled cask-strength at 55% ABV. It is exclusive to the U.S., the first Port Askaig to be distributed in the U.S., and is the American version of the 100-proof, which is actually higher ABV (57.1%) because it uses the British proofing system. NOSE: 87/100. Lard. This smells like what’s left in the pan after you fry up some fatty uncured ham. Such a good smell, but a bit one-dimensional. I have not had young Caol Ila in a long time, and forgot how savory it can smell. Missing here is the lemon zest of the 12 year old to balance things out. If you add water – and this can take quite a bit of water – you get more iodoform gauze coming out than citrus. PALATE: 83/100. Oily, waxy, and medicinal at the beginning. It’s a smooth, mouth-coating feel with no burn, which is surprising for a young cask-strength scotch. There’s these distracting off-the-wall flavors that remind you “I was only an infant when they sold me!” They pop in-and-out like quantum anomalies: green pond water in the summer, soap, uncooked plantain, and used Band-Aids. Fortunately, they don’t stick around. Paired with some lamb or Char Siu pork, this works well. This is missing meat flavor, and sets the palate up for something meaty, smoky, and well-seasoned. FINISH: 85/100. Decent finish. A lot of smoke, which probably masks a lot of the imperfections of being a young whisky. Some vanilla and lemons emerge at last. If you add water, the vanilla and lemons appear sooner in the mid-palate. Where are the spices? Man, this stuff must be YOUNG. OVERALL: This is not bad at all. Old Caol Ila (>20 years) is awesome; among the independent bottlings I've tried at least, it’s better than Port Ellen. This is a reminder that a young, moderately peated, cask strength, non-chill-filtered, non-colored Caol Ila also deserves some respect. My polite gripe to Port Askaig is this: put the fucking age on the bottle, man! It’s 3 years? So what. They’ve done everything to appeal to the enthusiast except to just be confident and say, “Age ‘aint nothing but a number.” Put. The. Damned. Age. On. The. Bottle. MARK: 85/100. VALUE FOR MONEY: Tough call at $60. Definitely wouldn’t go higher. Side-by-side at $60 with a Caol Ila 12 year old, I’m picking the 12 year old.

PRICE: $100-150 retail. You won’t find it at this price unless you’re a bourbon hunter and know what you’re doing. Secondary pricing is $500-800, although this is decreasing because this year’s yield was humongous (almost 40,000 bottles). INFO: 15 year old Kentucky Bourbon distilled and bottled by Buffalo Trace. The mashbill is 75% corn, 10% rye, and 15% malted barley. This 2017 edition is bottled at 64.6% ABV NOSE: 82/100. Secretive, and deceptively subdued on the nose. Disappointingly, no amount of water seems to really release it. It opens with time. Order this one with your dinner, finish your dinner, and it might be ready to smell by then. Cherries, oak, and brown sugar. Really, I expected more. PALATE: 88/100. If George Foreman were a bourbon… this does not float like a butterfly, nor sting like a bee; this throws one-ton haymakers like a bear. Cherries and raisins. Tongue-numbing alcoholic bite with wood and rye spices. Resinous syrupy mouthfeel. This is a powerful, but straightforward bourbon with classic, concentrated bourbon flavors. Water softens things up, but not add any complexity. FINISH: 91/100. Very nice. Dries the throat and warms the chest. Cigars and tannins. A leathery oakiness. The 15 years of age shines through. OVERALL: I definitely prefer Buffalo Trace’s wheated bourbons: WLW and Pappy. This is a sharp, almost overwhelming dram that forces you to take in slowly. It commands your attention by brute force, but not necessarily elegance or complexity. MARK: 87/100 VALUE FOR MONEY: Over twice the number of GTS bottles were released this year compared to last year. Hopefully, this overwhelms the unscrupulous buyers who try to mark up the price 5-10 times, and you can actually find some bottles at retail. It’s worth it at retail; I wouldn’t pay more.

PRICE: $40-60 and widely available INFO: Single malt scotch from Islay, bottled at 46%, matured 10 years in ex-bourbon casks. NOSE: 86/100. Lighter than previous years. Less menacing than Laphroiag 10 or Lagavulin 16. If you are new to peaty whiskies, and want to know what Islay is about, dive in here. Menthol cigarettes, campfire embers, initially. After breathing a few minutes, a bourbon-y sweatness starts to emerge, but never comes to rising above the smoke. With water, you get some spiciness. Cloves, and even fresh cayenne. PALATE: 95/100. I’m always surprised how oily this dram is. You don’t expect that with the nose. Oil and spent coal. Brine. A little bit of salted prawns. Becomes minty and a sweeter as you chew. Nice transition. I can’t really pinpoint what the sweetness tastes like because the smoke is always dominant and present. It’s a beautiful thing; just complex enough to capture the imagination, but also straightforward enough to be an everyday sipper. FINISH: 94/100. Ash. And a faint sweetness continues to build after you swallow. The oiliness becomes like a butteriness. I’m imagining burnt corn on the cob, lemon peels, and seawater. I sense the slightest amount of carbonation (although it’s not; whiskies are not carbonated!). OVERALL: This is probably the sweet spot for the well-known peat monsters of Islay. Laphroiag 10 is a little too weird to just drink at any given time. Lagavulin 16 is a little too pricey and heavy. I can’t imaging wanting one before sunset. This Ardbeg 10? Anytime. Anywhere. I’m down. MARK: 92/100. VALUE FOR MONEY: One of the best VFM purchases for the serious scotch drinker, and has been for decades. With the declining quality of Uigeadail and Corryvreckan, this may be the best bang for the buck in the entire Ardbeg lineup currently.

PRICE: $100-150 is the “retail” price. Secondary market pricing is $700-1000. INFO: This is a 12 year old wheated Kentucky Bourbon distilled and bottled by Buffalo Trace. The mashbill is approximately 70% corn, 16% wheat, and 14% malted barley. The 2017 edition is bottled at 64.1% ABV. NOSE: 95/100. It’s a boulangery! So rich and decadent. Cherries, chocolate syrup, cake, cake, cake… caramel. Some leather and tobacco notes balances out the sweetness. PALATE: 93/100. I think this needs quite a bit of water. It’s so-hot-it-hurts when had neat, and it’s quite closed off. It’s a cinnamon bomb. It’s cinnamon out of a volcano. You can easily add about 20-30% water without losing anything. The spices become more complex, and you get cloves, black pepper, maybe some black cardamom or star anise. The sweetness is dense with flavors of caramel, cherries, plums, and soft sweet oak. This is noticeably better than Pappy Van Winkle because the distillery character is still vibrant in WLW. FINISH: 93/100. A nice linger of tannins, cinnamon, nutmeg, and dark fruits. Finish is fuller and more saline than last years… or maybe I’m learning to appreciate bourbon more. OVERALL: Comparing whiskey to women, because that’s what men do… George T. Stagg is like a woman who orders a strap-on from Amazon.com. WLW is like a woman who wears a strap-on and lives in the Amazon. These two bourbons are clearly the best from this year’s BTAC releases, and both are out to fuck you. But WLW is the close winner because it is a little less straightforward and a little more brutal. MARK: 94/100. VALUE FOR MONEY: This is the only Buffalo Trace product I would pay higher than retail for. Not >$500, but I can see myself purchasing this without guilt for $200-300. I don’t expect I’ll ever find that deal, as I’m not a “whiskey hunter.” However, the VFM pour of the year for me was when I got a 2oz. pour of this very whiskey for $28. Tip your bartenders well!

PRICE: $60 is the MRSP. Secondary market pricing is around $500-600. INFO: This review is for the 2017 release, which just hit bars. 2oz pour at $25 is very reasonable. This is 10 years old, and not officially a “Pappy.” 53.5% ABV. It’s a wheated bourbon. The mash bill is approximately 70% corn, 16% wheat, and 14% malted barley. NOSE: 88/100. Sour red fruits. Cherries, plum skins, red grapes. Caramel popcorn. Noticeably more excitable out of the bottle compared to Pappy 15. More cereal character and less wood. Water brings out the spiciness, but thins out the palate, which already suffers a bit from thinness, so I would only try a few drops. PALATE: 86/100. Definitely thin compared to Pappy, but it’s got its own appeal by being younger, spicier, and less oaked. Sharper flavors of vanilla and caramel. Crisper fruit flavors. Cherries and cinnamon on the arrival, giving way to ginger, tobacco, chocolate, and soft wood. FINISH: 91/100. It’s very good. Lingering. It becomes more baked. Apple cobbler and cherry cobbler combined. Sweet, tart, cinnamon, cherries, butter. OVERALL: If I may pretend to speak to the family directly: very impressive indeed, Van Winkles. Not only is there an age statement, they actually humble this excellent whiskey by removing the famous “Pappy” moniker. You know if this were a Scottish brand that could not keep up with demand, they would adopt the strategy, “Let’s give it a cool NAS name that has nothing to do with anything, and charge more!” There would be Pappy Van Winkle “Democracy” and Pappy Van Winkle “Wildcat” on the shelves year round. Old Rip Van Winkle is not immature, just less mature, compared to Pappy. There are those who think the 10 and 12 year olds are better than the Pappy line of 15, 20, and 23 year olds. I prefer the 15, but I can understand why some would prefer the younger versions, and it’s not sour grapes. MARK: 88/100. VALUE FOR MONEY: Not worth the secondary market pricing. Not worth lining up. Worth sitting down for some pours if you have a friendly bartender offering at a reasonable price. I have a local liquor store that received 24 bottles, and were selling for $200 a bottle. Shit sold out in 8 hours. American hyper-consumerism man: I am staying the fuck away.

PRICE: $100. You have to stalk liquor store owners (and probably grant them sexual favors) to get a bottle at this price. Regardless of the price, bottles are typically sold out the same day it hits the shelves. Secondary market pricing is around $800-1000. INFO: Every November is Pappy season. Lucky restaurants, bars, and liquor stores get bottles of this highly allocated bourbon. This review is for the 2017 bottling that is aged 15 years and is at 53.5% ABV. The mash bill is (roughly) 70% corn, 16% wheat, and 14% malted barley. NOSE: 92/100. Brown sugar, vanilla, toffee. Very rich and soothing. Damp wood base. Sweet sticky fruits: maraschino cherries and overcooked plaintain. Nutty: roasting chestnuts on an open fire, if I may. With water, it becomes more herbaceous. I recommend trying this both neat and with a dash of water. PALATE: 90/100. Very oaky. Very sweet. Not as complex as the nose, but delicious and well-balanced. Undiluted, dark chocolate, fresh tobacco, and nutmeg notes dominate. With water, fresh citrus and poached pears emerge. FINISH: 93/100. It’s long, and like a cherry Coca Cola and a Dr. Pepper, except warming and satisfying. Very smooth finish with no sharpness or bitterness at all. I think by going up the age ladder, a smoother finish and richer, rounder notes are what you’re paying extra for. OVERALL: 91/100. I’m relatively new to bourbon, but I already know several bourbons that are better. There are easily a dozen scotches around ~$100, and are readily available at all times, which I like better. This is not a dram that is very contemplative or one that will make you submit to its awesome power (William Larue Weller!). This is just… pleasant, and very appropriate for the Christmas season. I suspect its mass appeal is why it is so popular… imagine if Kentucky Fried Chicken only released 2,000 buckets every November. VALUE FOR MONEY: This is not worth $1000. This is not worth Judo throwing a 50 year old woman out of the way, who loves her husband enough to line up outside a liquor store for a bottle at MRSP. Right now, I can get a 2 oz pour at a bar within walking distance for $45. That’s about right for me.

PRICE: $100-160 INFO: Single malt Scotch whisky from Islay. This is an annual Diageo cask strength special release. It is aged 12 years in refill American oak bourbon casks. ABV ranges from the mid to high 50s. While I recently tried the 2017 at a tasting, I do not own a bottle. The bottle I currently have open and am sampling from is the 2014, at 54.4% ABV. There is definite variation from year-to-year, but the review will be a general one for all the 12 year releases. NOSE: 91/100. Peat you can smell from a mile away. It’s midway between the burnt flowers of the 8 year, and the burnt barbequed meat of the 16, but it is monumentally more powerful than either. There is no balance. The top note is peat, the middle note is peat, and the base note is peat. It is hard to get passed it, but why would you want to? If you wait long enough, and with a good drop of water, you may get some feeble floral buttery notes as your nose gets acclimated to all the smokiness. PALATE: 96/100. Bruce Banner when he’s angry comes to mind. This is hot, salty, and spicy. But more than anything else, it is like spent charcoal embers. It needs water in order to get any amount of complexity out of it. When it opens up, you get pine needles, tree bark, and lemon peels. All, of course, are being burnt by coal. The sweetness is corrupted by iodine, and I am reminded of anatomy class. How this can be so delicious is almost frightening. I am pretty sure this is carcinogenic, above and beyond from ethanol alone. FINISH: 93/100. Lagavulin 16 has one of the best finishes of any whisky, and this falls somewhat short. It does not have the savory, meaty smoke that lasts forever. This smoke is more menthol, floral, and ashy. There are some other notes, but really, who cares? This dram is all about the smoke. OVERALL: If you love peat, Lagavulin 12 is near perfection. So much more density compared to the 8 year old, and so much more power when compared to the 16. Comparing recent vintages, 2015 and 2016 are probably the most nuanced and balanced. 2013 and 2014 are much more out to punch you in the face. The 2017 is probably somewhere in between. Movie pairing: A Monster Calls. Liam Neeson as the monster, and the unrelenting emotional weight of the movie is appropriate. MARK: 94/100. VALUE FOR MONEY: You can get 2 bottles of the other quintessential Islay malt for the price of this. My recommendation is work overtime and buy 2 bottles of Laphroaig 10 CS, and 1 bottle of this.

PRICE: $30-45 INFO: Single malt Scotch whisky from the Coastal East Highlands, aged 10 years in first and second fill ex-bourbon casks. Bottlings come in 40% or 43% ABV. This review is for the 43%. NOSE: 85/100. This is the first scotch someone new to scotch should smell. It’s very friendly and sweet. It’s complex in breadth, but not complex in depth. You can easily dumb things down to perfume jargon. Top note is fruity and floral: Jasmine, lavender, apples, pears, citrus. A lot enticing smells coming at you all at once. Middle and base notes are thin: Honey, dairy creamer, fresh wood, vanilla, and ginger. Some water brings out the citrus, but will drown the palate. You can figure the nose out and move on in roughly 2 minutes; yet it’s in a different ballpark of complexity compared to Glenlivet and Glenfiddich 12. PALATE: 72/100. Fresh anytime sipper, I guess. There are no bad flavors, but there are no outstanding flavors either. Glenmorangie boasts the tallest stills in Scotland! But what does that mean? Exactly this. You get watery refluxed vapors dominating your distillate for a very light body and clean palate. It’s a perfect base for all of Glenmorangie’s aging experiments (Lasanta, Quinta Ruiban, Nector D’Or, and a barrage of limited edition ones), but disappointing as on its own. Again, this is very appropriate for beginners. FINISH: 69/100. Perhaps not as smooth as Glenlivet or Glenfiddich 12. You get the tiniest bit of bitter apple and harshness at the end, which maybe shows the 2 years of missing maturity. But there is also a little bit of bourbon character with it, as there is some lingering maple, vanilla, and caramel. Nothing to write home about. OVERALL: The nose of Glenmorangie is what rescues it from being truly boring like the Glenlivet and Glenfiddich 12. The palate and finish leaves a lot more to be desired. It needs a pairing, lest you start drinking this like a soccer mom unwinding on Chardonnay. It goes very well with crab cakes. Or have it side by side with a light tea. MARK: 76/100. VALUE FOR MONEY: Yes, for $30-something, I would like to keep this in my bar. More worthy for beginners than Glenlivet/Fiddich. It’s something I find great pleasure in nosing, and don’t feel guilty about drinking for nothing-remotely-special occasions.

PRICE: Very hard to find. Government stores may have this as a lottery item at $250. Last time I saw this in a private store, it was $700. INFO: Single malt whisky from Japan aged 18 years in sherry, mizunara, and American oak. 43% ABV DISCLAIMER: My entire experience with this whisky is based on 1oz pour at $70, and as a part of a blind tasting flight with Glendronach 18 year and Macallan 18 year sherry oak. NOSE: 95/100. Powerful rich sherry notes followed by an intoxicating line-up of subtler notes. A perfect balance between spirit and wood. Fruits: plums and raisins. Herbs: rosemary and eucalyptus. A little smoked cherry wood and leather. PALATE: 99/100. Perfection. I was not prepared to be moved by a beverage. If I was more of an emotional creature, a tear would have fallen down my cheek and added some saltiness. Salt is the only flavor missing. Fireworks containing every other flavor you can imagine. Perfect body. Slick as OPEC oil. FINISH: 95/100. Long and rewarding. Stone fruits, green tea, and tobacco. OVERALL: When Jim Murray awarded Yamazaki the whisky of the year and thus tried to divide the Japanese whisky industry by 0, I was too busy still exploring Scotch to bother. Now that I am trying Japanese whiskies, they have not lived up to the hype, except for Yamazaki. This is deservedly a slayer of worlds, and a Scotch killer. In my blind tasting, I got all 3 whiskies correctly. Glendronach and Macallan were lovely, but comparing them to Yamazaki is like comparing a picture of the Grand Canyon to the Grand Canyon. MARK: 97/100. VALUE FOR PRICE: I don’t like the secondary market markup. At $250, it is completely worth it. At $500+, it’s a judgment call. I do want to say this: If I won a shot to buy a bottle for $250, I would not resell for $500. I would drink this shit.