Tastes

For an upstate weekend, I usually bring a bottle of something this can be found at an affordable price, is a departure from Jack Daniels (that is the staple whiskey that my good friend drinks) so I can expand horizons as well as we can drink over laughs. I grabbed a 1 liter bottle of the 101 as this seemed to fit the bill this particular long weekend. I peeled off for a moment to do a tasting before I get back to more food and laughs. A light and airy nose with dense balanced aromas of vanilla, butterscotch and baking spices. As it breathes and opens, clover honey, Luxardo cherries and lemon zest add to the vanilla and baking spices, all which seem to push to the forward. Lightly toasted marble rye bread spread with vanilla-honey, drizzled with caramel starts the palate. Toasted coconut adds a touch tropical influence. This all sounds overly sweet, but the sweetness is held in check by barrel spice and baking spices of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. The texture is creamy with a medium weight density. With some water, the spicy edginess is smoothed out and the dynamic of sweetness to spice is lessened; the extremes become more harmonious. Water is recommended as it becomes a better dram. Spearmint and dill ride a medium length finish with barrel charcoal, vanilla and white pepper. When you drink this as a quick banger, it can be course and edgy. However, if you slow down, tame it, it will bring you down a path that is tasty, enjoyable and rewarding. I was pleasantly surprised that for a $30 liter whiskey can actually be a good sipper and bring a simple, rewarding pleasure. Thanks @dubz480 for confirming this as a solid choice for the parameters earlier mentioned. [85/100][Tasted: 6/13/20]

This was provide by the one and only @LeeEvolved some time long ago from a tasting group now far, far away. A slow taster, I am. At best, tasting once a week and only drink on weekends (Friday through Sunday). Well, tonight turns out to be a tasting night... A warm lemon vanilla aroma greets you. Add to it ripened orchard fruits of pears and Gala apples. Now sprinkle that with toasted coconut, dried pineapples, some slices of green bananas and almond shavings. As it sits and opens, fruity red wine becomes apparent. It arrives on the palate bright, clean and brisk. The flavors are faint but detectable. Ginger root, vanilla extract, lemon juice. That acidic side is countered by sweetness of apples, malt chocolate and waxed honey. The finish is medium long that is slightly woody, slightly spicy and slightly dry. Vanilla and lemon oil finishes the flavors on the palate. A decent pour that is still maturing. A pleasant nose but the palate is wanting to be more complex and deeper. A few more years of maturation and this will be all that and more. Looking forward to that day. [85/100][Tasted: 5/29/20]

A beautiful Saturday. Worked outside building a firewood shed. Now after a nice meal, relaxing with a pour watching Grand Ol’ Opry live stream with Luke Combs and Craig Morgan. The Laphroaig I purchased some time ago and shared but haven’t myself tasted. Well, tonight I was in the mood for something with some meat and peat and figured this should be able to meet those demands. The color is a pale yellow, almost clear. There is a bonfire on the beach and a sweet whisky is in hand. The first exposure is quite welcoming. Slowly emerging are tropical fruits of pineapples, apricots. As time progresses, a nice earthy quality becomes apparent of cucumbers and mint and as it blends with the brine and peat, you are drawn in further. Add some toffee and vanilla. A soft arrival that initially brings a subtle sootiness. The texture is silky and soft. Then, when you get passed the light peat and softness, a plume of sugar sweetness comes forward and takes root. All in soft and elegant mix the flavors swirl and intertwine: tobacco, sea salt, vanilla, black pepper, caramel, apples and dark chocolate. A long lasting subtle finish that is sweetened tobacco, black pepper, lemon zest and oak tannins. At a respectable 43%, from the outset, the whisky delivers. Aromas, flavors and finish. The balance of the aromas and flavors is masterfully blended. There is no overpowering peat, spice or sweetness. It’s an easy sipper and remains relatively complex. One of the best Laphroaig’s I have had (haven’t had Lore yet). All had for $74, and quite worth it. [95/100][Tasted: 4/25/20]

This was picked a while back during the days of the SDT by @LeeEvolved A new distillery from the Highlands, with an anxious delivery, is provided with this Spirit. All new to me as well as I never have heard or read anything about this distillery. Thanks Lee for finding those rarities and sharing. A fruity and slightly peated nose; a rubber tire peaty quality. Wisps of sherry, red stone fruits, black tea with honey with cinnamon and orange. There is a subtle sweetness of vanilla, caramel and chocolate which slowly emerges as well as some hazelnut and almonds. Heat, spice, sweetness and dryness all blast the palate in an initial explosion. In a bitter and wooden palate with cinnamon powder spice, black pepper. Barely detectable are some jammy notes of red raspberries or rhubarb with a slice or two of apple. Water is a must as the spice and heat is toned down. More caramel and vanilla cream soda flavors come through. Bitter orange, a hint of black licorice and drying oak tannins, lasting a medium-long length, bring the palate to a close. A strong opening on the nose with a weakened palate. What is expressed on the nose is not translated to the palate and that is unfortunate. There is potential, but more time in the cask is needed which would draw more flavor and allowing the embodiment of the nose. Like picking a fruit before it’s ripened: it’s slightly bitter and slightly hard. [85/100][Tasted: 4/24/20]

Note: This is for Knob Creek Single Barrel 16 year / Picked by Bourbon Steak Another week of quarantine allows me to work through samples. This particular pour comes by the way of @dubz480 Damp, dreary and cold calls for something with some backing and this one fits the bill. 60% abv should be able to warm the soul and provide a moment of respite from the covid bedlam. A rich current of corn meal, cloves and caramel initially greets you. As it settles down, the caramel sweetness intensifies a bit. Cinnamon, maraschino cherries, vanilla, wood spice with a bit of pecan and almond nuttiness become the steady aromas. A lightweight arrival that is not instantly hot but the heat does crescendo. The undiluted liquid, hot, is tough to discern any flavors. What can be detected is sparse. Vanilla cream, nutmeg, orange creamsicle. The finish is oaky and dry with a bit of angostura biters and grenadine. With two teaspoons of water the vanilla cream aroma pushes forward, but all in all, (The Song) remains the same. A hearty dram that packs a punch. The dram being of age is not overpowered by wood, though being of 16 years. However, the flavors don’t pop and are rather bland. There is some flavor but you have to work. A steady pour that is decent, but I wanted more. Thanks @dubz480 for sharing this rare (for me) bourbon. [84/100][Tasted: 4/17/20]

On this Good Friday, the year of the national quarantine, 2020 a.d., I pull this from the way back machine that was provided my @Telex during our SDT. Golden straw in color. A floral and sweet beginning that draws you in. Honeysuckle blossoms on a warm spring day, honey and vanilla. There is a slight earthiness of dampened hay/straw/pinewood sawdust, leather (a new baseball glove) and fruity similar to Luxardo cherries. The first sip is surprisingly sweet and slowly turns bitter and spicy. Subsequent sips start the detect and define the flavors. Apricots, mangoes flash and then overtaken by wooden spices The finish is bitter and slightly sour with orange and lemon rinds with oak tannins that last a medium length of time. With a healthy dose of water, a softer side comes through. The nose reveals a bit of ripened Concord grape and barley sugar. The scotch is more approachable and accepting and sweet on the palate. Ripened apples, honey and grapes. The nose, palate and finish are a bit disjointed. Each is not bad on its own. But the sum of the parts is not greater than the whole. Water only improves and is recommended. The bitter finish is pulls the enjoyment factor down. The sweet qualities and strong and enjoyable. A decent dram but not something that would keep you coming back for more. [84/100][Tasted: 4/11/20]

Another weekend on lockdown. Family movie time and some whiskey. This comes to me to longtime whisky pal across the other side of the the Hudson, @PBMichiganWolverine . The nose is dense with a mix of aromas found in single barrel bourbons. Nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, dill spices. Sweetness of butterscotch , licorice, peanut brittle, cherries seep through the spice. All of this is encased with oak wood. The initial sip is a blast of spice and wood and lidocaine. Subsequent sips become easier to discern flavors and the palate acclimates. Dominated by wood spices and tannins, whisps of vanilla, cherry NyQuil, ground cinnamon, cloves and dill. The cherry NyQuil flavor remains on the palate with a wooden dryness, spearmint that with a timeless end. A healthy dose of water softens the spicy edge and the buried sweetness is unveiled. Dark brown sugar, caramel, coffee, and bitter dark chocolate. A potent whisky that is better developed and formed with the addition of water. However, overall, the whiskey seem very restricted, bound and wanting to be more and find itself. Not a bad dram, but I was anticipating more from a single barrel whiskey. A better experience can be had with Elijah Craig Barrel Proof it Four Roses Single Barrel. Stay well. Stay safe. [84/100][Tasted: 3/4/20]

It’s Friday and the world is in utter turmoil. Health, humanity and survival (economically) are on most minds (at least mine on this Friday, first day of spring). Tonight a small, brief escape with a sample provided what now seems a hundred years ago by SDT brethren @LeeEvolved. It pours light-straw in color. Now, it’s an later September afternoon. Not too hot. You’re standing in the middle of an Apple orchard. That is the base aroma. Pears and apricots mixed in with golden honey, tea, straw and a smidge of nutmeg. The palate and flavors are very similar to Glenlivet 12. Sweetness of honey, vanilla, caramel, lemon, Granny Smith apples. There is a prickle of cinnamon and ginger spice near as it finds it’s way to the finish. The palate holds a finish of citrus grapefruits and orange zest. Bits of wood and the bitterness of dark chocolate that lasts for, surprisingly, a good length of time. A simple bit of enjoyment at an extremely affordable price. Aromatic and with solid flavors. A good, light, easy sipper. Sometimes in life a bit of simplicity and straightforwardness can be rewarding. In recent days like these, when you’re tired of thinking and worrying, a small escape, yet for a brief time, is sometimes the best tonic. [85/100][Tasted: 3/20/20]