Tastes

A straightforward as advertised peanut butter experience. Mr. Peanut salted, peanut brittle, hazelnut and chocolate from nose to palate to finish. Mind you, if you are looking for a pure whisky experience, look elsewhere. If you want a (super)sweet and salty ride, buckle up, throw your hands to the air and have fun. @Scottyemo best describes the experience. Have fun, play and mix. Add some Chambord. Try it over ice. Try it with Bailey’s. Try it with ___. Plain and simple sweet fun. For the price, worth the ride.

I had reviewed this some time back before it was briefly discontinued. It was a great pour then; maybe the best of the standard lineup. A pure malt which makes this somewhat unique in the JW lineup of blends. Has time changed my taste? Is this as good as I last tasted? The nose takes some time to open, and when it does, a gives forth a variety of aromas. A subtle sweet peat nose with an earthiness: hay, earthen minerals. Maritime brine, iodine, leather, lemon oil, barley sugar, apricots, honey, and caramel. Quite pleasant. A medium bodied spirit that arrives with a Talisker pepper spice. It begins to develop into a sweeter dram with honey, vanilla. The spiciness pushes forward again but with ground cinnamon, nutmeg and gingerbread. As it fades, wood notes make a their presence. A strong finale which lingers forever. Wood spice, orange cream, vanilla and dark chocolate and charcoal. This (still) holds it’s own is just flat out good. Complex yet approachable. Sweet yet spicy. Most whiskies have the great nose, but through the progression, diminishes through the course and finish flat. This stays consistent and one could arguably claim the finish is the best part of the experience. I will always have a place on my shelf for Johnnie Walker as this was the brand (Black Label) that was the only whisky I drank (in my youth). Green however, is just on a level above many. What makes even better is you can find this under $55. On sales here locally, I grabbed it at $45. Seek it, sip it and enjoy it. [Re-tasted: 12/20:19][92/100][$45]

So, as my Saturday evening routine goes, I fumble through my backlog of samples I have acquired over time through many generous people. This has come to me by @PBMichiganWolverine Unfortunately for me, I found this sample has lost half its content and thus the immediate need for tasting, STAT! Better half than none. This is my first Kavalan and of all the Kavalan’s, this one intrigues me most. A fruity confection is the foundation of the aroma. Plums, concord grapes, blackberry current and apricot jam. The sweet is rich of dark brown sugar, vanilla, toffee with hints of baking spices. Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves. Some orange zest and wood spice hover above the fruity confection. The arrival comes as a subtle spice but mostly sweetness. Frosted Flakes, creek brûlée, with the glazed plums, raisins, grenadine sweetness. A spicy current flows through the sweet with black pepper, ginger and cayenne pepper. The finish is Birch Beer soda, wood spices where an artificial grape notes and an oak tannins which last and for a good length. A good dram which will appeal to those who like sweeter drams. The less dominant spice keeps the sweetness in check. Great aromas, good flavors. An excellent well crafted whisky. If I have one gripe, it would be to have a wider array of flavor on the palate, only because I want more. The other wishes I have is that I had more than an ounce I and a bottle of my own. Thanks @PbMichiganWolverine for sharing. I would love to add this to my stock. [92/100][Tasted: 12/14/19]

A sub-freezing night on Pearl Harbor Day. I dip into the samples and find one from @PBMichiganWolverine as part of a blind tasting pack. Perfect evening for an American whiskey. This is a nicely colored that is a rich coppered-ruby. The nose is a straight forward slice of autumn: candy corn, nutmeg, honey. Now, take those autumn aromas and place yourself in a pinewood forest. Pine needles and balsa with spearmint surrounds. Somewhat like an air freshener. Arrives spicy creating a pins and needles sensation which dominates and overpowers, blurring any sense of flavor. What can be detected is minimal. Vanilla, brown sugar, pinewood and sap. Spearmint and pinewood with a bitter wood with lemon oil. Water is a must with this to reduces the pins and needles, though they are still present. A bit more sweetness forward. Definitely a young spirit that seems to be infused with flavors as if the spirit was “aged” in fresh pinewood barrels. Not intolerable, but nothing I would actively seek out. [80/100][Tasted: 12/7/19]

Pulled this sample from the stockpile that came my way through the SDT sampling group from @Generously_Paul It’s not often that one has the privilege of tasting history from extinct distilleries. There is a pleasant honey sweetness that comes across with an earthy dampness like that of a wet hay in a northeastern barn on a rainy September afternoon. There are other supporting aromas of lemon zest, unbaked, yeasty sourdough bread and tropical fruits. Toasted coconut, dried pineapple and apricots. A small amount of vanilla, hazelnut and oak sawdust emerge after a fair length of time. Sweet and spice in a delicate balance within a thin, soft, slick body. Cream soda, honey, with butterscotch and those tropical flavors which were found on the nose: toasted coconut, dried pineapple and apricots. The spices of ginger root and white pepper softly interplay with the sweetness. They never dominate or crescendo. As with the sweetness, the spice is level even. As it works towards the finish, it becomes slightly metallic with a touch of nuttiness. A short finish of honey, tea, oak and vanilla with an earthy quality. A nice, complex nose with a soft palate. This is an extremely easy sipper. It has a lightness and sweetness of a Japanese whiskey, like a Hibiki. If you could find a summer sipper, this would definitely be on the list. Thanks again @Generously_Paul sharing this piece of history. [87/100][Tasted: 11/23/19]

This was a small gift/joke that was given to me by some friends who asked me what they could bring over for dinner (appetizer or dessert). I jokingly said scotch. To our small humored surprise, they did and purchased this 12 year. An ever light nose of simple, baseline aromas: sweetness, fruitiness and cereals. Butterscotch, honey encapsulates the sweetness. Orchard fruits of apples and pears embody the fruits. Barley and oatmeal with a touch of leather captures earthiness. The body is watery thin delivering a handful of flavors; as if the weight of many flavors wouldn’t be able to be supported by the thin body. On the sweeter side of vanilla and honey. The sweetness fades quick and turns slightly spicy with ginger and cinnamon. A mineral, earthy, woody quality comes through at the fade. The finish is simple: drying oak tannins and orange zest with a slight nuttiness that last for a medium length. A simple straightforward dram that does what it was designed to do: easy and enjoyable at a bargain of a price. Can compete with the likes of Glenlivet or Glenfiddich and can save you $10 to $20. [84/100][$32][Tasted: 11/22/19]

Courtesy through the generosity of @PBMichiganWolverine, this sample is well timed. A chilling Northeastern November needs a warm and peat. With Octomore, this dram checks off those simple requirements. An aramatic opening of sweet peat that is dominate with hickory-smoked bacon. Slowly working through the seams of peat and savory domination, a sweetness of rich dark chocolate, vanilla, apples, and pomegranate seep in. There are calming earthy notes of leather, tobacco, damp autumn leaves sprinkled with minerals and metallics. Oily and viscous that delivers a large dose of phenolics, cigar ash, wood and black pepper with spices that are like pins and needles to the palate. Amongst all this energy are streams of sweetness which fills in the edges. Caramel, vanilla custard, brown sugar. An everlasting ashy and menthol with caramel comprise a finish. Oak tannins provide a drying sensation. Warming deep down which is perfect on a cool November evening. A touch of water tones down the pins and needles and the sweetness is more prevalent. Even more approachable and preferable. A peat lovers dram. Balanced in spice and sweet. Though somewhat simple as described by words is actually more complex in experience. What makes this different than most other peaty, smoky drams is that this is somehow approachable. It doesn’t bite your face but draws you in with its sweet and pungent aromas and flavors. The time and aging have made this a fantastic pour. [92/100][Tasted: 11/9/19]

Wow, pulled this from sample extras from @PBMichiganWolverine from the days of the SDT sample tour who had the fortune of a Westland Distillery tour and was able to hand fill this bottle. From the notes of my tour mates: Bottle #167 from cask #4856 bottles at 53% abv. This is a beautiful and rich ambered-copper color. A sherry filled nose full of baking spices, nuttiness, dark sweetness that is rich, bold and full. Dates, raisins and apples that are smothered in maple syrup, brown sugar and caramel. All this in a bowl of oatmeal. Sprinkle on ground cinnamon, pecans and dark chocolate shavings for good measure. A perfect sweet tooth autumn breakfast? A soft, velvety arrival, and like the nose, thick, full bodied and full flavored. Spice and sweetness. Dark chocolate covered raisins, maple syrup, sherry, caramel provide a syrupy sweetness. There is a counter push of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg and wood spice that tempers the sweetness. Wood spices and a pecan nuttiness form toward the fade. A final palate of wood spice, some dill, fruitcake. A warmness hangs around for a good length. Ultimately a woody dryness and with some flavors that I would describe as similar to B+B (Brandy and Benedictine) drive it home. I have sampled several Westland’s and have enjoyed but have been wowed. By far, this is the best of them all that I have tasted. From start to finish, a pleasant sophisticated, semi-balanced dram. One that you want to take slow and try and absorb all flavors and aromas. Thank you @PBMichiganWolverineiganWolverine for sharing this personally hand filled dram. [92/100][Tasted:11/2/19]

My neighbor who frequents Maine provided me with a sample of this single malt. Some details: Batch: 10 Bottle: 149 Aged: 2 years 3 months Abv: 45% What the labels specifies is that they craft their spirit “with an American twist; American cherry wood smoked barley. This smoky spirit is aged in small oak barrels that previously held American bourbon. Surrounded by the salty sea air of Portland’s Old Port, this whiskey is American through and through.” Sounds enticing, almost Islay-like (or Skye). But the youthfulness will be the weakness. Always fun to try something unique, close to home and a part of Americana. A slight maritime brine with stone fruit sweetness is an immediate introduction. Some time opens a medicinal, sterile quality comes through along with some black licorice. Longer still, apricots seeps through along with bananas with some butterscotch sweetness. A lightweight, watery feel on entry brings a glimpse of sweetness that flashes spicy and tingly. That’s all feel, but the flavors are sparse and evasive. A very earthy and mineral flavor are primary. In no particular order: cinnamon, pickled ginger, oak char, caramel, leather. At the end of it all leaves the palate oaky, dry and a small amount of caramel sweetness; all but for a glimpse. The age, or lack thereof, is the inhibitor. There was not enough time in the box to pull any true flavor from the cask as well as begin to form any real identity. Maybe, as well, weak cask aren’t able to push any flavor into the distillate. This holds the beginnings of something positive, but as it stands, is incohesive, youthful, and short on flavors. [80/100][Tasted: 11/1/19]