Tastes

N: Stone fruit, earth, apple cider, yellow cake, cherry pie, caramel custard with vanilla cream, touch of ethanol, touch of baking spice. P: Cooked apples, cinnamon baking spice, dried leaves, overcooked pie crust, vanilla cream, darker fruit, slightly sour, overripe white grapes, hint of seaside character or sea spray with salt. F: Creamy caramel, chalky minerals, barrel spice, dusty book, dried leaves, hint of ethanol, cinnamon burn, old boat dock. Incredible for a 10 year entry level single malt. Certainly rivals Springbank 10 for the best on the market. If you see it, grab it. Was lucky to spot a single bottle on a rare visit to an old haunt. Would certainly do it again. _______________________ Please come join an unofficial Distiller community on Discord (now one whole year old!): https://discord.gg/4nfePCdyKM. We chat spirits (and other things) in real time while being a great resource to each other for recommendations, finding deals, and generally enjoying the journey together. (If the link is expired, please post a comment and I will gladly and usually quickly provide a new one. Lately, I have not been able to tag people who have asked for the link, so please check back when you can. Or, better still, look for a more recent review of mine which should have the most current link.)

N: Exceptionally fragrant - fills the room within just a minute or so of pouring. Tar, pencil shavings, driftwood, seaweed, kelp, salt cakes, lighter stone fruit, some citrus (watered down lemon), new shoes in the box, vanilla cake. It keeps going. Tennis balls. P: Little bit of red fruit, oak, shredded sweet potato cakes with corn (fried), dried fish, dried seaweed, cooked almond, vanilla infused yellow cake, french vanilla ice cream. F: All the maritime notes plus decent heat, oak, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, chalky minerals, hints of tar and seaweed. Lives up to its branding: this really is a Laphroaig that grew up on the shoreline. It's unmistakable as the classic Laphroaig profile, but with a little more muscle and all kinds of sea notes that really work. I do think it's a bit blunt and lacks some finesse, but that seems unsurprising for an NAS single malt - there is definitely some younger juice in here. At times, that lack of polish is charming. Still, have to wonder what a straight up 10 or 12 year Warehouse 1 might taste like. Better still, I would guess. Maybe such a thing exists (or even older) - I'm not enough up on the full Laphroaig line to know. Please point me to it if you do. _______________________ Please come join an unofficial Distiller community on Discord (now one whole year old!): https://discord.gg/4nfePCdyKM. We chat spirits (and other things) in real time while being a great resource to each other for recommendations, finding deals, and generally enjoying the journey together. (If the link is expired, please post a comment and I will gladly and usually quickly provide a new one. Lately, I have not been able to tag people who have asked for the link, so please check back when you can. Or, better still, look for a more recent review of mine which should have the most current link.)

N: Apple, peach, rich tobacco, menthol, baked pears in a crusty pie, hard swirl releases a cascade of fresh fruit notes - too many to differentiate even, pear candy, wet forest, mild tree bark, noticeable ethanol. P: Rich and rounded, caramel, cinnamon apple pie, pear custard, dried and maybe lightly smoked leaves (is this a little smoked?), vanilla candy, dried red fruit, earthy mineral notes, dark cocoa, freeze dried coffee. F: Fruity early, turns earthy and mineral, then hints of oak with bigger mint and dried herb notes, touch of ethanol burn, touch of oaky heat. Super good, but also a bit tame. It's more or less a straightforward Highland single malt, but with a few complications and a fair showing of age. I think, more to the point, I would say I've enjoyed this bottle, and would likely buy it again, but it doesn't engage me in a way that captures my wandering taste buds, even for a moment. Some whiskies do that - you want more right away. This isn't quite that good. But that's likely as much about my palate as it is about the scotch. If you haven't tried this, absolutely worth grabbing a bottle. _______________________ Please come join an unofficial Distiller community on Discord (now one whole year old!): https://discord.gg/4nfePCdyKM. We chat spirits (and other things) in real time while being a great resource to each other for recommendations, finding deals, and generally enjoying the journey together. (If the link is expired - it shouldn't be - please post a comment and I will gladly and usually quickly provide a new one.)

N: Dripping, sticky floral honey, peach candy, barnyard funk that also somehow feels like it's been contained in a hard candy, paper pulp, lightly smoked meat topped with grilled peach or pineapple rings, lots of other less specific fruity things going on, and a slight hint of ethanol. P: Big red wine notes, dried cherry, touch of red wine oak, caramel, dusty book, cooked vanilla, little bit of honey, earth, and that characteristic GB dry funk that comes across, to me, as wet cardboard. F: Ethanol hot, wood, earth, dust, sticky cherry compote, mint/menthol, green tea, honey, maybe some dark chocolate. This might be my favorite GB release. But I'm pretty sure it's also going to be the last one I buy. GB has a cult following. And there's often a reference in reviews to some sort of "funk" note that seems to be unique to GB. Every GB bottle I've tried, from Cowboy down, has had that same wet cardboard note that this one has. (I would guess at this point that it's a product of a proprietary yeast strain.) That note here is lighter than any other GB I've tried, and comes late after that lovely port finish has its say, but it's still more than enough that I have no interest in another bottle of this, much less any of the even more wet cardboard-y bottles. Others seem to taste this funky note differently, but I've had my fill of wet cardboard bourbon. I'll leave future releases to the cult. I'll add, I think every GB release is overpriced by about a 2:1 ratio. This was a $150 bottle. If Balcones had released this, I'd expect it to be more like $75-80. I guess if that funk hits you right, maybe you disagree, but I've lost the ability to imagine that now. _______________________ Please come join an unofficial Distiller community on Discord (now one whole year old!): https://discord.gg/4nfePCdyKM. We chat spirits (and other things) in real time while being a great resource to each other for recommendations, finding deals, and generally enjoying the journey together. (If the link is expired - it shouldn't be - please post a comment and I will gladly and usually quickly provide a new one.)

N: Cola, caramel, oak, hint of black licorice, copper penny, aftershave. P: Wood spice, vanilla, caramel, leather, dusty book at the back of the throat, freshly polished mahogany leather chair, cardboard, pencil - graphite and wood, cooked caramel. F: Medium length, chili spice, caramel sweet, dark chocolate, cedar, mint. A lovely bourbon that I wish was more widely available. How many can I say that about? Too many. Not really worth the secondary prices. (Again, say that too often.) It seems I can usually find Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare, or sometimes CEHT at reasonable prices - any of the three are relatively interchangeable with a similar core profile. (I'm ignoring Blanton for now.) BT is the workhorse, suitable for just about anything. Eagle leans fruity and delicate; this is woodier, earthier, dark and brooding. It'd be nice to be able to just pop into the liquor store and grab one of each, but BT is generally available for about 20-25 bucks. That's hard to beat. This can't win on VFM, but it's worth a bottle every now and then when you find a good price. _______________________ Please come join an unofficial Distiller community on Discord (now one whole year old!): https://discord.gg/4nfePCdyKM. We chat spirits (and other things) in real time while being a great resource to each other for recommendations, finding deals, and generally enjoying the journey together. (If the link is expired - it shouldn't be - please post a comment and I will gladly and usually quickly provide a new one.)

Trying something different for St. Patrick's: side-by-side of 18 and 18 Bow Street Batch One 18 N: Sweet fruit, wood, cherry, bit too much ethanol, maybe some citrus, shaving soap. 18 Bow Street N: Rich vanilla and caramel, orchard fruit, soft oak, touch of tropical fruit, butterscotch candy and/or butterscotch bread pudding. 18 P: Caramel, vanilla, sour cherry, baking spice, butterscotch, round tropical fruit flavors, peaches and cream, honey. Bit thin and watery on the mouthfeel. 18 Bow Street P: Fuller, rounder, richer - tropical fruit, sweet cereal malt, much bigger spice profile, cinnamon, peaches and cream again, some earth, some herbs, touch of pine, bit of cherry cough syrup, blonde coffee notes. 18 F: Smooth, mild, sweet, touch of that shaving soap, vanilla cream, floral notes. 18 Bow Street F: Long with oak, barrel spice, pot still spice, cinnamon, plenty of heat, cherry, lingering sweetness, touch of copper, some tannin bitterness. The lineage of both is apparent - they are both Jameson. That said, would I have pegged that blind - maybe is the best I can say - probably not if not writing tasting notes that I can compare against before deciding. The 80 proof 18 year is (expectedly) thinner and in some ways less appealing, but it also has some more delicate notes that are powered out in the 112 proof Bow Street. Most of the time, the more robust nature of the Bow Street is probably preferable, but there are definitely nights where the lighter proof and profile of the 18 would be better. I have to wonder what a 90 or even 100 proof of this would be like. Pretty damn good, I suspect. Final judgment: since I somehow managed to pay less for the cask strength, it's the obvious winner here. Taking VFM out, it's a closer call, but the Bow Street is richer with a longer finish, more complexity, and a better mouthfeel. Bow Street is the clear winner 9 times out of 10. In comparing to other Irish whiskies of similar age, the sad reality is this is that neither of these is a match for, for example, Red Spot (15 year age statement, I think) or the Redbreast 12 or 15. It not the same thing - this is blended, those are single pot still - but those cost less and taste better. However that happens, it is what it is. As to proof, Blue Spot or Redbreast CS are both better than the Bow Street. Hard to justify the price of the Bow Street. It's interesting, the kind of thing you don't regret buying and trying once, but don't likely return to. ____________ Please come join an unofficial Distiller community on Discord (now one whole year old!): https://discord.gg/4nfePCdyKM. We chat spirits (and other things) in real time while being a great resource to each other for recommendations, finding deals, and generally enjoying the journey together. (If the link is expired - it shouldn't be - please post a comment and I will gladly and usually quickly provide a new one.)

Trying something different for St. Patrick's: side-by-side of 18 and 18 Bow Street Batch One 18 N: Sweet fruit, wood, cherry, bit too much ethanol, maybe some citrus, shaving soap. 18 Bow Street N: Rich vanilla and caramel, orchard fruit, soft oak, touch of tropical fruit, butterscotch candy and/or butterscotch bread pudding. 18 P: Caramel, vanilla, sour cherry, baking spice, butterscotch, round tropical fruit flavors, peaches and cream, honey. Bit thin and watery on the mouthfeel. 18 Bow Street P: Fuller, rounder, richer - tropical fruit, sweet cereal malt, much bigger spice profile, cinnamon, peaches and cream again, some earth, some herbs, touch of pine, bit of cherry cough syrup, blonde coffee notes. 18 F: Smooth, mild, sweet, touch of that shaving soap, vanilla cream, floral notes. 18 Bow Street F: Long with oak, barrel spice, pot still spice, cinnamon, plenty of heat, cherry, lingering sweetness, touch of copper, some tannin bitterness. The lineage of both is apparent - they are both Jameson. That said, would I have pegged that blind - maybe is the best I can say - probably not if not writing tasting notes that I can compare against before deciding. The 80 proof 18 year is (expectedly) thinner and in some ways less appealing, but it also has some more delicate notes that are powered out in the 112 proof Bow Street. Most of the time, the more robust nature of the Bow Street is probably preferable, but there are definitely nights where the lighter proof and profile of the 18 would be better. I have to wonder what a 90 or even 100 proof of this would be like. Pretty damn good, I suspect. Final judgment: since I somehow managed to pay less for the cask strength, it's the obvious winner here. Taking VFM out, it's a closer call, but the Bow Street is richer with a longer finish, more complexity, and a better mouthfeel. Bow Street is the clear winner 9 times out of 10. In comparing to other Irish whiskies of similar age, the sad reality is this is that neither of these is a match for, for example, Red Spot (15 year age statement, I think) or the Redbreast 12 or 15. It not the same thing - this is blended, those are single pot still - but those cost less and taste better. However that happens, it is what it is. As to proof, Blue Spot or Redbreast CS are both better than the Bow Street. Hard to justify the price of the Bow Street. It's interesting, the kind of thing you don't regret buying and trying once, but don't likely return to. ____________ Please come join an unofficial Distiller community on Discord (now one whole year old!): https://discord.gg/4nfePCdyKM. We chat spirits (and other things) in real time while being a great resource to each other for recommendations, finding deals, and generally enjoying the journey together. (If the link is expired - it shouldn't be - please post a comment and I will gladly and usually quickly provide a new one.)

N: Fruity and young Irish grain, rye herbs - particularly dill, some baking spice or - dare I say it - pot still spice, so all the component parts are present; green rye grain dominates over time, earthy, herbal, hard swirls release ripe orchard fruit. P: Green rye, dried herbs, dill, anise, cooked banana, fruit and cream (but bathed in dill and other herbs), touch of heat. F: Dried herbs, dill, dried flowers, pine, oak. Similar to the Irish + Bourbon release, the idea here intrigued me. But, unlike the bourbon blend, a blend of Irish grain, single pot still, and rye brought about much more curiosity than a sincere thought there could be potential here. In the end, I'm somewhat encouraged by the potential, but leave feeling the component parts - and especially the rye - just aren't very good. It all feels like muddled mixed drink fare to me - too strong in some places, too weak in others, no sense of balance that could have conceivably been brought about with the right blend. In other words, this is harsh, young, not particularly good rye with a little Irish thrown in for good measure (and/or good marketing). Wouldn't do this again and can't recommend it - you'd be better off trying to make your own blend if the concept appeals to you. ____________ Please come join an unofficial Distiller community on Discord (now one whole year old!): https://discord.gg/4nfePCdyKM. We chat spirits (and other things) in real time while being a great resource to each other for recommendations, finding deals, and generally enjoying the journey together. (If the link is expired - it shouldn't be - please post a comment and I will gladly and usually quickly provide a new one.)

N: Burning tires, oak tree, carbonated cola with vanilla flavoring, cherry-lemon citrus, and the faintest hint of bourbon barrel. P: Lemon custard, lemon cake, caramel, vanilla, dried flowers, cooked apples, dried earth, smoked flowers, floral-infused chocolate, black licorice with a pronounced bourbon influence when you draw air across it. F: Citrus-bitter, dried herbs, oak, menthol cigarette smoke (thanks for resparking that craving, Kilchoman), cherry-vanilla cola. Really nice, but also not quite punchy enough to find its way to the higher scores. It's just a bit too muddled at times and the bourbon influence feels sometimes more imagined than real. That's really more a disappointed expectations issue than a quality issue, but I think it's still a fair criticism within reason. All in all, it's a good dram, not really Kilchoman's best, but I enjoyed it and look forward to further barrel experimentation from them. ____________ Please come join an unofficial Distiller community on Discord (now one whole year old!): https://discord.gg/4nfePCdyKM. We chat spirits (and other things) in real time while being a great resource to each other for recommendations, finding deals, and generally enjoying the journey together. (If the link is expired - it shouldn't be - please post a comment and I will gladly and usually quickly provide a new one.)