Tastes

N: Cherry cola, peanut butter, saw dust. Quite a bit of ethanol with a paint thinner vibe to it, unfortunately. To be fair, I hadn't noticed that while casually drinking this, only while trying to nose for review. Moving on: menthol tobacco, caramel, vanilla, red jam. Ethanol seems to be settling down, now a few minutes into the glass (but it's not gone). Cinnamon, baking spice, and ginger cookie. Lots happening. P: Peanut butter pecan pie with a cup of coffee. Red berry and cherry. Whole wheat bread, slightly toasted. Toffee bread pudding with cinnamon apple. Stewed orchard fruit with brown sugar. Finish brings in what you expect from bourbon: caramel and vanilla. There's a bit of oak bitterness. More peanut butter and pie crust. Dash of medium dark chocolate. Little bit of heat, but this is really a dessert dram. Most of the whiskey I drink is just casual drinking. I'm usually doing something else - chatting with a friend, watching something, reading something, working, whatever... I'm smelling and tasting it, but I'm definitely not sticking my nose repeatedly in the glass until I can't get a new scent and I'm not holding the whiskey on the tongue and focusing hard on what I'm experiencing, trying to pull apart every taste and feeling. Every now and then I come across a whiskey that I really love casually drinking, but find it a little (or sometimes a lot) lacking when I do sit down to drink to review. This whiskey has that problem, possibly more than any I've had. Pour this and forget about it and you get a real treat of a dessert whiskey - it's all pie and sweets, yet never cloying, just the right amount of spice. But diving in for the review, that ethanol note hurts. It's rough. It did fade, at least, but it hits in the score. I think this is a situation where this is a young distillery selling a relatively young bourbon. There's room for growth and maturity here. Will be interesting to watch over the next decade or so and see what Frey Ranch can produce. The other possible problem with this whiskey is the price. At $50, I'm not sure it's competitive. There are plenty of bourbons priced lower that are a step or two better, but they are also more traditional. This is comparable to the Balcones entry-level bourbon (similar flavors with a dessert feel), but that one costs half as much. The cost here, I assume, comes from the presumably high cost of doing grain to bottle on one farm. The bottle gives its mash bill as 66.6% non-GMO corn, 10% winter wheat, 10% winter rye, and 12% 2-row barley, which is malted on-site. Non-GMO corn is not cheap. Malting on-site is not cheap. So I get it, you pay for hand-crafted quality. (Springbank's prices are possibly/probably justified for the same reason.) But the problem is the juice doesn't quite reflect that yet. I think it certainly can though and I will buy again to see how this might develop. Final note: how much does this bottle weigh? It feels like a liter bottle. Maybe shave a little off the glass usage and you could shave a few bucks off the price. it is nice looking and feeling though. The brand is on point. _______ A bunch of regular Distiller reviewers are chatting spirits in real time on Discord. Please join: https://discord.gg/4nfePCdyKM. (If the link is expired, post a comment and I can get a new one.)

N: Big hit of vanilla with cinnamon and oak spice. Cinnamon dusted roasted peaches. Some dried red fruit, not much. Some earth and leather funk. A dusty library type smell. More red fruit as it opens. P: Red fruit, peaches, and pear with lots of toasted cinnamon and oak. Baking spice, vanilla, toffee. Coffee berry - or at least what I imagine that tastes like, something like a cross of coffee and cherry, but with the cherry toned down and leaning more toward generic berry notes. Drawing air across it releases even more red fruit, now with a cooked/roasted nature to it. Finish brings lots of oak bitterness, a medicine aftertaste note, more coffee, splash of dark chocolate, baking spice, some cinnamon, and some of that leather and dusty book from the nose. But really, finish is mostly just bitter. I saw this on a shelf in late October and initially decided to pass while also thinking I wasn't likely to see it again soon - just seemed too pricey at the time. Then I thought, maybe it'll be a nice pour for Thanksgiving - a corn based whiskey seemed right for the holiday (even though I knew most of my guests pretty much exclusively drink fruit-forward single malt scotch) and sharing it for the holiday felt like justification for the cost. Knowing KC, I decided to crack this a week before Thanksgiving to let it have at least a little room to breath before the holiday. That first pour was like a warning - this isn't a beginner's whiskey: it's bitter, it's dusty, it's not bright, it's not easy. I should have known better, but just told myself that was why I opened it early and a week with oxygen will help. Needless to say, the week did not help and this was not a hit on Thanksgiving. I recall half finished pours after the family left - obviously I combined them and finished it myself, so not a total loss, I suppose, although I may have accidentally turned off some of the family to bourbon. I have work to do to bring them back around. (And forget about the Lag 16 I thought would go great with dessert...) Now we're a few months out and I still find this whiskey difficult. It is mature, big, and assertive. It is quite bitter, which I don't hate, but it puts it in a bit of a niche. A cube or some water might open it up, but I hesitate to do that with a 15 year old - feels like it shouldn't be necessary, especially at only 100 proof. Maybe that's not the right way to think about it. I'm really not sure. I have a pour or two left, so maybe I can still experiment. As a side note, I thought this would disappear from shelves fast. I was wrong. Still around and now $40 cheaper, so I have to guess I'm not the only one who doesn't love it at it's price point. Difficult nature and all, this would be an interesting bottle at $60-70, but even at $110 it feels too steep. I got robbed at what I paid, but I guess that happens sometimes the deeper down this rabbit hole you go. _______ A bunch of regular Distiller reviewers are chatting spirits in real time on Discord. Please join: https://discord.gg/crpksjtkMu. (If the link is expired, post a comment and I can get a new one.)

Don't see a batch number, but this is 112.2 proof. N: Dark rye bread with anise seed baked in. Caramel, vanilla, toffee, chocolate. Some medicinal notes. Peanut shells, pencil shavings, dusty books, and a leather chair. Some ethanol, but less than you'd expect for the proof. P: Burst of red fruit then the caramel, vanilla, toffee, and chocolate combo from the nose, before another burst of red fruit. Mid-palate brings back some of the medicine taste along with some oak, tannins, a bitter dark chocolate, and some raw rye grain. Finish is long and complex with more oak, little bit of baking spice, cinnamon heat, some mint, and some herbal tea. Excellent rye. I've had two or three I just liked better, but this is every bit as complex as those and offers plenty to come back for. This feels like a mature rye (not old - not quite the same thing) and I really like it for that. I wouldn't hunt this one and I wouldn't pay more than SRP, but definitely worth snagging a bottle when you see a new batch on the shelf. _______ A bunch of regular Distiller reviewers are chatting spirits in real time on Discord. Please join: https://discord.gg/crpksjtkMu. (If the link is expired, post a comment and I can get a new one.)

N: Distinct red and green apple notes with a mish-mash of other orchard notes. Something like a peach scented hand soap. Some wet grass and dirt funk in the background. Some mint and other dried herbs. Maybe a hint of cigarette smoke, but maybe @Ctrexman just put that in my brain and I'm imagining it. P: Red apple with a dash of strawberry flavoring (not real strawberry). Has a sort of apple juice quality too. Middle has some round malt notes with a touch of caramel, vanilla, and white bread, but the mouthfeel is notably thin. Flash of cinnamon dusted custard with toffee bits pushes the pour along to the finish. Finish has a touch of heat with a baking spice character. That earthy funk from the nose comes back and feels like it has some peat elements now - it's kind of a lingering wet moss, which is not as bad as it sounds, but it's not great either. This is basically a completely forgettable blend. This is no JW Black that even an experienced scotch drinker might occasionally want to revisit for old time's sake. It's not a malt forward Famous Grouse or Monkey Shoulder. It's certainly not on par with any Compass Box. Best thing I think I can say about this is that it does seem to have some the same profile as the much beloved JW Green, but it's as if the notes are all in the wrong key and played in the wrong order here. The earthy and herbal notes of the Green get merged with a solid malt backbone and a hearty, chewy mouthfeel with a small bonfire that was doused with sea spray. Here, the herbs are wilted and drowning in bowl of watered down apple juice that a toddler then decided to dump a cereal box onto while someone is smoking a cigarette in the next room. That said, I've had no trouble finishing the bottle - it's not drain pour bad. I don't even think I would say it's actually bad, just kind of blah and forgettable. And overpriced, but that's not surprising and it's still relatively cheap, so it's even forgettable on the VFM front. _______ A bunch of regular Distiller reviewers are chatting in real time on Discord. Please join: https://discord.gg/crpksjtkMu. (If the link is expired, post a comment and I can get a new one.)

N: Boozy nose, but it tempers with some air. When you get past that ethanol, there's orchard fruit, cherry, and some cooked vegetable notes. Eventually, the sweet corn starts to come through with some caramel and vanilla, so you know this is a bourb—wait, not labeled as a bourbon, but "American whiskey." Hmmm... There's a shaving soap or shaving cream note that I feel like I've picked up before in MGP juice (which this likely is) and that I tend to like (never had one taste like soap and the smell is pleasant). Later into the pour, vanilla starts to get assertive. P: Quick flash of toffee before moving to cinnamon candy. The cinnamon is more of a savory cinnamon than a spicy, hot cinnamon, but still has a candy sweetness undergirding it. Dark chocolate dust, caramel, vanilla. Little bit of that shaving cream note comes through to the palate (again, it's not soapy and it's perfectly fine there). Finish brings some barrel bitterness and a little more heat. Not much in the way of specific flavors - some oak notes, some of the shaving soap, maybe some cinnamon bark. Medium length. This whiskey claims it was born in Indiana, aged in Kentucky, and finished in Ukiah, California - no idea what kind of finishing that refers to, but they talk about a water source there for their vodka and gin, so I guess that's just where they cut to proof. And then it boldly proclaims itself "The Spirit of L.A." Ukiah is in Mendocino County, about 500 miles north of Los Angeles, so other than the name, and a B-list actor part owner/front man, I'm not sure what ties this dram has to Los Angeles. Mulholland, the name—and, of course, once the man—is/was big in Los Angeles. William Mulholland designed and built the Los Angeles Aqueduct (completed 1913) that brought water from the Eastern Sierra Nevada range into the San Fernando Valley. This conceivably made the exponential growth of the city over the next century possible. But the water rights that supplied the aqueduct generally were not acquired in the most virtuous of ways and parts of the aqueduct were sabotaged by local farmers and ranchers when they began to realize they had been swindled. LA eventually won the "California Water Wars," as they are called, and still holds the water rights to the Owens Valley, which is more or less a desert now, prone to dust storms off its dried lakebed (LA still corrals the river and pumps the groundwater - it's probably in my tap right now). I don't know to what extent Mulholland was involved in the water rights transactions, but he certainly made them possible in the first place. In Chinatown (the movie), the apologetic Hollis Mulwray - an otherwise good-intentioned enabler of John Huston's villainous Noah Cross - is loosely based on Mulholland and some elements of the Water Wars, which at least suggests he was more of an engineer and a wonk than a profiteer. However it all went down, Mulholland is still a known name around here - the infamous and exclusive Mulholland Drive above the Hollywood Hills is (obviously) named for him and so are a handful of other places. His name is distinctly intertwined with Los Angeles. And so I suppose the "Spirit of L.A." must evoke dubiously acquired water rights. I also suppose the name of the "distillery" (I'm not sure they actually distill anything, or ever intend to - their stocks all come from elsewhere right now) is a clumsy attempt to harken to the name that brought water to LA and made the city what it is, and in the same way they want to bring the whiskey/gin/vodka (fire water!) to LA and, well, whatever... you get the point. There are distilleries actually making whiskey in LA right now (a couple). With a different vision and kind of investment, these guys could do it too. But, instead, there's just no authenticity in this brand (which may be the most LA thing about it). The whiskey itself is bottled at 100 proof and has a mash bill of 94% corn, 4% rye, and 2% malted barley. I'm not sure why it's not labeled as a bourbon (and presumably is not actually a bourbon). I can only guess it's an issue with the barrels - perhaps they reused barrels instead of getting the new, charred oak required to meet the definition of bourbon. The whiskey doesn't really taste like it got a much char - there's some oak and vanilla, but it's less than you get from most bourbons - so that's my best guess on the bourbon question. It's clearly very young - didn't spend too much time in whatever barrels it went into - 2 years or less, I would venture. Whatever this is, however, it's actually okay, passable on taste alone. It's a terrible value though - it doesn't even begin to compete with something like an Evan Williams BiB or Wild Turkey 101, both of which are cheaper. But then this is likely young MGP juice, aged in who knows what, so maybe that's your jam at $30. It's not mine. _______ A bunch of regular Distiller reviewers are now chatting in real time. Please join: https://discord.gg/crpksjtkMu. (If the link is expired, post a comment and I can get a new one.)

N: Cooked sour apple pie with delicate pie crust notes. Vanilla and caramel, as expected given the barrels. As it opens, you begin to get some lemon, peach, pear, and maybe some other orchard fruit. Bit of ethanol in it that is not overwhelming at any one nosing, but has a numbing effect eventually. P: Sweet caramel and vanilla dipped apple slices. Flash of chocolate and light coffee. A non-distinct orchard fruit floods the palate along with a pumpkin pie spice along the edges of the tongue and little bit of cream in the corners. Woody oak notes lead into the finish which turns somewhat tannic and bitter almost immediately. When that fades out, the oak notes remain and linger. There is surprisingly little heat given the bourbon barrel and fresh char barrel treatment - it's not nothing, but you have to kinda hunt for the cinnamon and cayenne. There may be a dusting of dark chocolate in there, but the finish generally seems to lack dimension. Like the 18 year, I found this to be inoffensive, but a bit lackluster. This one takes more chances than the 18 - the bourbon barrel influence really shows up and steps up - but the overall, walkaway impression for me is "meh." Maybe the Glenfiddich profile just doesn't work for me. _______ A bunch of regular Distiller reviewers are now chatting in real time. Please join: https://discord.gg/crpksjtkMu. (If the link is expired, post a comment and I can get a new one.)

N: Corn, honey, very ripe pear, and mango. The pear needs more: it's like taking a first bite of a fresh pear - first the skin as you approach, then the juice as the flesh gives way, and finally the open, aerated, already oxidizing bite. If I knew my pears better, I feel like I could name a specific type - Bartlett, maybe? Moving on: some garden herbs and black tea. Good bit of ethanol, but it's tolerable. 2nd pour brings a huge vanilla frosting note with a side of shaving cream. P: Super sweet corn, honey cake, butterscotch, toffee. Bit of astringency on the sides of the tongue. Caramel and honey candy when you draw air across it. Some dried fruit and maybe a dash of coffee. Finish is lightly spicy with cinnamon dark chocolate, honey roasted almond, and coffee cake. Surprisingly long finish too. This is a Japanese take on bourbon. Supposedly uses a classic wheated bourbon mash bill - what that means exactly in ratios, I don't know, but it does undeniably drink a bit like a wheater. In fact, couple of drops of water felt like it almost turned into Maker's. But it also has that classic Japanese character where the notes are precise, defined, nothing is muddled. And there's an underlying herbal nature that reminds a bit of young rye, but really feels more like tea, and that strikes me as a Japanese touch (influenced by some classic Scotches). Finally, the finish heat is far below average for a bourbon and that feels a bit like tuning for the Japanese market - just can't recall a particularly hot Japanese whisky I've had. Muted heat may be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your tastes. All in all, this is interesting and the price is fair for the quality and unique experience. Worth grabbing a bottle or two. _______ A bunch of regular Distiller reviewers are now chatting in real time. Please join: https://discord.gg/crpksjtkMu. (If the link is expired, post a comment and I can get a new one.)

N: Deep red fruit drying on a line over a mossy peat fire. Cherry and peach muddled with caramel and vanilla - it's like the Oloroso and bourbon barrels are talking to each other. The peat smoke is floral and herbal with a perfume quality - I've loved it in every Kilchoman I've had. P: Herbal, bitter, and spicy. Then the cherry hits: first fresh, then dried, then cough syrup. White tea with lemon, vanilla, and a dash of cracked black pepper. Some peach, some pear, and spruce tips. Finish lands early and hits hard. Hot baking spice with a notable allspice sitting on a bed of caramel. Still more herbal bitterness with just a dash of green grain taste (unfortunately). Closes with cooked veggies coated with crushed rainbow pepper. Lots of power and unique, interesting flavors in this. Unfortunately, they're not all pleasant and don't all mesh well together. I still really enjoyed this and will eventually do it again, but I think that's a totally subjective thing and I would have a hard time recommending this to most people. As to the Kilchoman line, the Loch Gorm is a better overall whisky and the Machir Bay is an easier entry level. The special releases (PX Sherry, USA small batch) I've tried are richer and more robust, but take less risks and are more traditional as a result. There's just something about this, for me. It's kinda like an ugly dog that becomes more lovable for its snaggletooth and lazy eye. _______ Please come join a lively new spirits related discussion happening in real time amongst a bunch of regular Distiller reviewers: https://discord.gg/crpksjtkMu.

N: Berries, peaches, cereal grain. Pretty boozy. Opens up after a few minutes with dried berries and red fruit, chalk, and maybe a dash of sea air and brine. Peach notes shift toward a nice barbecued peach brushed with melted brown sugar. The cereal grains come back with a candied sweetness that borders on kids' cereal, but never quite turns that corner and manages to stay grown up. Much later, I notice some rye notes - mint, menthol, green rye. P: Rich, chalky, mineral cereal grains. Dried red fruit, prunes, and raisins. Tons of baking spice and pepper heat. Texture and mouthfeel is almost chewy. Some vanilla and light almond extract in the middle with a cookie flour backbone. Finish is more baking spice, wafer cookie, and lots of chili pepper and boozy heat. I've always wanted a higher proof Johnnie and finally here it is. But this is also the least Johnnie Johnnie I've had yet. I mean, is there even any Cardhu in this? It feels like a higher grain content than most JW offerings. On the whole, I enjoyed this as a one-off, but I'm not going to miss it when it's gone. Would love to see/try a regular release of Blue at cask strength. JW/Diageo is leaving money on the table by not offering that. _______ Please come join a lively new spirits related discussion happening in real time amongst a bunch of regular Distiller reviewers: https://discord.gg/crpksjtkMu.

N: Huge with both ripe and sour fruit right out of the bottle - peach, pear, and even mango. Some brine and ocean behind that. Definitely some bread and nut notes behind that. And there's a funk in it too that's really hard to place. And enough ethanol to let you know you really are slummin' it tonight. P: Now I realize the funk is peat. Sweet peat with some toffee. Coffee roast. Hot and malty in the middle with a distinctive black pepper bite laid on top of caramel honey bread. Finish brings more heat with baking spices, cayenne, and then eventually just numbness. The more time you spend thinking about this dram, the less you're probably going to enjoy it. At face value, it's unique and interesting with the black pepper, honey, fruit, and funky peat. Leave it at that, don't try to go deeper. And I'd also highly recommend using it as a chaser for an IPA - the spice cuts right through the hop bitterness, which in turn supercharges the sweetness in this in an absolutely delightful way. _______ Please come join a lively new spirits related discussion happening in real time amongst a bunch of regular Distiller reviewers: https://discord.gg/crpksjtkMu.