Tastes

N: Chalky mineral banana (it is JD, after all). Mint, green grain, green banana. Caramel, vanilla. Medicine and cleaning supplies - just the right amount. Ethanol starts to get a bit strong the longer you keep your nose in the glass - can't complain at the price though. P: Caramel, vanilla, baking spice (like a cardamom or a caraway). Dash of milk chocolate. Mid palate stays rich, round and malty with a bit of coffee roast and some sweet oak. Finish puts good heat on the tip of the tongue right away, but that fades and you get a nice bitter oak, more caramel, vanilla, green rye grain, and a mint that moves from leaf to candy to breath mint over time. My first thought was, how is this 15 bucks? I didn't even notice it was 90 proof until half the bottle was gone. But then I remembered the Old Overholt BIB (i.e. 100 proof), which is hands down better (no shame in that) and runs about $20, as I recall. Seems great rye can be had cheap. And this, a pretty good rye, can be had even cheaper. It's no doubt a JD product - you get that profile early - but what comes later adds great depth, flavor, and character. This is easily repeatable, an easy pick up at the grocery store if you're not sure what to grab.

N: Well, it smells like Jack Daniel's. But where I find the Old No. 7 to have an almost comical banana candy character (which I still like), here that banana turns into a banana custard creme brulee with an extra thick torched brown sugar cover. There's also toasted marshmallow, vanilla cream, wood notes, mineral water, cola, and a dash of root beer concentrate. Finally, decent amount of ethanol, but it's well behaved and doesn't ruin the nose. (Edit off the bottle kill pour: aftershave on the nose. I'm not mad though. It works.) P: Sweet with more of that banana - now leaning more bananas foster with caramelized brown sugar and a light but crispy flambeed crust. Healthy drizzle of milk chocolate in there too. Then there's some toasted nuts, toffee, molasses, and baking spice. Finish is hot-ish with plenty of cinnamon, little bit of cayenne, and then more toasted nuts tossed in a medley of baking spices. Good bit of oak and barrel tannin too. Not long ago I tried the Old No. 7 after years of avoidance (because I remembered it tasting like olives - no idea why), turns out I really like the JD profile (for the price, anyway). So, guess I figured I should try others in the line. This is an appropriately grown up JD for the step up in price. In fact, I think it's actually kind of a bargain - 94 proof, single barrel (with barrel and rick numbers at the neck), and plenty of complexity for around $40? It's not quite as good as like a Russell's Reserve Single Barrel, but it's not far off, it's interestingly different from the Kentucky single barrels, and the price is right. I'll be picking this up again.

N: Caramel, vanilla frosting, dash of sea air and brine. Peach and pear fruitiness. Maybe a hint of peat. That distinctive Johnnie Walker note is here, but more subdued than any other JW I've tried. There's also certainly a grainy, cereal note that is not something I would expect from JW - has to be coming from the rye. Ethanol note is just slightly on the wrong side of too much. Longer it sits, more I think there's some rye mint and herb in it. P: Sweet with more of that cereal - like a sugary kid's breakfast cereal. Caramel, vanilla, and dried red fruit - which is nice here. Rounded at the edges with toffee and a bit of chocolate. Definitely some dried rye herbs, herbal tea, and a dash of mint on the palate. That JW chalky mineral water (cough*Cardhu*cough) is certainly here, but, again, subdued. Finish has some anise, dried cereal grain, more herbal tea, and a caramel/vanilla sweetness. This feels like it's trying to be a rye scotch, not a Scottish rye. It's not ideal as a sipper, but it's not terrible. It's unusual. And it's definitely a Johnnie Walker product. Price is right. I can't complain. Might do it again, but there are probably better sipper options out there. Still, if you like JW (and I do), then it's worth giving this bottle a shot. It's at least interesting. (I don't make cocktails at home, so hard to say how this would do with some mixers. Anything I could say to that would be a guess, so I'll not do that.)

N: Very fruity with lots of fresh, juicy pear right away. Dried red fruit, red wine, vanilla, caramel, Suggestions of cinnamon and baking spice whisper some influence on the nose. P: Sweet and fruity first, then caramel and vanilla bring a roundness and warmth to it. Dried red fruit, toffee, chocolate, and a little light roast coffee (and bitterness) settle on the middle of tongue. The finish brings the heat, but it starts by picking up the coffee bitterness and shifting it to a woody oak bitterness. Cinnamon follows, but this is no cinnamon bomb. There's subtlety to it with more baking spice: dash of cayenne. some kind of nut extract, nutmeg, coriander, and mint. It's a fine, but fairly simple nose. Serviceable, but forgettable. The palate is similar: there's nothing wrong with it, but I just don't find it terribly memorable. So, unsurprisingly, I generally feel the same about the whisky. I don't regret it, but I also wouldn't do it again.

N: Very fruit forward with fresh peach and pear. Light peat is pervasive - seems lighter here than other Kilchoman bottles. Lemon cake covered with dark berries in syrup. Hints of dark chocolate, toffee, and light roast coffee in the background. Over time, the peat develops a little more of that earthy, vegetable character that seems to come through in all of the Kilchoman bottles I've tried (now five). I've said before that the Kilchoman peat character reminds of Lagavulin, but softer in a way that's still very easy to appreciate - that holds true for this bottle. P: Smoked vanilla with stewed peach, pear, and cherry. Lemon curd with hot cinnamon toast. Gets pretty spicy around the mid-palate - it's a bourbon-like hot cinnamon candy type of heat. Good dose of oaky bitterness too. Finish brings some bitter, overcooked fruit, darker notes of chocolate and/or coffee, and maybe some cola. The heat fades out pretty quick - not a terribly hot finish, despite the peak at the mid-palate. Lots of simmering, wafting, smoky peat notes - cooked vegetables, dried earth, scorched pine needles - hang long after anything else. Lovely dram. Plenty of complexity. Well priced. There are better Islay whiskies out there, but this does everything it should do for the price - more than most of its competitors. I have to say I think I prefer the Sanaig as the Kilchoman character seems to do a little better with the sherry casks than the bourbon, but not by much. Regardless, I'd gladly recommend either. Side note: Not sure if there are or once were vintages of this (based on the various listings on this website/app), but there's nothing on this bottle that suggests it's an annual release. Stamp on the bottom suggests it was bottled in August 2021. So I guess it's a 2021 if there are vintages.

N: Lots of vanilla mixed with some kind of weird cooked fruit note - maybe lemon and strawberry. Then there's something like a dusty, old book that's been coated with wood polish and then dusted with cinnamon. Old, dried bits of tobacco, some leather, and a little wood smoke. Caramel and toffee come in later as it opens. There's a nut note that feels like it's right in between peanut and almond - like maybe if you mixed peanut butter and almond butter, just not quite that rich. Lots of baking spice and maybe some red fruit that combine into a pie-like scent. Some noticeable ethanol. A lot going on, but feels like it takes some effort to tease it out. P: Sweet and fruity first with gooey strawberry jam laced with cinnamon. Caramel and vanilla custard with a buttery pie crust note underneath. Chocolate, more baking spice, red fruit. Lots of oak influence - both hot and bitter. Finish is long and hot. It's almost all cayenne and chili pepper. Ethanol also adds heat to the finish, although I hadn't noticed it earlier. Some bitter oak notes. Little bit of chocolate. Not much else, but it lasts a long time - one of the longest finishes I've experienced. Long story short: this has some good things going for it, but I never really warmed to it, and I don't love it. I'd call it a 50/50 bottle - if it appeals to you for some reason, I'd say grab it. If it's a reach, not worth the reach. That said, I'll certainly be curious to try the next batch.

N: Cherry Hi-C and oak. I'm not quite sure what to make of that combo. It is unique, if nothing else. Cherry cough syrup, orange citrus. Maybe some baking spice way deep in the background. P: More cherry Hi-C and oak. Bit more tart this time and leaning more toward that syrupy cough medicine. Milk chocolate when you run air across it. Baking spice does build in mid-palate with cinnamon, coriander, and a little cayenne spiced melted butter and brown sugar. Finish is gets pretty hot with a chili pepper character. Good amount of bitter oak tannin too. Some of that cherry carries through to the end, even more on the cough syrup side now, but with a dash of chocolate that does eventually feel like chocolate covered cherry. That first and dominant artificial cherry note is really just too much for me. I never got past it and it never grew on me. Spending the extra time with it to write the review tonight, I get a bit more depth on the palate than I had noticed before. But it's not enough to make this more than just a mediocre bottle. It's worth taking a flier on if you dig Single Pot Still, but I don't think I'll be repeating this one.

N: Caramel, green rye, orange citrus. Mint, menthol, ethanol. Little bit of sweet oak. Some corn. Some vanilla. Something nutty, almond maybe. P: Very light mouthfeel, leaning toward being watery. Caramel and orange citrus again. Vanilla, mint, and more young rye grain notes. Very little happening on the mid-palate - it just kind of fades out. Finish has a little spice, a little more citrus, maybe some chocolate, little bit more mint. This is a maybe serviceable bourbon, but it's priced too high to compete. Only two bucks more gets you the Knob Creek 9 year old that's sitting next to it on the shelf. This is nowhere near competing with that - just too wimpy here. This could make a nice foil to some of the $15 to $20 bourbons on the shelf (it could be a slightly more grown up option over Jack Daniels, for example), but it doesn't compete when approaching the $30 range.

N: Doesn't get much more Islay than this: vegetables roasted over a peat fire, then boiled in a sea water brine. (Don't ask me why you would roast and then boil.) Then there's a rush of notes all jumbled together: red fruit and red wine, vanilla, graham cracker, berries, lemon, honey, tea, sugar cookie, mango, citrus... It just keeps going. Bread notes come later. The peat is undeniably Islay with a profile that lands somewhere between Lagavulin and Bruichladdich. It is pervasive and always there, but is also always earthy, fragrant, and refined. P: Rich, robust, well rounded. Classic vanilla and caramel notes, lemon cake, honey, floral notes. More of the cooked vegetables and peat, just a dash of sea spray. Earthy, piney, slightly mineral. Oily and a bit salty. Late mid-palate some red fruit notes lay on top of a rich fudge like base - it's not quite chocolate, more like a hazelnut-vanilla-chocolate fudge. Finish is delicate and a bit on the short side. Lemon, honey, sweetened white tea. Only a dash of cinnamon spice heat - just enough to note it. Closes where it begins with a classic scotch caramel. Picked this up at the same time as the PX Sherry limited edition. Thought both were excellent, so I jumped on a USA Small Batch shortly thereafter. Also excellent - probably the best of the group. Then snagged the last Machir Bay gift set (two rocks glasses - oooh pretty!) on the shelf on a random Costco run. Also excellent. I love the Kilchoman peat character - it's earthy and perfume fragrant like Lagavulin, but less aggressive with more of the delicate floral notes/character you get from something like the Port Charlotte 10 year. I love both of those profiles - this is a fine marriage of both. This is my new favorite Islay distillery. Four winners out of four buys; plus they seem to really know how to get more out of their barrels because each of those four are really quite different. Ready to pick up anything they offer. Loch Gorm feels like the most classic Islay of the bunch I've mentioned. Great place to start, but I find myself favoring the sherried bottles. That said, this is still an excellent scotch and I would recommend grabbing a bottle if you see one - they are relatively limited (but not, best I can tell, subject to secondary market pricing).

N: Dried earth, musty dried pears, dried apple. Fresh herb garden, anonymous floral notes, white tea with honey. Graham cracker, sweet peat smoke, and a little more than a dash of ethanol. P: Rich and spicy right off the bat. Toffee, black tea, coffee. Earth and pine, stone fruit, a vegetal peat. Mid palate is slightly bitter and herbal with a dash of green tea or even matcha, honey again, and dry sesame seed crackers. A few sips in you notice how oily it is - super heavy and slick on the tongue. That coating is also very spicy - definitely a chili pepper type of spice that's more than jalapeno, less than habanero, somewhere in between. Caramel builds in even later than that and carries into the finish. Other than the caramel, the finish is mostly vegetal peat, some smoke, and lots and lots of heat - one of the hottest finishes I've experienced. As that heat finally tapers, some dusty wood notes emerge along with a good tannic pucker that forms in the cheeks. This is kind of oddly both great and slightly disappointing. It's a fine dram in its own right, but it lacks some of the depth and complexity you get from the 12 year. I had hoped this would be a step up from that, but it's really trading finesse and complexity for power and heat. I think it suffers a bit because it's an NAS bottle - you have to assume there's some relatively young make in there; young enough that they don't want to put an age statement on it. I don't know, I'm just guessing - one of the more knowledgeable drinkers on this site probably does know. Long story short, I like this, but I think I just might love a cask strength 12 year HP. Maybe that's an evolution of this line down the road. I hope so. (As a side note, I would expect future batches of this to be better as HP dials in the blend for the marketplace. I'd certainly pick up future batches, but probably wouldn't look too hard for them either.)