Tastes

Batch 56. Bottled April 11, 2021. 57.89% ABV (handwritten on the front label). N: Lots of oak, cinnamon, caramel, and lots of ethanol - bit too much. Behind that, little bit of orange citrus, vanilla, red fruit, and a dry sugar cookie. Tough to get much beyond the ethanol though. Powdered chocolate drops in late, after a few sips. P: Sweet, but somehow restrained. The early palate on this is weird - after that initial sweetness, feels like there's just a dead spot where you taste almost nothing. Then caramel, cinnamon, and orange drop in. Cinnamon candy, baking spice, mint, tobacco. Dried grains with an inhale across it on the tongue. Finish is a lot of vanilla colored by oak. Tannins linger in both a mild bitterness and a decent puckering in the cheeks. Little bit more of that orange pops here and there with some moving of the tongue. This is okay. Feels like there's potential in the juice that's not quite realized. It feels unpolished in a way that suggests it was released at cask strength to cash in on a popular trend, not necessarily because it's amazing straight from the barrel.* I think there's probably a version of this whiskey, somewhere between 50 and 55%, cut with the right water, that's really really nice. As bottled, however, this has some rough edges - too rough for an $80 bottle. * Smoke Wagon's website disagrees, says this was meant to be drank neat, because that's the juice at its best. Meh. Can say anything on a website - I still think it's selling to a trend, not making a great product by itself.

N: Tons of corn sitting in tons of oak. Everything else is just a whisper behind that. Caramel, slight tropical fruit, toffee, cinnamon - okay, the cinnamon is not a whisper, actually quite loud, but also part of the oak. Mint, menthol, maybe some green rye grain. P: Cinnamon, cinnamon, cinnamon, sweet corn, cinnamon, caramel. Maybe some sour fruit behind all that cinnamon. It's also all finish straight from the beginning - hot, hot, hot. (I think I'm repeating words because there just isn't much to say about this.) Tiny bit of bitterness at the tail end closes it out. This is really a one-trick pony and that trick is basically getting you to lick the sides of a barrel, and paying heftily for the privilege. This just drinks way too young. Add to that that this is easily the worst value in whiskey I've come across yet. There are vastly better bottles available for half of the $72 I paid for this. I still sometimes see Eagle Rare around $35. This isn't even on par with Wild Turkey 101 (~$25) and maybe not even Evan Williams BIB (~$15). To take it back to Texas, Balcones bottles in the $70-80 range have all been fantastic, and the cheaper bottles have at least been interesting, if not my personal favorites. Then there's all the Texas exceptionalism tied into the marketing language on the bottle. Generally annoying for a former Texan, like myself, who just never quite got it. But when it turns out the juice inside the bottle is actually, frankly, kind of terrible, you have to start assuming something else. Could it be that GB has intentionally made a difficult to enjoy whiskey and then marketed it in such a way as to appeal to the roughnecks in the oil fields, the wannabe cowboys from Laredo to El Paso, the guys who are ten years past their Friday Night Lights days and are now accountants or mortgage brokers - people who want and expect some pain with their whiskey, and are willing to pay for it (at least sometimes), especially when there's a Lone Star on the bottle and reminder not to leave the bottle in your truck on a hot day because it might just leave a mess. Point is, I guess, it's easier for me to see this as a marketing product rather than a substantive bottle of whiskey that adds anything to the Texas whiskey conversation. And that's even more of a disappointment because of all the good things I hear about Balmorhea and Cowboy.

Batch A118. 130.6 Proof. 65.3% ABV. N: Lots of wood. Mahogany wood, cigar smoke, well-worn leather, cedar cigar box, wood varnish, almond extract. Caramel, cinnamon, vanilla frosting. Ethanol - unsurprisingly. There's another chemical note in it that reminds me of pool water with chlorine, but much softer. It's actually interesting, not off-putting. Some very ripe orchard fruit very deep in the background - basically buried under mounds of caramel and bourbon barrels. Late into the pour, a distinct hit of orange popped out of nowhere. P: Sweet corn, caramel, sticky bread, toffee, vanilla. Dark bread, peanuts, almond butter, and a dark red fruit jam. Plenty of sweet oak. Sticky, heavy, gooey cinnamon syrup, which combines, in the finish, with the vanilla and bread notes to land at something like a deconstructed cinnamon roll. Might be some hints of orange citrus behind all the cinnamon. Lots of oak in the finish as well. Touch of bitterness lingers, but this one is almost all sweet, sweet, sweet - caramelized brown sugar, vanilla, and caramel ride this one to the end. Rich, heavy, sumptuous mouthfeel. Neat or even with one ice cube (my preference for adding water), it's like it coats your tongue and then melts away leaving lots of charred barrel heat. While I kind of enjoy that feeling, it doesn't do much for me on the flavor side. I added a second cube for the review, and then poured in another drop or two of whiskey to balance it. (Used a Canadian Glencairn.) The legendary ECBP. And, yeah, I found an old-ish bottle of it. I like the thought that this bottle hit the shelf just one month after ECBP was announced as #1 in Whisky Advocate's 2017 Top 20. This is two batches later than that winner. I suspect many people picked up this bottle without really thinking much about the batches (whether they should or should not, potentially debatable). This is a fine whiskey, but it feels to me like it needs one more note. It has tons of wood and caramel - I want something to balance against that - red fruit or smoke or citrus. I don't even think I care much what it would be, because what's here is great, but I've had better bourbons and better cask strength/barrel proof bourbons. And they're usually better because they go beyond wood and caramel, which are basically par for the course in bourbon. This is a fantastic par round, but still just a par round. But I hear more recent batches are even better. I'd be down to try it again.

N: Super fruity first hit with juicy fresh orchard fruit, tinged with tropical notes (mango, kiwi) and some ripe strawberry, which then quickly shifts to overripe sour fruit - could be stone or orchard by now. Honey, white tea, hint of cracked rainbow pepper. Kind of just dies off after that - leaves you with a feeling that there should be a little more here. P: Biscuit, peach, honey, something floral. Bit of red fruit on the sides of the tongue. Dash of dark chocolate mid-palate. Finish starts by reminding me of one of Shiner's holiday beers - peach and roasted pecan. That's short lived though. Bulk of the finish is wood: hot and bitter. But also not quite enough of either to stand out. And neither lasts terribly long either. Final note is a lingering white tea that sticks out just a bit past the heat and the tannins. Nose is a bit thin and too delicate, but otherwise really nice. Palate is about the same - has its moments, but never really gets flying. On the whole, it drinks young. Quality seems to be there, so maybe stepping up to an age statement Cardhu could be interesting. This is generally forgettable/passable though. Edit: After finishing the review, I see there's much Cardhu in Johnnie Walker. Now that I know that, I can't really un-taste it. There is something decidedly Johnnie Walker about this. Or, really, there is something decidedly Cardhu about JW. There's an underlying malt sweet with a tiny bite of minerality that's very familiar. Makes the bottle a tad more interesting, but really just makes the age statement Cardhus something I may look for, out of curiosity, and because it satisfies that part of my brain that likes to break things to component parts, that needs to taste every ingredient in a recipe alone before tasting the recipe as a whole. Can't wait.

N: High rye mash bill, but I still get plenty of corn on the nose - fresh cut off the cob, still juicy. Baking spice, citrus cleaning supplies, oak. Toffee, caramel, vanilla. Maybe some green rye grain. Sometimes gives off a dusty, stale cereal note. Ethanol is there, but feels reasonably restrained. P: Malt sweet with caramel and vanilla first, then the rye starts to show with mint and dried rye bread following. Some baking spice. Doesn't really go very deep though. Finish has a lot of wood - oak flavor, bitter tannin, and baking spice/cinnamon heat. The malt character lingers leaving plenty of sweet to balance the wood, and also vanilla hedged with maybe the faintest chocolate note. Don't feel like I have much to say about this one. It's somewhere between meh and okay. It doesn't particularly offend, but doesn't wow anywhere either. A bit over priced in the $25 range - there are plenty of better options there and below. Pass on this in the future for me.

N: Dusty and musty fruit - not pleasant. Caramel, vanilla, ethanol. Super thin citrus and tropical fruit. Some sour fruit, more ethanol. P: Thin and watery. Vanilla and caramel. Vague fruitiness. Some bread notes. Oak bitterness. Some heat, cinnamon, baking spice on the finish, but short lived. This is one of the saddest whiskies I've had. It has little character and no body and tries to hide that behind a little bit of oak heat and bitterness on the finish. But nothing comes before it. This only fools the newest of new to the whisky world. It's not undrinkable per se, but it's a hard pass. And also a terrible value, since there are plenty of pretty damn good scotches in the $30-40 range.

N: Honey, dried flowers, citrus cream. A luscious, fragrant, perfumed peat smoke drips off everything in this - it has that same perfume character of a Lagavulin, but this is softer and more subtle. Sour stone fruit. Cardamom bread (pulling that one from deep in the childhood memories - summers in the UP - but I'm certain of it). Ethanol is present as a fairly pervasive numbing of the nose. Dried tobacco and a dash of cigarette smoke. Vanilla and a subdued orchard fruit open later. Little bits of tea, pine, and earth that feel connected to the peat profile. P: Honey, brown sugar, reduced and cooked stone and/or orchard fruit (I get both at different times). Black tea, chocolate powder, buttery phyllo bread. Dash of citrus that could easily be a lemon cake or cookie. A bit boozy hot, but nothing unbearable. Middle gets very oaky with the wood, char, and cinnamon heat. Dash of firewood too. Dash of campfire, actually. Peat and smoke is softer on the palate than the nose, but there's a feeling like standing next to a fire as it's just getting going - more wood, less ash, but plenty of heat and smoke. That gets more pronounced as you move to the finish. Finish is dry with a big baking spice background and more honey, chocolate, oak, cinnamon, yeasty bread, and dried tobacco. Excellent dram. It feels like there are some intentional rough edges - like the ethanol in both the nose and palate, and the big oak in the middle (which is not exactly "smooth," as seems to be the only goal of many distillers) - but I like the chances taken and the overall profile is an interesting clash of delicate and blunt force. A (possibly) strange analogy: this reminds me of hockey - combining the deft and delicate touch and timing of a perfect wrist shot or a perfectly weighted pass with the sheer brutality and force of a check into the wall at speed. This dram successfully, interestingly, entertainingly brings together delicacy (honey, perfume-y peat, tea) and brutality (ethanol, oak, smoke). It's both soft and powerful. Absolutely worth grabbing a bottle. And then another - easily repeatable.

Barrel No. 17-1218. 105.9 proof / 52.95 % ABV. Distilled Spring 2017. Bottled Spring 2021. N: Caramel, rye grain, soapy coriander. Mint and lavender. Fresh cut hardwood. Cereal grains. Milk chocolate and honey. Leftover milk after a bowl of Fruity Pebbles or Fruit Loops (sweet lactose sugar + vague artificial fruitiness). Shaving cream. Earthy rye notes. Marble birthday cake with vanilla frosting. Sugary, syrupy, cooked peaches in cream. The peaches might have even spent a few minutes on a charcoal grill. Peanut butter cookies. Mild ethanol hit that I actually quite like in this. P: Rich caramel, spicy rye grain, mint. Vanilla frosting. Vanilla custard. Big hit of oak that suggests this should have some substantial bitterness from the tannins - it never arrives, and is not really missed. Cereal grains, more oak, and hot cinnamon. That creaminess from the nose translates nicely - as above, with the frosting and custard - and layers on a smooth vanilla that's like a big, comforting hug for your tongue (rich, oily, heavy body). Finish brings peanut, maybe some almond, and a hint of milk chocolate. Deep red fruit dripping in the corners once you hit a second pour. Tannins finally, just barely, start adding some bitterness, which, by now, is just a nice contrast to the sweet and the heat. Heat is a hot cinnamon that starts almost immediately, but really comes into its own in the finish - a mouthcoating lingering burn that's just assertive enough and also happens to be mingled with dark chocolate and some light roast coffee notes. This bottle broke rye whiskey for me. Best rye I've ever had by a long shot. Better than I would have expected a rye could be. Contender for best bottle I've ever had, period. I can't think of anything I would want to change about it. Bottles like this are why I drink whiskey. At $50, value = GTFO. I've had bottles at 2x or 3x price that don't match this. Hell, MOST 2x and 3x priced bottles don't match this. It was the last one on the shelf when I bought it* and I have to consider my timing fairly lucky - that shelf was empty for a reason. I will certainly be looking for more of this, and more New Riff in general, and hoping this barrel was not a one-off. * This, btw, has been a winning strategy in whiskey buying for me: if it's the last one, buy it because it's probably good. Edit: After reading a few other reviews, which I did not do before writing my own, it seems I may have gotten the best barrel they've ever produced. C'est la vie. I will still try more New Riff after this to confirm.

N: Strawberry candy which quickly softens to a fresh strawberry. That's followed by a pungent, tart fruit that I can't quite place. Then a lemon that leans toward a kitchen cleaner type of scent (which fits and is still pleasant). Dried red fruit drops in heavy like a bass line. Few hints of vanilla, toffee, and maybe even coffee lingering deep in the background. P: Red fruit leads with a big, tingly punch to the tongue. Wood tannins and heat get started early. Smooths out a bit in the middle with vanilla, toffee, tea with honey, and something that just seems to land between very dark chocolate and coffee. Finish brings more tannins, bitter this time, and less heat. A creamy citrus note (also bitter), plus white bread and white tea. Lingering bitterness and a hint of baking spice close it out. This is fine. Nothing special, nothing terrible. It feels like a small risk, small reward sort of endeavor. I would not repeat this. The 15 is more complicated and interesting for relatively little more in cost; the 12 more approachable and cheaper.

N: Rich and layered vanilla - vanilla ice cream, vanilla frosting, vanilla coffee creamer. Somehow manages to feel natural and not like an artificial scent/flavor. Caramel, toffee, dried fruit. Citrus, some ethanol, more citrus, more vanilla. Tiniest bit of smoke hangs deep in the background. P: Vanilla (but less than the nose), caramel, toffee, chocolate, brown sugar, honey. Very, very malt forward. Rich and swirling with alternations between vanilla and caramel and a hint of bread. Finish starts early and brings a quick hit of tannic bitterness, then tons (relatively) of cinnamon wood heat. Dark chocolate powder, light roast coffee, and a somewhat generic oakiness linger long past the heat. Excellent for an entry level blend. A rich and layered nose that doesn't have a ton of notes, but plays all the flats and sharps of what it does have. Palate is similar in that it hits all the malt notes without much complication, but does them all really well. Rich, heavy, sweet, but balanced. Hot enough on the finish, but also with something more than just heat. Easy to put away and enjoy. This compares extremely favorably to many blends on the market. I think it's better than, or at least comparable to, the Dewar's line up to the 18 year. Same for the Johnnie Walker line - save the Green, which just lives in its own world. Even at the JW Blue level, I think I have to take the 6-7 bottles of this (or this plus others) I could get for the price of the Blue - the Blue just isn't THAT much better. This is a little simpler than the entry level Compass Box blends (thinking Artists and Glasgow), but not necessarily worse for it. It reminds a bit of the Naked Grouse - similar profile/richness, but this is more malt forward where the Grouse is a little more fruity (presumably largely because of the oloroso). On the whole, at $30, this bottle is in excellent company.