Tastes

I've very much enjoyed Benromach 10 in the past, so when I saw this Cask Strength version available for $40 at the local bottle shop, it was an instant buy. This is nearly 58% with a lot of sherry cask influence and peat. There is a strong, leathery sherry note on the nose, along with some musty peat. The palate has some sweet orange blossom, the peat recedes a bit and the leathery sherry steps up. Unfortunately the finish is a bit peppery and bitter and I want to wash it away with a sip of water. Overall I think this is less than the sum of its parts, but I've found that water can really help dial this one in. I've had different experiences depending on the amount of water and think that perhaps a balance exists here. But for now, it gets a slightly lower rating. One edited note - the next day, the glass smells exactly like pancake syrup. If there was more of that in this dram I'd be over the moon.

I've heard a lot of great things about Smoke Wagon, but I delayed hunting one down for a lot of reasons: (1) It's MGP, which feels a bit like a cheat, but at least they're upfront about it; (2) there is a lot of hype so it is hard to find, and (3) I find the bottle and name a bit goofy. But I saw it pop up at a local shop and figured I'd decide for myself. Man, I'm glad I did. This stuff is really impressive. This is Batch 135c for what that is worth. The nose is really mild for 57%, mostly brown sugar, caramel and baking spice. But the palate - oh, the palate. So much brown sugar, molasses, cinnamon, pie crust, and some red fruit - and it's so thick and wonderful. Hardly any heat, with trailing spice and maybe leather? Really happy with this one. I tried to buy another after tasting it with no luck, so I'll just have to wait around for the next one to pop up around retail.

So I tried this at a bar and enjoyed it - very strong vanilla. Then I heard a rumor from K&L that Evan Williams wasn't going to sell this in California any more. True or not, it worked and a bought a "2014 vintage" Evan Williams Single Barrel. My past experience was with Evan Williams BiB which I rushed out to buy after hearing glowing reviews. It was a chore to get through that bottle, which had a very strong peanut/ethanol thing going on with maybe a bit of honey. But it just didn't do it for me. I was thinking this SiB would be different based on my experience at the bar. Unfortunately, the bottle I have just doesn't do it for me. The nose is decent enough, a little caramel and a little honey. The body is super thin, with a high note of the dreaded peanut/ethanol punching through everything else. Maybe a bit of honey on the finish with some spice. It's not bad, but I don't really look forward to it and only use it as a palate prep for stuff I really want to drink given the relatively weak bottling strength. I'm thinking Evan Williams just isn't for me and I'll continue to use Wild Turkey 101 for my cheap daily.

I spotted this for $50 at my local Safeway and decided to give it a try because I enjoy Knob Creek 12 so much, and because I had a really outstanding Bookers recently - the Tagalong. $50 for what is arguably an older single barrel Bookers store pick? I mean, it seems too good to be true. Well, it is true! This is fantastic stuff for my palate. I don't get any of the intense Beam peanut. This thing is a cherry bomb through and through and in a blind I'd guess it was a Stagg Jr. Nose is very fruit forward, with shadings of wood spice. Palate is a surge of cherry - Luden's cherry - with spice that may just be from the heat. The finish is more of the same, a lingering cherry with tingling heat that slowly fades. I love cherry notes in bourbon, so this is a dream come true for me. I compared it to a Bookers Tagalong I have that I also think is fantastic. They're very different. The nose on the Tagalong is pretty muted, but leans towards oak and spice notes. Palate on the Bookers is more layered and complex, with the same oak and spice plus a tiny hint of cherry and that alcoholic tingle. Choosing between the two is tough. I love cherry so I think the KB wins out and the nose on the KB is much more assertive. But the Bookers' layers and complexity would possibly elevate it in the eyes of reviewers who aren't cherry fiends like me. No losers here, they're both excellent. Really glad I took a shot at this. For $50, the QPR is spectacular and I understand that these are relatively common. This will not be the last one I get. Note - this is a Safeway Northern California store pick, Warehouse Q, 9 Years and 7 months.

I found a bottle of this hanging out at MSRP at a small local shop. I've tried the entire wood finishing series including 46 cask strength. They're all quite good, so I was really excited to see this in the wild a couple of years after it was released. I can keep this short and sweet since the notes on this are so clear. It is caramel apple with an oak spice finish. Boozy apple on the nose, a burst of apple with sweet caramel trailing on the palate, and burst of oak spice on the finish. Excellent. This is really good, and may even be my favorite of the wood finishing series. I honestly can't say that for sure, though, because here is something I've noticed on this series. The first pour is usually out of this world, but I find that the notes start to dull on these really quickly in the ensuing weeks and months. But for tonight - wow. Really good!

Possibly the best high proof bruiser I've tasted. Nose has tons of caramel, wood and spice notes. Palate is similar, but some very welcome cherry starts to emerge. It coats the palate with some heat but no fire and leaves wonderful tingling spice, oak and cherry. Really good!

I love the Cairdeas bottlings and line up every single year for them. I also love peat and sweet and think Laphroaig pairs particularly well with sherry and port. This is triple matured like Triple Wood (bourbon cask/quarter cask/sherry cask). The color is astonishingly dark but just like the sherry oak I fear it is fake. The nose has a super strong BBQ sauce note with some rubber/tar and some dark fruit. It's awesome. Palate is more of the same, possibly more red fruit and less BBQ sauce, good smoky mustiness throughout. A couple of drops of water brings out some menthol which I almost always notice in a cask strength Laphroaig with water. Finish is long, sweet turning to bitter with some menthol. As usual, delicious and super high quality. These are a favorite every single year and this is no disappointment. It doesn't need any water at all even at nearly 60%. And it's worth your money.

This is certainly an interesting one. A cask strength American/Canadian rye finished in rum, apricot brandy and madeira? It sounds like an absolute mess, honestly, but the reviews are really strong for this one so I picked it up. The eclectic nature of this really shines through. It is a full on tropical fruit bowl on the nose and on the palate. Powerfully sweet. You can certainly pick out apricot, rye and rum notes but the combination really goes straight to tropical fruit, so sweet and powerful it is almost like chewing gum, but it doesn't quite flip over into cloying. The cask strength rye asserts itself on the finish, reminding you that you are drinking strong whisky with a hot, spicy finish that may or may not be appreciated by the drinker. This is a real oddball, but it is undeniably fun and different. A real breath of fresh air unlike anything I've had. Honestly it is so unusual it a bit hard to rate other than to say it is good and something you really should seek out to try, but your mileage could easily vary.

Another good one from Makers. Their cask strength finished offerings are routinely good. This one isn't on the level of an FAE-01 but it is good all the same. Nose is maple, caramel and floral - really quite good. Palate is very sweet, with cherry and the same maple and caramel. On the finish, the oak staves really show up and there is a ton of spice, almost to the point of bitterness. It is the only blemish in this, but I actually like the presence of the spice as a differentiator. If you stick with it, the spice dies down a little as you continue on with the drink. I'm a fan. The special releases are better than this, but it's awfully good. The only question is if there is any reason to get this instead of the normal 46 for $30. I think this offers a punchier experience and is probably worthwhile, but I haven't tried them side by side quite yet. I'm a big fan of the 46 as a daily drinker and don't think the added expense and difficulty charts out, but I won't know for sure until I compare. Until then, I'll enjoy this in any event.

I'm sorry - I want to love this, but I can't. I actually prefer the single barrel select at 47%. This is simply too hot for me. No other issue. The flavors are all here and ramped up, but it's just too much for my palate. I top out at about 110-115 and that's it - anything more and the flavors, while strong, just overwhelm my taste buds. I can handle a Maker's Mark special release, a Russell's Reserve single barrel, a Willett cask strength rye, but this one is just too much, kind of like the Elijah Craig Barrel Proof I tried a while back. It's good to know your limits. Maybe in a few years I'll love this, but for now it's going to be a chore to get through this bottle.