Tastes
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This one is surprisingly a long time coming. I'm fairly sure (although not certain) that I sampled this while at the distillery, side by side with Rittenhouse. Of course, with Rittenhouse being a superior rye, it was even more surprising to find that I fell for this one (or so I remember). So, I finally picked up a bottle of "top shelf Rittenhouse." The nose invites fresh rye, but also a much deeper blend of spice, likely from the longer aging. It seems like a simple scent of cinnamon mellowed out with oak and caramel, but of course, the best things usually are simple. The initial taste is almost that of a high-rye bourbon, which is to say oily, obviously full of rye spice, but letting the oak and vanilla take point. Then, like one of the best magic tricks I've seen in a while, the cinnamon (mellowed much more with age than one would taste from Rittenhouse, however) explodes forth when given air. It doesn't stop there, though; as more air is introduced, slight hints of freshly cut grass, more oak, and more of the oily body come into play, like Pikesville shouted invites from the rooftops to this party that they're having. The finish, as a good rye whiskey should be, burns the mouth, but not from alcohol, oh no, but with the cinnamon spice of a challenging spice candy. It's a much longer finish than that of Rittenhouse, which really defines who the big brother is here. If my distillery adventure truly wasn't a fever dream, then me saying out loud during tasting, "I remember why I love this whiskey so much" makes sense. Thank your god that the Heaven Hill bandwagon finally broke down. I like their products as much as any other normal collector, but now that the media train is on Buffalo Trace (for reasons unknown to the universe), I can seemingly enjoy their products, including this one, much more now that I can find it without going on side quests.
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Wow, that's some seriously intense caramel on the nose, especially for only 6 years, but I guess that's likely those intense "alligator" barrels. This honestly may be tough to distinguish between a rye whiskey and a bourbon if this were a blind tasting. Having said that, the rye can be detected as a smooth, clean fresh grain scent, which, again, is odd considering being aged for some time. I expected caramel on the taste (even though that doesn't make sense for a rye whiskey), but instead found some burnt sugar and yet a bit of raw oak at the same time. The rye is not as strong as I was hoping for, but then again, I'm not sure what percentage of the mash truly is rye for this one. It definitely is clean, with typical rye notes like grass, cinnamon, and broken bread, but they all ride on a very weak body. I decided to get this over the single barrel rye to save money and try to find another rye whiskey I was craving, and I can tell the prospects and ideas were good, but the execution doesn't quite land where it should. This is somewhat shocking, given how much strong rye flavor comes through on all of Wild Turkey's products. The proof is probably one of the biggest losses, as I'm sure the rye would come through better with a higher proof blend. I'm almost positive that the single barrel is a higher proof, but this batch isn't enough to get me curious into trying the single barrel for the price point.
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Lots of fruity notes of the scent, like cherry and other berries, as well as very light oak and vanilla. Notably low ethanol vapor also on the nose. Lots more fruit on the taste, including the berries, but more if they were a jelly or jam. There's burnt sugar here as well, but honestly a little too far burnt. At first I thought the oak flavor (which is also a bit faint) was young and raw, but it has the same suffering as aforementioned, with a burnt flavor, but no proof or depth to really show from that. There's something about this that definitely does not work well with me. Perhaps it's an interesting note of a berry cobbler where the crumble topping was torched terribly too long. Also worth noting is that 100 proof, which is not low by any means, is not really detected by taste or finish.21.0 USD per Bottle
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New Riff Backsetter Peated Backset Rye
Rye — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed May 28, 2020 (edited December 22, 2021)The color has great depth, but not noticeably different from their standard rye whiskey. The scent is very, very clean, with true cinnamon and grass rye through one nostril, and earthy, wet peat through the other. Notably, the peat is actually fairly faint, and is being carried by caramel oak, but it is detectable at the front of the nose. The taste is actually full of much more caramel than I remember their traditional rye blend tasting of, with a lovely spicy barrel finish, and, most surprisingly, no peat unless air is introduced. Breathing across the tongue during the finish transforms the potent cinnamon flavors into heavy Scotch vibes, with more of the actual flavors of peat than the smoky vibe that usually comes along with it. The added peat smoke is much better integrated into this "riff" than that of the bourbon, as seems to be the consensus. Whereas the bourbon is an interesting talking point, this Backsetter is quite impressive, and blends two cultures well enough that I will likely reach for it when I want that perfect blend of vanilla, caramel, spicy oak, and smoky, honey, and malty Scotch notes. Part of me wishes that the bourbon, naturally tasting much sweeter than the rye whiskey, would work just as well as this iteration does as far as the peat addition goes, but I feel that the strong spice from this notably kickass (not swamp ass) rye base is exactly what I look for when I reach for Scotch, being more an Islay fan than anywhere else. Fun idea, NR team!50.0 USD per Bottle -
New Riff Backsetter Peated Backset Bourbon
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed May 22, 2020 (edited June 24, 2020)Alright, so when I first heard of this release, I was excited to have the addition of peat to an already great base whiskey. However, after bringing it home and reading more into it to find only the barley part of the backset was peated, I became even more curious to taste it, since again, standard New Riff is the tits. The peat can be detected on the nose, but only from a distance or at the very first second; after that, the BiB proof hits and brings the standard NR caramel and cinnamon spice, with perhaps a bit of saltwater that lingers around. Thank goodness I did not get anything resembling "steamed vegetables." Upon first taste, the body seems light, but the proof reminds you that it is not, as it goes down. As I taste for a second time, I get a bit of my favorite peat taste notes, a roaring tire fire. Although this does not last long, it seems to affect the bourbon by mellowing the oak notes a tad, while still leaving the rye spice and caramel from just the barrel char. It's as if this was aged in barrels with both a level 4 and level 1 char simultaneously. The finish is probably one of the quickest one I've ever experienced, with the exception of that tough cinnamon sticking around, which I found shocking. Overall, this is both not so much an impressive "new riff" and also unique to have around, all while still representing the standard NR bourbon flavor to the point where it could be drank in a line of others and not change things that noticeably. This was my first choice to taste before the rye, but as the bourbon option, it's something I will likely reach for less, but show off more.50.0 USD per Bottle -
A bit of raw grain on the nose, but it's mostly sweet corn, caramel, and some general spice. It actually smells like it would be a higher proof than it is, but without any burn through the nose. The body is initially a bit disappointing, but that is likely from the lower proof. The barrel flavor is certainly coming through, but without a longer age time, I'm getting more young oak than the traditional longer aged tasting notes, and it makes me curious on what barrel char level was used. There are indeed some dark fruit notes closer to the finish, which definitely make this a unique blend. This reminds me of my all time favorite craft bourbon (which shall not be named), so it's getting a lot of automatic love from me. I was also very jealous to learn of the other delicious sounding products this distillery produces, since this was the only product I could find. Overall, I would enjoy coming back to this bourbon probably more often than not to try to break up the less different ones in my collection. Great work!35.0 USD per Bottle
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Bulleit Bourbon Blenders' Select No. 001
Bourbon — Kentucky , USA
Reviewed April 24, 2020 (edited September 24, 2020)Scent is very high on rye and oak, both young and aged, and smells like the proof is even higher than 100, which is always a nice bonus. As with most Bulleit products, the body is notoriously light, so the flavors don't come to the forefront immediately. I've had both the 10 year bourbon and the cask strength bourbon, and this product does a great job of blending those two concepts together, while adding a good amount of fresh rye to the mix. This has a much better taste of cask age compared to the 10 year bourbon, which is very bland and unimpressive. Meanwhile, the proof of this is almost perfect (could be a tad bit higher, I bet), and brings along the other flavors much easier than the regular cask strength bourbon, which didn't have a lot going on other than oak-based flavors from the cask. All in all, this is a good pick, for the price found, but only because it's a limited release. If I knew this was going to be around, I would probably steer elsewhere to save a bit of money.58.0 USD per Bottle -
Familia Camarena Reposado Tequila
Tequila Reposado — Los Altos, Jalisco, Mexico
Reviewed April 5, 2020Wow, a huge punch of smooth vanilla and sweetness on the nose. A small amount of agave can be found, but if you told me this was a flavored tequila, I would believe you just based on the smell. Salt is the first flavor I get on the tongue, then agave and a bit of wood together, then a much stronger hit of salt and agave for the finish. This definitely is on the lower side of barrel flavor for a reposado, but if you think of just the unaged product and what's there, you'll see the agave notes are above average for a good, sipping and not to mention a great, easy margarita tequila.20.0 USD per BottleArrow Wine & Spirits -
Hotel Tango Reserve Bourbon, Ready-To-Drink
Bourbon — USA
Reviewed April 4, 2020 (edited October 24, 2020)The nose is that of a young bourbon, which is odd, because 6 years isn't necessarily that young. However, I think it's more of a fresh grain, with just a bit of fruit and a tiny bit of sour tang, on top of a small amount of charred barrel scent. The taste is very young grain, wheat prominent, with a citrus chocolate flavor, leaning more towards chocolate when air is introduced. Almost 100% no finish present, other than some barrel finish, but that's more taste than an actual spice in the mouth. Always love fellow military members (seems safe to assume this distillery is likely veteran heavy), and the packaging is shockingly familiar, but this one isn't all that for me. Looking forward to returning to the distillery, this time when it's open, to try all the other products.50.0 USD per BottleArrow Wine & Spirits -
Nose of honey and sherry, and loads of barrel spices mixed with cinnamon. The sherry flavor was there, and there is some barrel flavor, but the fact that the proof is so low is disappointing. I don't even want to write more, because, although this is good, it's definitely overhyped and not $300 worth it.
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