Tastes

Big dusty peanut shell, marshmallow, orange peel on the nose. On the palate peanut brittle, cherry, hot burn. With water I think it gets more peanutty and musty. I liked it better without water and hot. It's good bourbon, but I'm not crazy about this one overall though. I think the big peanut flavor isn't my favorite. Still grateful to have had a sample, thanks to @Bourbon_Obsessed_Lexington

The nose is quite pleasant. It's got some heat, but not as much as you'd expect for the proof. Caramel, apricot, berry. The palate is brown sugar, pineapple custard, coconut, strawberry jam, with some cinnamon and tobacco leaf going into the finish. I had a small sip of this blinded sample a couple months ago and wasn't prepared for the heat. It had me coughing and burning, and hesitant to come back to this for a while. But after preparing my palate with a small dram before this, I'm rather pleased and really glad now that it came in a larger-than-normal medicine bottle-looking sample from @PBMichiganWolverine - thank you for sharing so generously! Really fun whiskey once you're prepared for the heat, or even better, add a little water. I finished the sample with some water, and it really opened up quite nicely - seemed to bring out more of the red wine notes for me.

Brine, toffee, vanilla, stewed apples, citrus, cinnamon, bonfire, asphalt, rubber, berry, tobacco, pepper. More medicinal and smoky on the palate. Such a great whisky. I like this one better than batch 12, as it comes across like there are some oloroso casks in the mix, although I had thought these were all ex-bourbon casks. Whatever the case, batch 9 shows more complexity than 12, but both awesome.

Comes across like the offspring of Lineage and the Peated. It has the strong peach flavor of Lineage and some of the smoke and heat of the Peated. Does well with a good bit of water. There’s a backbone of subtle smoke throughout, but no peat. Peach, along with some slightly overcooked pie crust. Smidge of honey, apple, pepper, and I wouldn’t have said bay leaf if I didn’t see it first in Balcones’ own tasting notes, but I think that’s a good descriptor for the herbal hint in there. Interesting and enjoyable whiskey, and thrilled to have a bottle courtesy of a friend who picked this up at the distillery as a gift.

Nose: lemon pith, rubber, brine, grapefruit sugar. Palate: smoked vegetable soup, ash, light vanilla sweetness, hint of lemon. This doesn’t have the depth of flavor of the 16, but the extra proof helps. I’m pretty sure I’d enjoy anything Lag puts out and this is no exception, although I’d probably rank this slightly below similarly priced Ardbeg 10 and Laphroaig 10, and also below Port Charlotte 10.

Nose: grapefruit, raspberry, white chocolate, nutmeg, sandalwood, salt. Palate: less fruity, I can see the chocolate dipped pretzel others have mentioned. Caramel. Some dry oak, cinnamon, and citrus towards the back end. As a Campbeltown malt, it’s natural to want to compare this to Springbank, but there’s not a lot of similarity. No real funk to speak of here, but this is a good and well-priced 15 year whisky on its own. It’s got a pretty unique flavor that I’m not sure what I’d compare it to. I think I prefer Victoriana over this slightly, but not disappointed to have a bottle.

Nose: crusty artisanal bread, yeast, unripe apple, apple skins, unripe banana, berry, vanilla, cinnamon, spearmint. Palate: toasted barley, fruit, vanilla, barrel spice. There’s a slight savory note in the mix that keeps it just interesting enough. From what I understand, this is only about five years old, between first fill ex-bourbon and PX cask finishing, but it’s a well-made spirit. Single barrel, so will be curious to see if there’s any significant difference between barrels. Since it was on clearance at $18, I bought 8 bottles from barrels 81 and 82, although I’ll give away all but two as holiday gifts. Update: Opened bottle from Barrel 81, which has a little more ethanol and lacks the interesting savory note in the bottle from Barrel 82. So I expect there’s a fair amount of variation between barrels.

On the nose heavy brine, something meaty that reminds me of young peated Benriach, lemon, grapefruit pith, vanilla, wet gauze, iodine, burning tire. On the palate a good hit of vanilla, charred chili pepper, pear, citrus fruit, salty barbecued meats, soot, ash. This is pretty decent, particularly for the price at under $50. It's got a lot of peat and smoke, so it scratches the peat itch in a fairly satisfying way, but also adds a little fruit and vanilla.

The nose is mango, tangerine, pear, raisin, dried cherry, salty ocean spray, slight industrial funk. On the palate the fruit basket continues, then pepper, then dark chocolate. Supposedly Longrow is in the mix, but I’m not getting much in the way of peat. There was the slight industrial note more on the nose than the palate. Seems like Hazelburn and Glen Scotia are playing the most prominent roles in the blend, although there are moments when it feels as if Springbank and Kilkerran pop in for brief cameos. I’d prefer they had starring roles, but as a fan of pretty much anything out of Campbeltown, it’s still a winner for me. Price is fair-ish for what you get, but I’m not sure I’d go much higher than the $60 I bought it for. Update: halfway through the bottle, it seems like some peat is emerging and the fruit flavors are receding. Interesting, and makes me enjoy this even more.

Nose: dark chocolate and raspberry, oaky. Prickly ethanol. Taste: peppery and hot up front. Tingly on tip of the tongue. Berries, red apple, cloves, then chocolate. Maybe almost coffee. Some vanilla cream in the mix as well. Empty glass smells like a candied mushroom. I seem to always enjoy Bunna, and this one is no exception. Thank you @PBMichiganWolverine for the sample!