Tastes

Had this blind last night. Starts with quite pleasant bourbon flavors, but takes a wild turn toward the finish and goes very skunky. I kept going back to it thinking it was something I ate before tasting, but the skunk remained. Someone else said it reminded him of the stink from a flowering Bradford Pear tree.

On the nose musty peat, citrus, menthol, dark chocolate, anise, greasy bacon, smoked vegetables. The palate brings more sweetness than the nose lets on. Vanilla citrus, then the bacon vegetable peat smoke. The nose is really interesting as it leans much more savory and herbal. The palate seems less complex in comparison, but the sweetness that shows up is a nice surprise. A few drops of water help to bring out more of the notes from the nose. I love Lagavulin and this one does not disappoint. I bought this on sale from one of the European sites, including shipping at around $120, and at that price I'm more than pleased. I recently tried the Lag Distiller's Edition and gave it a 4.5, but i like this even better - although owing I'm sure to my predilection for higher proof whisky. Going with the same score though, because I don't believe it rises quite to a 4.75.

Nose of vanilla, maple, banana, sweet oak. The palate follows with the same, along with some cinnamon and clove. Maybe a slight wintergreen mint. This is quite a bit better than you'd expect for a $22 bottle. No brainer value buy at the price. Ok t feels like a very different profile, but would be curious to compare with Turkey 101 Rye. I remember really liking it for the price, but it's been a while since I've had it.

Thank you to @PBMichiganWolverine for the sample of this one. I think this is my first time trying anything aged in Amburana, which seems a little surprising considering lately you can't shake a stick in a liquor store without hitting a bottle of something Amburana finished. Incidentally, I've been banned from multiple liquor stores for shaking sticks in them. The smell and taste of this is so much stewed cinnamon apples. Very sweet, almost artificial, and coming across like a liqueur. I've never tried an Ole Smoky flavored moonshine, but if they had a flavor called Apple Pie Filling and this was inside, I'd say they nailed it. I think I like this a little better than previous tasters on here, but it's too sweet to enjoy much of. My one ounce sample was broken up into 3 separate tastings. It's interesting and unique. I imagine a creative cocktail could be created with this as the base, but I'm not much of a cocktailer.

On the nose pear-lemon hard candy. Creamy vanilla. Salty. Peat smoke - but more smoke than peat. There is something slightly herbal/vegetal. The palate is largely the same. Vanilla, salt, lemon and pear, pepper, soot, smoke. The finish adds a bit of dark chocolate and seashell. I prefer with a few drops of water, as it's a little hot at nearly 60%. It does come across as slightly smokier than the 10 year, but it may just be because the higher proof makes all the flavors more pronounced. It seems on profile for a Talisker. As a fan, I find this to be quite enjoyable. What's not to like about a cask strength Talisker?

I've been curious about this one for a while since some have suggested the closest comp is Springbank 10. On the nose orange marmalade, a touch of sulfur, licorice, praline, fudge, confectioners sugar, something farmy, earthy, funky, slight peat. Actually quite impressed by the nose. It's interesting, sweet, and a little funky. The palate comes across more honeyed, slightly smoky, lightly fruity. Toffee, apricot, nuts, cinnamon, light peat smoke. It's less interesting than the nose, but still enjoyable. The finish is medium and the peat fades away leaving more of the sweet toffee and light fruit. This is better than I expected and seems to be a good value. Also more flavor than I expected for only 43%. It's under $50 around here, which is half the price Springbank 10 goes for, if you can even find it. It's not quite at Springbank level, but for half the price it's good enough. It seems to have more sherry influence than Springbank 10, so maybe more like if Macallan and Springbank had a baby. Also some similarity to Highland Park 12, but I'd take this over the HP.

Nose: strawberry or cherry followed by a slight Springbank signature funkiness. Vanilla cream comes in. Musty oak. Most prominent is the sherry. The palate has a little more sizzle than I expected. Lots of sherry here, but there's a solid backbone of maltyness underneath. Vibrant red fruit, a little nuttiness. There's a subtle effervescence and makes me think of strawberry soda. Some dark chocolate, cinnamon, leather, and tobacco show up going into the finish. Off the top of my head, the closest comps that I've tried would be Springbank 15, Tamdhu Batch Strength, and Macallan Classic Cut. I'd say this bests all of them, which puts this at another 4.5 for me. Big thank you to @pkingmartin for sharing a pour of this one!

I'm on a roll with the 4.5's. I believe this will be four in a row. The nose is salty sweet wine and smoke. The peat comes across as slightly more prominent than the Sauternes, but they’re fairly balanced - which is a little surprising considering the PPM is still near 100 (even though this may be one of the least heavily peated Octomores). Ardbeg Corryvreckan and Laphroaig 10 Cask Strength are two in my cabinet that come across as more heavily peated on the nose. The notes include peach, citrus, tropical fruit, sandy seashell, slightly medicinal peat, campfire smoke. The palate continues the balance shown on the nose. It’s a little hotter than I expected, so found myself adding a little water. It starts soft and sweet with the dessert wine flavors, but transitions into smoky peat. On the palate the sweetness feels less fruity and more confectionery. Some pepper shows up going into the finish. It seems like the sweet hangs on more than the peat. Out of curiosity, I tried this side-by-side with Balcones Peated Sauternes Cask. I started off thinking it would be an interesting comp but ultimately the Octomore would easily win out. To my surprise, the nose on the Balcones was better to me. However, I gave the nod to the Octomore on the palate. I liked the briny and medicinal peat flavor in the Octomore better. Overall, they’re much more evenly matched than I’d expected, but I think I’d have the Octomore ahead by a hair. While this gets an overall 4.5, for the price I kind of expected a little more. I was similarly a bit underwhelmed by the only other Octomore tasting I've had. It'll be a fun bottle to share with friends, but I'm not sure I'll be jumping at the chance to buy another any time soon.

It mostly tastes like what I expected, but nearly the best version of what I expected. It trades a bit of the briny medicinal tar for a little more sticky red fruit and orange marmalade. Still retains enough of the lovely Lag peat to feel like a Lag. Good balance between the Lag-ness and the sweet sherry. I don’t know if I’d like it better than the original every day, but on this day it strikes me as better. Maybe just newer. Recency bias perhaps. They’re close. This is very good. The original is such a classic though. Hard to find any fault, but like the original, I’d prefer a slightly higher proof. They do manage to squeeze a lot of flavor into the 43 percent, however.

Big thank you to @PBMichiganWolverine for the sample of this one. The nose is vanilla and dried fruit. Tropical fruit. I’m not doing the work of picking out which fruits, but there seem to be a lot of them, balanced against vanilla cream. Custardy. With water, more apples and pears are jumping out. The palate is hotter than I like, but does well with some water. The notes on the nose come through on the palate. Pineapple, coconut, vanilla, banana. A slight savory note and a little bitter shows up going into the finish. This is very good, but as others have suggested, this plays in the same ballpark as Redbreast Cask Strength. If it’s better, I’m not sure it’s enough better to justify the premium, even at SRP (let alone secondary). Of the Spots I’ve tried, I’d rank them Red, Gold, Blue, Yellow, Green.