Tastes

Nose: extreme peat (not surprising). Barrel tannins come in strong with sweet oakeyness. The quarter cask influence is very prominent. Taste: smoke dominates with the peat following shortly after. Barrel spicyness dominates the mid pallet with an almost black pepper taste. Finishes very oily with a creamy/salted caramel. Laphroaig has yet again impressed me beyond belief. Extremely well done.

Nose: not subtle but that’s not a bad thing. The smell of the white dog (moon shine dominates the smell) with hints of oak, brown sugar, slight cinnamon and vanilla sweetness. Taste: Delightfully spicy. Barrel tannins disguise themselves as a wintergreen mint and milk chocolate. Finishes pretty quickly with silky vanilla and cinnamon sugar “syrupyness”

Nose: apples, apricots, peat, slight cigar ash and leather tannins. Taste: vanilla, honey, mellow peat, finishes off into a caramelized Apple flavor with a buttery after taste. High west has yet to disappoint me. I wish the peated scotch they use was disclosed because I swear I get some Ardbeg influence off of this.

I’ve had a bottle for a few months now. When I first opened it, I didn’t think much of it. After the 3rd or 4th poor this dram really opened up and delightfully surprised me. Nose: oak, barrel sweetness, slight vanilla and cherry note. A red wine/caramel finish rounds off the nose. Taste: port wine influence comes out the gate fast, dark fruits and oak barrel sugars dominate the beginning. Cherry and cinnamon dominate the mid pallet. The finish is mildly oaky with a tinge of vanilla and caramel. Hands down the best Virginia dram I have had to date.

Nose: not great. Some honey but mostly reminds me of wet rotting leaves on a rainy fall day. Taste: much better but too sweet for me. Little bit of peat leads directly into a super sweet toffee and milk chocolate taste. Some under ripe green apple. If the peatiness was bumped up more this would be an unbelievable great dram. Falls short for me though.

Nose: fresh baked biscuits, grape/blackberry jam, short bread cookie. Taste: up front caramel, fades into a buttery biscuit, fresh bread, and finishes on a jam taste somewhere between strawberry, blackberry, and grape.

Nose: oaky with a tinge of rye spice. Smells young Taste: completely opposite. Vanilla bomb off the start, rye spice and oak, lead in to a milk chocolate finish that ends a bit too fast. Awesome rye for how cheap it is.

Nose: Peat (not enough in my opinion) Baked cinnamon apples, pear, slight orange/tangerine. Taste: Peat and honey punch to begin. Fades into apples, pears, flowers, and an oily finish with a sweet tobacco taste. Amazing for the price.

My favorite peaty scotch at the moment. Nose: peat, cigar smoke, medicinal, honey suckle, apples, light fruit Taste: big peat punch, leads into cigar ash, finishes with sweet honey, apples, and pears.

Nose: butter scotch, little bit of flowers, apples and light fruits, honey. Taste: bright and mild peat smoke leads into toffee and apples (honey crisp). Finish fades faster than I’d like, but has a slight leather and caramel oiliness. Reminds me of old colonial houses in North America.