Tastes

I normally drink bourbon or rye. Never had Crown Royal but don’t want to try it now (since this scores higher than regular SKU and this isn’t my jam). This just tastes young and thin. Nose hints of apple and spice. Has some cinnamon spice up front and a decently long spicy finish but this just isn’t worth trying to make a sipper. Tastes very young. This is only good as a mixer, and you can get regular Crown - or different and less expensive stuff for that purpose. Instead of this for a sipper, get Lot 40 (a little more expensive) Canadian whiskey or Redemption or Bulliet rye (both less expensive and taste better). For high high bourbon, better tasting options include at least New Riff bourbon, Four Roses Small Batch bourbon, Woodford Reserve bourbon, Bulliet bourbon, or Redemption High Rye bourbon - all less expensive.

Reminds me of Balcones Baby Blue. Smells like tequila. Tastes like a sweet tequila. Young. Get a hint of whiskey flavor, but my mind thinks so much of tequila from nose and palate that I’m not sure what else to add to description. It’s certainly not bad, but I’m not sure it’s my favorite. Feel like when I want whiskey, I’m looking for whiskey not tequila...

Huge disappointment for a 12 yo. Very astringent nose and palette. Don’t be fooled by fact it’s a 12yo. Pass this by. Easily the worst (and youngest) tasting 10+ yo I’ve tried. Threw first glass away to try something else. Not worth price.

Only rated so high because I had low expectations. This is not great whiskey. In fact, if you like whiskey, you won’t find much - except first hint on nose and color, that resembles your preferred drink. No real whiskey flavor. Absolutely no whiskey bite. HOWEVER, if you’re looking for a dessert drink that sort of resembles whiskey AND YOU LIKE PEANUT BUTTER, give this a try. You’ll find it to be really not bad at all for that purpose!

This isn’t bad, but not even close to worth the cost. Much better stuff out there. Smells and tastes young. Not terribly complex. Not much finish. A bit of a sour metallic linger. Again, it’s not bad, but tastes more like a $20 bottle than a $50 (~Maryland price) bottle.

This is $95/bottle at my local store. Found it at a bar for $12/pour (neat & at least 3 fingers)! I really like it. I feel like vanilla and caramel nose with cinnamon stick spice on the palate, but what do I know? It’s good. At 120+ proof I probably shouldn’t have had a 2nd...Wish it weren’t a hundred bucks a bottle or I’d buy it. I’ll keep coming to this bar on the Company’s dime and buy it with dinner!!!

Act 5, Scene 6. Bought in 2017. Just opened with a friend in 2018. $80. First of all, this is great stuff because “no one” has tried it. None of my friends have scene it (see what I did there?), and several haven’t even heard of it. This one will warm you up! Probably best on a cold night and certainly a winter drink. It’s a pretty good dram. (Still doesn’t touch my enjoyment of the Angels Envy Rye, But this only comes once per year - and then only if you can find it.) I get traditional rye spice and maybe some brown sugar on the nose, with maybe some of what I feel heretofore has been a trademark of a lot of the High West bottles: metallic/medicinal smell. (However, I got none of that one my palate, unlike some of their other brands. Hoping that goes away as they stop having to source so much.) Bourbon-y sweet on mouth entry. Cooking spice takes over as I start to swallow. Finish lingers nicely without much after taste. This is definitely worth a try if you find any.

My cousin had some at Thanksgiving. Though I had to taste out of paper cups - long story, this is a VERY good bourbon; it made the Weller 12 taste like an “also ran” - at best! However, I’ll leave to others to describe the flavors and smells better b/c of the paper cups I had to use.) Won’t best GTS, WLW, or Pappy 15 (I haven’t had the 20 or 23), but this is an excellent bourbon. (I enjoyed this more than Wild Turkey Master’s Keep, MacAllen 18, and Yamazaki 12; trying to compare to similar price points.) I worried the age would be too much to enjoy - I’ve heard that liquid sitting in the virgin American Oak longer than 15-18 yrs isn’t pleasing to all palates (differing from Scotch, since their barrels aren’t virgin). I didn’t find any of that problem here, though a good bit of the wood flavor is present. It was an excellent dram that I would continue to enjoy. At the $150-200 price, it’s hard to say “it’s worth it”, but if you come across this drink and it’s within your price range, it’s worth sampling.

The price is a bit over the top, but I passed up a bottle at my liquor store last year. Now that I’ve tried it, I’m kicking myself. This is a good pour. Getting leather and slight sweetness - maybe butterscotch? on the nose. You can taste the oak and spice. A warm, light maple-y finish. Maybe even a slight hint of some cherry cobbler out the nose at the end. Fairly lengthy finish, but really pretty smooth. I’m really enjoying this (but again, perhaps lamenting the price a bit). High marks for taste!