Tastes

If there's one thing I've learned about Teeling, it is that they've got a bad case of barrel-mania. They will put their whiskey into an almost dizzying array of casks. Sometimes, that backfires (see their single cask in the white port barrels), but this time? The rum barrel finishing was a smart move. There's plenty of sweet vanilla and creamy coconut, plus a delicate spiciness from the ex-bourbon barrels in which most of the spirit was aged, but man...that little bit of creme brulee, brown sugar, and candied citrus peel from the rum casking really adds some flavorful power to the palate without weighing it down. While a smidgeon young, this is a great, easy drinking dram...perfect after a day of fighting with your small tractor's tiller's PTO shaft when it's 90 degrees in late September.

One of the challenges of living in a small town now is the lack of a place like my old bar in Chicago...whiskey list a mile long, cheap tasting pours of anything behind the bar, bar staff who knew their business and loved whiskey passionately. It's a little harder to find that here....but it's a lot easier to stumble across forgotten gems like this at the little liquor stores. See, in Chicago, this probably sold out two years ago or better....here, it sat on a shelf, for $40, and nobody knew what it was. Until I came along and bought this the instant I saw it, because you don't find discontinued whiskies for a great price very often. It's a shame, really, that this one is no longer with us, as it's probably the best Tomatin I've had. While it shares the sweet grain forwardness that define the Dualchas/Legacy and the 12 Year, there's an additional spritely fruitiness to be found, and a lightly sherry-tinged finish. While the 14 Year that replaced this one is good, it's decidedly less complex. If you can find it on a lonely store shelf near you, snap it up before it's too late!

If loving Powers is wrong, then I don't want to be right - I have yet to have a disappointing whiskey from them. This is their lower priced (and NAS) single pot still offering, and while there's a hint of young spirit heat, there's plenty of smoothness and flavor to make that a forgivable offense. There's an unabashedly bourbon cask forward quality - loads of sweet vanilla and spice with hints of coconut - that accentuates the already sweet and spicy house style of single pot still. The sherry influence is more notable at the finish, as plummy dried fruit notes come through and linger alongside the vanilla and spice for a long time on the palate. Full, rich, almost creamy...this is a big dram for the price. A great introduction to single pot still whiskey for someone new the genre and not quite ready to shell out for Johns Lane or Redbreast.

It pains me to give this one 3 stars. I love Irish whiskey. I love Teeling...well, at least I tend to strongly like Teeling. I love single cask/barrel whiskies. Why does this one seem so off? I blame the casking work. I was generally unfamiliar with Carcavelos wine (white port, basically)...I knew white port existed, and even tried some in Lisbon 11 years back, but it's hardly something I drink on a regular basis. And, man, is it overpowering in this bottling. On the nose? Ripe white peaches, and not a ton else. On the screamingly hot palate? White peach. Water it a bit to calm down the burn? I'll give you three guesses, and the first two don't count. Don't get me wrong, I love peaches - they're a personal favorite, especially white peaches. I even like stone fruit flavors when they show up in whiskey - you don't see it every day, and it's often a nice touch. But this isn't a touch; it's a full-on slap in the face. I expected more from this bottle, especially at the price. It's not bad per se, but it's a letdown just the same.

As I've said a few times, the standard 12 year bottling of Redbreast and I have a slightly checkered relationship. Usually, it's a reliably rich, delicious dram - not life changing, but tasty. A few times, though, I've gotten served a pour of the ol' priest's tipple (as Redbreast used to be known) that felt flat and devoid of personality. Let's just say that you're not likely to describe the Cask Strength incarnation of Redbreast as flat or insipid. This has some serious spark to it and, as you'd expect, it is everything the standard bottling, but with the volume turned way up. Buttery pastry (pie crust?), massive dried-yet-juicy fruit, slivered almond, and a goodly hit of spice show up, riding a rich, unctuous wave across your palate. I do recommend a smidgeon of water to tone down the burn from the high ABV, but just a few drops will suffice. If you enjoy single pot still Irish whiskey, this is an absolute must-try and a tremendous improvement over the standard bottling for only a trifle more for the bottle.

I've been on a bit of an Irish whiskey kick as of late. Maybe it's the summer weather, maybe it's the increased number of quality Irish offerings on the market, maybe it's just been time to switch things up. You can't, of course, consider Irish whiskey without taking a look at Green Spot. I first tried it some time ago back at my favorite neighborhood Irish pub back in Chicago. I liked it then, quite a bit...so I was curious to see how it held up over time. The good news is that it held up quite well, even if I would not call it my favorite single pot still offering. I typically expect my single pot still whiskies to be heftier, richer affairs than this; Green Spot feels like a lightweight compared to, say, Redbreast or Powers John's Lane. That being said, the trademark notes are there with some delicacy and finesse - a pinch of spice, some freshly toasted bread, vanilla, a hint of citrus, that little bit of slight green bitterness that comes from the unmalted barley. It's a more bourbon cask forward style of single pot still; while that's hardly a bad thing, it's not quite up to the standards set by some of the other single pot still whiskies out there. Its youth also shows through; at 7-8 years, Green Spot lacks a bit of the finesse and depth that more well aged whiskies possess, which is a real shame. If you want that, I suppose you're shelling out for Yellow Spot - that's a bullet I have yet to bite. I happily drink Green Spot, though, and it's not a bad starting place at all if you're keen to explore the increasingly diverse world of Irish whiskey.

There's no such thing as a bad Dickel, or that is at least the conclusion I came away with after my wife, 7 month old daughter, and I made a little stop at Cascade Hollow to take the tour and sample the goods at the Dickel Distillery. This is no exception; in fact, it was my wife's favorite of the bunch (she found it the smoothest, which I suspect has to do with the lower abv). She's not even a whiskey drinker and even she likes some Dickel every now and again. And...Dickel 8 really is one of the best budget whiskies out there on the shelves. Sweet corn, vanilla, caramel, and a little woody spice get the job done. It's not complex, it's not nuanced, it's not particularly refined, even by Dickel's pretty straightforward flavor standards (the Dickel ain't subtle). If you want a great base for a whiskey and coke, or some Kentu...erm, Tennessee tea, or a pleasant sipper on the rocks to cool off on a hot afternoon, though, this Dickel do...so to speak.

One of the worst whiskey calamities in my life involved this bottle. I picked up on our epic roadtrip from Wisconsin to Florida to Texas (and back...4,400 miles, 14 states, 3 weeks, and a 7 month old in the back seat)...and sadly, this bottle spilled all over the trunk of my wife's car somewhere between Mobile, Alabama and Freeport, Texas. On the plus side, the trunk now smells like bourbon (could be worse), and I did manage a couple of drams before it all got sucked up as a libation to the roadtrip gods. The even better news is that, if I had to pick a bottle in the trunk to have spilled...it would've been this one. The basic character is good - sweet and spicy - but this really needs more time to mellow and age. Yeah, yeah, yeah - hot climate equals faster maturation, but this bourbon just tasted young and hot. A good initial offering from a good distillery (their gin is killer); I have high hopes for future releases.

I'm not quite willing to give this four stars, but I will say that it's got more character than the usual Jack Daniels Black. The second run through the charcoal imparts a distinct charred, almost smoky quality to the whiskey alongside the usual Jack fruity-n-sweet character. I'd still mostly use this to mix, and I'll stick to my Dickel (hehehe) over this...but if this were the only whiskey behind the bar, I'd still drink it.