Tastes
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Imperial 1995 20 Year (The Ultimate)
Single Malt — Speyside, Scotland
Reviewed September 25, 2018 (edited September 26, 2018)Fitting that, as I sat down with a wee dram of this (thanks to @PBMichiganWolverine) and a book (The Eucharist by the late Alexander Schmemann), I discovered that the section I was about to read revolved around memory and its role in the Orthodox liturgy. After all, this whisky is itself a concrete form of memory, the liquid last will and testament of a distillery closed for twenty years. It’s a pleasant, but simple, affair - plenty of sweet vanilla on both nose and palate, with candied fruits and frosted cereal. It’s a sweet one, to be sure, but the age has worn off the sharp edges and it’s fairly smooth and round with a medium length finish. I can’t say that I’m sad that the Imperial Distillery is no more based off the sample here, but it’s not a bad drop of whisky by any means...though the prices for it others have referenced are definitely NOT reflective of its intrinsic qualities as a whisky! -
The Whistler How the Years Whistle By
Single Malt — Ireland
Reviewed September 23, 2018 (edited July 31, 2021)A brief revisit/second taste note. With the bottle having been open a bit, the shy, low-on-chemistry date turned out to have quite a bit of personality waiting for the second date. Much fuller, rounder flavors in line with that glorious nose. -
Lagavulin 18 Year Fèis Ìle 2018
Single Malt — Islay, Scotland
Reviewed September 19, 2018 (edited September 21, 2018)If you had blindfolded me and handed me this, I might have initially guessed that it was Ardbeg or maybe Laphroaig. The lighter notes of citrus and vanilla that come through on the nose behind the more delicate-than-usual smoke are ones I tend to associate with the other members of the Trinity of Heavy Peat, whereas Lagavulin always makes me think of smoked meat and maple syrup. The smoke is a savory one, though, a bit more "barbecue" than "burning driftwood". The palate, while a bit punchy given the ABV, is a touch lighter than the standard Lagavulin offerings - creamy vanilla and lemon curd dance with the smoke, with a bit of mildly salty bacon kicking around. As the finish lingers, light smoke and seawater stay the longest, with that sweetness only sticking around for the initial aftermath. Now, a bit later, with the dram having sat and breathed for a while, I do find a but more of the typical Laga meaty smoke on the nose. I don't know that I would take this over the standard 16 Year, and certainly not over the DE, but this is nonetheless a complex, engaging, and delicious whisky...thanks, @PBMichiganWolverine! -
Kavalan Solist Vinho Barrique Single Cask Strength
Single Malt — Taiwan
Reviewed September 18, 2018 (edited December 30, 2018)A rainy, dreary sort of day here in the Upper Midwest calls for a dram with a bit more heft to it than the lighter summer whiskies and gins I've been enjoying over the last few months. Thanks to @PBMichiganWolverine's generosity, I was able to scratch that itch with this fine bit of whiskey from Kavalan. The nose is marked by dark dried fruits, honey-roasted cashews, and sweet mulled wine. The palate has a creamy, almost buttery character (with a bit of spark from the cask strength ABV), and positively oozes dark fruit, dried tropical fruit, nuts, and spice. Very good stuff indeed! -
Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin
Modern Gin — Ireland
Reviewed September 13, 2018 (edited November 10, 2020)May 2006. A young Rev (not yet even off to seminary yet, still a college student) began a week in Ireland by flying into Knock from Stansted. Waiting for a bus to Galway, it started to rain. Heavily. The rain soaked 21 year old sought refuge in a pub nearby, a cozy, warm sort of place where I was promptly seated near the fire in a room full of bunch of priests enjoying a post-Mass gin and tonic while watching Gaelic football. There were also some lovely young Irish lasses about. It was delightful. This gin is that experience in a glass - warm, gentle, peaceful. Citrus - lemon, maybe even a bit of bergamot - intermingles with a gentle, fresh herbal quality and a light spiciness, with that green tea note deep in the background, laying down a grassy foundation for everything else. Makes a great g&t, and a pretty good martini as well. A workhorse, well-rounded gin that’s hard not to like.32.0 USD per Bottle -
Rémy Martin 1738 Accord Royal Cognac
Cognac — Cognac, France
Reviewed September 11, 2018 (edited April 24, 2020)I'll admit, from the outset here, that I don't have much experience with cognac. In fact, I can think of two other times I've had it prior to purchasing this bottle to educate myself: once on a KLM flight from Schiphol to Kotoka Intl in Accra, and a separate time at a charity gala. I wasn't impressed either time before, but also recognized that I wasn't exactly drinking the good stuff, either...and since I'd hate for someone to dismiss all whiskey because they have the misfortune of drinking J&B or Scoresby's, I figured I would give this a whirl. I'm glad I did, as this is an excellent spirit which I would recommend to any whiskey drinker looking to expand their horizons. The nose has many elements that are familiar - baked apple, raisin, baking cocoa, leather. The palate, too, isn't so extremely different from a whiskey insofar as the basic elements are concerned - apple baked with cinnamon and clove, dry leather, white pepper, baking chocolate, woodiness. In there, too, there's a floral quality, as well as a note that I can only liken to Circus Peanuts candy...a lightly orange flavored marshmallow. Tellingly, the only other time I've found that note in a spirit was in Brenne, a French whiskey aged in ex-cognac barrels. What's different here, though, is how all of these notes hang together. For all the comparable flavors and aromas, the way they interact with each other is distinct from a whiskey, creating a different experience altogether. I look forward to further exploration...after all, variety's the spice of life, isn't it?43.0 USD per Bottle -
Glenfarclas 17 Year
Single Malt — Highlands, Scotland
Reviewed September 9, 2018 (edited December 15, 2018)I've decided that the Glenfarclas family of single malts is rather like my wife's family. You can line her grandmother, mother, sister, and our daughter up and easily see how the younger ones will change with age. This distillery has such a well-defined house style - pronounced sherry influence, but not sherry bombs, marked by nuttiness, dried fruit, and brown sugar notes with the slightest hint of wood smoke somewhere in the background. This, in the middle of the family by age, is more nuanced and smoothed around the edges than, say, the 12 Year, but hasn't quite made it to the complexity and well-aged integration of the 21+ Year expressions. I also find here a bit more citrus than I recall from other bottlings. A very enjoyable dram indeed on a cool fall evening!99.0 USD per Bottle -
Glen Grant 15 Year Batch Strength 1st Edition
Single Malt — Speyside, Scotland
Reviewed September 5, 2018 (edited January 26, 2023)If I were a teacher and the various Scottish distilleries whose products I’ve tried were my students, Glen Grant would be a strong contender for the title of “Most Improved Student.” Their old lineup - Major’s Reserve, 10 Year, and 16 Year were underwhelming (though I never had a chance to try the 16, so maybe it was the exception). Their new portfolio is MUCH nicer; the 12 runs laps around the 10, the 18 is lovely, and this 15 year is maybe the best of the lot. The nose is pure fruit basket and American oak; after a BIG initial burst of sweet coconut and vanilla, a plethora of ripe fruits turn up - banana, pear, apple, pineapple, guava, even a little mango. To spice things up, candied ginger and white pepper notes turn up after a little bit of time in the glass. The palate is delightfully round and full, balancing nicely the influence of the oak and the light, fruity nature of the Glen Grant spirit. This dram manages to find a perfect, and difficult, balance between freshness and substance. The finish is long and lingering as that sweet oakiness just keeps on going. There’s a bit of burn, but for a higher abv bottling it’s really not too bad. This is a great dram, especially for a sub-$70 bottle. Let’s hope that the folks in the stillhouse at Glen Grant keep on this path!65.0 USD per Bottle -
The Whistler How the Years Whistle By
Single Malt — Ireland
Reviewed September 4, 2018 (edited September 5, 2018)The best way I can describe this whiskey is that it's like a girl I dated once...ok, ok, twice. You see, the problem was simple - I was lonely as hell, living out on the Iowa prairie by myself in a tiny town, and I desperately wanted this girl to be "the one," or at least someone I was really into. But...I wasn't. I just kind of found her moderately enjoyable, but there wasn't much in the way of chemistry. The same applies, though the nose here is phenomenal - big and full, loaded with nutty banana bread, vanilla, a little dried apricot and fig drizzled with honey. The palate isn't bad, but it seems a little flat compared to the nose, with a short finish. The sherry notes fade a bit, too, and you're left with a more-or-less generic seeming Irish whiskey. I suspect that, if bottled at a higher ABV, there might be a bit more to enjoy. It's a shame; I could nose this all day. -
Bushmills 16 Year Single Malt
Single Malt — Ireland
Reviewed September 4, 2018 (edited October 20, 2019)We went back to Chicago for the holiday weekend. As luck would have it, a good friend of mine from my days in Ghana was passing through the city, so once the toddler was tucked in for the night, I met up with a small group of folks at my favorite Irish pub in my old neighborhood. After the opening rounds of Guinness, I decided it was time for whiskey...what else goes as well with old friends and good conversation? Having never tried an aged Bushmills, I decided to spring for a pour of this, and I don't regret it. The nose is darkly fruited, with berries and dried fruit to be found alongside dark chocolate fudge studded with walnut. This rings true to the palate; there are no surprises here. For flavors I associate with heavier, richer whiskies, the lightness of the spirit is a bit surprising I suppose, but even then, it's Bushmills. The finish comes across as a bit short, but not distractingly so. This isn't a perfect dram, but it's a very enjoyable one...especially when you're looking for that ideal drop of whiskey for savoring with friends on a quiet late summer evening, but that isn't going to eclipse the conversation.
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