Tastes

Ahhh so much butter on the nose! Like your melting some for pancakes. There's buckwheat, almond oil, dry grass, and sweet corn bringing up the rear. The palate is juicy and smooth. A palate of toasted coconut (the hallmark of any good Weller), soaked wood, grill hash marks, salted butter, and raw peanuts. You can drink a lot of this because it keeps giving you a little bit more.

The nose is almost entirely Sherry. Oloroso, nuts, dried fruit, soaked wood, and some heat from the alcohol. Cashews, honey, figs, apricots, leather, caramel. Rich and thick. The alcohol is more pronounced than you'd expect. There's lots of flavors here but everything is a tad too quiet. Though the texture is pretty luxurious . You could certainly spend a few evenings sifting through this.

Damn refined. Rich Sherry, roasted nuts, sweet malt, and pressed vanilla. Enticing stuff. Meat and dark honey at the beginning of the palate. Sweet to smokey mid palate. Darker Sherry than the nose. A lingering mineral and smoke finish. Absolutely solid.

I've never been fond of Eagle Rare 10yr. A friend of mine likes Eagle Rare but misses the bottles from the 2000's. He was much more enamored with it then. So he gave me some of a bottle from 2007 to try. A lovely sweetness right away on the nose. Dark honey, vanilla, seasoned wood, and a tickle from the heat that actually entices rather than burning your nostrils. The palate is mostly butter up front with big caramel corn sweetness at the core. The finish is lightly spiced and soft. There's a nice texture to this. It's not as thick as other bottles I've had. This was nice, favoring grace over power. I don't know if it is a bit lighter on its feet because of time. I'm not sure how long it was open but the flavors didn't seem faded and the proof didn't seem to lose any of its potency.

So freakin' yummy! This has been a long time favorite but it's been a few years since I had it last. Luckily time has not swayed my opinion of it much. A bouquet of coconut, pineapple, caramel, and a few hot fumes. The palate is a little more toasty and very smooth. Charred wood, grilled tropical fruit, toasted coconut, and creamy vanilla. This is the stuff you share to get people into American whiskey.

I have heard many people talk this up, and I like Glenfarclas, so why not? The nose is a bit foreboding because of the immediate heat. Underneath this prickly heat is hazelnut cream, dark honey, brown sugar, and some dried fruit. The palate is also quit hot and tends to sizzle the dry currants and chocolate you find there. I found myself adding just one more drop water...ok, maybe one more...ok, last one... With a healthy dose of water the texture gets creamier and the primary flavors don't seem to be on fire anymore. The wood tannins reveal themselves as well. The finish is full of mouth watering spice and it goes on quite a bit. This would be a good bridge for uncut bourbon drinkers into Scotch.

This is an nice aperitif. You get small helpings of sweet and savory. The nose has sweet smoke, honey, tiny berry fruit, and vanilla malt. The palate is primarily honeyed fruit, smoked malt, biscuits, and dry wood. This reminds me a little of young whiskies from The Balvenie. Mostly due to the honey, biscuits and overall light profile.

This was muted at first. Though it was worth waiting for it to open up. Syrup, raisins, and sandalwood, though this is clouded a bit by alcohol. The palate is the real stunner. Very silky with tobacco throughout, dried fruits, leather, nutty nougat, powerful wood spices, and a little waft of smoke. You'll find the finish goes on for quite a while, making this a great leisurely sipper. This whisky does a nice job displaying its sherry influence while still leaving room for the spirit to shine. If the aroma had a little more clarity and power this would be a giant in the pantheon of sherried whiskies. That said this is still quite a contender.

I'm not one for heavy sherry aging but it seems unfair to swear them off without trying a good smattering of examples. The nose is quite luxurious. Makes me feel like buying a smoking jacket. There's dried figs, leather shoes, sultanas, almonds, and dried currants. The palate leans a little too heavy on the sherry but there is some dark malt and serious spice amongst all that fruit. The heat from the alcohol clouds the finish so all that gets through is the persistent fruit. I'd rather just buy a bottle of sherry than buy whisky that tastes like it. Though I wager dabbing this behind my ears would make me seem a little more dashing.

Blind I wouldn't guess this is Macallan. Smoked fruit, Sherry, light but persistent peat on the nose. Silky/juicy texture and vanilla malt. The texture turns the Sherry fruit into a coulis. The mid palate builds to a bold and spicy finish that goes on and on. A whirling dervish of whisky.