Tastes
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Calvados Adrien Camut 6 Year
Calvados — Calvados Pays d'Auge, France
Reviewed December 14, 2016 (edited April 24, 2018)Incredibly fragrant apples, thick apple skins, cider, and lavender. Smooth texture, apple purée just like Ma used to make with cinnamon. The finish is fleeting but not without leaving your tongue watering. Very pretty Brandy indeed. -
A nose of fluffy malt, vanilla, rich Sherry fruit, a waft of dry smoke. The palate starts with rich vanilla, baked apples, dry berries, refreshing light spices, and a chimney smoke finish. There's a shadow of American oak throughout this. Overall, it's a little east meets west. Though the smokey finish is a bit much for all the delicacy before it.
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William Larue Weller Bourbon (Fall 2015)
Bourbon — Kentucky, USA
Reviewed December 12, 2016 (edited March 4, 2019)An aroma of creamed corn with a few more slices of butter melting on top. Ahh my favorite, shaved coconut. Dry wood staves splashed with brine. Heavy vanilla cream at the end. The palate bites back though. It launches out with huge spices and a little bit of tannins before you can get at the rest of it. Adding a few drops of water freshens the wood on nose. The water reveals the sweet grassy taste of wheat but the alcohol is still domineering. Oily caramel and a hot spearmint finish. For me, water is a must for this. The aroma is everything you could want but the palate will bite you if you don't rub its belly right. -
Domaine d'Aurensan Armagnac 1975 Single Cask
Armagnac — Ténarèze, France
Reviewed December 11, 2016 (edited April 24, 2018)Inviting aroma, particularly if you're a rum drinker. Syrup, raisins, dates, brown sugar, a lot of dry wood and nuttiness. The palate is all polish. A lot of the fruit and dessert notes that are customary to Brandy have faded. The fruit that is there is dried out. The wood is assertive but there isn't as much tannin as I would have guessed. The texture is silken but at what cost? While you wouldn't think to slug this back, after a sip you're a little tempted. Like I said, this Brandy has a lot of polish, while that's an admirable quality in a spirit, this time it's too much of a good thing. -
The aroma is mostly heather honey, pollen, cream soda, and powdered malt. A palate full of milk chocolate, subtle sweet peat bricks, vanilla and malt ball finish. If you chew on you'll find a little chimney smoke. A hedonistic dram, one that calls for The Doors Alabama song (whisky bar). While it's not the pinnacle of complexity it calls for many more pours. "Oh show me the way to the next whisky bar, oh don't ask why, oh don't ask why..."
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An aroma of sizzling malt(from the alcohol), vanilla, short bread cookies, dry peat, but a bit of ethanol. The palate starts with vanilla cream, short bread, orange zest, a bit of peat smoke, and a lengthy spice driven finish. I was surprised at how long my mouth was watering, between the aggressive spice finish and the heat from the alcohol. It's subtle but a little too much so, the alcohol plays more of a role than it should.
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Talisker 30 Year
Single Malt — Islands, Scotland
Reviewed December 6, 2016 (edited September 23, 2020)Wow! A nose of beeswax, marmalade, sweet peat, royal jelly, and very subtle smoke. Juicy apricots and honey initially but a big shovel of soot smoke on the mid palate. A peat and chimney smoke finish that peters out quicker than you'd think. This shows a lot of polish but the palate doesn't live up to the promises of its amazing aroma. Then again, what whisky would? -
Domaine d'Aurensan Armagnac 20 Ans
Armagnac — Ténarèze, France
Reviewed December 5, 2016 (edited September 2, 2020)A long gaping yawn of Brandy. Loaded with dark notes like brown sugar, heavily roasted nuts, hazelnut nougat, coffee, all sorts of different sugars. To say rancio plays a major role would be an understatement. This is what people with smoking jackets and fireplaces should be drinking. -
Very pale appearance. The signature salty smoked meat aroma. Spiced fruit and oily palate. Smoke isn't heavy but it's peppered throughout. Some sweet butter cookies as well. A lot of soot on the finish. The dry smoke lasts for quite a while. It's definitely Lagavulin but seems a bit lopsided. Makes you understand why the 16yr is their flagship expression.
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