Tastes

Nose: Initially heavy on the earthy notes (cornfield, hay, yeast, and malt come to mind). Sweet and nutty notes are right behind (caramel, toffee, honey), intermingled with citrus zest, fresh pear and green apples. A light oak note is revealed right before the taste. I get specifically reminded of gummy candies and cream soda. Taste: Sweet, nutty, and earthy. Caramelized apple, toffee, dried fruits, wet hay, grass, dried herbs immediately come to mind. A slight peat note is noticeable on some tastings, on others the residual medicinal note is more noticeable. Drying with a slight oak influence (wet wood with slight bitterness). Finish: Warm, bright spice (white pepper) with medium alcohol burn. Some of the nutty and earthy notes (dried fruit, hay) notes and slight bitterness follows along eventually once the spice burns off. Complexity is nice on the nose and taste. Flavors seem to shift a bit with each pour which makes you look forward to the next dram. This whisky has minimal off-putting notes and plenty of character.

Nose: Upfront peat is light and balanced by floral, steamed milk, mint, and malt notes. Complex and balanced. Fantastic Taste: Peat is present, but not dominating, which makes room for earthy/malty notes. Some herbal and grassy notes peek through. I also get a bit of an interesting steak note. Finish: Heavy on the spice (black pepper, chili) with some bitterness and numbing (maybe from the alcohol). The spice is a bit overpowering and quickly appeared which covered up the mid-to-late palate. Tasted 1oz at a bar. Overall, the nose was amazing with a lot of unique notes. The palate is pleasant, but taken over by the spicy finish which I wished was a bit softer so the other notes from the nose could sneak through. A splash of water takes off some of the spice kick but seems to remove a lot of the more subtle flavors.

Nose: Medium-Heavy peat smoke with a strong fresh fruit (pear) note. Taste: Medium on the peat flavors (following the nose) which was not dominating. Peat was followed by a dark roast coffee and earthy (malt, hay) notes. Further tasting revealed dark cocoa and sherry notes. The non-peat notes were pretty subtle, despite the non-dominating peat notes, which left me wanting more balance of flavors. Finish: Again the peat is upfront with some bitterness, malt, and dried cherry notes. Not too spicy. Tasted 1oz at a bar. Overall, a pleasant, easy drink which can be a good introduction to peated whisky. I couldn't find the fruit notes I found on the nose on the palate which was a bit disappointing.

Nose: peat is notable, but not overpowering, and rounded off by fresh herbal/fruity (pear?) notes. I also get a hint of caramel which rounds off the nose nicely. Finishing off the nose is a fresh tar note. Feels refreshing and light. Taste: upfront peat, as expected, though not as dominating as the more famously peaty scotches. Slight briny notes, some earthy notes (mushroom?), orange zest, butterscotch. I'd say it's more forward towards the warm earthy notes contrary to the nose. Finish: peat smoke lingers. Spice follows which dissipates quickly, replaced by the residual peat. Alcohol burn is low despite the very high proof. Warms on the way down. On the second tasting I let it rest a bit more and added water. On the first tasting the water seemed to actually detract but on this tasting I got a bit more caramel and nutty notes from the nose. To the taste, it added some of the herbal notes I got on the nose as well as sweet butterscotch notes. The peaty and spicy finish was diminished by quite a bit.

Nose: initially got apple which disappeared quickly for a more general sweet aroma, eventually making way for caramel, vanilla, and butterscotch. Floral at the end. Adding a splash of water added some tropical fruit note. Taste: Follows the nose. Initial fresh fruit overcome by caramel, butterscotch, with earthy, nutty, and bitter/sour notes. With a splash of water, even more caramel and nutty notes come through and the bitter note tapers off. Fruit notes are still not coming through for me. Finish: alternating between earthy malt and spice. Dry and numbing, accentuated by alcohol burn. With water, the alcohol burn tapers off and in its place some warm grain and herbal notes are coming through. Overall, I wish this was a bit more balanced with the fruit flavors that I got on the nose coming through a bit more on the palate. The alcohol burn on the finish is a bit off putting. I initially reviewed this without water and gave it a lower score. A splash of water really improved the complexity of the nose and took off the unpleasant bitter notes from the palate and tapered the alcohol burn on the finish. It brought out a bit of more of the malty and sweet characteristics off of the palate.

Nose: Heavy peat. Palate: Heavy peat. Some brininess. Finish: Heavy peat. Not much bite. A whisky that lives up to its reputation as a peat monster. I think it's a bit one-note and I can't distinguish anything past the peat. I'll give it a 3 just because it delivers the peat note so well.

Revisited this whiskey recently. Nose shows mostly caramel and honey. Taste is slightly sweet followed by spice (hot, chili) and bitter. The notes I get are black pepper, dried dark fruits, oak. Finish is medium with more spice and bitter notes. The high proof really shows in the finish. Overall not bad, especially factoring in the price, but too forward on the spice and bitter notes for me.

Nose: fresh fruit and butterscotch. Taste: sweet and oaky, some butterscotch on the tail end. Finish: sweet with slight dried fruit influence. Short finish. I got this at a bar so I'm not sure what bottling I received or if it was just a very old, opened bottle. It was quite average but still enjoyable (maybe 2.75-3), but given its reputation and price it was disappointing and bland which is why I rated it with a lower score.

Nose: Caramel, vanilla and molasses. Oak comes in and out. Floral notes were present on the first tasting but seemed to disappear over time. Splash of water reveals some grassy/herbal character. Palate: Initially it's sweet (brown sugar) and sour (lemon) followed by a spicy kick. Past the spiciness I get the typical bourbon notes of oak and slight vanilla. Splash of water really drops the spiciness down revealing cinnamon, burnt wood and bitter notes. Finish: A big hit of spiciness with a return of the caramel notes from the nose. Quite long. Splash of water knocks down the spiciness. Bitter notes emerge on the tail end. A pretty unique and enjoyable dram. For me, there's a bit too much bitterness on the palate and finish that needed to be balanced by some fresh notes. A large splash of water really revealed a lot of the character by toning down the spice.