Tastes

Nose: pastries, brown sugar, toast, butter and jam. Palate: very relaxed and sweet, seems like it has a low rye presence. Bananas, brown sugar, a touch of cinnamon and vanilla. Quick finish. Maybe this is a tad overhyped? It's good, but considering the rarity, I thought it would be more memorable.

Very buttery pastry crust aroma, along with a sugary glaze and maybe some jam. Licorice, honey, shortbread palate. Short finish, honeydew melon. This is as if a fritter grew up to be a scotch whisky. Sweet, short, enjoyable but not complex. A decent dram to break in someone new to whisky.

Nose: very lush and fruity with green apples, coconut, citrus, pineapple, with just a bit of woody tannin. Palate: More assertive with darker richer flavors like cocoa, cider, black pepper, allspice, a little roasty bitterness, and more of the wood. Finish: fairly short, and dominated by the drier notes. Comparable to Loch Lomond 12 but more grown up and complex.

Nose: Lots of brine and wet clay, bright astringent notes of lemongrass and herbs, and leather. Palate: Surprisingly buttery entry, with salt, smoked fish, bright herbs and grass, and black pepper. Medium long finish, very warming and complex. I haven't had many whiskies that had so many layers. Really outstanding.

This is a really beguiling dram, one of a handful of peated whiskies I've had that play really well with the sherry barrel finishing. Off the top, it's all leather, brine and oil on the nose. There isn't as much smoky char as other peated drams. This leans towards the seaweed and petroleum end of the spectrum. But on the palate this thing comes bursting with salt, fish, pepper, and then the sherry cask shines through with berries, dried apricot, cocoa and coffee, then the more subtle presence of black pepper and char lingers for a long time. This is outstanding, bringing the peat and the sweet and have them battle for your enjoyment.

Sometimes you just want to hear the band play the hits. Occasionally the same is true with bourbon. You don't want any deep cuts or complex notes, you just want a solid middle of the road dram to drink. This would be a good bourbon to break in someone new with, along with Eagle Rare 10 & Buffalo Trace. It's a good, well rounded option at about $30. There's maybe a little more cherry on the palate in this one than most bourbons, but otherwise it is a good representative of the classic bourbon profile.

Definitely a LOT of lemon and orange zest on the nose, along with lush pomegranate and tropical flowers. Rich port wine, dried fruit, and a very distant hint of smoked meat and charcoal from the peat.

Don't have many notes to add beyond what the app's review says, only that I'll probably get 3-4 bottles of this before it jumps over $50. This is a huge value.

Bubblegum, cake, hard candy, and almond joy on the nose. More candy on the palate, but then they rye presence swarms with cinnamon, pepper, and bready funk. A long finish but not much complexity. I would not reach for this over the 100 proof Forester.

I swear I was going to open with cigar smoke as my first note before I read the distiller app review. Oh well, originality is overrated. In addition to the smoky char, there's an intriguing meaty quality like bacon or sausage on the nose, in addition to more familiar candied nuts, oak and vanilla. Black pepper and peanuts, bread rolls, jerky, spice on the palate. Not many of the rounded dessert qualities you expect. Still very good, simply not as balanced and rounded as the best Booker's editions.