Tastes

Nose - Hint of salt, golden raisins, fresh cut apples, nectarines, light caramel Taste - Light fruity brine, light lactic funk, ripe cut apples, gentle hints of cinnamon and clove, goji berries, lightly sour raspberries, lightly herbal like sage or tarragon Finish - Tarragon? Sage? salt, lightly medicinal berries, fresh apples, golden raisins, lightly drying Score - 80/100 Final Thoughts - So I think the best thing about this release was the nose. It was nice and fruity, gave off some sauternes and maybe some white wine barrel influence/funk. On the palate you're hit with the nice saline and a hint of lactic funk (think fruity sour milk, but in a good way?). Fresh cut apples dominate with this in and out vibe of sort of savory herbs and a tiny bit medicinal vibe like that of goji berries or dried Chinese dates. The finish was pretty much the same with the herbs and fresh cut apples. This felt a bit underwhelming and not sure if a single bad cask made it into the blend or not, but there was this faint herbal bitterness at the end into the finish that just didn't seem to fit. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - No Would I buy a bottle? - No NOTE - All reviews are done without factoring in price.

Nose - Clean crisp smoke, sweet cream, candied cranberries, bit mineraly, mint? (w/ water) Bit brighter, but mostly the same Taste - Little hot, salty peat smoke, fresh red berries, hint of red wine vinegar, earth, dark chocolate, leather (w/ water) salt increased, more vibrant/bright, less earth, dark chocolate, leather Finish - Black pepper, earth, salt, woody herb/fruit stems (w/ water) same Score - 83/100 Final Thoughts - This was overall a decent Port Charlotte offering. The wine cask finish gave it another layer to just an ex-bourbon cask maturation, but it felt a bit hot at times and water improved some things, but hurt others. I did like the dark earthy, dark chocolate notes I got without water, but it felt a bit hot without. It had a very artificial sugar/rock candy sweetness that I'm not always the biggest fan of. It's good, not amazing, but not off putting in any way. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Maybe Would I buy a bottle? - No NOTE - All reviews are done without factoring in price.

Nose - Gentle peppery smoke, sea spray, sweet nuts, sweet cream, apricots, light fleshed stone fruits, salted caramel, lightly floral (w/ water) Slightly less fruity & floral, more salted caramel Taste - Gentle peppery smoke, salted caramel, peppery heat, sea spray, dried apricots but w/o the intense sweetness, light bitter stone pith (w/ water) Reduced heat, bitterness is greatly reduced, otherwise the same Finish - Lingering fruity salted caramels, bitterness intensifies, sea spray and black peppered cheese (w/ water) Less bitter but otherwise the same Score - 87/100 Final Thoughts - The nose on this one is the best part for sure as it screams classic sweet peat and lactic funk to me. The marsala cask influence has tons of great stone fruits and salted caramel influence, but somehow the bitter component gets a bit distracting. It also feels a tad bit hot for the proof. Not completely distracting, but enough for you to feel it and want to add a bit of water. Water does help the peppery burn a bit, but also mutes the nose quite a bit. This one is pretty good overall, but I don't think I'd turn down a pour of this if offered. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Yes Would I buy a bottle? - Not another NOTE - All reviews are done without factoring in price.

Nose - Caramel, vanilla, cinnamon, cloves, hint of leather Taste - Caramel, vanilla, brown sugar, cinnamon, lightly bitter leather, hint of browned butter Finish - Lingering oaky vanilla, caramel, cinnamon spice Score - 88/100 Final Thoughts - It's actually been a while since I've had their standard bourbon release since I've had so many of their special releases that I sort of forgot what their "standard" release was like. Very classic "bourbon" notes done well. Nothing mind blowing, but just a very good classic bourbon profile. Great caramel, vanilla, cinnamon notes. Hint of tannic leather to cut the sweetness a bit and round things out a bit. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Yes Would I buy a bottle? - Yes NOTE - All reviews are done without factoring in price.

This came from one of those elaborate 950mL decanter bottles from the distillery purchased in September of 2019. Amontillado Cask AM110216002B Nose - Hints of sweet soy, dark chocolate, leather, wet sherry cask, wet oak (w/ water) Mutes the nose a lot, much less pronounced, but feels like mostly the same Taste - Quite hot, dark chocolate, prunes, dark raisins, sweet soy sauce, hoisin sauce (w/ water) More dark chocolate, raisins, prunes, hoisin sauce Finish - Lingering heat, hoisin sauce, raisins, prunes, chocolate, leather (w/ water) Less heat, hoisin sauce, ginger, cocoa powder Score - 83/100 Final Thoughts - It's been a while since I've had an amontillado finished whisky, but for some reason this doesn't really scream amontillado to me. This feels like it was a very wet sherry cask, almost oloroso/px levels of dark, but maybe that's just the Taiwan climate doing its thing on barrels. It had a very dark sweet vibe, but wasn't overly sweet like a oloroso or px might be. Once I noticed the similarities to hoisin sauce though, that's all I could really taste. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Maybe Would I buy a bottle? - No NOTE - All reviews are done without factoring in price.

Nose - Rich ripe apples, hint of salt, caramel, milk chocolate, flamed orange zest Taste - Gently spiced caramel apples, hint of salt, candied orange zest, tiny bit of tropical fruits, milk chocolate Finish - Lingering gentle spice, lightly salted/brined sweet apples, orange zest Score - 90/100 Final Thoughts - Like previous Old Pulteney expressions that I've tried, this one is quite tasty and does pack quite a bit of flavor for 46%. This one feels like it's dominated by ripe apples and salted caramel. It's very nicely put together, but the finish is the weakest point in that the rich apple flavors and nice salted caramel notes on the palate turn into this salt brined fresh apple slices with a hint of orange zest that sort of makes your palate question what just happened and where the rich ripe apples went. This is tasty for sure, but not sure it's worth the price premium. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Maybe Would I buy a bottle? - Probably not another NOTE - All reviews are done without factoring in price.

Nose - Clean ashy/mineral peat, bright lemon zest, honey, salt Taste - Salty bright ashy/mineral smoke, vanilla, lemon, black pepper, citrusy, lemon zest Finish - Lingering salt, fruity ashy smoke, vanilla, lemon zest, light mineral Score - 78/100 Final Thoughts - So I'm no Islay expert by any means, but I've been quite fortunate to have been able to try a few Caol Ila in the past and this screams young ex-bourbon matured Caol Ila to me. It's got the ashy/minerally peat smoke and the refreshing lemon/citrus zest vibe to it from start to finish. Add to the fact that they're a fairly large distillery that is owned by Diageo and so has the capacity for volume for something like this blend by Hunter Laing. It's not bad for the price and delivers a pleasant drinking experience. I'd say it's good enough to sip neat when you want something peated and don't want to think about it, or it'd also be good as a peated mixer. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - No Would I buy a bottle? - Maybe Another NOTE - All reviews are done without factoring in price.

Nose - Salty campfire smoke, gentle lactic funk, sweet savory cheesecake, grilled peaches, red berries (w/ water) Opens up even more, more vibrant all around, adds an extra hint of tropical fruits Taste - Gentle salty/creamy smoke, red berries, black pepper, tropical fruits (w/ water) Reduces the heat a bit as well as makes it feel a bit thin but otherwise the same Finish - Lingering heat/tingle, salty smoke, peaches & cream, hint of red berries (w/ water) Reduced heat, addition of a bit of graphite/charcoal Score - 88/100 Final Thoughts - This was enjoyable all around, nothing really off putting about it. Interesting but forgettable nose and sadly that translates to the palate too. It's good, nice balance of flavors and is interesting in the moment, but the novel sensation sort of goes away. Has the typical characteristics of the distillery which is that nice lactic funk and salt with the port charlotte clean smoke. I think it's worth what I paid for it, but not much more. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Maybe Would I buy a bottle? - Not another NOTE - All reviews are done without factoring in price.

Nose - Bit hot, sweet soot, grape skins, sweet plums (w/ water) Reduced heat, otherwise the same Taste - Bit hot, ashy/sooty peat, berries, plum bitters (w/ water) Less heat, plum bitters, ashy sweet, red berries, red grape skins Finish - Heat, ash/soot, sweet plums (w/ water) Same, but w/ reduced heat Score - 89/100 Final Thoughts - This one definitely benefitted from a bit of water. The addition of the ashy/sooty smoke adds another layer of complexity to this dram. It has a sweet plum bitter vibe to it, but with a nice hint of sweet red grape skin tannins. A bit hot at times, but otherwise very pleasant. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Yes Would I buy a bottle? - Maybe NOTE - All reviews are done without factoring in price.

Nose - Bit hot, peaches, watery honey, apples (w/ water) Adds a bit of buttercream cake frosting (sorta like a buttery/sugary peaches & cream), sidewalk chalk? Taste - Bit hot initially, golden raisins, light metallic vibe, lemon zest (w/ water) Reduces initial heat, golden raisins, dried light colored fruit cubes, candied citrus zest Finish - Lingering heat, citrus pith, metallic sweet (w/ water) Heat is a bit sharper initially and not as much metallic sweet, but otherwise the same Score - 86/100 Final Thoughts - I think this one suffered a bit from the heat as it seemed to open up a bit more with water and the off putting notes mostly went away. The dominating notes were really golden raisins and dried light fleshed fruits (w/ the exception of this metallic dried papaya "funk" I sorta got). It's interesting and tasty enough, but not sure this would be something I'd ever regularly reach for. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Maybe Would I buy a bottle? - No NOTE - All reviews are done without factoring in price.