Tastes

Nose - Ripe orchard fruits, crisp apples, pears, peaches/nectarines, ripe apricots, floral honey, ripe juicy plums, dried sweet apricots, light honeycomb Taste - Rich orchard fruits, dried apples, ripe juicy plums, peaches/nectarines, floral watery honey, light hint of ash at the end, fairly thin mouthfeel Finish - Lingering fruity ash/charcoal, very clean, gentle white pepper tingle, light stone fruit pith bitterness, hint of sea spray Score - 80/100 Final Thoughts - This had a very pleasant nose, delicious burst of orchard fruits on the nose and on the palate. Very faint wisp of ash/smoke from the Lagavulin I presume which is a very very tiny component of this blend. Mouthfeel is a bit thin, so I think there's a fairly high percentage of grain in this one, but I suspect at least it's older grain as I don't get any off putting younger grain notes in this one. Overall it's a very pleasant, easy drinking summer dram I'd say. Best neat as I think any ice or additional water would really hide the subtle flavors. 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.

COE Cask 1344 Nose - (w/o water) Pressed apple juice, light caramel, baked apple crisp (w/ water) Pressed fresh apple juice, more baked apple, barrel aged dark apple cider Taste - (w/o water) Quite hot, baked apples, apple juice, fresh pressed ginger juice heat, baked apple crisp spice (w/ water) Muted heat, same flavors as without water but more balanced Finish - (w/o water) Lingering heat, baked apples, light metallic vibe, heat/tingle is like you took a bite of fresh out of the oven baked apple crisp & you just did the hoowahhoof thing (w/ water) Less heat, more drying, baked apples Score - 91/100 Final Thoughts - This was quite an interesting dram in that it was much much better than the Bourbon/Calvados Micro-Provenance bottle I personally have. This one was much more balanced with a much better, cleaner, more refreshing apple vibe to it. It was a bit on the desserty side, but not crazy sweet. I'm not sure if this was a finish or a full maturation, but this was quite good. 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.

Nose - Rich dark berries, orange zest, candied ginger, dried cherries/cranberries/blueberries Taste - Dark cherries/blueberries, candied ginger "spice", dark apple juice backbone, dark chocolate, dark cherry juice Finish - Lingering light tingle, lightly tart but still sweet cherry juice, light dark chocolate cherry cordial Score - 86/100 Final Thoughts - So the tasting notes would lead you to believe that this is an absolutely amazing dram and although it's quite good, the flavors come in waves versus being a cohesive whole. This is very tasty overall, great nose, good on the palate, mediocre & kind of short finish. This is good, but for some reason it seems to be lacking something that binds it together. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Maybe Would I buy a bottle? - Maybe NOTE - All reviews are done without factoring in price.

Nose - nice balance of raisins and ripe apples, dark honey, apple/grape leather, light cinnamon "spice" Taste - Gentle ginger spice/heat/tingle, apples, light raisin, dark honey, light bitter fruit stems Finish - Lingering apple, ginger heat remains, lingering bitter fruit stems that seem to build in intensity Score - 77/100 Final Thoughts - I wanted to like this a bit more than I did, especially after saying their stuff is usually decent, but overhyped but sadly it all sort of fell apart after the nose. Nose was decent, good balance of oak and sherry notes of raisins and seemed overall very pleasant. The palate started out nicely but had a bit more of a ginger spice/heat/tingle than expected for a 43% and this sort of masked up the apple & raisin vibe a bit. Adding to this was the fact that there was this odd bitterness that took over halfway through and just lingered through to the finish where it kind of got a bit distracting. It lingered long through the finish and it felt like your palate was fighting the fruit stem bitterness to find the sweet apples and raisins you originally tasted. 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 - (w/o water) Juicy red berries, hint of tannic fruity dryness, charcoal filtered apple juice (w/ water) Removes tannic dryness, light saline, red berries Taste - (w/o water) Rich dark apple juice backbone, light clean charcoal/coal smoke, salt smoked cherries, saline, dry tannic red berries, hint of dried apple rings (w/ water) Any trace of smoke is gone, more cherries, saline, red berries, dark apple juice, less tannic Finish - (w/o water) Lingering light smoke/charcoal, red berries, dried apple rings, light goji berry medicinal berry sweetness (w/ water) Any hint of smoke/charcoal/medicinal vibe is gone, goji berries, cherries, apple Score - 90/100 Final Thoughts - This one is quite good and I'm a bit mixed as to whether or not this is better with or without water. Without water there's this odd smoky component like they took a few grains of smoked salt & dropped them into the bottle, which makes it quite interesting, but also adds this mineral aspect that's a bit distracting at the same time. I'm a huge fan of the nose but for some reason the palate just doesn't live up to the intensity of the nose. Finish is more interesting without water, but at the same time it has this weirdly medicinal/metallic vibe that goes away with some water. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Maybe Would I buy a bottle? - Not at current prices NOTE - All reviews are done without factoring in price.

Nose - Sweet/savory "funk" similar to taking rich sweet syrupy raisins/dates/prunes and slashing them with a bit of soy sauce, chocolate, wet chewing tobacco Taste - Sweet intense raisins/prunes layered over a dark apple juice, gentle ginger ale heat, hints of dark chocolate, maraschino cocktail cherry liquid, sweet syrupy amaretto Finish - Lingering sweet w/ hints of cinnamon spice, syrupy dark dried stone fruits, light bitter cherry pits, almond shell sweet bitterness Score - 80/100 Final Thoughts - I think I wanted to like this one a bit more than I actually did. Although there isn't really anything extremely off putting about this, it's a bit on the syrupy sweet side. Like they used really wet sherry & port casks to finish this and inside the barrels was remnants of thick syrupy sweet sludge that just sweetened this entire thing. Flavors are good and I definitely see this as more of a dessert whisky than anything else due to how sweet this comes across from start to finish. Maybe treat it as an apertif or digestif with some bitter dark chocolate to finish a meal? Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Maybe Would I buy a bottle? - Maybe NOTE - All reviews are done without factoring in price.

Batch #45 Nose - Tropical fruits, grilled pineapple, ripe cut apples, brown sugar syrup, fresh ginger Taste - Fairly thin, tropical sweet, pineapple juice, apple juice, coconut water, fresh pressed sugarcane juice, caramelized sugar, light fruity bitter on tail end Finish - Lingering sweet, tropical fruit juice, char grilled pineapple, light fruity bitterness at end returns Score - 84/100 Final Thoughts - This was an interesting one as this nosed and drank above its proof. This tasted like it was more 43-46% than the 40% it was bottled at. It's been a while since I've had the standard 18 offering, but this feels like that, but with the sweetness dialed up a bit with a bit more cooked/caramelized tropical fruit vibe. Mouthfeel is a bit thin, but the flavor is nice. This feels like something I wouldn't mind sipping on when I'm in a shaded cabana by the beach or something. I have a feeling this would be great mixed with some coconut water & made into a highball that way. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Maybe Would I buy a bottle? - Probably Not NOTE - All reviews are done without factoring in price.

Nose - Very clean soft grainy sweetness, light floral, light grass, hints of sake, 7up or a flat lemon/lime/citrus soda Taste - Sweet grainy sweetness, like a sweet filtered sake, gentle sugarcane "funk", hints of flat lemon/lime soda, gentle heat, light citrusy bitter, ginger beer fizz Finish - Lingering filtered sake vibe, gentle ginger beer/7up/Sprite vibe, lemon/pomelo zest pops right at the end Score - 79/100 Final Thoughts - The initial color on this one was quite light, but I've learned that lack of color does not necessarily mean lack of flavor. The nose on this one immediately screamed grain whisky to me and upon further nosing, it started to lean more towards a sake vibe, so I assumed it was a rice whisky. I did get hints of this rum/sugarcane "funk" so maybe a rum cask finish? On the palate the sugarcane "funk" continues along with this fizzy feeling from the heat, but a flat ginger beer/7up flavor. The finish on this one is surprisingly long, like a very filtered sake served warm with some flat 7up, which sounds pretty bad, but isn't that bad. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Maybe Would I buy a bottle? - Probably not NOTE - All reviews are done without factoring in price.

Nose - Floral vanilla, sweet multigrain dinner rolls, honey butter, sweet sprouted grains, white chocolate Taste - Bit on the sweet side, shows its youth with not quite an ethanol bite but just not 100% put together, gentle heat, soft grain sweetness, very gentle on the palate, almost buttery, soft sweet milk bread, like a Kind bar in liquid form Finish - Grainy sweetness lingers, light heat, fruity/grain bitter, light floral caramel, milk bread Score - 76/100 Final Thoughts - This was an interesting whiskey in that it doesn't really have any off putting notes and yet at the same time it doesn't really taste like any other whiskey I've had before. The very unique grain blend creates this very gentle mouthfeel that almost makes it seem like it's mostly a soft winter wheat whiskey. It gives off this soft multi-grain milk bread vibe, but has these darker lightly toasted grain notes. It's lightly floral, hints of white chocolate, hints of bitter fruit stems, but they seem to come and go. None of the flavors really linger for a long period of time, they just seemingly come and go as they please. This is something that isn't amazing, but it's not bad. Something you can very easily sip on and not have to think about it too much. It might make a good highball if you don't use any citrus as I think that might mask the flavors a bit too much. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Maybe Would I buy a bottle? - Not another at the price its at NOTE - All reviews are done without factoring in price.

Bruichladdich 14 2003 Micro-Provenance Bourbon/Calvados Cask 10/179-1 / 60.8% ABV 2003/12/04 to 2018/12/18 Bourbon/Calvados Cask 10/179-1 Bottled Exclusively for the Laddie Crew UK Nose - (w/o water) Sweet scalded milk sweetness, lactic "funk", hint of saline, bitter apples like crushed seeds/stems/skins, watery apple juice (w/ water) More saline, less bitter apple, less lactic "funk" Taste - (w/o water) Bit hot, light bitter apple, lots of crushed apple seeds/stems, hint of saline, heat fades at end (w/ water) Greatly reduced heat, more fruity oak, bitterness lingers, saline appears more strongly at the end Finish - (w/o water) Distinctly apple but a bit bitter crushed seeds/stems, gentle mouth warming, bit too much fruity bitterness that lingers (w/ water) Bitter apples still, lingering saline Score - 79/100 Final Thoughts - I have a feeling I might have wanted to like this one a bit more than I actually did. I'm not sure if they picked a bad calvados cask to finish this in, but I got quite a bit of overoaked/bitter fruity apple notes that were a bit off. It was still a very drinkable dram, but the bitterness was scaled up a level that I think threw this off balance a bit. The apple vibe from start to finish was nice, but I think it was too much bitter, almost crushed apple seed bitter. A bit of water definitely helped with overall balance, but I think it threw off that gentle heat that gave it a bit of a Clynelish waxy vibe I liked. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - No Would I buy a bottle? - Not another NOTE - All reviews are done without factoring in price.