Tastes

Nose - Light to mild peat, creamy apples, light vanilla, buttery custard, very light nose Taste - Creamy mouthfeel, light peat, hint of white pepper tingle, creamy custard, bright green apples, light vanilla butter caramels Finish - Creamy, lightly dry, waxy, light heat, light fruity bitterness, wisp of smoke, refreshing green apple cisp sweetness that transitions to an apple custard sweet Score - 83/100 Final Thoughts - This is quite pleasant. It's a very light style Scotch blend that reminds me a bit of Highland Park 15. The peat is subtle and the main flavors are really green apple and a buttery/waxy vanilla custard. Reminds me of the mouthfeel of a nice waxy Clynelish but I don't think there's any of that in here. Regardless, this is nice, not something I'd really reach for since peat isn't my thing, but it's subtle enough and is nicely done. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - No Would I buy a bottle? - Maybe if it was $50-60 USD?

Nose - (w/o water) Red berries, fruity apples/pears, light orange, sweet honey, corn flake metallic (w/ water) pretty much the same but the metallic is gone Taste - (w/o water) Very hot initially, syrupy but thin fruity sweet, dried persimmon like sweetness, red berries, metallic honey, lightly drying (w/ water) Less heat, more spicy red berries, metallic is gone, thing honey, faint dried apple Finish - (w/o water) Slow fading heat, light red berries, not much there (w/ water) Lingering heat again, sweet red berries/apple juice. Score - 79/100 Final Thoughts - This dram has a fairly standard nose, a tiny bit hot but not unbearable. Once it hits the palate the higher proof is a bit overwhelming but once you get over that it's fairly pleasant. Nice "generic" fruity taste and no off putting flavors, but a tiny bit boring & the heat is a bit distracting. The finish is quite boring though as the heat/tingle dominates. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - No Would I buy a bottle? - No

Nose - (w/o water) Very light peat, light brine, flamed orange peel, hint of banana, fresh red berries (w/ water) Softer nose, light fruity smoke, light goji berry sweet Taste - (w/o water) Very hot, musty fruity funk, very light smoke, light seaweed, salt, funky orange (w/ water) Weird fruity medicinal bitter smoke, salty funky sweet, musty & metallic Finish - (w/o water) Lingering heat, funky sweet-savory musty fruit, light smoke, saline, toasted seaweed (w/ water) Less heat, weird bitter metallic sweet, salty, musty fruity funk Score - 61/100 Final Thoughts - So this was an interesting one...the initial nose wasn't too bad. It was interesting and didn't seem too weird. That's about where it ends. Once it hits the palate, it's a hot mess of musty fruity funk and adding water only makes it a bit more bitter and musty. It's like they stored this in a cask that had some moss or something growing on the oak as it tasted a bit weird and off. This definitely has this strange umami salty smoky funk that I'm not a huge fan of. Would I drink it if offered? - No Would I specifically order it? - No Would I buy a bottle? - No

Nose - Bit sharp on the nose, spicy rye, hint of vanilla, caramel, light cherry cough drops, cinnamon, light herbal/spice, hint of maple syrup. Taste - Light herbal sweet mint, cinnamon toffee, maraschino cherries mixed with fresh bing cherries, caramel, hint of pine, maple syrup, light drying/tannic. Finish - Lingering cinnamon spice, maple toffee, cherry cough drops, cinnamon red hots, sharp sweet Score - 85/100 Final Thoughts - So this was the first release featuring some of High West's own distillate and so far I'm not sure if I'm a huge fan. This year's release doesn't seem to have the same depth as previous years and it's a bit sharp on the sweetness and not as refined as previous releases. I don't get that nice stewed dark stone fruits as I typically get and this has more of a sharp singular sweet. The maple touch is nice, but it doesn't seem to really blend together very well. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - No Would I buy a bottle? - Already did, not sure I'd want too many more

Nose - Rich syrupy dried berries, raisins, cherries, hint of honey & candied ginger. Taste - Nice orange-ginger fruity spice/heat, not as syrupy as the nose suggests, raisins, dried cherries, light fruit stem bitter (apple core & grape seeds/vines) Finish - Fading orange-ginger heat/spice, light metallic sweetness, light fruity bitter still present, apple stems, grape seeds. Score - 87/100 Final Thoughts - This was true to the sherry bomb style I've found w/ the Aberlour expressions I've tried thus far, but more so on the nose. The palate was a bit toned down from the typical sherry sweet and had a bit more white pepper/ginger spice than expected. This would have been great, but there's that light metallic and fruity bitter that get a bit distracting at the end of the palate. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Maybe Would I buy a bottle? - Maybe

Nose - Sweet apple/pear juice, hint of red berries, caramel, tropical flowers Taste - Fairly thin, blueberries, apple/pear juice, faint vanilla, caramel sweet Finish - Lasting berry/apple/pear juice, light vanilla caramel, light white pepper tingle Score - 88/100 Final Thoughts - So not the most complex dram but this one is super easy to drink. Very pleasant flavors that are nicely balanced although a bit on the thin side. I could see a bottle of this being very quickly finished in a night with some friends and something as simple as a plate of fruit and lighter flavored cheeses. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Maybe Would I buy a bottle? - Maybe

Nose - Sweet campfire smoke, sweet cereal malt, tiny hint of dark toffee, very faint hint of berries Taste - Sweet campfire smoke, very light apple juice sweet, hint of vanilla & caramel sweet, brown simple, light kettle corn metallic Finish - Light sweet campfire smoke, light kettle corn metallic, metallic apple juice Score - 77/100 Final Thoughts - So this is a very clean and simple lightly peated malt. I can tolerate the peat in this one as it's a lot cleaner, drier smoke than that of Laphroaig. That being said, it's also a fairly simple malt too where I struggled to find many flavors other than that of a straightforward cereal malt. Tiny hints of apple & maybe some berries, but that was pushing it. The kettle corn metallic taste was a bit strange but not too unpleasant. This might be a decent intro to a lightly peated malt but I think it might be a bit boring. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - No Would I buy a bottle? - No

Nose - Toasted sugar, milk chocolate, caramel, very faint sweet mint, untoasted sesame, cherry cough syrup Taste - Sweet vanilla, hint of toasted coconut, faint sweet mint, lightly dry & tannic, light orange zest. Finish - Lasting sweet cinnamon heat/tingle, sweet toasted vanilla, splenda-like coconut, light toasted bitter orange pith. Score - 78/100 Final Thoughts - So this was a strange one trying blind. On initial nose before it had a tiny bit of time to air out, it had a more prominent sweet mint note which led me to believe it was some sort of rye, but then this quickly faded and the more classic vanilla caramel notes took over. This led me to believe this was a high-rye bourbon. Initially pretty pleasant on the palate with an interesting toasted coconut flavor but sadly this transitioned into this sort of off-putting splendaish sweet with a hint of bitter citrus pith. Not too bad on the nose & initial palate, but the finish kind of kills it. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - No Would I buy a bottle? - Probably not

Nose - Dark caramel, hint of grass, hint of spicy leather, dark apple-cranberry juice. Taste - Rich & oily mouthfeel, nice fruity spice, dark caramel, crisp berry cider, sweet leather, slightly fruity metallic, grilled stone fruits. Finish - Lingering warm spice, dark fleshed fruits, light metallic, light spicy fruity bitterness Score - 88/100 Final Thoughts - This is quite nice, it's pretty apparently this has spent some time aging in oak as it shows on the nose & palate. Nice rich mouthfeel and bold nose. Still maintains a lot of the characteristics I get from an Irish though of a very clean, almost grain-like quality. Interesting how I get a hint of the grassy notes on the nose, but it doesn't really show up on the palate. The only thing that's a bit off-putting is the metallic notes I get near the end. It's a bit distracting from the very pleasant initial experience. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - No Would I buy a bottle? - Probably not another

Nose - (w./o water) Light peat/smoke, sweet savory smoked meat, chocolate, light brine, chili pepper spice, similar to a chocolate mole smoked ham (w/ water) Reduced peat/smoke, sweet soy sauce, salted sweet jerky, cocoa powder Taste - (w/o water) Bit dry, hot chili/pepper spice/tingle, light smoke, toasted/roasted barley, chocolate, sweet chili pepper turkey jerky, reduced teriyaki sauce (w/ water) still dry, reduced chili taste, sweet smoked jerky, more roasted/toasted barley, soy sauce chocolate Finish - (w/o water) toasted sweet chili tingle, sweet smoked meat, weird metallic sweet, chocolate, burnt sugar sweet (w/ water) lasting chili tingle, light metallic sweet jerky, toasted barley Score - 75/100 Final Thoughts - I think I'm just not a fan of Westland's stuff. Their spirit is on the younger side & it shows (most are less than 4-5 years old) in the lack of depth. The raw toasted barley shows through and maybe I'm not a huge fan of that? The garry oak adds this salty sweet jerky note that I guess I'm not a huge fan of. I can see how people might like this, but it's definitely not for me. Would I drink it if offered? - No Would I specifically order it? - No Would I buy a bottle? - No