Tastes

Nose - Sweet clean smoke, vanilla, honey, hint of saline, light apple/pear sweetness Taste - Clean coal smoke, light metallic charcoal, clean honey/vanilla sweetness, lightly fruity sweetness, hint of heavily filtered apple/pear juice, crisp sweetness, light white pepper heat Finish - Light heat lingers, lingering clean smoke, quickly fading honey sweetness Score - 74/100 Final Thoughts - So this is a very inoffensive peated offering. Not very complex, kind of one-dimensional in that the sweet seems to be that of a very light fruit, but mostly honey/vanilla "clean" sweetness. Smoke is inoffensive as it's not the wet medicinal peat, but other than that it's very forgettable. I think if I had a bottle, it'd be set aside for when I want an inoffensive mixer to add a hint of smoke to cocktails. Would I drink it if offered? - Maybe Would I specifically order it? - No Would I buy a bottle? - No

Nose - (w/o water) Spicy honey, vanilla, apple/pear juice, waxy, floral, freshly cut maple/cherry wood?, fresh red berries (w/ water) Less sweet, more waxy, nice fruity honey apple, lightly oiled leather. Taste - (w/o water) Super light smoke, white pepper/ginger spice, sweet floral/fruity honey, vanilla, dark apple/pear juice, light apple core bitter, white cranberry juice sweet/tart (w/ water) Lightens the white pepper tingle, less oily/waxy mouthfeel, otherwise all flavors are still present. Finish - (w/o water) Light lingering ginger/white pepper heat, dark apple juice, sweet, light metallic oak (w/ water) Spice is more delayed, metallic finish is greatly reduced, similar dark apple/watered down honey sweet. Score - 91/100 Final Thoughts - This one surprised me quite a bit. It's a very nicely balanced blended Scotch, which I guess is what Johnnie Walker is aiming to do. Super gentle wisp of smoke on the palate which leads me to believe they put a small amount of Caol Ila in there, but this tastes like a large part Clynelish due to the nice oily/waxy mouthfeel and whatever older grain whiskies they have. This is a very easy sipping offering and is frankly what I think the "standard" Blue Label should be for the price. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - No Would I buy a bottle? - Not another unless I found it for less than $200 USD

Nose - (w/o water) Intense dark caramel/toffee, sweet cherry coke syrup, tannic leather, cinnamon, dark roast coffee (w/ water) Lightens the nose a bit, more oaky vanilla dark caramels, dark chocolate, chocolate covered cherries. Taste - (w/o water) Hot, spicy cinnamon, sweet cherries, dark toffee, dark chocolate, hint of dark espresso sweet, coke syrup (w/ water) Greatly tamed heat on entry, delayed cinnamon spice, light oaky/tannic vanilla toffee appears, oaky cherry coke syrup, dark mocha latte sweet. Finish - (w/o water) Long lasting cinnamon heat, lingering light tannic sweetness, light oaky cherry coke syrup, cocoa nibs (w/ water) More pronounced cinnamon heat, oddly enough, more of a sharper cherry sweetness, dark toffee, coke syrup, bitter dark chocolate. Score - 90/100 Final Thoughts - This was a tasty bourbon for sure and had lots of notes I love in a higher proof bourbon of the cherry coke syrup and subtle leather notes I get with older bourbons. It was good, but didn't really have much of a "wow" factor other than it did feel a bit hot even for the high proof. Nothing really off putting in this one, and it definitely took a few drops of water very well and I think would be the ideal way to enjoy this pour as it's quite hot otherwise. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Yes Would I buy a bottle? - Yes, at MSRP or close to it

Nose - Rich cinnamon, oaky caramel/toffee, toasted vanilla sugar. Taste - Oily, spicy cinnamon, light oaky vanilla, dark caramel/toffee, toasted brulee crust, dark chocolate, light dark cherry sweet. Finish - Lasting cinnamon tingle, light oaky caramel/toffee, dark chocolate, lightly tannic, light dark cherry sweet at end. Score - 92/100 Final Thoughts - This is quite an incredible bourbon. Not overly complex, but what is there is amazingly well balanced and quite tasty. Zero off-putting notes, great nose, oaky but not super tannic/dryingly so. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Yes Would I buy a bottle? - Yes

Nose - Rich dark vanilla caramel, spicy cinnamon, hint of sweet caramelized oak, dark chocolate, cocoa nibs, oaky dark chocolate mocha latte. Taste - Sweet dark vanilla caramels, hint of salt, dark chocolate, light sweet caramelized/burnt brulee topping, cinnamon on back end. Finish - Creamy, buttery, then transitions to light cinnamon spice, dark chocolate covered dark vanilla caramels, light cocoa nib bittersweet. Score - 91/100 Final Thoughts - I really like this bourbon. It's very much a dessert dram to me in that it tastes like a boozy cinnamon dark mocha latte to me. I happen to love dark chocolate and coffee, so that's a win-win for me. I don't think this is something I could sip on everyday as it is a bit on the sweeter side, but I think this is a great dessert sipper paired with some dark chocolate or made into a desserty old fashioned or manhattan. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Yes Would I buy a bottle? - Yes

Nose - Light cinnamon, dark stone fruits, treacle toffee, dark vanilla caramel, hint of leather. Taste - Dark stone fruits, hint of cinnamon & giner spice, hints of orange zest, treacle toffee, light leather, sweet tobacco, dark honey. Finish - Lingering dark stone fruits, hint of leather, light treacle toffee bittersweet. Score - 90/100 Final Thoughts - This is definitely more of the sherried Macallan profile I expect from a Macallan release. This was amazingly well balanced from start to finish and was just a very easy sipping sherried Macallan. No offputting notes or odd bitterness. Nice nose, not too complex, but nicely sherried. Overall quite delicious. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Yes Would I buy a bottle? - Debating if I want to try & locate another but prices are going up.

Nose - Vanilla, light caramel, orange/blood orange, floral honey, dried apricots, golden raisins, sweet red berries. Taste - Fruity, floral vanilla, hints of ginger, light orange/grapefruit rind sweet/bitter, golden raisins. Finish - Oily/waxy finish, lingering ginger tingle, fruity floral citrusy vanilla, light fruity citrus pith bitter. Score - 84/100 Final Thoughts - This had an amazing nose that was apparent from just opening the bottle. It just radiated this very nice pleasant aroma of bright flowers and citrusy fruits with a pleasant honey/vanilla backdrop. Sadly it fell a bit flat on the tongue as it had this slightly off putting bitterness throughout that was a bit distracting in this case since the flavors were so "light" in profile. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Maybe? Would I buy a bottle? - Not sure I'd pick up another.

Nose - Dark toffee, dark dried stone fruits, hints of blackberries, blueberries, dark cherries, hint of dark cocoa nibs. Taste - Dark dried stone fruits, loads of blackberry, blueberries, dark cherry juice, hints of caramel & toffee, dark honey. Finish - Lingering dark stone fruit sweet, hint of orange zest w/ a light orange pith fruity bitterness, very lightly tannic/drying at the very end. Score - 89/100 Final Thoughts - I'm really hoping I'm not rating this higher than I should after trying the absolutely horrendous Johnnie Walker White Walker, but this is quite nice. Very pleasant, well-balanced nose with the typical Macallan profile. Fantastic sherry casks as Macallan is known for because it's a nicely balanced sherry without being overly syrupy or cloyingly sweet. Nothing offputting from start to finish. I wasn't initially impressed when I first cracked open the bottle, but a few days of air time does help this one greatly. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Yes Would I buy a bottle? - Yes, and I have gotten backups.

Nose - (room temp) Sweet grain vodka, hints of melons & berries, light vanilla caramel (chilled) very subtle, light vanilla scented grain vodka. Taste - (room temp) Overly sweet splenda sweet, apple juice, wet hay, light artificially sweetened & flavored vanilla frosting, light young oak bitterness (chilled) no change Finish - (room temp) Lingering medicinal splenda sweetness, light fruity bitterness, hint of melon rinds (chilled) no change Score - 11/100 Final Thoughts - Marketing at its finest. I'm sure some people might like/appreciate this, but holy crap. This tastes like super young vanilla flavored potato/oat vodka. The color is super light, making me think I'm not far from the truth. The initial taste reminds me of High West's Silver Oat Whiskey, which is a barely aged oat whiskey. The chilling just mutes the unpleasant nose a bit but otherwise doesn't change the flavor profile much. This is pure gimmick from Diageo and they got me to bite w/ the fancy plastic shrinkwrapped bottle & Game of Thrones theme. Would I drink it if offered? - NO Would I specifically order it? - NO Would I buy a bottle? - Sadly I already did, but mainly for the bottle

Nose - (w/o water) Sweet, salty, light fruity smoke, light hint of sweet/salty pulled pork, peppery brine (w/ water) Less peppery but otherwise the same Taste - (w/o water) White pepper heat/tingle, sweet salty clean fruity smoke, smoked brined pears/apples, hint of golden raisins (w/ water) Burn is all but gone, less smoke, more saline, more apple/pear/white grape sweet Finish - (w/o water) Lingering light white pepper tingle, fruity salty smoke, smoked pear sweet (w/ water) Still has a lingering spicy tingle, fruity saline, very light clean smoke re-appears Score - 83/100 Final Thoughts - Nice balance of fruity and light smoke throughout. Nothing off-putting but at the same time nothing that really strikes me as amazing. A very pleasant peated dram that balances the smoke with salt & a light fruit. Would I drink it if offered? - Maybe Would I specifically order it? - No Would I buy a bottle? - No