Tastes

Nose - Light sweet peat, over-steeped black tea, clean grain alcohol sweetness, hint of cognac leather. Taste - Nice black & white pepper spice/tingle, hint of a dark fruity sherried Scotch, dark dried stone fruits, dark barrel aged apple cider oaky sweet, faint hint of fruity smoke, dark honey. Finish - Lingering white pepper tingle, light fruity smoke, sweet dark honey/dried fruit sweetened black tea. Score - 85/100 Final Thoughts - This was quite pleasant. I haven't personally had Black Label very often, but from what I recall, this definitely packs a bit more of a punch in the flavor department. I think it has a bit more of a fruity component than the standard Black label and the higher proof helps with the mouthfeel too. It feels more mouth coating versus the thin feeling of the standard Black. The fruit cuts the smoke so that it's a very faint player in the background which is nice. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Maybe Would I buy a bottle? - No, not at the current price

Nose - Sharp sweet dried red fruits, vanilla simple, meaty/salty/savory mushroom funk Taste - Rich red fruits, hints of banana, cinnamon heat, toffee/caramel sweet, savory salty grilled mushroom on the back palate Finish - Light cinnamon spice heat, salty/savory umami notes, dried red berry sweet, lingering red berry waxy fruit snack sweet Score - 65/100 Final Thoughts - So initial impression on the nose is that this is a nice pleasant red berry sweet, but then I get hit with this odd salty/savory meaty mushroomy funk. Threw me off a bit so I took a sip and same thing happened where I get this pleasant red berry, caramel sweetness that suddenly turns into this odd salty/savory mushroom funk. Same on the finish. Normally I enjoy sweet & savory notes, but for some reason this didn't really work together at all. It seemed very off balance and overly salty. I'm not sure if I got a bad bottle, but the cork seemed just fine. Would I drink it if offered? - No Would I specifically order it? - No Would I buy a bottle? - No

Nose - Floral ashy smoke, sweet vanilla frosting, sea spray, sweet fresh hay. Taste - Sweet ashy smoke, light creamy/waxy mouthfeel, hint of sea salt, light vanilla simple, tiny hint of white pepper tingle. Finish - Lingering sweet ash, light ashy bitterness, sweet vanilla simple. Score - 80/100 Final Thoughts - Although I'm not normally a huge fan of peat, I could tolerate this one. It wasn't too much like drinking bandaids/tar like I get from Laphroaig. This had a nice simple ashy smoke to it that was tolerable and a general overall sweetness that came from the malt & had hints of vanilla from what I'm guessing is primarily ex-Bourbon barrels. Nice hint of sea salt throughout and this pleasant waxy mouthfeel. Not exactly my favorite, but I can see where people could enjoy this. Would I drink it if offered? - No Would I specifically order it? - No Would I buy a bottle? - No

2014 Edition Nose - Sweet fruity smoke, sea salt air, grilled fruit char, fresh strawberries/cherries Taste - Sweet fruity salty sea air, lightly smoky like the morning after a bonfire on the beach, light fruity black peppercorn spice, fresh red berry sweet similar to that you get in cherry 7up. Finish - Light smoky brine, hint of seaweed umami, quickly fading red berry sweet. Score - 89/100 Final Thoughts - Not really being a huge fan of peated stuff, I quite liked this. This had a bit of peat/smoke, but it was toned down and well balanced with the sherry. It was a nice balance and not overwhelming. The flavors didn't fight each other and worked with each other quite well with a salty component playing a pretty large role. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Maybe Would I buy a bottle? - Maybe, if the price was right. I'd value this around the $60-70 range

Nose - Sharp sweet minty vanilla, cherry/berry cough drops, grapefruit pith, faint butterscotch sweetness in the background Taste - Sharp sweet vanilla/mint/herbal simple syrup, ginger/cinnamon spice, sweet orange/grapefruit zest. Finish - Very sweet herbal simple, very artificially sweet, like splenda, lingering cinnamon/ginger tingle, bitter grapefuit zest mingles with some ginger spice. Score - 69/100 Final Thoughts - Looking back on my review of the 2 year, I think I probably scored it at least 10 points too high. After sitting down with this, I found that although it's quite unique, it has this way too sweet that turns into an artificial sweet, mixed with this artificial sweet mint vibe. It's interesting for sure, but the more it sits on the tongue and you let it stand, the more weird and slightly off putting it gets. Not sure if I got a bad batch or something, but this was way more splenda-like than I remembered. I'll have to see how this holds up in a Sazerac cocktail as I think the weird sweetness in it might complement the absinthe rinse quite well. Would I drink it if offered? - No Would I specifically order it? - No Would I buy a bottle? - No

Nose - Oaky, barrel aged vanilla, hint of bananas, caramel, cocoa nib bitterness. Taste - Oaky vanilla caramel, nice cinnamon spice, light fruity bitter like very unripe plantains. Finish - Lingering cinnamon burn that transitions into a lightly drying oaky vanilla simple, the caramel richness is gone and is replaced with a lightly bitter fruity tartness. Score - 71/100 Final Thoughts - This is a very inoffensive bourbon and to a certain extent kind of reminds me of a higher proof Jack Daniel's. It has this odd banana-like quality in addition to the typical "bourbon" notes, although this one seemed a bit on the oaky side which I normally don't mind, but it just seemed a bit boring. This isn't bad neat, but I think I'll delegate this one to mixing or maybe baking into my banana bread as it already has hints of banana in it. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - No Would I buy a bottle? - Not again, good but there are better/more interesting bottles in this price range

Nose - Thick "meaty" aroma, dark chocolate covered fresh bing cherries, underlying body of a dark apple/pear cider, almost a sweet/savory similar to that of a sweet soy sauce. Taste - White/black peppercorn fruity spice/heat, initially thin but drying that turns into a mouth coating dryness, waxy dark chocolate covered dried cherries, sweet leather/tobacco, sweet and lightly fruity soy sauce. Finish - Lingering white pepper tingle, light salty/savory/meaty chocolate w/ a hint of dried cherry sweet. Score - 86/100 Final Thoughts - This was quite an interesting dram. The individual components make it sound like an amazing dram, but for some reason they just don't feel very well balanced. It is a tasty dram for sure, but the flavors sort of feel like they're fighting with each other rather than working with each other. There aren't really any off putting notes, but I'll describe it like a 1000 person choir, with one or two people singing w/ a horrible head cold. It doesn't really diminish the overall effect, but there's just something that isn't tying everything together. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - No Would I buy a bottle? - No

Nose - Dark chocolate, toffee, Snack Pack chocolate pudding cups, oak. Taste - Cinnamon spice infused raisins & plums, white pepper heat, dark chocolate, oak, tootsie rolls, chocolate pudding. Finish - Ling lingering white pepper spice heat, more chocolate pudding that fades to a dark chocolate covered raisin sweet, lingering cinnamon spice. Score - 85/100 Final Thoughts - This definitely tasted like an older Scotch in that it had that deep, brooding, wet, aged, soaked oak smell and taste to it. It smelled dark, had a tiny hint of dark stone fruits on the nose, but otherwise seemed to be dominated by this chocolate pudding cup & cocoa powder vibe throughout. There seemed to have been at least a tiny portion of sherried Scotch in there, but it was mostly dominated by the chocolaty nature. Nothing really offensive, but the cheap chocolate pudding cup vibe kinda killed it for me. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - No Would I buy a bottle? - No

Nose - Mix of dried & fresh stone fruits, caramel, strawberry jam. Taste - Fairly thin mouthfeel, strawberry jelly, hint of milk chocolate, caramel, raisin, orange zest. Finish - Light cinnamon heat, watered down strawberry jelly, light caramel. Score - 72/100 Final Thoughts - Mixed feelings about this, nose seemed pretty plain, didn't have that dark musty stone fruit odor of an older aged sherried Scotch but had more vibrant & fresh aromas. Seemed fairly thin, mostly on the sweet side. Not much different on the palate except it seemed a bit more muted than the nose and then very quickly disappears on the finish. Nothing really offensive about this one, but it's just a little boring for a sherry finish. Not great, not bad, but not memorable. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - No Would I buy a bottle? - No

Nose - Lightly smoky charcoal, dark apple/pear cider/juice, ripe strawberry/cherry hard candies. Taste - Apple juice w/ a hint of bright cherry/strawberry juice sweetness, initial faint smoky ash that transitions into a white pepper heat. Finish - Lingering sweet smoky apple juice, faint white pepper heat, smoky ash that turns into an ashy bitter feeling on the tongue, similar to taking a deep breath at a campfire the morning after it has smothered out. Score - 71/100 Final Thoughts - This is not bad, but it's not great. It's relatively lightly peated and it's not horribly offensive like what I get from a Laphroaig 10 which is very rubber/iodine/bandaid. This is more like an old campfire ash peat which is tolerable. It has this lightly sherried apple/pear juice intense sweetness throughout that has a very thin mouthfeel. I could see this being used as a lightly peated variation of a blended scotch for use in a cocktail. I'd struggle to sip this neat on the regular. Would I drink it if offered? - No Would I specifically order it? - No Would I buy a bottle? - No