Tastes

57.8% ABV Cask #0090714056A | Bottle #030/184 Nose - (w/o water) Sharp syrupy sweet dried prunes/figs, dark chocolate, strawberry preserves, oaked cider (w/ water) Tiny bit less cloyingly sweet but otherwise similar. Taste - (w/o water) Drying, yet syrupy sweet, dark dried prunes, white pepper heat, cloves & cinnamon (w/ water) Less syrupy, more balanced dark berry/stone fruit preserves, heat is greatly reduced. Finish - (w/o water) Long lingering dark dried stone fruit syrupy sweet, light spice bitterness, mouth drying (w/ water) Still sweet but less viscous, less burn, less bitter, tiny hint of sour berry at the end. Score - 83/100 Final Thoughts - This one was just overall cloyingly sweet. It felt like it was dominated by a thick dried dark stone fruit syrupy sweetness like they used a wet port cask or something. It was quite one dimensional and was just purely sweet until the addition of a tiny bit of water which in this case greatly helps it out. Sadly the tropical/floral notes I get in their other offerings is completely hidden by the port and therefore makes this quite one dimensional in a bad way. I think based on what barrel/bottle you get, you'll need to add a tiny bit of water to get it to taste not like a super strong port. On another note, at the very very end of the finish, a tiny bit of dark chocolate notes do appear making it feel like a dark chocolate dipped dried dark stone fruits. This definitely feels like a dessert dram.

59.4% ABV Cask #B100924078A | Bottle #201/213 Nose - (w/o water) Sweet floral tropical vanilla, fried plantains, toasted coconut (w/ water) No significant change, maybe a tiny less "heat" Taste - (w/o water) Sweet creamy banana/vanilla pudding, nilla wafers, oaky tropical vanilla, light pineapple sweet, white pepper heat (w/ water) reduced white pepper heat Finish - (w/o water) Hot white pepper tingle, banana pudding sweet, drying vanilla oak, floral tropical sweet (w/ water) Significantly less white pepper heat, otherwise the same. Score - 90/100 Final Thoughts - I haven't had any of Kavalan's "standard" malts but I think this would probably be the closest representation. Minor vanilla and oak influence from the ex-Bourbon casks, but otherwise what I take to be the base spirit really shines through. Nice floral, tropical hinted malt shines through. This one takes to water amazingly well in that all it really does is tame the white pepper heat/tingle from the proof, but all of the flavors remain balanced, it's quite surprising. Amazingly simple, yet complex enough to not be boring, I'm a fan.

57.1% ABV Cask #S090612012A | Bottle #099 of 517 Nose - (w/o water) Intense dried red cherries/dates, darkly roasted almond nutty/sweet, hint of chocolate, hint of toasted coconut. (w/ water) More mellow red cherry, adds a hint of milk chocolate latte foam. Taste - (w/o water) Intense fairly sweet, fruity peppercorns, white pepper tingle, dried red cherries, fruity charred pineapple (w/ water) Nice balanced sweetness, like a red berry/carambola (star fruit)/pineapple sweet, lighter white pepper heat. Finish - (w/o water) Lingering white pepper tingle, tropical sweet, pineapples, cherry oddly fades and is almost non-existent (w/ water) fairly similar but with less white pepper heat. Score - 87/100 Final Thoughts - This was definitely better than my previous experience with a small mini bottle of the Sherry finished Kavalan. It was a lot more balanced and retained more of that oddly tropical pineapple vibe I've gotten from Kavalan. Sherry wasn't too cloyingly sweet in this one and it worked well. A tiny bit of water reduced the heat/tingle quite a bit without muting the flavors too much which is a huge plus.

Nose - (w/o water) Hot, sharp tropical fruity heat, cayenne spiced grilled pineapple, sweet habanero heat, faint sweet baking spices, cloves. (w/ water) Greatly reduced heat, more strawberry/cherry preserves, less tropical.\ Taste - (w/o water) Hot sweet heat, white pepper burn/tingle, sweet dried red berries, intense tropical sweet, grilled pineapple (w/ water) Softens the heat, adds a creamy yet drying mouthfeel, more rounded/balanced berry/tropical fruit vibe. Finish - (w/o water) Long lingering red berry sweet, hint of maple syrup, heat fades fairly quickly, grilled fruits (w/ water) Long lasting pear/red berry mixture, very faint bitter like that of pineapple char. Score - 90/100 Final Thoughts - As I expected, this one comes out of the gate a bit hot. A tiny bit of air time in the glass makes it more tolerable and this odd sweet spice note I get slowly fades a bit with some time. Sherry influence is there w/ bright red berry influence and is mixed with what I get as their standard very tropical hot malt. Oddly enough the hot heat fades fairly quickly. Like other Amruts that I've tried, this greatly benefits from a tiny bit of water as it softens up the hot heat a bit and rounds out everything nicely. It is quite easy to add too much and make it muted pretty quickly though, so use a dropper if you can.

Nose - Baked green apples, light fruity tropical vanilla, lightly spiced floral honey. Taste - Toasted green apples, dark floral honey, light woody/smoky spice, golden raisins rehydrated in a lightly oaked white wine, tastes "dark" at the same time being light & fruity. Finish - Lightly fruity bitterness lingers like an oaked white wine, mild white pepper heat, dark golden raisins, dried apple rings. Score - 82/100 Final Thoughts - This was a very interesting Japanese blend in that it tasted both "dark" & "light" at the same time if that makes any sense. I got this dark oaky profile at the same time as fresh green apples. Almost like dried apple rings that haven't been treated so they look a bit darker in color, but still retain their light fruity profile? Regardless it's a very gentle blend, nothing off putting and very light. Well balanced if not a bit boring other than the dark, yet light fruity/floral balance. This one might fair pretty well in a highball, but with maybe a bit less soda water to let this lighter whisky play a larger role.

Nose - Very light fruity/floral vanilla, light caramel, hints of Asian pear, carambola (star fruit). Taste - Fairly thin and light, pear/white grape juice, floral, light balanced fruity bittersweet like that of a pomelo pith, gentle woody/spice tingle. Finish - Light lingering wood/spice tingle, fruity & floral notes remain, more Asian pear & carambola along w/ fading pomelo pith bittersweet. Score - 81/100 Final Thoughts - This one screams Japanese blend. Flavors are very light, well put together, nothing offensive, but subtle. Fairly boring on the nose, but very floral & almost gentle purfume-like. I have a feeling this is best served neat as it seems like it would very quickly disappear in a highball or any other mixture. Very light & gentle summery feel, something you can sip on and quickly forget about. Nothing off-putting but at the same time nothing really memorable.

63.75% Nose - (w/o water) Sweet creamed corn sweet, vanilla, buttery vanilla caramels, strawberry hard candies, latte foam milky sweetness (w/ water) Less sharp sweetness, more prominent oak, adds a hint of dark chocolate. Taste - (w/o water) Sweet cherry vanilla, strong cinnamon/white pepper heat/tingle/burn, light drying sweet oak, coke concentrate (w/ water) Significantly less oak, more cinnamon sweetness, cherry vanilla latte foam sweet. Finish - (w/o water) Lingering white pepper/cinnamon burn, lingering hot cherry-vanilla sweetness, similar to a super carbonated cherry-vanilla coke, hint of oddly medicinal oak (w/ water) Less burn, more lightly oaked, like you just drank a cherry-vanilla bitters topped bourbon highball Score - 91/100 Final Thoughts - This was amazingly a lot lighter on the nose than I had expected for a 60+% ABV offering, but maybe that's because my nose and palate have gotten used to the higher proof. Regardless, this one drinks quite a bit hot out of the bottle and although it's full of flavor as it is, I think it greatly benefits from a tiny bit of water to soften out the ethanol burn a bit and allows the flavors to bloom a bit more. The intense sweetness is toned down quite a bit, but it makes it an infinitely more sip-able bourbon with a splash of water. Price point is a tiny bit high (but that's probably because I'm in WA State) but this is definitely something I would consider grabbing another bottle of since it's value can be extended with adding a tiny bit of water to each dram.

Nose - Strong oaky vanilla, light caramel sweet, hint of roasted peanuts, lightly waxy, faint dark cherry twizzlers in the background. Taste - Sweet dark luxardo cherry sweet makes a strong appearance on the palate, cinnamon spice & heat, caramelized vanilla sugar, oak, creamy vanilla latte foam sweetness. Finish - Lingering cinnamon spice heat, oaky, light bitter, sweet dried cherry sweet, faint bitter peanut shell/skins appear again. Score - 84/100 Final Thoughts - I struggled to get any PX influence on this one in the nose & apparently all it took was a single sip to maybe break the surface tension or something? It was very weak on the nose and "different" on the palate. It seemed very one dimensional sweet of luxardo cherry versus dark fruits and chocolate like I usually get from sherry finished whiskies. To me this tasted like they just took their bonded bourbon, finished it briefly in px sherry, bottled it in a fancy bottle, & sold it in a fancy box for a significant markup. I will admit the extra finishing helps neutralize the peanuty notes I typically get from Beam stuff, but didn't completely get rid of it. This wasn't a bad dram by any means, and of course I wouldn't turn it down if offered, but I don't think this is something I'd want to spend my money on getting an entire bottle of.

Nose - (w/o water) Dark oaky brown simple, vanilla cream/pudding, leather, coffee Werther's (w/ water) Adds a tiny bit of roasted peanut shell note Taste - (w/o water) Hot cinnamon heat on the tongue, very oaky vanilla brown simple, leather, sweet tobacco, hint of cherry coke syrup, very light roasted peanut nutty sweetness on the backend (w/ water) Cinnamon heat greatly reduced, more pronounced oaky cherry vanilla coke syrup, more creamy peanut butter sweet. Finish - (w./o water) Oaky roasted sweet nutty peanut butter dominates, lingering cinnamon heat, very faint luxardo cherry sweet (w/ water) Lingering sweet oaky cherry hinted nutty peanut butter dominates with a faint hint of cinnamon heat. Score - 86/100 Final Thoughts - This one definitely needs a bit of air time in the glass to really open up and I assume some oxidation time in the bottle will help as well. Initially the nose seemed very one dimensional, but letting it sit a while definitely helped. It's been a while since I've had any Knob Creek offerings so I don't have the best baseline, but this didn't initially scream "traditional Beam" to me until it had time to air a bit. If I had to summarize this up, it would be a traditional barrel proof Beam offering that hides itself until its had some time to air out or had a splash of water. It's tasty for sure, but this pour doesn't really distinguish itself from Booker's very much and borders on being over-oaked.

Nose - (w/o water) Sharp dark dried stone fruity sweet, chocolate covered orange zest, grilled pineapple, cognac, leather, dark raisins. (w/ water) Less bite, the dark dried stone fruits is still present but more rounded out. Taste - (w/o water) Hot hot white pepper heat, smoked sea salt dark caramel, caramelized figs, dark raisins, light fruity char, leather, sweet tobacco, faint hint of meaty smoke on back end, savory sweet smoked meat (w/ water) Heat tamed down while preserving all of the flavors, sweetness is tamed a bit. Finish - (w/o water) Lingering smoky meaty dark dried stone fruit savory meaty sweet, brine, grilled pineapple char, fading white pepper heat, leather, dark chocolate (w/ water) Less heat, leather disappears, more milk than dark chocolate. Score - 92/100 Final Thoughts - This is a very interesting dram for sure. The hybrid/monster of Frankenstein barrel really does wonders for the tropical spirit. On the nose, you get a blast of sharp sweets and it continues onto the palate. It could be me but it tastes like there's a very very small percentage of peated malt in this one in that I get this smoky savory sweet meat only on the palate. Like the previous Amrut malts that I've tried, it's a bit hot but a tiny bit of water really softens & opens it up nicely. Nice charred tropical fruit throughout with a good balance of sweet sherry influence. Not exactly an everyday drinker, but definitely a nice complex dessert dram for sure.