Tastes

Nose - Light pears, fresh red berries, hint of spiced honey, caramelized sugar. Taste - Lightly fruity bitter, like orange pith soaked in a apple/pear cider made from just skins/cores, bright berry notes, faint black pepper spice. Finish - Lingering fruity bitter sweetness, hint of black pepper spice. Score - 78/100 Final Thoughts - I really wanted to really like this since I'm normally a fan of sherried Scotch, but for some reason this had this underlying bitterness that was a bit unpleasant. I can tolerate some bitterness in my whisky, but only if it's done right? A bit difficult to explain but there can be a nice balance between bitter and sweet and this is just a tiny bit off. The nose is very pleasant, but it falls a bit flat on the palate and the bitterness is a bit distracting.

Nose - Very fruity and floral, hints of a tropical vanilla, honeyed raisins, fresh ripe pears. Taste - Honeyed pear/grape lightly oaked cider, light clean white pepper spice, very clean oak aged cider/white wine, lightly bitter Asian pear skin. Finish - Lingering fruity honey sweet, fading light colored flesh stone fruit pit bitterness (think peaches/nectarines/apricots), fading white pepper spice. Score - 84/100 Final Thoughts - This has a very nice nose, very pleasant, well balanced and nothing off putting. Falls a bit flat on the tongue as the plum wine finish you get in the 12 is practically non-existent in this expression which is one of the things that made me love the 12 so much. Overall it is still a very tasty and very well balanced whisky. Great sipped neat, over a single large ice cube, or in a highball.

Nose - Pears, dark raisins/prunes soaked in a sweet white wine, dark chocolate covered cherries. Taste - Milk chocolate covered cherries, cinnamon/white pepper spice, fresh pears, hint of orange zest. Finish - Lingering spice tingle, fading chocolate covered pear sweet, lightly sweet bitter/sweet/oaky sugar like a slightly oaky top on creme brulee. Score - 86/100 Final Thoughts - Quite liked the nose on this one in that it's very reminiscent of the 18. Sherry notes are more prominent than in the 12 and I think it makes it more interesting. A very well balanced and drinkable Scotch given it's low proof. Flavors are prominent and don't need much searching. A nice step up from the 12 but not quite the complexity of the 18, but again it's priced accordingly. If the 15 is close in price to the 12, I'd spend the extra and get the 15.

Nose - Vanilla, fresh red berries, sweet toasted brioche, very faint sweet mint. Taste - Somewhat thin mouthfeel, vanilla brown sugar simple, fresh strawberries, fresh red berries, hint of drying lightly oaky brown sugar sweet, tiny bit of cinnamon spice, very faint menthol-like mint at the very end. Finish - Spice fades fairly quickly leaving a red berry syrup sweet that sadly fades to a bit of a splenda-like sweet, light bitterness like that of a charred cinnamon stick. Score - 77/100 Final Thoughts - Sadly disappointed in this one. I guess maybe because I had high expectations and then it wasn't as great as I anticipated. It has a decent nose, a very fruity sweet smelling rye. Sadly a bit thin and dry on the palate, you taste what you got on the initial nose, but the finish is where it kind of falls apart. I'm not a huge fan of the artificial sweet transition I get that reminds me of Crown. Tasty to start, but a bit thin. It's pretty well balanced on the front end, but it's like a hurdler that gets a great start, but trips on the very last hurdle. I wouldn't turn down a pour of this, but I probably wouldn't pick up another bottle.

Nose - Light floral honey, hint of banana, honey vanilla baked apples. Taste - Thin mouthfeel, sweet floral honey, light sherry influence, sweet white wine soaked raisins, hint of sweet oak spice & bitterness. Finish - Lingering fresh honey sweet, light bitter oak, light lingering spice tingle. Score - 75/100 Final Thoughts - As expected from a more "entry level" offering with the just legal proof, it's a very inoffensive Scotch that would be a good intro for most people. Nothing inoffensive, light sherry influence, nice pleasant vanilla/honey notes. Not very memorable, but it's not meant to be (I don't think). A bit weak to use as a mixer, but I could see this as a good "intro" Scotch for those looking to see what Scotch is all about.

Nose - Mostly a soft vanilla, hint of cinnamon Biscoff cookies, light syrupy sweet mint? Taste - Initially thin mouthfeel that transitions to a creamy and drying mouthfeel, sweet vanilla, hint of cinnamon Biscoff cookies, light milk chocolate malt. Finish - Light lingering gentle cinnamon spice, vanilla again, white chocolate sweet. Score - 80/100 Final Thoughts - As expected from the proof, a bit thin and one dimensional. I think the bourbon is quite young, but the extra finishing in the barrel aged stout barrels does wonders for this as I think it softened up the young spirit considerably and made it quite palatable. A vanilla milk chocolate malt with a hint of cinnamon dominates, but that's a bit of what you get in their Dragon's Milk stout as well. Overall a great pairing with their stout for a perfect boilermaker (their Dragon's Milk is 11%ABV). In fact, I could see this pairing very well with many other stouts as it exhibits a nice soft chocolately malt.

61.8% ABV Nose - (w/o water) Tropical floral fruity malt, sweet caramelized pineapple, oak aged apple cider (w/ water) brings out an additional hint of ripe plantains and more of a creamy sweet. Taste - (w/o water) Spicy sweet floral honey, lightly bitter vanilla, hint of bitter citrus pith (w/ water) tones down the burn significantly revealing a really dry citrusy barrel aged apple/pear cider, bitterness is subdued a bit, more caramelized honey notes. Finish - (w/o water) Hot spice from the proof, mouth drying, lingering fruity floral sweet spiced honey (w/ water) burn is significantly toned down, bittersweet like orange pith with a hint of vanilla & honey. Score - 88/100 Final Thoughts - This is a very nice single malt, has some nice tropical notes I like as it's different from most single malt Scotch. Water does this single malt wonders as it's a bit of a hot mess at the bottling proof. The water tones the alcohol burn down and opens up to a nice tropical vanilla honey. Not something I'd reach for very often, but it's a nice non-sherried, non-peated offering that offers nice tropical notes.

Nose - Salted vanilla butterscotch, hints of ultra sweet golden raisins, faint hint of grilled pineapples? Taste - Creamy yet dry mouthfeel, black & white pepper spice mingle with a fruity vanilla cream, tiny hint of lightly bitter oak aged pear/apple cider. Finish - Lingering pepper spice, long lasting lightly bitter oak aged pear/apple cider sweetness Score - 87/100 Final Thoughts - So the nose on this was amazing, but I think it fell a bit flat once it hit the tongue. I was hoping for more of that salted butterscotch flavor, but I didn't get much of that as it was a bit hidden by the pepper spice and lightly bitter oak aged cider I got. Finish was pleasant but I think I was still hoping to get more of the salted butterscotch I got on the nose. Decent dram but I think I could find ones I enjoy a bit more for the price. Slightly edges out the 12 due to a more interesting nose.

Nose - Spice stewed dark dried pit fruits, dark chocolate covered orange peels, spicy vanilla, hint of marzipan. Taste - Black pepper spice, stewed dark dried stone fruits, bitter dark chocolate, dark caramel, sherry soaked fruitcake, hint of orange zest. Finish - Lingering black pepper spice, fades to red wine stewed dark stone fruit sweet, slight metallic finish like that from canned mandarin oranges, lightly drying. Score - 91/100 Final Thoughts - This one has an absolutely amazing nose that I can smell for days. The more I nose it, the more I get out of it. It's like a sweet brioche french toast covered in a maple syrup that's been infused with sherry and dried stone fruits. It's not as intense on the palate as I think the potential chill-filtering and lower proof might have taken a bit out of this, but it's still quite tasty. Mouthfeel is a bit thin, but most of the flavors you get on the nose are still there, although toned down a bit. Everything about this is great except for the slight metallic hint I get on the finish, which is a bit off putting. Overall, a great dram and I kind of wish they offered this at a slightly higher proof or at least un-chillfiltered to maintain all the great things I got on the nose.

43% ABV Version. Nose - Salt brined apples, hint of vanilla caramel, himalayan salt. Taste - Apple/pear saline, hint of creamy caramel, white pepper spice, honey cream, light bitter oaky pear peels Finish - Lingering white pepper spice, light bitter fruity caramel cream sweetness. Score - 85/100 Final Thoughts - I'd say this is a decent entry level single malt. Not really any offensive aromas or flavors, but at the same time, nothing that really stands out very much. Nice hint of brine without being overpowering and somehow was able to pick up a nice subtle caramel/butterscotch flavor with a hint of spice. Good, but not sure I'd pick up another bottle.