Tastes

Nose - Cherries, cloves, cinnamon, gentle warm rye bread sweetness, hint of vanilla, caramel, mint chocolate Taste - Sweet raisins, plums, bitter dark chocolate, cinnamon spice, burnt sugar bitterness, vanilla, woody mint stems, bitter crushed spices Finish - Spicy sweet raisins, bitter wood/leather notes, crushed cloves Score - 83/100 Final Thoughts - So the nose on this one is probably the best part and the initial hit on the palate is nice. The nose was very pleasant with notes of sweet red cherry (like that in cough syrup) and just a general winter vibe. I don't feel as if this one is overly sweet, but I do feel as if this one was might have had some components that were a bit overoaked. I don't normally mind bitter tastes, but this one for some reason felt as if it was a bit on the bitter side with loads of oak, woody mint stems, and bittersweet crushed spices. This sadly lingered over to the finish where you get this light sweetness, but it feels dominated by the bitterness. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - No Would I buy a bottle? - No NOTE - All reviews are done without factoring in price.

Nose - Rich caramel, toasted barley, cocoa nibs, cinnamon, vanilla, raisins, almost feels like a sherry finished bourbon (w/ water) More malty here, toasted barley, cocoa nibs, rich caramel, raisins, cinnamon, orange Taste - Toasted barley, young malt, toasted green cardamom pods, cocoa nibs, cinnamon, chili powder, raisins (w/ water) Toasted barley, cocoa powder, chili powder, cinnamon, raisins, mor drying Finish - Little heat, cocoa powder, cinnamon spice, "green" spices (w/ water) Same Score - 83/100 Final Thoughts - Right off the bat this almost felt like a sherry finished bourbon if not for the toasted barley notes I got in there. This was very reminiscent of the younger Westland whiskies I've tried with their 5 malt barley blend, one of which is their toasted chocolate barley which is nice (the same one that's in Glenmorangie Signet that I really like). This has this strange vibe I get from younger malts despite this being 6 years old. It's got this very "green" spice vibe that I get from either young malt or what feels like something aged in "young" oak barrels. It noses and tastes very "green" to me. The sherry influence on this is nice as it adds this nice raisiney vibe to everything. Nice drying cocoa nib vibe from this as well. Overall not too bad, but for some reason I'm not a huge fan of that "green" spice vibe I get from this. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - No Would I buy a bottle? - No NOTE - All reviews are done without factoring in price.

Nose - Creamy/floral vanilla, buttery caramel, white wine poached pears, French toast custard, vanilla custard Taste - Green apples, creamy caramel, gentle spice, light minty cream, light apple stem bitterness, unusual heat/bite for the proof Finish - Lingering fresh green apples, more generic warm spice/heat, fruity apple stem bitterness Score - 83/100 Final Thoughts - For my first Daftmill, this wasn't too bad but I feel as if the nose was the best part of this one. It felt oddly hot for 46% and the back end of the palate was all fruity bitterness for me. The nose is absolutely fantastic though with this amazing fruity / buttery / custardy vibe. Initial hit on the palate is also great with this nice custardy green apple vibe, but then as you let it sit a bit, it feels a bit hot for the low proof which transitions to this fruit stem/seed bitterness. I usually don't mind this, but it was a bit distracting for this one. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - No Would I buy a bottle? - No NOTE - All reviews are done without factoring in price.

Nose - Salt, clean campfire smoke, minerals, seaweed, preserved lemon, warm toasted raisins Taste - Salt, black peppercorns, sweet smoke, ashy minerals, smoked raisins, preserved lemons, lightly savory smoke Finish - Lingering warmth/heat, black pepper, salt, ashy raisins, sweet smoked beef jerky Score - 86/100 Final Thoughts - This was a very pleasant pour, nice clean smoke, very campfire by the sea kind of vibe to it. The smoke in this one is very clean and has a nice mineral vibe to it. It's like if you heated up some rocks in a campfire and then threw some lemon peels in the fire too. Off to the side is some sweet beef jerky and raisins boiling away in some sweet white wine. Very nice vibe, but nothing too complex or amazing. A perfectly good dram to enjoy by the campfire or maybe with a charcuterie platter featuring some good cured meats and some smoked cheeses. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Maybe Would I buy a bottle? - Maybe NOTE - All reviews are done without factoring in price.

Nose - Explosion of fruit, dried apricots/peaches, golden raisins, candied ginger, orange, candied habanero (w/ water) Same, but more vibrant Taste - Intense blast of fruit, dried apple rings, fresh apple, hint of salt, dried apricots, hint of metallic sulfur like that of some dried fruit, orange, candied ginger (w/ water) Metallic notes are a bit subdued, less sulfuric too, more balanced, but a bit more drying Finish - Lingering sharp fruity sweetness, light habanero tingle/warmth, hint of flamed orange zest (w/ water) Same Score - 89/100 Final Thoughts - So the nose on this one is absolutely amazing, super fruity and reminds me of summer. Great mix of fresh & dried fruits (apples/apricots/peaches/nectarines) with a hint of golden raisin sharp sweetness. Bit of an off putting metallic/sulfuric note that I only really get from super syrupy sweet dried fruits but it's tolerable. Water really helps remove this metallic vibe quite a bit. Great summery vibes on this one all around. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Maybe Would I buy a bottle? - Not at what it's priced at, maybe at the sub $200 range NOTE - All reviews are done without factoring in price.

Nose - Gentle smoke, baked apples, golden raisins, hint of warm salt, hint of apple saltwater taffy (w/ water) Smoke almost disappears but otherwise the same Taste - Gentle charcoal/campfire smoke, sea spray, candied apple, bit drying, golden raisins, sweet habanero drying heat (w/ water) Less sweet, fruity bitterness turned up a bit, otherwise the same Finish - Very drying, light fruity bitterness, apples, golden raisins (w/ water) Same Score - 81/100 Final Thoughts - This one had a nice nose, gentle smoke balanced by some salt & fruity/creamy sweetness. The cask influence is fairly subtle in this one as I don't get strong cognac vibes, but rather a more fruity apple creamy custard vibe from this. Add in some salt and a hint of campfire smoke, and it feels like an apple custard, but without the creaminess. Hints of golden raisin are present, but it comes in and out and this drying lightly bitter vibe dominates. Feels a bit hotter than the proof might suggest but a bit of water helps tame that, but I think it elevates any fruity bitter notes in this one. I think this one is best neat or with only a few drops of water, I think I tried to proof this one down to about 50% and the bitterness came out a bit much. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Maybe Would I buy a bottle? - Probably not another NOTE - All reviews are done without factoring in price.

Nose - Peppery campfire smoke, machine oil, sweet black peppercorns, earth, sea spray, menthol? (w/ water) Reduces the smoke a bit, adds a bit of lemon but mostly the same Taste - Hot peppercorn ashy smoke, salt, earthy, light lactic sweet, mouth numbing (w/ water) Ashy sweet smoke, earthy, salt, black peppercorns, ash, creamy sweetness, hint of golden raisins, bit of lemon Finish - Heat, fuzzy tingling heat, campfire smoke, Szechuan tingle/burn, salt, generic sweet (w/ water) Lingering salt, earth, ash, lemon Score - 75/100 Final Thoughts - Holy crap this had some heat on it. This 62% felt more like hazmat. Nose hid the proof very well and it felt like it was just a bit muted, notes of black peppercorns and pleasant ashy smoke, bit of black earth/dirt to round things out a bit. Once it hit the palate, you get a burst of black peppercorn ashy smoke, followed by lots of heat and a bit of salt and generic sweetness and then the TV static feeling all over your mouth. This was quite hot and water is definitely needed to proof this down a bit. Water helps reveal some fruit in this and frankly without knowing that there is 25% PX influence I would've never guessed that was there. This feels mostly ex-American whiskey to me with some sort of weird lactic fruit. This felt so good on paper, but maybe just not meant for my palate. Would I drink it if offered? - Maybe Would I specifically order it? - No Would I buy a bottle? - No NOTE - All reviews are done without factoring in price.

Nose - Sweet campfire smoke, lactic sweetness, cracked black pepper, lemon vanilla custard, sea salt (w/ water) Rounds everything out a bit but reduces the black peppercorn vibe Taste - Intense campfire smoke, sea spray, sweet vanilla, sweet smoked cheese, cracked black pepper, light ash, hint of sweet smoked meats, almost like a cracked black peppercorn honey smoked salmon (w/ water) Smoke is reduced, increased sweetness, lactic sweet, almost smoked vanilla/honey simple syrup sweet, smoked cheese, salt increases on backend, lightly metallic Finish - Lingering salty campfire smoke, smoked sweet cheese, sweet cream, black peppercorns (w/ water) Same but less black peppercorns Score - 83/100 Final Thoughts - This one was interesting as I got to experience Octomore at its "purest" by not having any strong cask influence on the base spirit. It's quite sweet and had the lactic "funk" I typically get from Bruichladdich, but something about this just felt like this was a bit on the sweet side. This felt like the interior of the barrel was retoasted so that it was coated with sugar crystals or something as this felt quite sweet like a maple or honey smoked salmon, where there was a bit too much sugar to start and the end product was a bit more on the candied side versus a glaze. It was good, but a bit extreme on the sweet I think. If there was any way to improve this, I'd say that it was better overall without water, but a bit hot without. Sadly, the addition of a bit of water removed the interesting black peppercorn aspect of this and somehow made it taste sweeter. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Maybe Would I buy a bottle? - No NOTE - All reviews are done without factoring in price.

Batch 1 / 65.41% Nose - Quite hot initially, hint of dill/mint, cinnamon, cloves, caramel, faint hint of dried apricot/peach (w/ water) Much more vibrant, quick apricot followed by dill/mint up front followed by a wave of caramel & sweet drying leather Taste - Very drying, dark dried apricots, habanero heat/tingle, cinnamon, drying sweet leather, caramel (w/ water) Dried apricots, sweet drying leather, caramel, "generic rum vibe", cinnamon, dill/mint stem bitter Finish - Lingering sweet caramel, sweet leather dryness, dill/mint stem bitter/dryness, apricot, drying sweet leather (w/ water) Same Score - 88/100 Final Thoughts - So not sure if they used less active apricot brandy casks or if older rye just doesn't take on fruity casks as much, but this definitely had less cask influence than the NAS Seagrass. It also felt a bit hot and water really helped this one out. This was still very much a rye even if tasted blind, but like the NAS version, the apricot brandy dominated followed by the Martinique rum and frankly I wouldn't even know there was any Madeira influence in this. This did have a nice sweet leather dryness that was a bit nice, but due to the proof it got a bit distracting at times. This one is best with a bit of water and is good, but I don't think it justifies the 4x price premium over the standard Seagrass. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - No Would I buy a bottle? - No NOTE - All reviews are done without factoring in price.

Batch 4 / 59.92% Nose - Dried apricots, candy peach gummy rings, sugar cane, molasses (w/ water) Less fruit, more caramel, cinnamon, more toasted sugar cane Taste - Dried apricots, rye spice, hint of dill/mint, caramel, fresh pressed sugar cane juice, grilled pineapple, lightly drying (w/ water) Fresh apricots, sweet oranges, gentle dill/mint vibes, grilled sugar cane, grilled pineapple Finish - Apricots, caramel, molasses, lightly drying leather (w/ water) Same Score - 90/100 Final Thoughts - This is a prime example of where the finishing casks really stand out in the final product. The apricot brandy really dominates this, but the rum and Madeira help balance it out a bit. There remains a bit of the nice dill/mint vibe I typically get from most rye whiskies as well as a tiny bit of that rye "bite" or spice. This was just all around super unique and just really vibes well with my palate. My personal preference with this is to add a bit of water as it brings out these grilled pineapple notes as well as this sweet grilled sugar cane notes (like from those grilled shrimp paste covered sugar cane sticks) that's just super unique. Would I drink it if offered? - Yes Would I specifically order it? - Yes Would I buy a bottle? - I tried it at a friend's place & it convinced me to buy this bottle NOTE - All reviews are done without factoring in price.