Tastes

Nose - Initial nose you can tell it's a rye in that you get the mint, dill, and general rye bread notes, but in addition due to the port finish, you get a rush of wine stewed plums, dark berries, and a very buttery, vanilla creme brulee. Taste - At the very start you can tell this is a rye in that you get the mint and dill notes that I tend to get from ryes. Mixed in there is also the mulled spiced wine, cherries, raisins, plums, dark berries, cinnamon. It has this very velvety and buttery taste, yet dry oak bitterness in there that feels like crushed pits from dark fruits. Finish - Wonderful warming finish of this oaky dry spiciness, maybe from the French Oak?. Spicy cinnamon that finishes with a stewed plums and what I think you'd get if you took ALL the dark pitted fruits and mashed them together, pits and all. 92/100

Nose - Definitely smells like a young bourbon. Has an ethanol smell, like very young whiskey aged in a young sapling/green oak barrel. Light hint of mint and eucalyptus, slight hint of vanilla, burnt sugar, and a faint hint of honey are also present. Taste - Hits the tongue with a boozy sweet corn taste, hint of vanilla, cinnamon spice and red hots. Faint bit of watered down honey and that's the extent of it. Finish - Has a nice warming sensation, but then immediately transitions to this "green" oaky bitterness like if you were to chew on a young oak twig. At the very end there's this slightly sweet, but bitter taste, almost like if you licked some heavily burnt sugar. 70/100

Nose - Smells like aged, slightly funky peanuts soaked in ethanol. Transitions to a tiny hint of dry hay. Taste - I get hit with an immediate sweetness, unfortunately it tastes like a thinned out corn syrup kind of sweetness. I get a hint of cinnamon spice, followed by peanuts again. Finish - Kind of a tannic feeling finish, but instead of that like a red wine, I get a bitter oak and peanuts. 65/100

Nose - This odd oaky fruity mixture of pineapple, pear, and banana laffy taffy. There's a hint of vanilla in there as well as a hint of caramel rolls, not much cinnamon, slighly yeasty. Hint of black tea? Taste - Taste when it hits your tongue is this oddly artificial spice and sweetness. The spice isn't really cinnamon, nor black pepper, nor peppers, it's just this artificial "spice" taste. Hint of vanilla. Tastes like a splenda sweetened oak tea. Finish - Not much here in the finish. Lightly drying, almost like if you chewed on some dry feed corn or hay in that it's slightly sweet, but kind of bitter too. Almost like you just held a piece of balsa wood in your mouth. 64/100

Nose - Delicious initial nose of cherry and vanilla, hint of oak, hint of butterscotch, and the longer you smell, the cherry turns from the natural fruit into that of cherry cough drops or cough syrup. Taste - A thin, yet oily mouthfeel if that's possible. Hints of cherry, vanilla, very subtle cinnamon and nutmeg. Transitions into a slight fruity bitterness like that of an oversteeped black tea. Darker/red pit fruits, like all of them mixed together make an appearance with the bitterness. Finish - Quite nice and pleasant gentle warming feeling from the higher proof. Lingering bitterness of the oversteeped tea, but then the presence of dark bing cherries and vanilla make an appearance as your mouth starts to salivate again. 77/100

Nose - Honey, vanilla, caramel, pineapple, faint hint of mint? Taste - Slightly oily/creamy/buttery mouthfeel, vanilla, oak, cinnamon, hint of bitterness from oak. Finish - Very pleasant creamy vanilla and cinnamon, gradual oak warming mouthfeel, with a slight orange pith bitterness to cap the finish. 87/100

Nose - Lightly aged oak, vanilla, caramel, hint orange and oddly enough pineapple. Taste - Light oak, vanilla, spicy cinnamon, brown sugar. Finish - More oaky and dry, cinnamon, vanilla, a tiny hint of dry orange pith. 83/100

Nose - Sweet vanilla caramel, light oak, fresh orchard fruits, light floral. Has a hint of raw ethanol in the background. Taste - Starts off with a creamy vanilla that transitions to a cinnamon spice, butterscotch, and drying oak. There's a light bitterness as if you were to suck on a drying oak stave. Finish - There's a gradual warmth that happens, it's as if you took a swig of melted butter in that it slowly coats your mouth with this creaminess. You're then left with this slightly bitter cinnamon taste that gives your mouth a gentle drying feeling. Unfortunately I get this strange hit of solvent too, it's faint, but there. 75/100

Nose - Smells like apple brown betty in a glass. Toasted oats, faint hint of chocolate, caramel, cinnamon, nutmeg. Slightly sun melted apple jolly rancher. Taste - Yup, tastes kind of like apple brown betty too. Sweet baked apples with brown sugar with a hint of cinnamon. You get almost no wood influence taste here. Starts off sweet and fades to something slightly bitter, like if you accidently bit into an apple seed. There's also a very very faint hint of dill in there as well just near the end. Finish - The fruity apple slowly fades to the apple seed bitterness that's sort of like a grapefruit pith, but not as citrusy. Slight progressive warmth from the front of the tongue to the back, not really an alcohol burn, but a gentle warmth which is nice. 81/100

Nose - Like it's younger sibling, has a very floral nose. Honeyed green fruits like green apple and Bartlett pears. Hints of lychee and longan. Faint hint of lightly toasted sweet brioche. Taste - Slightly thin mouthfeel, but it's very fruity and crisp. Like the nose, it is like warm honey drizzled over warm pears or green apples. Slight bitterness like that you'd get from the skins of an green apple. Like a lightly oaked pear cider that has a few of those green Japanese plums in it. Finish - Finishes great in that it's a medium long to long finish that is a like a dry pear cider. You get a bit of lingering bitterness like if you've ever eaten one of those small Japanese green plums in that it's sweet, but slightly bitter, almost like citrus pith, but quite refreshing. 91/100