Tastes

A friend shared a pour of this while I was down in AZ on business. It’s absurd! It’s like drinking bourbon shot out of a cannon - the flavors are so amped up that my brain didn’t know what to do with them. I had to put water on it and let it sit and meld back together before I could wrap my head around it.

Burnside bourbon is made by East Side Distilling in Portland, Oregon. It’s named after Burnside street which separates north and south Portland and runs the length of the city. I had a chance to try this garryana-finished small batch at the Rose Festival during a recent trip. (Garryana is Oregon White Oak) As a former OR resident, I love exploring OR spirits and this impressed me. On the nose, I get cinnamon & sugar toast, caramel, tangerine and whiffs of oak. It’s much softer and smoother on the palate than I was expecting. They don’t give an age but on their site they say it’s a mix of straight bourbon and whiskies ranging in age and mashbill. Whatever the combo is, it works. I get rich butterscotch and caramel, orange, cooked down raspberries, and that beautiful OR oak hangs softly on the tongue. I just heard they just released a 10 year old (that juice is sourced and finished in the same Oregon oak) - I’ll definitely be checking that out.

This Green Spot is initially aged in a mix of Oloroso and bourbon casks (I’ve heard there is new American oak in the mix as well but that’s unconfirmed) and then it’s finished in Bordeaux barrels from Chateau Leoville Barton in Saint-Julien. On the nose, I get hot oatmeal with honey, fresh strawberries and raspberries, and baking bread. It’s soft and creamy on the palate with flavors of toffee cookies, raspberry jam, and candied pecans. And it has a medium, buttery finish. I like traditional GS (and it is a perfect whiskey to give to friends who say they don’t like whiskey) but 40% is a little light on the ABV. That’s why I appreciate that they pumped the jam up to 46% on the Chateau Leoville Barton. It’s so much more engaging and complex than the diesel GS.

This is great but it needs time in the bottle and in the glass to air out. The nose is sweet and spicy with a hint of smoke. I smell marshmallow, maple candy, cinnamon and nutmeg. On the palate is peach, dried cranberries, pistachios, toasted cinnamon buns, and day old charcoal. As it sits in the glass, I taste more caramel and nougat. The finish is long and leaves the taste of malt and salted caramel lingering on the tongue. Tasty stuff!

This review is on a bottle of Longrow 18 that I opened and have been drinking over the past two months. It was bottled 3/23/18. I have found this whiskey to be incredibly complex and it has changed a lot as I’ve made my way through the top half of the bottle. Right now, here’s what I’m getting ... On the nose, I smell custard, apple, cigar smoke, and fish oil. As I let it sit and open, I start getting Santa Rosa plums and sweet citrus. On the palate, there’s dried grass, clover honey, and eucalyptus. As it opens, I get cooked stone fruit, bread dough, seaweed and just a touch of smoldering fire. The finish is long and lingering and leaves me wanting more. This is one that I keep coming back to; I can’t seem to get enough. I’m giving it 4.5 for now but, if it continues on the same trajectory, I may bump it up to 4.75 or 5 by the end of the bottle.

In honor of the 4th of July I’m drinking Westward’s American Single Malt Stout Cask. I picked this bottle up from the Westward tasting room at the Portland (OR) airport - if you’re traveling through PDX, this is a must stop! Westward takes a unique approach to their process - they start with brewery yeast and then age their mash in new American oak barrels. Then they empty and give those barrels to local breweries to age their beers. Later they get those barrels back and use them to finish their whiskies. Not sure what combination of beer barrels they use for their standard single malt but this one is finished in stout casks. This approach has resulted in a unique and really tasty end product. On the nose I get fresh oak, caramel, orange zest, cinnamon and nutmeg. Two things come through clearly on the palate - the stout influence and the use of high quality barrels. Both result in a beautiful mouthfeel. Taste-wise I get burnt sugar, oily vanilla bean, fresh orange, oak, cocoa nibs, and roasted chestnuts. And a toasty, roasty, malty finish. This is a young whiskey (believe it’s 5 years or younger) but it tastes much older and more refined than I expected. It’s delicious. If this is a sign of what’s to come from Westward, I’m really excited!

This is a nice whiskey. When I first opened the bottle it was a little tight and boring but it’s become more interesting as it’s opened up. On the nose I get vanilla, caramel, hay, lychee, and macadamia nuts. On the palate there’s modeling clay, papaya, marzipan, chewy caramels, sweet honeysuckle and light herbal notes. The finish is oily and medium in length with more modeling clay and marzipan that lingers. It’s not mind blowing but it’s really nice. It has become a whiskey that I turn to at the beginning of an evening when I’m planning to do a tasting flight. It has complexity and balance that helps warm up my palate without overloading my taste buds.

This is a really unique whisky; unlike anything I have tasted before. It’s taken a few drams for my palate and brain to calibrate it. But now it’s gone from interesting to very enjoyable. The nose tells me right away this is going to be a different experience. There are strong aromas of sandalwood, pine needles, salty sweet caramel ... almost like fiddle faddle, cheerios, and some citrus - but not fresh fruit, more like Tang. On the palate, I’m instantly hit with the taste of the Mizunara - the wood oils coat my tongue, and then comes more citrus but now fresher, like tangerines. I also get a lot of creamy notes - mango, butter cookies, and ohi’a lehua blossom honey. The finish is oak, oak and more oak ... that Mizunara hangs around for days. The Irish-Japanese hybrid is really well done. Looking forward to seeing how the bottle evolves over time.

The King of summer: Ardbeg 10 vs Lagavulin 8 I love peaty scotches and really lean into them during the cold weather months but also like to have a couple of bottles in my summer rotation. Two of my favorites are Ardbeg 10 and Lagavulin 8 so I thought I should do a showdown to see who the true king of summer is. Over the past couple of days, I’ve been tasting these side-by-side .... Ardbeg 10 This is a camping trip in a bottle. On the nose, I get smoke, pine needles, wet grass, bug spray (in a good way) and bandaids. Palate: Eucalyptus, marshmallow, salt, and teriyaki grilled fish. Finish: Smoldering campfire, vanilla ice cream and mint Thoughts: It’s clean (for a peaty scotch), lightweight but flavorful, and beautifully refined. Lagavulin 8 If Ardbeg 10 is a camping trip, this is a sunny day at the beach. The nose is bright and vibrant. I smell apples, green papaya, fresh cherries, charcoal briquettes, toasted bread and flameed banana. Palate: Saltwater, grilled peach, dried apricot, and a sweet maltiness Finish: Newspaper ash and honey butter Thoughts: it’s amazing how good young peated whiskies can be. This one is so fresh and engaging; it’s perfect for a summer evening. Verdict: I love both of these and will continue to have them in my summer rotation. But, if I was a castaway on a desert island and had to choose one, Ardbeg 10 would be my Wilson. It has all the excitement and vitality of Laga 8 but the flavors are a little more integrated and the mouthfeel is just perfect. It is so good!

The King of summer: Ardbeg 10 vs Lagavulin 8 I love peaty scotches and really lean into them during the cold weather months but also like to have a couple of bottles in my summer rotation. Two of my favorites are Ardbeg 10 and Lagavulin 8 so I thought I should do a showdown to see who the true king of summer is. Over the past couple of days, I’ve been tasting these side-by-side .... Ardbeg 10 This is a camping trip in a bottle. On the nose, I get smoke, pine needles, wet grass, bug spray (in a good way) and bandaids. Palate: Eucalyptus, marshmallow, salt, and teriyaki grilled fish. Finish: Smoldering campfire, vanilla ice cream and mint Thoughts: It’s clean (for a peaty scotch), lightweight but flavorful, and beautifully refined. Lagavulin 8 If Ardbeg 10 is a camping trip, this is a sunny day at the beach. The nose is bright and vibrant. I smell apples, green papaya, fresh cherries, charcoal briquettes, toasted bread and flameed banana. Palate: Saltwater, grilled peach, dried apricot, and a sweet maltiness Finish: Newspaper ash and honey butter Thoughts: it’s amazing how good young peated whiskies can be. This one is so fresh and engaging; it’s perfect for a summer evening. Verdict: I love both of these and will continue to have them in my summer rotation. But, if I was a castaway on a desert island and had to choose one, Ardbeg 10 would be my Wilson. It has all the excitement and vitality of Laga 8 but the flavors are a little more integrated and the mouthfeel is just perfect. It is so good!