Tastes

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!

This is the fernet of whiskies ... it has deep dark fruit flavors, herbaceousness, a minty tingle and a little bitterness on the backend. It’s really unique and interesting; looking forward to seeing how the bottle evolves over time.

This is really good! On the nose, I get dried cherries, chocolate malt, sherry, and wet leather. The palate is delicious. I taste bitter dark chocolate, cream, Luxardo cherries, and baking spices. Finish hangs around and then turns a little drying. It’s really interesting and keeps getting better the lower in the bottle I get. When I first opened it, I needed to let my pours air out for 20-30 mins but now that’s not necessary. Looking forward to exploring more Balblairs.

This is a flavor sledgehammer! It starts with a punch in the nose; the cask strength vapors hit hard, clearing out my nasal cavity. After 10 minutes in the glass the fumes subside and I can get my nose into the glass. I smell sweet brine, caramel, fresh fruit and a hint of peat. Then comes the a cannon ball on the tongue ... toffee, herbs, hay, and a serious dose of citrus oil. Finish is medium; not as powerful as the rest of the experience but you won’t forget it’s there. Adding water brings out some subtle fruit and cream notes, as well as some warming wood spice. This is not any easy one - requires patience and trial and error with the water. But the flavors are nuts and the quality/value high.