Tastes

So with the Private Select, Maker's allows the customer to decide on their own combination of staves. My local liquor store did this one, and here's how it looks. 3 Baked American Pure 2 4 Seared French Cuvee 1 Maker's 46 2 Roasted French Mocha 0 Toasted French Spice; bottle at 54.9% Nose: Brown sugar, maple, caramel pop out of the glass. Behind that are leather and cherry. Some mocha and tobacco notes. After some time in the glass I get toffee. Big oak and some cinnamon from the high ABV. No ethanol. Very good. Palate: Still brown sugar and caramel heavy. Vanilla and what I'll call a carrot cake note. Mocha and roasted nut. The mid palate manifests as major oak and baking spices. Clove, nutmeg, and a massive cinnamon kick. Once again, awesome. Finish: A bit of the carrot cake and black cherry persists from the palate until they are ultimately swept away by a tide of baking spices. Cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. The oak note is a bit more bitter and astringent at this point but it's still a damn fine finish. Moderate to long. Damn fine pour right here. My local store, as always, has done me well with this one. I imagine that one might have a wildly different experience with this, depending on the stave selection. I'm a huge fan of the 46, and I'm surprised to see that I enjoyed this as much as I did considering the low percentage of 46 staves. At $70, it's far from cheap. Yet, considering this is a high-quality, heavy-hitting experimental product, it's worth the money. I'll give it a 4.5. Fine job here, Maker's.

Entry one of the Jameson Whiskey Maker's Series. This one is dedicated to Ger Buckley, the head cooper. An interesting concept. Jameson has always served me as a bar-room bread and butter; even as I've come to outgrow the standard offering, the Black Barrel continues to serve me well. Let's take another step up in price and see if Ireland's most famous brand can deliver the goods. Nose: Shortbread cookie and powdered sugar. Some orange peel, honey, and vanilla (frosting). Fruity notes like apricot, coconut, white/green grape, and gala apple. Initially muted but opens up after about 10 minutes. Palate: Citrusy orange peel, toffee, and malt. Some caramel and vanilla. Big chashew note. Like with the nose, the sherry influence is barely noticeable while the bourbon influence takes the forefront. A bit of date, fig, raisin in the background, but it's really back there. Much more oak driven on the palate as well. Finish: Some red fruit and orange peel. Oak, caramel, brown sugar, and vanilla. A little cinnamon spice on the way out. Moderate in length. Stand out here is the mid-palate into finish transition. Very nice. I'm about halfway through the bottle. I expected to score this a tad bit one higher based on previous tastings, but the lack of complexity was a small detractor here. It's very well-balanced and very enjoyable. Classic Irish, good from start to finish. Good, very good even, but not great. I saw this on sale for $60 down from $70. Either way, I think you can do better for your money. I gave it a 3.75, which just beats out the Black Barrel, even factoring in VFM. If you're a serious Jameson or Irish collector, you won't go wrong with this one. Be warned, there are better options at this price point (Knappogue Castle 14, Redbreast 12, Green Spot). Nevertheless, it's a solid effort and a damn good drop from Jameson.

For my 100th review milestone I've decided... ...to do nothing out of the ordinary. I simply picked the least full open bottle in my collection which happened to be this Col. EH Taylor Rye. It's priced on par with the Single Barrel bourbon, as opposed to the Small Batch, despite it being a (presumably) small batch rye. Considering it's roughly double the price of ryes I've previously owned, I'm hoping for a bit of extra oomph on this one. I love the EH Taylor bourbons, so here's to hoping the rye follows that trend. Nose: Baking spices, baking spices, baking spices. Clove, nutmeg, and black pepper. Woody, not just oak but also plywood. Big-time sawdust note. Some orange and some leather, with a tinge of caramel and vanilla. Relatively light at 100 proof, but still enjoyable. Palate: Spicy and oaky. Rye bread, and more of the clove, nutmeg, and black pepper, now accompanied by cinnamon. The vanilla and orange are now much more prominent, along with some nutty notes. Leather and caramel are an afterthought. More of a pine note than the classic rye note of dill. Interesting. It's complex and succeeds in diverging from the traditional rye profile, possibly due to an absence of corn in the mash bill. Finish: Best part of the whiskey. Immediately I get the classic BT black cherry. It's instantly replaced with black tea and dill. This is followed by a burst of oak, and then a flurry of baking spice notes. The nutmeg, clove, black pepper, cinnamon continue to roll in as waves of flavor. Somewhere a between moderate and long finish. And right before it's all over, I get just a hint of pistachio and vanilla. I'm left with the sensation of having had a cup of black tea. Great finish. And there you have, folks. At $80, I'll admit this is not the greatest bang for your buck. But it's also worth the price of admission. It's balanced, complex, and deviates from every other rye I've had to date--in a good way. It's completely different from its Buffalo Trace rye counterpart in Sazerac. Off of memory, it's the better of the two. Good from nose to palate and concludes with a kick-ass finish. Respectable proof, interesting mash-bill (I forget the percentages but it's only rye and malted barley). I'd say its worthy of its place in the lauded E.H. Taylor line. A high mark and a solid recommendation from me. Special thanks to everyone who has taken the time to check out these reviews! I appreciate the positivity and insight of the community here on Distiller. Here's to 100 and counting! Cheers!

Bowmore is one of the more overlooked Islay distilleries. I've seen some very mixed reviews for its core lineup around here. I happen to be a fan of the 12 year, so seeing the 18-year drop from $115 to $90 at my local liquor store, this purchase was a no-brainer. Nose: Sherry cask-aging is evident. I get dried red fruit, cranberry (craisins perhaps), and the sort of baking spices you'd smell around Christmas. Orange peel and honeydew. Big on the honey, and relatively light on the smoke and peat. Some sea salt and brine, but again, it's less pronounced than in your average Islay. Oaky bitterness which is likely a symptom of age. Palate: Sweet honey, vanilla, butterscotch, and toffee. Very jammy and there's a bit of caramel. Savory dark chocolate. A bit of smoke then reveals itself, followed by a more substantial wave of briny notes; sea salt and seaweed. Getting some orange and plum for the sherry influence coupled with some more unique notes like honeydew and cantaloupe. Amazing and easily the stand-out portion of the overall experience. Finish: More of that dark chocolate and some salted caramel and toffee, culminating in some cinnamon and black pepper notes. The oak one would expect from an 18-year old malt is most prevalent here. Short-to-medium in length. Solid combination of Islay-peated malt aged in the standard bourbon-sherry cask combination. The words rich and balanced come to mind. And talk about a kick-ass value. This was certainly worth its salt at $90. For now I'll drop it at 4.5. This is one of the few 18-year old single malts I've ever seen for under $100. It performs on par with bottles over double its price, so if you're a peat-head looking for a change of pace, grab this one. Damn fine effort from Bowmore right here.

For my first review in some time, I figured I'd try something a little different. This is my first (nearly) unpeated Islay. I've had some great experiences with peated Highland/Speyside Scotches, now it's time to flip the script. Nose: Sherry notes jump out of the glass. I get both white and red grape, raisin, date, cranberry, and fig. I'm also getting orange and caramel. Big toffee note and a bit of baking spice. Honey, graham cracke, sandlewood. A healthy dose of oak at the end. The profile falls in line with a sherry/bourbon cask aged highland malt. Palate: Orange peel and those red sherry notes of cranberry, fig, date, and raisin. More grape and now there's some pear. Vanilla, caramel, and toffee. Much spicier than the nose suggested; black pepper and clove. Oak note coming presented as bitter chocolate. Similar notes to the nose, although the spice is now equal to the sweetness and bitterness. If you told me there was no peat at all, I'd believe you. Finish: Best part of the whisky. A slice of rich chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. The red fruit/orange/grape notes remain present before it transitions to black pepper and cinnamon to the conclusion of a moderate length finish. Great stuff here. I know full well that there is a bit of peat here, but I will admit that I don't even pick up a trace. Perhaps my palate isn't up for the task, but I'm detecting nothing remotely characteristic of the Islay region. And yet, that's not a bad thing. Bunna 12 does quite well for what it is. Respectable age statement, quality barrels, appropriately proofed. And on sale for $50 (down from $55) it's a damn good value. Approachable enough for the novice, complex enough to satisfy a seasoned drinker. What's not to like here? It's a rich, well-balanced malt that demonstrates that the Islay region is capable of producing much more than the peat bombs I've come to expect. Highly recommended. Well done, Bunna.

I had a pretty good idea of what this was going to be before I bought it. I was inspired to make this purchase after watching Don Draper drink this stuff on Madmen. I figured that if he can habitually sip this for over a decade, I can get through a single bottle. Nose: The big note is something like a Vanilla Coke or a Rootbeer float. Other than that it's dusty corn and a bit of rye spice and herb. Extremely grainy and young. Maybe a bit of orange peel. It's ever so slightly floral. Not too bad actually. Palate: Sweetness coming in the form of corn notes, but not like a bourbon. It's really a one-note pony. It's all vanilla. Outside of that, there's a medicinal quality. Not like an Islay Scotch though. It's simply reminiscent of the aftertaste of some non-flavored syrupy medicine. Rough. Finish: All rye spice. More vanilla, some herb, and a dash of pepper. Very boozy. Thankfully, it's over pretty quickly. Whisky must have come a long way since the 50s. I'd expect better of a multi-millionaire like Don Draper because this is a downright uncomfortable experience. Even the Crown Royal Bourbon Mash was more tolerable and considerably more interesting. I know I'm being harsh on something that is clearly intended to be used as a mixer. But hey. I've had much better experiences from the bottom shelf. This tasting was akin to ripping off a bandaid. I was dreading it after my first few tastes but am glad it's out of the way. It makes Johnnie Walker Red taste like a high-end blend. It was only $13, so I'm done complaining. Instead, I think I'll go brush my teeth with hydrogen peroxide and try to forget that any of this happened.

This 14 year-old Glenfiddich was the first whisky I ever purchased that I'd consider "beyond entry level." At the time it seemed like a big step up from anything I'd tried previously. I'm excited to see how this ranks now that I've got a proper basis for comparison. Nose: Classic speyside with a couple bourbon notes. Vanilla, toffee, caramel, orange, honey, orchard fruits (apple, pear) and apricot. Some cereal grains and oak spice to round it out. Very malty, light spice. Over time, a banana note emerges, as well as the cola note I usually only get in bourbons. Palate: Vanilla, caramel, apricot, apple pear, honey, milk chocolate, and orange. More of the big malt notes, but it seems more mature and refined here; none of that cereal grain. The oak is also more pronounced here. A bit of cinnamon and baking spice. Bourbon influence is apparent. Finish: More of the same, fruity, floral notes. It's more of that apple, pear, apricot, orange until the oak and baking spices/cinnamon take over. Short-to-medium length finish. After an additional taste, I get a superb toasted oak note that really brings this up a notch for me. Solid effort. Nothing too crazy. This is a nice cross between a Speyside fruit bowl and a touch of bourbon of influence. I'm enjoying it quite a bit. It hits all the right notes and it's balanced throughout. Factoring great VFM, I think 4 stars is fair. If my memory serves me correct, this may be my favorite Glenfiddich I've had to date, regardless of price point. Well-balanced. Glad this one holds up for me. If you're a fan of the classic Speyside profile, you're in for a treat with this one. Well done, Glenfiddich.

I reviewed this one about a year ago. Gave it a 4, but was pretty non-descript in my otherwise. Saw it on sale a month back and decided to bring this one back into the home bar. It was my first Japanese whisky back then, let's see a year of experience and an updated rating system change my original score. Nose: Young and grainy. Lots of cereal. Big malt and toffee notes. Orange peel, green apple, vanilla, and honey. A pinch of black pepper and basil. Some almond and even shortbread cookie. Surprisingly a bit astringent. Palate: More orange and now some grapefruit and lemon. Much more bitter than I remember. Big cereal grains. More vanilla and honey sweetness, with an artificial green apple Jolly Rancher note. A bit of milk chocolate and more malt. Both bitter and sweet, as well as young and grainy. Finish: Orange and grapefruit still come through. There's more milk chocolate, vanilla, and honey, and then a burst of cinnamon, pepper, and oak. I get a soapy note somewhere along the way, and roasted nuts on the tail end. Moderate in length. Best part of the dram. Not quite how I remembered it. It's fine, and it offers solid VFM. When I wrote my last review, I wrote something to the effect of, "This was interesting enough to get me to explore the genre of Japanese of whisky." And it succeeded in doing so. After trying the Hibiki Harmony, I can't deny that that is head and shoulders above this one. To peg it at double the price of this Toki is fair in my opinion. This one hits it's mark at its price point and is worth a shot. Definitely a worthy gateway to Japanese whisky, as it was for me. Great choice if you're looking to get into Japanese whisky or if you just want to try something new and are on a budget. After a subsequent tasting, I was definitely a bit harsh on this one. Must have been an off night. Bumping the 3 to a 3.5.