Tastes

Oh I have been waiting a long long time to try this one. Its no secret that Blantons Single Barrel is my favorite bourbon of all time but not having tasted any of the rarer selections, I was eager to try one of the most special bottlings: Blanton's Gold. This bottle I procured was in 700 ML Size, indicating it was an import from the European market ( or so I have been told ). On the nose is a dark pitted fruit like over ripened cherries mixed with raisins. There is a bit of citrusy twang with a light sprinkling of something slightly woody and grassy. Maybe a little sawdust sprinkled on some hay? The taste begins sweet enough with vanilla and thick creamy honey. And then, mid taste... what is this? Some peppery spice! Unexpected if all you've tasted is Blanton's Single Barrel. The finish starts with hints of rye, typically not my favorite taste profile but its faint enough in Blanton's Gold that it isn't offensive. The dry heat and peppery spice stay in your mouth for the long, oily finish. But as this spice fades away a slightly bitter and musty leathery quality underlines some sweet honey. MAN this finish is long lasting and almost another taste within itself. Can bourbon get any deeper, more complex and more expressive than Blanton's Gold? Not that I've tasted. That said, expect more spice and heat than you may be used to from Blanton's Single Barrel. The remarkable thing is: where other bourbons carrying this quantity of spice are jarring or sometimes unpleasant... Blanton's Gold just isn't. I don't know if this is worth the price premium or the long hunt over good ol' Single Barrel but if you get the opportunity to taste: please do.

The Dalmore King Alexander III... If fruit is your cup of tea ( or should I say... your dram of whiskey? ) this might be pretty close to as good as it gets. I'm impartial, but this is a fine whiskey indeed. A deep red fruity character dominates the nose but there's also a little bit of roasted nuts in there. The front of the taste opens up with sweet winter spices and blossoms into chocolate covered raspberries. This one is intensely sweet, almost cloying. The finish veers decisively into the realm of tart cranberries and finishes sweet and tart.

I've wanted to try Signet for a long time but could not ever really justify spending the green on a bottle. I got my chance at a taste during my anniversary dinner at a nice steak house. The nose of this superb whiskey starts off with creamy milk chocolate along with some orange peel. A sweet nuttiness softens that citrus as well. The taste begins a tad nutty and sweet, like peanut brittle. Sweet brandied cherries swirl with milk chocolate as the decadent taste crescendos then fades into a faint hint of peat smoke plus a bit of leather smoking jacket. The finish is long and satisfying, ending with a kiss of baking spices. Boy this is one of the better ones. And a huge reason why Glenmorangie is still one of the best.

A sweet and indulgent nose is filled with Brown sugar, caramel and ripe apples. That deliciously sweet nose carries on into the taste. Initial taste carries a hint of sweet but every so slightly tart candied apples. The familiar Maker's creamy vanilla rises to the occasion mid taste. The finish is hot, understandable from the proof but questionable as other Maker's limited selections seldom taste this hot. The finish is slightly dry and a little astringent but carries with it a bit of bitter unsweetened chocolate and just a hint of burnt sugar. Really, is there ANY Maker's limited production selection that's BAD per say? On its own this is a very solid, high proof bourbon. But when comparing it with Maker's amazing Wood Finishing Series: this one falls short. It's just a bit too hot and a bit too astringent to snag my heart.

The nose carries fruit and spice within it, reminds me of those spiced chewy gumdrop candies, but perhaps just a bit more tart. The taste is quick and simple. Not much complexity to this whiskey but at this price, that's just fine. Oddly enough, I'm not picking up a whole lot of fruit in the taste. Tastes a bit sweet and spicy, like cinnamon candy. The finish is quick but hits you with a little bit of astringency, reminding you that this is a relatively young whiskey. To each their own but in this price point, Glenfiddich competes with Glenmorangie Original 10 year which I much prefer. Still, you can do way way worse for this kind of money and Glenfiddich 12 year is pretty good in its own right.

This one has a powerfully fruity nose. Smells of slightly old raspberries mixed in with a little citrus zest. The taste carries with it sweet honey and has a bit of a malty mouthfeel that, when mixed with the honey, reminds me of honey nut cheerios a bit. As the taste goes down and blossoms into the finish you catch something just a bit tannic and slightly musty, like an old leather jacket. When the taste is long done, there's a wisp of peat smoke that dances off the tip of your tongue, almost unnoticeable. I had to take a second drink to confirm its presence. This is just fine for what is essentially a wine cask selection. It isn't too fruit forward on the taste, despite what the nose tells you.

Glenfiddich has some seriously good selections out there. Recently, I had the chance to pick up their three bottle tasting pack consisting of 12, 15 and 18 year core selections. The obvious choice was to start at 18. A decidedly fruity nose, one tends to wonder if this is a taste of things to come. The fruit isn't so heavy on berries as one might expect from Sherry casks. There is a mouthwatering, almost juicy fruitiness about the entire taste, particularly the finish. Very interesting indeed. The front of the taste reminds me of toffee. Quite sweet indeed, but a little salty. The middle of the taste has that toffee blossom into baking spices. Deep, rich spices like nutmeg and cinnamon coat your tongue. This baking spice almost leads you to believe there is nothing more, but wait: that finish allows the fruitiness to creep in slowly. A few seconds after the taste is down, the fruitiness blossoms into full effect, singing of pears and berries. The finish is long lasting, sweet and fruity. This one is a bit fruit heavy for my taste. I tend to like things sweet, chocolatey and malty. But you know... it really isn't bad considering its a core selection for Glenfiddich and available pretty much year round. A good holiday bottle.

Oh sherry cask whiskies. How easy it is to get this completely wrong. I guess taste is subjective but when it comes to wine cask whiskies, I tend to want to taste the whiskey more than the wine. Many brands tend to steer to heavy into the realm of wine cask and what you end up is a half whiskey, half wine fruity and sour mess of a dram. On initial impressions, Lasanta sherry cask doesn't smell like it will disappoint. The nose is light, like REALLY light. I had to stick my nose quite a bit closer to the Glencairn than I normally would. But when I did it smelled of red fruits, perhaps cherries and simple syrup. Maybe... Maraschino cherries? The taste is a good, harmonious amalgamation of the Sherry and Bourbon casks. The taste begins sweet, of course. A little bit of that red fruit influence but nothing much really happens until you get to the middle of the taste. That change from sweet and tart to vibrant spices is really noticeable in this whiskey. The spice dances on your palate and gives way to a bit of nuttiness on the finish. Not oily nuttiness or sweet, but more of a dry nuttiness. A nuttiness that is almost chalky, more like an Almond or Hazelnut. Its good. And the best part is that this whiskey didn't fall into the trap of being too fruit forward.

This was a solid favorite for me years ago. As I've moved away from wine cask selections, my favoritism for Nectar D'or has faded much like its age statement. But as I continue my trip down memory lane, its time to revisit this old classic. The nose smells delicate and sweet, like a bowl of grapes drizzled lightly with honey. You can also pick up just the slightest hint of orange. The taste is surprising because the front tastes a tad salty to me. It was sudden and fleeting enough that I went back for another, just to ensure I hadn't imagined it and indeed, its there. Vanilla and honey sweetness coats your tongue and the finish taste ever so slightly bitter, citrusy and spicy. Think orange peel with some baking spice. The finish leaves a malty feeling in your mouth and leaves you wanting more. Yeah, this one is solid. Although part of me thinks that when this had an age statement, it was tastier. But then again, I had only tasted a handful of whiskies the first time I had Nectar D'Or and very likely my memory was skewed by my inexperienced tongue.

Continuing my journey down memory lane in tasting four of Glenmorangie's core offerings, I've come to the Quinta Ruban Port Cask. Port, Sherry and really... ANY wine cask typically aren't my taste. I find that many of them are overpowered with wine. They tend to be overly tart and fruity which completely masks other the flavors within single malt whiskey which makes each whiskey unique. The nose on this whiskey is oddly soft, almost non existent. It smells a bit of sweet berries and it does have the tiniest bit of brine going on. Like a salty, tart strawberry. Funky and different. That salty tartness continues to the taste. The front is quite muted and a tiny bit salty but as the taste continues, it explodes into spiced prunes. Briny a bit sweet and tart. Toward the finish the taste tapers off and leaves the tongue with an almost slightly floral after taste with a bit of astringency. Hmm... not my favorite, but you know what? It isn't overpowered with red fruit so hats off to Glenmorangie for making a Port Cask whiskey that doesn't taste like you're dunking your entire head into a vat of cherries and raspberries.