Tastes

A solid Bourbon. Lots of cinnamon, caramel, and light cherry fruit. The oak comes around, but not till a few sips in. Overall, enjoyable, but not as oaky as the older 12-year-old.

This a great Islay Scotch. Balanced between smoke, peat, and dark cooked fruit. I truly enjoy nosing, sipping and relaxing with this Scotch. The bit of pepper on the palate was a welcome surprise too and really helped layer the experience. I definitely recommend this bottle.

If this is your first whiskey of the night, it will come off hard to alcohol forward. However, if you stick with it, or have this later in your evening there is a lot of flavours to find here. Buttered sweet corn, sugared cooked fruit, maybe orange citrus too. The finish adds just enough oak and mouth spice to think about pouring another. Nothing fancy, but good, high proof Bourbon here.

This is a big Scotch. If you don't enjoy peat, I would just move along. However, if you enjoy the classic Islay, ashy peat then this is a beauty. The nose has big sherry notes, with lots of raisin and sweetness. The smoke comes up quickly too and balances off the fruit. When I take a sip, this one explodes in the palate. Lots of smoke, ash, pepper, and finally settles back to allow the vanilla and sweet sugars to come back. A few more sips and it's balanced again with cooked fruits, BBQ, and smoke. The finish on this is long and moves through various stages. At first I'm getting lots of tobacco and leather, then a bitter medicinal stage, but ends off with that deep, cooked down fruit or dry red wine. There are edges of youth, with bitterness and sharpness in the nose, however, overall I just love this one. Thanks, Ardbeg!

This whisky starts very sweet. In the nose and across the palate I'm certainly picking up lots of brown sugar, toasted caramel, and I guess Maple syrup. Thankfully there is at least a second or balancing note to this whisky. Rye. The spice is barely there in the nose but wakes up in the palate. A peppery, drying spice that helps cut the sweet or balance the sugar. The finish is a bit too wood, bitter, and dry for me, but it welcomes another sip!

Initially, I found it a little thin and gentle in almost all areas. With a little more time I can find some cashew or nut flavours that are fun, the general fruit and vanilla seem balanced, and the finish is medium, with a lingering caramel or toffee note. Very good for a simple 12-year-old.

Pear and apple come up quickly. A gentle dram, it eases into a little cinnamon, caramel and light citrus. It has that Scotch oak or older wood feel, but only lightly. Finish is short but pleasant with no lingering aftertaste.

Engaging caramel, with a suggestion of rye spice, the nose has a little too much raw alcohol notes, but it settles down with time. The taste is syrup sweet up front that settles into some spice and finishes with a bit of oak. This drink is a dessert in itself. With a little more age, it would shine brighter, but a really good example of the typical Canadian whisky style.