Tastes

I don't think I've ever been the first on this site to review a whisky. Well, except maybe some odd barrel pick or some off selection ( like that odd Korean blended whisky I reviewed some years back ). I've got a love/hate thing with Balvenie. And I've discovered that their selections that aren't heavily influenced by fruit or wine casks: I absolutely adore. But once the focus becomes wine casks, red fruits fill every orifice of my face. It's quite.... unpleasant. That's not to down trod on anyone who loves wine cask finish whisky. If that's your jam, spread it on your toast and enjoy the hell out of it. But its not really my thing, inherent of my deep love affair of Bourbon. Enter: 14 year bourbon barrel. I can't wait to try this.... Whoa. The nose has a shockingly peaty quality about it. Upon first smell it's savory and umptious and has a bit of a smoked brisket quality about it. Served up with that savory peat smoke is some honey draped orange peel, citrusy but slightly bitter enveloped in thick sweetness. The taste starts very mellow and soft. Thick honey drips over orange slices. The inherent bitterness of the orange pith is lost in the peat smoke undertone. Vanilla lands mid taste with tannic charred oak. There is such a thick, tongue coating mouth feel about this one, it's really incredibly satisfying. The finish is dry, long lasting and viscous. Charred oak carries the finish to the end but right at the start of the finish you get a flash of aromatic vanilla bean on the back of your tongue. The viscous mouth feel on the taste leads to a pleasant tingle on the finish that lasts several minutes as you savor the memory of the peat smoke, oak, citrus, vanilla and honey. Wow! This reminds me a little of Week of Peat releases ( come to find out, this particular bottling was produced immediately after peat week so by happy accident the bottling took on some of the peat flavors from the batch that proceeded ). But along with that, some of the sweet / oak combo from their Sweet Toast of the American Oak, with any rough edges rounded off for good measure. It's sweet, citrusy, smokey and all around delicious. It sings to all the flavors I love in whisky and it's damn near perfect for me. Why can't this become a regular bottling in their core line up?!

I was never a fan of Irish whiskeys until about 2 years back when I had my first taste of Green Spot. It was good... not magnificent, but good. Good enough for me to seek out the rest of the line up until I discovered Gold Spot. One of the most perfect Irish... no... dare I say; Whiskeys in general. So this new, limited release 13 year Gold Spot has a hell of a lot to live up to. I don't like to hype up anything before tasting it but damn it I've been hyping this one, enthusiastically. Well, today I finally received a glorious package straight from the UK. Juicy, red apples bring mouth watering sweet brightness to the nose along with some over ripened strawberry. Some slightly bitter tannins hit deeper on the nose along with baking spice and almond paste. This adds an unexpected depth and umami about the smell. Tart fruity sweetness leads the taste but isn't overrun with berries. Definitely some sweet and tart raspberry there, along with those strawberries that were on the nose but the overwhelming fruit here is delicious, deep red apples. The taste is almost juicy in that aspect. Although mid taste does dry a bit there's almost nothing overbearingly tannic or spicy about this taste. It's so soft and well rounded. The back half of the taste brings with it a slightly tannic and spicy character but it rides on the back of that red, crisp apple. The finish is long, satisfying. In the shadow of tart apple, tannic oak and slightly tart berry mingle with just enough baking spice to make your tongue tingle but it doesn't prickle by any means. A fascinating, well balanced finish to a fascinating, well balanced Irish Whiskey. My God. This Gold Spot 13 year Generations edition did it. An Irish Whiskey that impresses me more than the 9 year Gold Spot with which I completely fell head over heels for. I'm going to be a very unhappy camper when I pour my last drop of this stuff.... I guess that means I'll just need to go online and order another bottle.

I first had a taste of Taylor Barrel Proof at a fancy steakhouse last year but the unfortunate thing about tasting whiskey in that setting is... the smell of delicious food overruns the nose, it wasn't served in a Glencairn and honestly, my date was very distracting ( in a good way ). So... I didn't bother with a review. Yikes... that made me sound awfully pretentious didn't it? Ick. My neighbor was gracious enough to give me a sample of this stuff and mentioned it was this year's batch. I didn't even realize a new batch comes out yearly but man... this stuff is already hard to find at RRP but to know a new batch comes out every year? My poor bank account. The nose is dark, sweet and tannic. Dark cocoa powder with tannic charred oak make for quite a dry nose. Brown sugar is a bit muted from the ethanol hit due to the proof. Salted caramel opens up the taste as you hang on to it for a moment. But as that taste goes down, black peppercorn and heat from the proof light up your tongue. There's some brown sugar in there from the nose. As I'm tasting this I suspect there would be more complexity with a pip or two of water but as mentioned prior, I'm rather stubborn and insist on tasting all whiskey and bourbons neat. The back half of taste has a bit of sweet and tart cherry, its quite reminiscent of more than a few Stagg releases. The proof from this release does that thing that makes your tongue and roof of mouth feel a bit powdery but that plays in with the tannic nature of the finish. Bitter, dark chocolate powder is joined with oak and the finish is of medium length although not very viscous. When the fire dies down you catch the tail end of some of that tart cherry that was present on the back of the taste. This release really does remind me of some of the Stagg releases I've had in years past but contains its own E.H. Taylor sweetness. It's good but hard to imagine shelling out secondary prices for this bottle. I'd gladly have it at RRP though.

My first foray into Bardstown as recommended by the owner of one of my favorite stores where I purchase a big majority of my bottles from. And he does know my taste quite well, having filled all of my online special orders. Bitter and bright orange pith ushers in nutty and sweet bear claw pastries drizzled with vanilla frosting. It is actually quite a stunning blend of sweet, spice, tannins and citrus. Very interesting and very unique indeed. The taste opens up with spicy sweet cinnamon toast crunch with orange marmalade riding on the back, but slowly give way to spicy peppercorns and tannic oak. Although not especially viscous in mouth feel, that prickly pepper does give you a little pleasant tongue tingle. Quite delicious in fact. The spicy and dry character pulls through the finish where you really do notice the tongue prickle. Orange pith adds a slight zing of citrus to an otherwise dry but satisfyingly long finish. Wow! This one swings way above its price point and this is WELL worth the sub $60 price tag. Actually this Origin series Wheated Bourbon is good enough to make me interested in other Bardstown offerings.

The first 2024 release Grain to Glass I tried was their Wheated bourbon and man... was I blown away. Although I'm not going to be seeking out the Rye ( I'm not a Rye man myself, and any Rye I purchase is put towards cocktails which would be blasphemy for ANY Grain to Glass offering ) I did immediately seek out a bottle of their Straight Bourbon to sample. Luckily I found it quite easily at one of my favorite liquor stores of all time and for a very reasonable price. First thing I notice here is some pretty hot ethanol that underlies the nose but if you take it in gently and smell past the ethanol there is a very sweet and tart fruity character. Caramel apple leads the charge with some tannic but fresh oak mid smell and some deep, darker pitted fruits ~ stewed plum along with just a kiss of baking spice. What a taste! There is a bright, tart and incredibly sweet candied apple quality about it. The taste ignites like a flare and then you notice just how wholly it coats the tongue. It really is lip smacking good. Toward mid / back of taste, cinnamon makes its appearance... surprising as it was barely present on the nose. That spice ushers in the finish which dries up quickly with tannic oak standing at the forefront but really bringing down the effervescence of the taste. At the back of your tongue, that bright apple flavor on the taste dims to a spiced apple cider. Your tongue is left a with a bit of a tingle as the spice dies down. The finish is medium length but not very viscous. Wow... I don't know which I like better the Wheated or this. Both are EXCELLENT bourbons and really, as they are quite readily available at the moment; I do strongly recommend you go out and buy both. Is $110/Bottle cheap? No, but damnit it is worth every hard earned penny.

Typically, I am extremely weary of recommendations made to me by Total Wine staff. But today, as I was perusing their latest shipment; a Total Wine employee approached me and started to make recommendations. Keen to see if he was just trying to push their "spirits direct" selections like Grangestone ( ick ), or if the guy really knew what he was talking about; I played dumb and asked him for recommendations for a series of scenarios. And he pointed out a few very good bourbons to whet my whistle. He recommended this Old Emmer Cask Strength to use in a good Manhattan or Old Fashioned, proudly telling me the story of the "Old Emmer Wheat Strain" and all that marketing mumbo jumbo. But at the end of the day: this is a cask strength, wheated bourbon coming in under $50 a bottle. Surely it wouldn't be that bad, right? The nose smells a bit ethanol rich from the proof ( surprising because 110 proof isn't that potent in this space ). But beyond that, there is a tannic oak top layer with underlying smooth and sweet honey. Plums provide a rich, darker, pitted fruit essence as well. This selection is smooth and sweet, but not cloyingly so. I suspect the cask strength helps it to not move too far towards that direction. Caramel and honey provide a silky foundation for vanilla and honey roasted nuts. Mid taste, baking spice comes on strong and right toward the end of taste: a tannic bite of charred oak barrel. The finish is quite long and oily albeit not exactly complex. That charred oak stays but along with it some dark cocoa powder that lingers for a while. Old Emmer Cask Strength was quite a surprise! Sweet, complex and satisfying - I am thoroughly impressed by this. Look: for sub $50 a bottle, what have you got to lose? This selection whomps pretty hard on many bottles double this price point.

I've not had such a sordid love affair with Booker's. I appreciate a cask strength bourbon as much as the next guy ( Heaven Hill's Grain to Glass Wheated, for example ) but of the Booker's varieties that I've tried, they were much too fire breathing to truly be enjoyable. Now granted, this might also be attributed to my unwillingness to try a bourbon of this caliber anything but neat. Perhaps these selections could benefit from a pip of water or two. But I can't bring myself to dilute a bourbon of this caliber in any way shape or form. So pretensions aside, I will have my whiskey and bourbon neat, from a Glencairn. Ethanol does hit on the nose of Springfield Batch but perhaps not nearly as heavy as the 124.5 proof would suggest. There is a deep brown sugar and molasses thick sweetness underlying an interesting honey roasted peanut top layer. Coconut shavings and tart green apples cut the savory sweetness but don't outshine it. Fruity blackberry jam, cherries and apple rush forward on initial taste. The proof produces a very viscous, tongue coating mouth feel that works well with the sweet/tart of the fruits. Mid taste and back brings on bitter dark chocolate and tannic oak. There's some baking spice there but again, given the fiery proof of this selection; I would have imagined the spice would be much more pronounced. The finish is long and satisfying, as is the norm with Booker's. Tannic oak and baking spice stay and take center stage whilst the dark chocolate turns a bit dry, leaving a bit of a powdery mouthfeel. Wow. I know that purists of previous Booker's batches might be slightly disappointed by the "tamer" aspect of this bottling but I found this absolutely delightful. I'm shocked that my local Total Wine quite literally had 10 or so of these bottles on the shelf, waiting to be picked. It isn't hard to find this at RRP at the moment, please do yourself a favor and pick up a bottle. You won't regret it.

A friend of mine's significant other is absolutely obsessed with Crown Royal. The type of obsessed where she has multiples of extremely rare, 4 figure bottles in her home. ( I never knew "rare" Crown Royal existed ). Admittedly, I've only had the standard Crown Royal. You know... the type that you'd have to pick if you were at a seedy dive bar in the wrong part of town trying to weigh your three whisky options: Crown, Jack and Jameson. Yuck. But I suppose it would be unfair for me to discount Crown Royal's entire catalogue just from tasting their cheapest swill. Or by the fact that they make flavored whisky ( gross. ). Sorry that makes me sound a bit of a douche snob. On to the tasting.... The nose is light, sweet and quite nutty. Like walnut Baklava. Actually I could go for some deliciously sweet Baklava right now... There's almost a rich maltiness about it similar to a good ale. Walnuts mix with honey in an almost cloying nose that's saved by a bit of spicy sweet cinnamon that rides in with just a hint of tart granny smith apples. The taste is decidedly very light. Vanilla dominates with sweet cream but there lies a bit of a floral fruitiness. Green apple, bananas and orange blossom. Back half of taste spices things up a bit and also brings in some dryness, cinnamon spice with leather. The finish is a bit one dimensional but it's rather long lasting for a Canadian whiskey. Spice lingers with a tannic bite. This is fine. Certainly better than the standard poverty grade Crown Royal but I'd hardly be convinced to give another Crown selection or really even another Canadian whisky a go. To anyone that is more experienced in this segment: what Canadian whisky do you think would actually make me a convert?