Tastes

I picked up a bottle of Kamiki Maltage by chance from one of my favorite local fine whiskey retail establishments as one of my business partners swears by this stuff. After reading several reviews, I went into this taste cautiously optomistic. First of all: Kamiki Maltage is finished in Cedar Casks. That's new and different. But is it a case of " it's different cause no one else wants to use cedar casks?" Or was it a stroke of genius some master distiller in Japan figured out one day? I do typically like Cedar though. I like the smell, it reminds me of a good cigar humidor and it wards away moths ( I hang Cedar rings from my closet ). As you open this bottle you can't help but notice the hype plastered all over the box. London Spirits Silver, Ultimate Spirits Challenge Chairman's Trophy, LA Spirits Awards platinum AND Best World Whiskey Roman Whiskey Festival? This whiskey better not be advertising credentials that weren't well deserved. The nose on this one is a little odd. Smells of straw and something slightly salty and meaty? Weird.. I wonder if I can just smell some savory salty scents after coming off tasting a peated whiskey. Still, I did swap my glass for a fresh one so I am definitely not comingling the smells. The taste has an underlying sweet honey quality about it mixed with some sandalwood. There's a weird funk to this... could it be from the Cedar Casks? Its almost like there's a bit of damp wood taste, like a pile of firewood after a big rain. The finish is super fast. You do get a little bit of sweet tang reminiscent of canned mandarins but its super subtle. Mostly just more of the sweet honey and damp wood. I don't know... this isn't one of my favorites by a long shot but there's stuff in the price range that is way worse. Wouldn't buy it again but it was an interesting change from the norm.

Here I go again, giving another peated whiskey a try. Look; to be fair my first ever truly peated whiskey was Lagavulin. I went in knowing nothing about that distillery or how a peated whiskey should taste and came out the other side convincing myself that peated whiskies aren't my thing. But to be fair: Balvenie is one of my all time favorite distilleries. I love almost everything they produce and generally its one of my go-to brands when I'm out with friends and looking to satisfy the urge for a good, honest, neat pour. The smell conjures up images of an open flame: wooden campfire with some type of meat slowly turning on a spit. Its similar in character to Lagavulin but where that nose was overpoweringly smoky, on the verge of making my eyes water; Balvenie 14 Year Week of Peat is much more gentle with its approach. This whiskey tastes of peat smoke through and through but doesn't assault your senses in the way Lagavulin does. The smoke gently rolls on, carried by a sweet nuttiness I don't often get from Balvenie. Reminds me of a gentle background of honey roasted almonds. The smoke fades off of the finish. Slowly dissipating from the tongue and leaving a slight aftertaste of warm vanilla cookies? How delightful! Lately my life has been dominated by Bourbons. But this was a delicious and nice change from my "sweet tooth" selections. This is truly a peated whiskey I can get behind.

Stunning. I expected nothing less from a Barrel Proof Blanton's. I was recently lucky enough to procure a bottle of this amazing elixir from a local retailer at a somewhat decent price ( $250/700ML ). For those in Orange County, CA who are in the know ~ I got this from Hi Time Wine Cellar who still have a few bottles left. Straight away I recommend not taking a king size whiff for the nose. Its a barrel proof bourbon and should be treated with respect. The nose is sweet and thick with caramel, vanilla and maple syrup. It smells viscous and delicious and has slight hints of apricots and citrus fruits ( very faint ). The taste is vibrant and bold, slightly oily mouth feel. You get Vanilla and Caramel straight away mingled with honey. There's a little bit of a dark dried fruit appeal mid taste, prunes perhaps? The finish is very warm, as you'd expect from the proof. Under the veil of heat lies some rye spice that is missing from the original Single Barrel but less potent than Gold. Speaking of spice, midway through the very long and satisfying finish, something sweet and spicy with a bit of tongue prickle hits. Reminds me of Cinnamon Candies. Call me basic but now that I've tried all of the "standard Blanton's offerings" ( Single Barrel, Special Reserve, Black, Gold, Red and SFTB ) I'm still the biggest fan of Single Barrel. I suppose that's going to be friendlier to my wallet in the long run! But this Straight from the Barrel really is something special. If you're a fan of higher proof whiskey and bourbon and you get a chance to try this stuff, its an absolute must.

Weller 12 year is, in my humble opinion, just about the best example of what a definitive bourbon should be. Bearing in mind that I do believe taste is rather subjective ( hence why glorious sites exist like Distiller ) I will put forth that my definition of a great bourbon in the classical sense is something sweet, not too far leaning in any other taste realm, mildly but not overly complex ( I can already see die hard whiskey fans grimacing at that one ) and memorable. Weller 12 ticks all of those boxes and more. Its a crying shame that "market price" for this delicious selection is through the roof. I do understand why it remains as wildly popular as it is... but that doesn't take away the sting to my wallet if I wanted to pony up for a bottle of my own. Luckily there are still fine dining establishments serving up Weller 12 at a halfway decent price per pour. I tried mine at The Peppermill in Tempe, AZ this past week on a business trip. The nose is sweet and tantalizing. You're immediately hit with a creamy blend of vanilla, caramel and milk chocolate. At the tail end of the nose, a little hint of charred oak makes is way in, but only for a fleeting nanosecond. The vanilla, caramel and milk chocolate train continues to the taste. Weller 12 year has a pretty satisfying, thick mouthfeel like Blanton's SB. But with that viscosity and sweetness you tend to worry if this taste will be cloying. However, your fears are put to rest with a fair bit of baking spice which blends the taste and finish and also introduces a little element of heat to the overall affair. On the finish, the baking spice usher in some more creamy caramel with a bit of sweet, nutty pecans. The finish is quite good and surprisingly long lasting for 90 proof ( a bit less than Blanton's but not far off ). A rare 5 for me but well deserved.

Enjoying rare whiskies and bourbons and being able to chat with likeminded enthusiasts sometimes surfaces some less than favorable aspects of our hobby. What's with people's notion that the only good whiskies worth drinking are cask strength? Just because a whiskey or bourbon is lower proof doesn't make it inferior. Approaching every taste without preconceived notions makes for a much more fun experience in trying whiskey and bourbons from all over the world. This proof snobbery has led to very excellent bourbons like Blanton's Special Reserve becoming the black sheep of the line up. And it's a damn shame. That said, I think Blanton's Special Reserve is a delightful, sweet and delicious selection from Blanton's line up. The nose swims with milky caramel, vanilla, some sandalwood and a little citrus zing. The mouth feel is thin, expected of the proof. Caramel and Vanilla pour on the sweetness on the front of the taste. Some sweet and tart fruit forward notes creep through mid taste, mixed with a slight bitterness. Reminds me orange peels, but if they were mixed with simple syrup. The finish is shorter than Original Single Barrel, but still remarkably satisfying for a lower proof. Creamy caramel returns through that veil of citrusy sweetness and spreads from mid tongue out but then a surprising tannic quality reminiscent of a good Rye takes a bow as the curtain closes. This one is special indeed. If you have the opportunity to give it a try, I'd certainly recommend it.

Fresh off my taste of BRT-02, this BRT-01 smells a fair bit brighter. Gone are the notes of molasses. This one smells... vibrant somehow. Baking spices with cherries ( but not over ripened ) and a hint of the butterscotch that was also present in BRT-02 fills your nose. The taste brings you down a wonderfully sweet, tart and complex road. You get a little bit of toasted spice at first, think slightly charred cinnamon sticks. That opens up to wonderfully bright and slightly tart cherries. Linking the taste and finish is that familiar spice but this time accompanied by a slight hint of brown sugar. The finish brings it all together. I still taste the tartness from mid taste but with a bit of tongue prickle from spice. Its long lasting and satisfying. Maker's Mark Wood Finishing series still ( in my humble opinion ) stand as some of the best bourbons you can buy at a reasonable price. Well... if you buy them at retail price. But right now, BRT-01 and BRT-02 are finally hitting shelves in California and have been readily available in other parts of the country for weeks. Well worth the price of admission. Between the two? BRT-01 is brighter, livelier and more fun than BRT-02 which focuses on darker, sweet notes. Hard to pick between the two but my vote goes toward BRT-01 as the better of the two.

A new Maker's Mark wood finishing series release is always cause for celebration. But two, for 2022? It's a downright party. Unfortunately for me, getting my grubby hands on rarer bottles such as BRT 01 and BRT 02 is always a bit of a chore. Simply put: all the hipsters around me like to buy bourbon which makes hard to find bourbon all the harder to find. Thank God for retailers who ship. The nose smells dark and sweet. Pitted cherries and figs mingle with molasses and a bit of butterscotch. On the taste, a little touch of salted caramel opens up to slightly bitter, semi sweet dark chocolate. The mouth feel and warmth reflect the proof quite strongly. Over ripened but slightly sour cherries bridge the gap between taste and finish. The finish begins with baking spices which is complimented by the tongue prickling heat of the proof. That spiciness is long and lingering, but eventually makes way to a slightly sour and fruity end, again tasting of dark pitted fruits. RC6 set a precedent in 2019 that still has yet to be matched by its Wood Finishing offspring ( FAE01 came close ). My rating is in an attempt to be impartial, rating this selection on its own without influence from how great previous Wood Finishing bottlings were. In that aspect this one is solid and complex if not a little dark and bitter. And now... I shall patiently wait for my bottle of BRT 01 to arrive.

I received two small taster bottles of this stuff with a particularly high dollar order from one of my favorite rare whiskey vendors. Everything about these taster bottles was screaming for me NOT to subject myself to tasting it neat but... I just had to... The nose smells like peanut brittle vape juice. That is.. it somehow smells like Caramel Popcorn and rancid peanuts that have been trapped under a damp piece of a cardboard for a few days. The smell is not appealing at ALL. Trying to ignore the smell, I brought myself to taste the stuff. Jesus H Christ this was the first whiskey I ever poured out of my glass. Before getting to the overpowering assault on your senses that is supposed to taste like Peanut Butter, the whiskey itself tastes young.... like really bad moonshine. Its bitter as all hell and bites with an astringency that makes you question if its really whiskey as a base. That astringency rides out the taste as background noise to the absolutely hideous, overly artificial flavor that dominates the taste. Its salty and musty and tastes like peanuts that have been swimming in some type of moldy slurry. Christ... I can't even finish this taste as I don't want to take another sip. If you're a whiskey lover. For the love of God and all that is holy.. don't drink this stuff. This is by far and away the worst whiskey I've ever had. The .25 Stars I'm giving it is generous.

During the height of the pandemic in California, people were making a mad dash for alcohol. I guess if you're going to be stuck at home... may as well be stuck and hammered, right? As a result, finding Maker's Mark Wood Finishing Series 2020 release was all but impossible. Not only does distribution from Kentucky all the way out to California take ages, but the second limited bottles like this hit store shelves; they are wiped out. I all but gave up the hope of ever tasting SE4 PR5. And then, the other day as I was looking online for BRT 01 and BRT 02 I stumbled across a store that advertised 5 bottles of SE4 PR5 in stock. Probably because of the ridiculously inflated price tag they were asking. And although I hate paying almost triple retail MSRP for a bottle, I saw my one chance to catch this fleeting unicorn and took it. Was it worth the 2 year wait? The nose is rich and robust. Sweet and thick like caramel and molasses. A little bit of toasted oats adds some body to that nose. The taste balances the line between sweet and spicy. Its got a lot more complexity than Maker's Mark core selections for sure. It starts off innocently enough with some sweet caramel and a little bit of milk chocolate. As you move toward the middle of the taste, your tongue is caught in fiery spice that opens up from mid tongue out. Its a bit herbaceous and just faintly related to rye. As that spice dies down you get a background of roasted peanuts which adds just a tad of savory quality to the flavor. The part of this bourbon I find lacking is the aftertaste though. Once the bourbon is down and that nutty finish is gone, a bit of sourness creeps onto the back of the palate that reminds me a bit of the aftertaste of warm coke. Its weird... I have never tasted this sort of aftertaste on any Maker's Mark whiskey. But somehow it fits in to character with the overall complexity of this selection.

A Maker's Mark private selection for Amazon stores? What an unexpected and interesting find! Labeled as "Rufus Reserve" this limited bottling ( Labeled #004/246 ) reminds me a lot of another limited bottling " Honeysuckle Breeze". The nose is less sweet and indulgent than Honeysuckle Breeze. Caramel with a bit of astringency. Unlike some other cask strength Maker's selections, this one smells its proof. The nose tapers off into a bit of something darker and sweet like dark baker's chocolate. The front of the taste is a bit muted, delayed but then it explodes into yeasty sweet rolls. That taste blossoms out into ripe honeydew melons. The finish picks up that dark chocolate that was on the nose with bitterness combined with a slightly chalky mouth feel. The bitterness stays and as the finish closes out; brings with it something slightly musty like leather. These Private Selection bottlings are always fun but I feel like they're never as good as Maker's Mark Wood Finishing Series. Still, for a reasonable price tag for something that appears to be rather rare, it is a fun sipper that brings with it complexity that regular Maker's Mark cannot compete with.