Tastes

Taking a break from the limited or rare whiskies is a welcome change. I remember in my infancy of whiskey tasting, I had a pour of Glenfiddich 14, neat and it was one of the first single malts I genuinely enjoyed neat. Hey, we all went through our chilled / on the rocks phase. I saw a bottle of this stuff at one of my favorite local shops and decided to take a stroll down memory lane. Sweet vanilla kicks off the nose. Candied citrus peel adds a vibrant and sweet hit then fades off to a little baking spice and caramel apple. The taste is sweet and moderately fruity. Toffee, more of that caramel apple from the nose and vanilla swirl with bright spices and the faintest citrusy tartness. The spice carries to the finish, with some tongue prickling cinnamon. Some charred oak lends just a tad bit of tannic dryness but not jarring. Truly one of the better "affordable" single malt whiskies on the market. A superb value for money for a hidden gem.

I don't really know much about Ezra Brooks' bourbon selections but a good friend of mine recommended I try Old Ezra if I ever got the chance to do so. With a reasonable price point and a barrel strength punch, I figured I didn't have much to lose! Very traditional barrel strength bourbon nose. Charred oak, vanilla and brown sugar with a kiss of cherries and baking spice to close it out. What an interesting taste! Starts very sweet with caramel that opens up to sweet and tart cherries before baking spices and tannic oak swirl into the mix. I think the proof makes that drier, tannic oak rush the other flavors off the palate a little too quickly, but it is pleasant, nonetheless. The finish stays on the dry and spicy side. A very brief hit of leather mixes with that oak and baking spice. The proof does prickle your tongue just a bit, but not unpleasantly so. The finish isn't super long, oily or as full bodied as I was hoping for but as the flavors fall off, there's a hint of vanilla that lingers just for a moment. Breathe in through your mouth and you'll detect it more clearly. For a budget barrel strength bourbon this one is solid!

Isn't it ironic? So many Buffalo Trace distributed brands have become rarer than unicorn blood and just as expensive. And yet, at the seeming "bottom" of the totem pole lies their namesake bourbon. Buffalo Trace. Still priced sub $30 bottle and still readily available ( at certain times of the year ) at almost any retailer. Are the significantly more expensive and rarified selections distributed by Buffalo Trace distillery really worth 5x, 10, hell... sometimes 40x what this stuff costs? Or is it manufactured "market inflation"? The nose is sweet, a little spicy and a little dry. Vanilla, caramel and oranges swirl around with a whiff of cinnamon and leather. A soft palate opens up to bolder tastes. Creamy caramel and toffee candy with a little brown sugar is so soft and nearly undetectable to start off the taste. Tannic oak bites mid taste and as the transition happens to finish, some rye spice peeks out for a moment. The finish is dry with lingering, tannic oak. There's a little bit of sweet baking spice and very faint bitter dark cocoa powder thing at the end. This is a fine bourbon. Perhaps one of my favorites under $30/Bottle. I'd fully recommend this to anyone who wasn't looking to break the bank for a halfway decent bourbon to drink. This is the type of bourbon you can drink neat, on the rocks or mix into a tasty old fashioned without worrying about the sheer cost and rarity with what you're about to consume. I think every home liquor shelf should have this around as a staple.

Finally taking delivery of my very own bottle of Weller Full Proof, I was all too excited to try my first taste. Typical of a good high proof bourbon, the nose is full of sweet with ethanol heat. Vanilla and cinnamon dance with caramel. Not an overly complex nose but it does seem to hint at the taste to come. Full proof definitely packs a tongue tingling punch. Vanilla opens the taste which explodes with baking spices, tannic oak and a odd tartness about it. It isn't necessarily fruity but maybe tastes a bit like under ripened cherries. The finish pushes towards the dry side. Again, hot cinnamon prickles your tongue and tannic oak and leather take center stage but as they fade, just a little bit of a milk chocolate after taste pushes down the last bit of finish. Weller Full Proof is certainly unique and a hot one. Maybe just a tad too hot, if Weller 12 is your idea of a perfect bourbon.

Oh boy. Any time I walk in to a small mom and pop liquor store on a whim and spot a Woodford Master's Collection bottle I've yet to try.. you know it's going to be a good time. There's an interesting mash of different scents on the nose but it's just a tad hard to clearly distinguish as they seem to come all at once. I'm picking up some vanilla buttercream and baking spices such as cinnamon. The nose then tapers off to hazelnut and dark cocoa powder with just a bit of herbal mint at the end. The taste is as interesting and eclectic as the nose. Light, creamy caramel candy is accompanied by some banana pudding to open up sweet. The taste becomes much drier midway; with leather, baking spices and herbaceous mint taking center stage. The tannic taste carries through to the finish with charred oak, leather and just a tiny bit of a citrus twang. But because of the dryness of the accompanying notes, its a bit more like orange pith than freshly squeezed orange juice. Honestly, I think this makes a fine bourbon. Seems the average rating is quite a bit lower here than most of Woodford's Master's Collection but I think its unique and tasty enough to heartily recommend that you try it sometime.

Fresh off my Spot whiskey binge tasting and subsequent binge purchasing of their selections, I've started to get curious now about other Irish Whiskies. In the past I hadn't given them a fair shake... but after tasting the entire line up of Spot Whiskies I've decided to seek out other excellent Irish Whiskies. A good friend of mine visited Ireland not long ago and raved bout this bottle: Writers' Tears Red Head. He lamented that they were near impossible to find local to him and I was just lucky enough to pick up two bottles somewhat local to me. One for him, one for me. Typically I steer well clear of heavy sherry / port / or just wine cask offerings in general. I don't think whiskey should taste like you're shoving an angry fistful of red fruit in your mouth. However, my buddy swears up and down by this stuff and let's be fair - $65/bottle isn't exactly going to break the bank. The nose is fruity for sure but surprisingly doesn't invade your nose holes with red fruit. Smells a little like flambéed orange peel, some nutty sweet pralines and a little bit of fresh cut grass. Interesting. The taste is pretty heavy on the sherry influence for sure, but not overly so. This whiskey has a rather oily mouthfeel which I didn't expect. A pleasant surprise. There's a bit of fruitcake about the front of the taste but doesn't bring much of the mustiness typically associated with those dried fruit/candy things. The palate turns drier midway through the taste and brings on leather jacket and a little bit of orange pith. The medium length finish doesn't switch up the flavor profile heavily from the palate, so its difficult to know when it starts. Leather jacket carries through, underlying some cinnamon red hots candy. It's good. But it isn't amazing. This is certainly better than most Irish Whiskies I have tried and I'd put it right up there with most of what Redbreast offers. But I still firmly believe that Spot whiskies are just a cut above.

Short of the special wine cask Green Spots, my most recent pick up has completed my Spot Whiskey vertical collection. I have been told that Blue Spot is the best of all of the Spot Whiskies and boy, it had better live up to the hype because being the best in this bunch is a tall order. Right off the bat, the nose smells of a higher proof but ethanol heat doesn't drown out the subtle hints of baking spice and ginger. A bit of caramel and hazelnut swirl around with black peppercorn. This one definitely smells spicier than the others. The first thing you notice is just how full and creamy the mouthfeel is. Sugary milk chocolate melts on your tongue as you first take in the taste. As it goes down, spicy peppercorn flourishes then is pleasantly replaced by super creamy vanilla. Wow.... its almost like a vanilla milkshake for a moment there. Toward the back of the taste brings toasted hazelnuts which is just about the most perfect pairing with the vanilla. The finish is long and keeps the spice. As expected from a cask strength selection, that finish does dry out a bit. Along with the lingering nutty vanilla taste slowly fading from the palate, a bit of drying oak tannins joins the party, all the while the tongue tingle from the peppercorns early on slowly fades into the distance. Ok... I will concede. Blue Spot is good. But I am personally torn between Blue Spot and Gold Spot as being the best of the Spot lineup. They're both outrageously, completely and utterly delicious Irish Whiskies. And if you know a Irish Whiskey hater like I once was, give them a taste of this or Gold Spot. Guaranteed that they'll never look at Irish Whiskies the same again. I sure as hell know that I don't and have fully embraced the segment.

Comparatively speaking, the nose of Red Spot is gentle and sweet vs Yellow Spot. Delicious apricots, apples and cherries dance around in your nose. There's a bit of slightly smoky, charred oak... hardly noticeable and just a gentle touch of leather jacket towards the tail end of the nose. Makes for a very sweet and fruity nose but with just enough deviation to make you go in for another smell, as its quite different than the million other sherry cask whiskies on the market. The taste starts very fruity with some tart and sweet raspberries; incredibly vibrant. As the whiskey works its way down, a bit of spicy and tingling black pepper underlies the taste and just the tiniest bit of tannic oak ushers in the finish. Not nearly as much tannins as Yellow. The finish brings back sweet fruit after the tannic oak leaves the scene, along with a little bit of baking spice. Red spot seems to be the most fruit forward selection of all the standard spot whiskies. But where other wine cask whiskies literally jam the red fruit flavor down your throat, this beautiful selection doesn't hold your head down in a vat of cherries and raspberries in an effort to suffocate you in red fruit. Thank God for that. No, instead this fruity, sweet and complex Irish really redefines what a wine cask whiskey can accomplish. Bravo, and a must try for sure.

You know what's great about Spot whiskies? Although they CAN cost a lot, they are still relatively easy to come by. Its like the hipsters haven't stumbled across this pot o' gold yet. An interesting mix of red fruits and hay hit your nose with a bit of a twang but then open to baking spices, honey, hazelnut and the faintest hint of some brine. Its just enough to tickle the nose. The front of the palate has a wonderful salty/sweet thing going for it. Hazelnut cream with roasted peanut with Creme Brulee create a lovely taste.. enough for you to want the whiskey to linger a moment or two before taking it down. As the taste goes down, tannic oak sweeps in with a bit of tart red apple and citrus zest. The finish dries up quite a bit, bringing in once again - tannic oak that stayed from the end of the taste but with it just a bit of tongue tinging peppercorn. I'd say the finish is just about as far removed from the front of the taste as possible without going peated. Another fantastic Irish by Mitchell and Son and most definitely a bottle I will be keeping on hand at all times.