Tastes

Because I've recently started dating someone who bartends on the weekends for private events, I also have the distinct benefit of having her make me some VERY good mixed drinks when we get together in her off time. But as I started getting into various bourbon based mixed drinks, I slowly started to realize that while I COULD make an old fashioned with Blanton's, Weller or Taylor..... I would likely get struck down by the wrath of God the moment anything other than these lips touch those holy nectars. So I've been exploring some cheap and cheerful Bourbons as of late and this one really brings back memories. I've been drinking Four Roses for years but never bothered writing a review. So here goes... I've never noticed just how funky the nose on Four Roses is. Not gross funk, just different. Yes, there are of course the classic honey and vanilla bourbon notes but then some floral lavender? That's a first. Some citrusy tang accents the nose but hard to put a finger on exactly what citrus fruit. As you take in the palate, sticky sweet corn syrup explodes on the tongue. The palate is almost devoid of anything BUT sweet as honey melts in with that corn syrup and right before giving up on complexity, spice makes a bold entrance from mid to the back of the taste. Baking spice with a slightly numbing peppercorn type mouth feel usher in the finish. The finish is pleasantly long for the low proof and even lower price point. As the spice subsides on your tongue and roof of your mouth, brown sugar and some tannic charred oak bring the experience neatly to an end. Yea, this would be a GREAT bourbon for a Tennessee Mule. The sweet and spice would mix so well with the tart of limes and spice of ginger beer. But all on its own, this should be a dive bar staple.

I get a lot of emails from Total Wine for their "whiskey of the month" promotions and most of it is Spirits Direct swill that the sales staff are paid a spiff to sell. And most of the time, they aren't great. But imagine my delight when this month's email hit and featured a whisky from a distillery I've heard of but not yet tried? Enter The Dalwhinnie 15 year... The nose opens extremely sweet and gentle. Reminds me of Aberfeldy sans fruit. Honey and toffee are super sweet and swirled with some deeper scents like peaches and custard. The nose ends with a quick and gentle hit of peat smoke. A gentle and cool ( lacking alcohol burn ) taste brings honey and malty sugary cereal with some zingy citrus. As that taste progresses, it does become a bit drier with some tannic black tea and finally just a hint of the peat smoke that was almost undetectable on the nose. The finish is medium length and moderately oily. Some nuts and malty cereal carries through with just a tiny bit of baking spice. This whisky is about all things sweet but very faint hints here and there of complexity. You know what? I rather like it and for sub $100/Bottle + this bottle always being readily available, I think it makes a fine dessert dram.

Heaven's door continues to bring some pretty good bourbon at a decent price point that *gasp* you can actually find on shelves. Their most recent offering, Homesick Blues is bottled at a fiery 122.7 proof. Will it be a bit TOO hot for those of us that insist on tasting neat? The nose smells quite hot indeed. Ethanol runs deep here but if you take delicate whiffs, sweet caramel and vanilla bean served up with some slight herbaceous basil ( weird... ) and just the slightest hint of dried apricots all lead up to a really interesting nose profile. The palate is very very hot and peppery. A bit expected for the proof. There are some high proof bourbons that don't really make their potency known... this is not one of them. The overwhelming taste here is tongue stinging peppercorns. When you first take in the drink, before the taste explodes with pepper and proof, you do get a very soft and sweet hit of caramel and vanilla that was present on the nose. As the spicy heat subsides, in comes the interesting drying herbaceous notes found on the nose but it tastes almost like rye spice. Weird... because this bourbon's mash bill is 70% corn and 30% wheat. The finish keeps that spice going, but definitely allows that initial heat to die down significantly. It's a tad dry and flashes some leather in there as well as a little spice drop candy ( you know the gummy ones that don't quite taste like dried fruit and don't quite taste like spice? ). This is a bourbon that's potent and will definitely wake you up. Not impossible to drink neat though - I've had similar proof whiskies and bourbons that burn much deeper than this. Maybe this Christmas season, I'll finally give in and buy a water pipette for stuff like this. Overall a solid stomach warmer.

The Blood Oath line has always garnered some serious hype. The one and only pact that I've tasted until today was Pact 7 and although that selection was a fine bourbon in and of itself, it left me feeling underwhelmed. I felt that it was just a bit overhyped and overpriced for what it offered. As I'm perusing one of my favorite local spots for their Black Friday specials, I came across Pact 9 at $149.99. Which is seemingly a pretty solid price. At approximately half the price that many other retailers in my area are asking, I thought it would be worth a taste. The nose mingles rye with sherry quite well. Initially, some dark cherries and vanilla swirl on top of leather and baking spice. It is just balanced enough to not lean too heavily one way or another. The taste opens creamy and sweet. Throughout the taste, the mouth feel of this bourbon is exceptional. Thick and oily - it really coats the tongue. Vanilla and caramel make a brief appearance to open the taste but quickly blossom into tongue tingling cinnamon candy. As that spice sits on your tongue, some leather and tannic oak slide in from the higher rye content. The finish remains dry and as is the case with drier, slightly higher proof whiskies; the mouth feel goes a bit powdery. Along with that, a faint hint of dark cherries creeps in, settling nicely with the leather and oak from the back of the taste. What a well rounded bourbon this turned out to be! But alas - now I'm going to seek out some of the previous Pacts that sound like they'd be right up my alley which can be an expensive proposition. RIP to my bank account.

A fellow bourbon head on here recommended I give 101 a try after a less-than-favorable review of standard Wild Turkey. I'm on a quest to find decent pours in the sub $25/Bottle realm and was able to pick up a taste of this stuff for a modest $4. The nose is subtle but incredibly sweet. I'm detecting sweetened corn syrup, honey and vanilla. If you really inhale deep you do get a little zingy citrus in there. But really... it is barely noticeable. As favorable as the nose was, the taste impresses a bit less. Just not my dram of whiskey. Throughout the taste, prickly heat from the proof stings your tongue. Underneath this heat lies caramel, corn syrup and candy corn. The mouth heat stays prevalent throughout but carries artificially sweet corn syrup taste into the finish. There's a very consistent theme of sweet corn throughout. The finish sees mostly that heat spice start to die down and once it does, tannic oak takes center stage. A rather dry finish to balance out all of the sweetness on the taste. It is a step above standard Wild Turkey for sure, but not the best in this price segment. I think I just tend to prefer Maker's Mark offerings more. Hands down my favorite in the sub $20 mark is Buffalo Trace.

In another installment of reviews of swill I got for free - Wild Turkey! There's got to be some sub $20 bourbon gems out there. The hunt continues for one.... Vanilla, caramel and spicy rye mingle with corn and some rather tannic oak on the nose. The palate opens slightly sweet before booming full force with spice. Although low proof, the astringency of this bourbon prickles your tongue. Charred sugar with vanilla offers a very soft sweet backdrop and as the taste transitions to finish there's an odd musty candy corn quality about it. Surprisingly, the mouth feel is oily and rich. Not sure how they did it with such low proof, but that is a positive about this bourbon. The finish is pretty quick though. It gets very rye spicy and leaves your tongue feeling tingly from the middle out. For such a budget bourbon it's really not bad but I think my favorite in this space still has to be Maker's Mark.

A friend of mine bartends private events as a side gig and presented an unopened handle of this swill stating that "she knows I like whiskey". You know those moments when you know better? Like... you know you shouldn't drink this stuff.... but how hell can someone turn down 1.75 L of free booze, even if it is seemingly terrible? Even more so when the friend offering it to you is insanely attractive? ( Hey, what can I say? Sex sells. ) It can't be THAT bad, right? The nose is kind of funky on this. I smell caramel, apples, some peanuts and a little vanilla. The nose is very light, so breathe deep ( if you actually WANT to smell it ). The opening has a weird, powdery mouth feel with vanilla, burnt oak, ethanol and rye. It hits all at once, so don't look too hard for the complexity. The finish carries the rye spice and with it: drier tastes like leather. It's a somewhat long lasting albeit a very simple finish. I don't know...for this price point I thought I'd be spitting this stuff out. But it's not undrinkable. I'd happily accept a pour if I was already pretty drunk and couldn't make out one taste from another anyway. For this price you can do a LOT worse.

The nose smells of vanilla, caramel and buttery pastries. Upon deeper whiff, you pick up some dried apricot and a little herbaceous licorice. The palate begins innocently enough, as a bourbon should. Softly sweet caramel and vanilla that was present on the nose. The back of the taste becomes drier, spicier. Cinnamon, rye spice and pepper all carry that taste to to the finish. Surprisingly enough, the finish swirls that vanilla and caramel from earlier with some anise-like herbaceous qualities and is actually not a bad finish in and of itself. For an inexpensive, readily available new core offering from Heaven's Door ( I read it was a new core offering, please correct me if I am wrong ), this one is a solid sipper if not a little soft and one dimensional. Recommended for sure.