Tastes

These notes are from a blind tasting (Flaviar Advent Calendar) The smell is really nice and quite familiar. I have more experience with Paul John than with Amrut when it comes to Indian whiskies, and this reminds me of Paul John. Dried orchard fruits, Banana, Pear, Green Apples, Almonds, Honey, and Vanilla The taste starts with a blast of alcohol burn but after it fades, there are really nice barley sugars, sour fruits, and vanilla. It starts sweet and turns sour, a really cool experience. The finish is medium to long. Mostly the sour hanging around with the almond showing up at the very end. This was a good experience. Honestly, I haven’t come across an Indian whisky I haven’t enjoyed yet. Depending on the price, this is definitely worth a buy.  Best one of the advent calendar so far. Would happily drink this any time. Overall Grade: B (Good/Very Good)

These notes are from a blind tasting (Flaviar Advent Calendar) The smell is very light and clean. Light oak, vanilla, walnuts, pears a little bit of dried red fruits. Very pleasant but nothing exciting. The taste is vanilla and woody. Cedar, oak, almonds.  All light, no heavy flavors to speak of. It’s a pretty thin whisky. The finish is short. I get some of the dried fruits on the finish but it's mostly light vanilla and oak. This is a letdown for me.  Even though the smell wasn’t exciting, it turned out to be the highlight of this whisky. Everything else was just boring and forgettable. Regardless of price, I am not interested in drinking this. Overall Grade: D  (Below Average)

The smell is fresh Rye/Dill/baking spice, menthol/eucalyptus, light vanilla.  The taste is a nice warm spice, very little heat.  Pepper, Clove, fresh cut grass, a bit of honey. The finish is medium to long with menthol/eucalyptus, pepper and baking spice.    I was skeptical of this one because a few other Craft Pennsylvania Rye’s have let me down. I am happy to say that this one is very good and fairly priced. I think I paid around $60 for this which may seem high, but in today’s whiskey world you aren’t going to find a High Rye “Straight Rye” whiskey 3-4 years old for much less. Kudos to Herman Mihalich and John Cooper for creating this Rye. This was my first bottle of Dad’s Hat but certainly won’t be my last. Looking forward to sampling their entire lineup. They have a Port finished Rye that I have to get my hands on….They also have a vermouth finished rye – sounds interesting but I may have to sample that one first.   Overall Grade:  B+

These notes are from a blind tasting (Flaviar Advent Calendar) The smell reminds me of vodka. Very light and mostly an alcohol burn, rubbing alcohol. A very small amount of red fruit, but mostly rubbing alcohol. After three full teaspoons of water I pick up a bit of bacon which is weird. In my opinion, this isn’t starting out too good. The taste is similar to the smell. It really drinks more like vodka to me than whisky. I appreciate the high abv, but I can’t seem to pull any real flavors out yet, due to the rubbing alcohol taste,and smell, that never fades. The finish is medium to long but it’s unpleasant. This is a real disappointment, as I enjoy Irish whiskies. I was excited to see “Product of Ireland” on the vile, but I have to say this is the worst of the bunch so far. I can’t get past the vodka qualities of it. It’s all alcohol burn and rubbing alcohol taste. Overall Grade: F  (Eventually poured it out)

These notes are from a blind tasting (Flaviar Advent Calendar) The smell is a nice mix of both sweet corn and corn husk. You also get brown sugar, some dill, menthol, and then clove shows up. The taste is candy corn, brown sugar, and toasted vanilla to start then some nice rye dill spice and clove to round it out. There isn’t much going on but what is there is pretty nice. The finish is medium - the rye spice and clove are the dominant flavors on the finish. I enjoyed this one. I’d happily have this on the shelf if the price is right. Pretty decent stuff.  Overall Grade: C+  (Above Average)

These notes are from a blind tasting (Flaviar Advent Calendar) The smell is fresh orchard fruits, green apples, pears, and bananas. You also get some vanilla and candied fruit. Really nice. The taste is almost the reverse of the smell. The cooked fruit and vanilla hit first with some banana entering with a nice bit of clove spice. Not getting the green apples at all that were so heavy on the smell. The finish is pretty short but it’s pleasant enough. Vanilla and cooked red fruits carry it out.  This was enjoyable. The taste didn’t deliver on the smell but that happens sometimes. This isn’t something I would go looking for but if someone gifted me a bottle, I’d happily drink it.  Overall Grade: C   (Average)

These notes are from a blind tasting (Flaviar Advent Calendar) The smell is like soapy wax vanilla and some raw honey, maybe raw almonds/walnuts. The soapy wax vanilla dominates the smell The taste is sour vanilla. The soapy wax feel makes it a unique experience. I can taste some spice behind the wax. Cinnamon, mint, and banana.  The finish is short - with sour vanilla, wax, and spicy banana This is interesting. I think the wax/soap thing is a bit too much for me but I did warm up to it after a while…. Not so much that I would run out and purchase it, but it became less offensive over time. The dominating soapy wax characteristics remind me of the 1794 Maryland Four Grain Rye that I reviewed a few years back. This one is going to be an acquired taste. If you are up for a challenge this could be one to put on your list.  Overall Grade: C (Average)

These notes are from a blind tasting (Flaviar Advent Calendar) The smell is butterscotch, vanilla, honey, and a fresh clean mint spice. The smell is really nice. The taste is sour banana, tart cherries, and a strong wax feel but you can also taste the mild bitter waxiness too. Some sour dried red fruit and spiciness.  The finish is medium to long with sour red fruit and spice lingering the longest.  This is the second vile in a row from this advent calendar to have a strong wax quality to it. That may appeal to some but it isn’t a quality I prefer in whisky.  The sour fruits and spice were nice but the wax thing takes away from the experience for me. Overall Grade: C  (Average)

These notes are from a blind tasting (Flaviar Advent Calendar) The smell is soft oak and vanilla, light honey, and fresh bright tropical fruits. (banana and green apple) The taste - It’s thin and the flavors are also light. Soft fruitcake-like spices, soft vanilla, oak, and honey.  The finish is short - mostly vanilla and the spice and oak flavors round it out.  This is a decent Japanese whisky - very similar character throughout all of the lower-end Japanese whiskies I have come across. There is nothing wrong with this. It isn’t something I would go out and purchase but to be fair, most “affordable” Japanese whiskies fall a little short for me.  Overall Grade: C  (Average)

These notes are from a blind tasting (Flaviar Advent Calendar) The smell is brown sugar, cooked corn, vanilla, stewed apples, with some rye and dill spice. The taste - sweet candy corn and menthol. It is not complex but the sweet corn and fresh spice (rye, dill, clove) dominate. Simple but enjoyable.  The finish is medium with the rye spice carrying it through.  This is a pleasant surprise. Depending on the price I would be fine keeping this on the shelf. Probably scoring it a bit higher than it deserves simply because of the recent run of boring samples. Overall Grade: C+  (Above Average)