Tastes

Nose: Very fruity. Sherry, fruitcake, raisins, pastry Palate: Fruit explosion at first. Raisins and figs, plus sweet/tart apples. Then the apple disappears and it’s back to fruitcake - dark fruits and pastry/bread. Finish: oak, a bit bitter, and there’s a slight sharpness I find a lot on budget Irish blends. I assume it’s from the grain whiskey in the blend but it’s not strong. It’s the only weak spot in this whiskey, but overall I really, really like it

Nose: Very sweet. Intense caramel and brown sugar, almost molasses. Hint of slightly tart fruit like green apple. Palate: if the term “smooth” ever applied to a bourbon, it’s applicable to this one. The vanilla and oak flavor is so intense but there is no bitterness and no tannic taste. It’s much dryer and not nearly as sweet as the nose would lead you to believe. There’s a very slight hint of fruit at first but it’s soon covered up by the intensity of the vanilla/oak Finish: Very dry and spicy. No sweetness here. Oak and cinnamon with a pleasant warming nip from the alcohol. I can see why so many people love this bourbon. It’s not amazingly complex but it’s very intense. There’s nothing not to like, except maybe the price.

Nose: vanilla, caramel, brown sugar, very slight hint of fruit - apple? Cherry? At times a kind of chemical note comes in too, almost like paint thinner or mineral spirits but very faint and intermittent. Palate: very caramel-ish but not overly sweet. Oaky, but not tannic or astringent. A little cinnamon shows up and that hint of apple. Finish: dry, oaky, cinnamon and baking spices

Nose: savory herbs such as dill, mint, and sage. Vanilla cream and spring flowers, fresh pine/spruce needles. Taste: initially smooth and caramel-y, but then the spice kicks in, pepper and cinnamon. With that the sweetness recedes, and the whiskey becomes quite dry. A little bit of rye bread and herbs come in at the end Finish: for me, this really shines on the finish. All the things hinted at on the nose show up on the finish immediately. Then, the spices take over and linger on for quite a while. Overall, I like this a lot. It’s not perfect but very, very good. It’s really complex. The herbal, spice, and floral notes are really hard to pin down. Its often like a blend of herbs, a blend of spices, and a bouquet of flowers where it’s hard (for me) to pick out single items.

Nose: butter, cream, slight vanilla, barest hint of fruit - apple or pear Pallet: butter cream, butter cookies, shortbread cookies. A slight breast taste comes in later. Finish: shortbread cookies with a very mild alcohol burn, more of a warming really. This whiskey is not complex nor amazing, but it is really enjoyable. It’s friendly and mild with no surprises, nothing unpleasant. It might be a bit boring for some people but there’s really nothing to dislike.

A very good dram ruined by a bad finish Nose: vanilla, buttercream, wildflowers Palate: creamy butterscotch with a slight spicy kick with hints of vanilla, caramel and old oak Finish: overpowering floral, like a perfume, becoming soapy with a sharp spicy bite. The nose and taste of this whiskey are really, really nice. Not overly complex but very enjoyable. That finish though is pretty unpleasant. It reminds me of when I was a kid and said a dirty word and my mom put a bar of soap in my mouth. It is all flowery, perfumey soap. None of the lovely notes from the nose or the taste show up in the finish. I would not buy this whisky again, which is disappointing because I really wanted to like it.

Nose: light and fruity sherry. Hint of grapes and raisins. Taste: very light and sweet pears and white grapes at first. Then a hint of spice jumps out and following that spicy bite are darker flavors, oak, raisins, faint chocolate malt. Finish: cinnamon with a hint of butterscotch and caramel Overall a very nice dram.

Nose: dark fruits, dry red wine, slight honey Palate: very honey forward with faint hints of peach and pear. Dry oak, with a tiny bit of vanilla cone in at the end Finish: dry with some alcohol burn, oak and sherry.

This is a good, typical, but rather unremarkable bourbon. On the nose it’s very sweet with notes of sweet corn, vanilla and caramel On the palate it’s sweet at first with vanilla and caramel but then it gets dryer with hints of oak and rye spice. The finish is very disappointing, spicy with a surprising amount of alcohol burn. It actually made my lips and the tip of my tongue go numb. Overall it comes across as a $25-$30 bourbon that has ethanol added to it. My initial thought of this was really good at first but the alcohol burn is higher than I thought it ought to be. I wasn’t wrong. Compared side by side with Knob Creek single barrel 9yo 120 proof, the Wild Turkey Rare Breed taste thinner and weaker but has noticeably more alcohol burn even at a lower 116 proof. The KC is absolutely the better bourbon but I don’t know if it’s worth the almost $20 price difference. The WT is good but not great, a little disappointing for a barrel proof bourbon, but it costs less than most barrel proof bourbons. Would I buy it again? Maybe. I’d definitely consider it.