Tastes

Barrel No. 19-00808; Rick No. L-19; Bottled 02-04-19; 65.55% abv; 131.1 proof This is a whiskey I've been anxious to try for a long time, but was afraid to buy because of the price and my disappointment with the standard JD Single Barrel. I put my stimulus check to good use and purchased this in April when it was on sale for $65. At the moment this is my favorite American whiskey/bourbon I've had, tied with the Knob Creek 15Y store pick I bought last year. It is excellent, and blows all other Jack Daniel's products out of the water. First off, the bottles Jack Daniel's uses for their single barrels are great. They may be the best bottles to keep as a decanter. I've been using a 375 mL bottle for over 6 months splitting purchases with my brother, and I will definitely keep this beautiful 750 mL bottle. The cork, the glass, the symmetry, all top notch. Highly recommend buying a single barrel bottle as a gift. The nose is a rich, dense creme brulee with hints of dark fruit, fried banana, and cinnamon. I get some oak and ethanol, but it is light unless you inhale deeply. The burnt vanilla, maple sugar wood, and dark fruit dance on the tongue. It does not taste like a cask strength at all until the finish. Then boom, a long, tannic, spicy, and sugary finish that really lingers. Sometimes I feel like charcoal filtering really mellows out/removes the flavors in cheaper JD products and also Michter's, but with this whiskey I don't think that is the case whatsoever. If you're a fan of Old Forester 1920 you're going to love this. I've seen these anywhere between 128-136 proof in the last year. I thought I missed out by not picking up a higher proof version when I could. But nope, this barrel was fantastic. Considering I see at least 5 of these on the shelf at every ABC store, clearly it is overlooked when people are searching for cask strength bourbon. They shouldn't.

My brother and I strategically picked up this bottle on April 30, the day before the price jumped $15 to $75 MSRP in NC. The price hikes for Laphroaig were disheartening, but at least Ardbeg and Bruichladdich haven't changed for now. The nose is strong with peat, oak, brine, and charcoal grill. It smells wonderful. I believe the second maturation in small casks adds a lot of oak flavor that overtakes some of the traditional medicinal Laphroaig qualities. Not that I mind at all. The peat is actually muted when it hits the tongue. I mainly taste oak and some brine. Then the peat hits on the finish. It is long, oily, and bursts with charcoal flavor. I can finally taste the malt on the back end, and maybe a little dark fruit, apricot, and chocolate. This is my kind of Islay whiskey, heavy on the peat and oak influence. A must try if you like Islay, even with the price hike in the U.S.

This is a nice, pretty whiskey. I want to like it more but I'm hung up on the price and general scarcity in NC. I split a bottle with my brother since we're both staying with our parents for a bit. I've been sipping on this 375 mL portion for two weeks and it's almost finished. I get cinnamon and oak on the nose. Not much sugar or caramel sweetness, more tannic flavors from the oak and high rye mashbill. There's a light vanilla corn mustiness on the edges. If there are dark fruits and chocolate they are disguised. The oak and rye spice dominate the palate with a strong hint of pepper. Cinnamon is less pronounced. It has a really clean flavor and finishes nice, although shorter than expected based on reviews. You can tell this is a well-made whiskey when it hits the tongue. So why am I disappointed? I don't understand the 4th core release of Four Roses being set at $60, which $15 more than the single barrel and only 2% higher abv. For that difference I think a higher proof is more appropriate, or maybe a different line of single barrels using a different mash bill. For a premium small batch product like this I think MSRP $50 is a fairer price point. My other issue is I have something open that tastes a lot like this for half the price. Old Grand-Dad 114. Similar high rye mashbill and 5% more abv. There are definitely more tea notes in OGD 114 but the other flavors are very similar between the two. Because of these two issues I'm probably not a repeat customer unless they change something, I'd rather try different single barrels at $45. I love Four Roses SB and SiB so this was an underwhelming purchase.

I've had this at bars and liked it a lot, but never purchased a bottle until recently. I'm clueless as to why since this is arguably the best value bourbon on the market. My prior experience has been with rocks glasses only, and as a result the nose is much more interesting in a Glencairn. I smell some brown sugar, citrus peel, and cinnamon/nutmeg spice, not sure if it's more rye or oak age influence. What I did not get in a rocks glass is the dominant tea note. This is unlike most bourbons I've had (most similar to Four Roses Small Batch Select). I would equate this to a medium oxidized tea, something like oolong. Think of a dark green tea or light black tea if you haven't had oolong. It is unlike other high rye bourbons and barely legal ryes I've had recently. I get more ethanol and spice on the tongue, which is expected at 114 proof. The spice lingers, medium to long finish that ends tannic. Overall it is an incredibly tasty and smooth bourbon for the price and proof. When you think about what's available for around $30, there are few options out there that comparable. When I finish this I'm buying another because it's going to be a staple on my shelf for cocktails and neat pours.

I was looking to pick up a couple new items as social distancing was spreading across the U.S. in March. When I saw Cooper's Craft I immediately grabbed it, knowing little about it other than recalling some YouTube bourbon videos thought it was a good addition to the market. When I realized this was a new Brown-Forman product I was thrilled. The nose has a heavy oak char, with dark fruit, brown sugar, and light banana. Compared to other cheap Brown-Forman whiskeys, the oak really stands out. I believe the advertising when it says the barrels have chiseled grooves to increase contact. The nose is on par with Old Forester Whiskey Row series. It is oak forward on the tongue with dark fruit and some sugar, zero banana detected. It is not smooth whatsoever and drinks true to the proof, which I appreciate. I don't think the beech/birch charcoal has nearly as much influence as the maple charcoal does with Jack Daniel's and Michter's. Finish is medium, primarily tannic oak which may be a turnoff for some. I think this whiskey punches above its weight. I believe it is a good deal at $34 and would be fair at a $40 price point since I think this is better than Woodford Reserve. I wish I was at my apartment instead of my parent's house so I could do a blind taste test with Michter's bourbon. Because I have not tried Old Forester Signature 100, I may pick it up and retry blind, because that may be the most similar product available.

I forgot to add this taste. I stayed at a friend's house for a weekend in February and his guests gravitated to his fancy bar setup towards the end of the night. He's not a whiskey enthusiast by any means, but he possessed some good recognizable options I've had before. The one whiskey I had not tried was Angel's Envy Rye. I currently possess the slightly underwhelming bourbon port finish so I was eager to compare. Just for clarity I was already a few light beers deep and I drank 2 rye pours in a standard rocks glass neat. Despite those drawbacks the AE Rye was clearly superior to the bourbon. The AE Rye was a heavily spiced Christmas dessert in a glass. Even though it was 100 proof, it was smooth sipping all night. Highly enjoyable, and honestly tastes nothing like any rye whiskey I've had. I attribute that to the very long 18 month rum cask finish because I'm not a fan of the standard MGP rye profile. If this wasn't $100 and scarce I'd consider buying it!

This was the first peated single malt I've had, so I dove right into the deep end from Johnnie Walker Black to classic Islay. The first thing that took me by surprise was how light and delicate the color appears in the glass. It's something I've begun to appreciate about Islay and Island scotches, they usually don't add artificial color. This is pure campfire, or your buddy on a charcoal grill that doesn't know how to maintain heat and flame levels. It is all ash/smoke and is delightful. What I don't get that I've seen in reviews and I've gotten with Laphroaig is a medicinal quality. This is a haphazard mixture of logs you find within 200 feet of your campsite while Laphroaig tastes more like a fire with lingering notes of accelerants like kerosene or plastic. (I hike and backpack a lot.) I also get hints of sea salt and citrus. It is surprisingly light when it hits the tongue, but then it gets meaty and rich with smoke and brine. The ethanol and oak spice hits the back of the tongue on the finish, it is oily and long. Chewy is the best way to describe it. I don't think I have the nose or palate to detect a lot of the fruit/sweet notes, but I don't care. I'm now a gigantic fan of peated malts because of this, and I've savored this bottle for almost 9 months. The consistency over that time period is outstanding.

My brother gifted me this bottle for Christmas, so I'm listing below the current NC ABC price. I believe Aaron Rodgers has said this is his favorite daily drinker scotch, and I can see why. It is eminently drinkable. On the nose I get a lot of honey, light vanilla, and more oak than a typical 12Y malt. Although The Balvenie website says it is finished in Oloroso for 9 months, I do not get strong hints of fruit. Maybe pitted fruits like apricots, peaches, apples, etc., but not prominent. The honey and oak are the dominant flavors on the tongue, I still don't get much fruit-forward influence from the Oloroso casks. The tannic influence from the oak is very pronounced on the finish. It lingers and coats the mouth, it is very similar to a standard bourbon finish. Overall this is a very nice scotch but in my opinion overpriced. For one of the larger distilleries in Scotland I'm surprised this is more expensive than Macallan 12, and $15-30 more than a lot of well-known 12Y malts in the $40-60 range. I've seen Balvenie 12 at plenty of bars so I'd recommend trying it there before paying this much for a bottle. Thankfully mine was free!

After trying four Old Forester products in the last 6 months I've concluded Distiller Expert Reviewers have a grudge against this product line. It's quickly become one of my favorite American whiskey brands. Almost always available at my local ABCs, this is an excellent high proof bourbon buy. I purchased this before Christmas with my brother and split the bottle putting my half into a Jack Daniel's SiB 375 mL (also split a Pikesville Rye). The nose is very sweet without too much oak or ethanol punch. It is primarily berries/cherries with chocolate notes, combined with brown sugar/caramel with oak notes if you inhale deeply. Notably absent, the strong banana note I've gotten with most Brown-Forman products. There is a hint but it has faded over the months I've had it open. It goes down so smooth. I know it's been open for 3 months but it was excellent upon cracking the bottle. Initially the fruit notes are present but they disappear, with mostly syrup and oak on the taste and finish. The oak spice and/or ethanol are most present on the finish. It is long, lingering for 10-20 seconds. My brother, who's more into scotch and rye and not as adventurous with high proof bourbons said this was one of his favorite bourbons to date. I highly recommend the 1920 if you're into the denser, sweeter bourbons with low rye spice. It's easily one of my favorites.

I've been anticipating this in NC ever since it was announced, and finally got my hands on a bottle today after bugging my local ABC store weekly. After two glasses tonight my first reaction is minor disappointment. I love Heaven Hill but am not a huge fan of Larceny. Still, I love high proof whiskey and I thought the barrel proof would be an improvement over the regular release. At the moment this is my least favorite high proof bourbon I've had in the last year. It is easily the strongest ethanol nose and taste of them all, which is not dissimilar from their 92 proof. The spices come out, but not a pleasant dessert spice. Whatever fruits in here are muted, except the apples others get. This is much drier and harsher than the ECBP A119 that I have open. Obviously this is a first reaction and I'm going to let this bottle sit for a few weeks/months before I give an updated review. I prefer Maker's Mark and its Cask Strength to both Larceny products. But it's still awesome to have a big brand release a new cask strength, especially when wheated are less common. Batch A120, 123.2 proof