Tastes

Such a good blend for the price. If you are used to Johnnie Walker, Chivas Regal, and Dewar's as the main blended Scotch options give this a try. It is a blended malt instead of a blended Scotch, and has more nose and flavor than similar priced options from the 3 big brands I just listed. This can be a good everyday sipping Scotch. Although the Chivas Regal 12 is good as well, but a more subtle nose and easier drinker than Monkey Shoulder.

I've had Jameson a lot, as many of us have at bars for shots. I like it and think it's a good sipping Irish but at $30 it is a little pricy for a base level name brand Irish. So I was skeptical trying their other whiskeys until I saw so many great reviews for this I couldn't resist. It was on sale and also came with a 50 mL Jameson original so I had an easy point of comparison. The Caskmates Stout is utterly fantastic and frankly dangerous to drink with friends. The stout barrel adds a layer of creaminess that smoothes out the original without adding heavy stout notes. I would know this because I'm a huge beer drinker and mostly dislike stouts, and I didn't taste stout up front. I think it just makes Jameson better, and you can sip on this like a heavy beer or wine and finish 2 oz pours in no time. Honestly I'd love to see this released as a cask strength version and see how crazy it gets.

I was eager to try this since it is the only Lowland distillery available in NC, and now that I'm about to finish the bottle I can say this was disappointing. At $40 this is not worth an initial buy before you try it first. Unfortunately the only other bottle I can get is the Three Wood at $70. I imagine that is better. The American Oak has a subtle noise of muted oil and vanilla wood with an oily taste that immediately disappears. In fact, everything on the taste kind of disappears instantly. I don't get any real bourbon characteristics, and hardly any of the nose that is suggested by the expert reviewer. Maybe my novice self can't pick out a lot of the subtleties, but I do know I've had Scotch at this price that is much better.

Solid bourbon for the price, classic taste

This was the well whiskey at a nice cocktail bar in town and for the cheap price this is a great value. They suggested getting this for around $8 a pour compared to the other name brand whiskeys above $10. I think it was a good suggestion.

I'm finishing the last pour from this bottle and overall I have been underwhelmed with this bourbon. Having read a lot of good things about High West I picked it up when it was $5 off. This is the only cheap offering of High West in North Carolina, and at $40 it isn't exactly cheap. Everything else is $75-100, which is prohibitively expensive for bourbon in most cases. To me this is a one-note bourbon that is matched by many in the $20-30 range. I get more alcohol burn on the nose than I would expect and mainly taste spicy cherry wood with an alcohol finish. Personally I would suggest passing on buying a full bottle of this and try to taste it first, there are so many in this price range I think are superior.