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Macallan Fine Oak 25 Year
Distiller Score 93
A robust aroma of peach, blood orange and coconut greet you as you take bring the glass to your nose. There are wood spices found, but become integrated on the palate. The retro-nasal flavor profile is fruit, floral, and fresh despite the 25 years of age. A slight smoke lingers on your palate on the finish.
Reviewed by Stephanie Moreno
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Macallan 18 Year Sherry Oak Cask
Distiller Score 90
They've brought us some figgy pudding, indeed. Rich dried fruits like figs and dates, some toasted nuts and and a scent of freshly peeled oranges are what you'll find with this whisky. These flavors stay with you for quite some time and eventually turn bitter with some charred smoke from the barrels.
Reviewed by Stephanie Moreno
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Four Roses Limited Edition 50th Anniversary Small Batch Bourbon (2017)
Distiller Score 94
The nose offers baking spices, oak, a range of vanillins, and overripe apples. The palate then starts lighter and sweeter than expected, with a ton more vanilla but also a tart side; think vanilla taffy. There's also butterscotch, orchard fruits, and berries. It gets a bit hot on the finish, but that's soon smoothed over by the underlying vanilla sweetness, with vanilla pudding, biscuit and oak, as well as cinnamon and cloves.
Reviewed by Jake Emen
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Yamazaki 18 Year
Distiller Score 97
There is a rich and milky feel to the whisky. The flavors found here sound like they would make a fabulous dessert: dates, figs, honey, walnuts, and cinnamon. Despite these sweet descriptors, the whisky finishes dry with those tastes pleasantly remaining on your palate.
Reviewed by Stephanie Moreno
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Bruichladdich Black Art 1990 04.1 Edition 23 Year
Distiller Score 95
An unusual bouquet, with hints of sherry, Bordeaux wine, and perhaps even Sauternes wine blended with fresh lemon peel, honey and the slightest hint of salt air. On the palate, this whisky is exotic and exhibits lots of fruit notes. Fresh papaya abounds, with coconut, chocolate, mango and star anise notes before finishing with nice oak, a bit of cereal grains, and peach crisp. While Black Art may have mysterious origins, the final result is simply sublime. This is a complex and nuanced whisky that is exceptionally well-made.
Reviewed by Distiller Staff
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Glenfiddich 21 Year Reserva Rum Cask Finish
Distiller Score 90
As you might imagine with a whisky finished in rum, there are lots of sugary aromas and flavors--molasses, toffee, and brown sugar to name a few. As you dig deeper, you also discover espresso, leather, and banana. Despite all the sweets, the finish is dry, but lengthy.
Reviewed by Stephanie Moreno
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Glenfarclas 40 Year
Distiller Score 94
Dark honey, roasted cereal, dark molasses, baked pears, cinnamon, maybe some walnut; these are some of the aromas found in this whisky. Going back for more you'll find orange peel, black tea, tobacco; this is something you'll want to drink by the fireplace. The finish is slightly bitter, but is lengthy.
Reviewed by Stephanie Moreno
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High West Rocky Mountain Rye 21 Year
Distiller Score 93
Imagine if you will, Little Red Riding Hood taking a wrong turn into a biker bar with her basket full of goodies. Cinnamon sugar cookies mingled with leather and tobacco might be strange to envision, but it is an accurate description of the whiskey. Vanilla and wood spices emerge, and as you sip, there's a momentary sweetness on your tongue. Dark rye grain and red apple skins linger on your palate. My, what big flavors you have! All the better to drink you up!
Reviewed by Stephanie Moreno
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Hirsch Selection 28 Year Bourbon
Distiller Score 97
The nose is soft at first and but as you dive deeper you become bathed in the peppered, rich toffee and dried apricot notes. Vanilla, walnut and nutmeg enrich the complex woody whiskey. There’s a lingering finish of soft caramel and toffee with well-defined clove and earth. All of these flavors work in concert making this dangerously easy to drink. Please DO NOT mix this with Cola.
Reviewed by Brock Schulte
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George T. Stagg Bourbon (Fall 2013)
Distiller Score 97
A nose full of heat, but once subsided, we find cherries, chocolate, tobacco and brown sugar. On the palate, notes combine into chocolate covered cherries, dipped in honey. The finish is long with even more chocolate, mixed with coffee and a cherry [syrup] on top.
Reviewed by Rob Morton
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Wild Turkey Master's Keep 17 Year
Distiller Score 95
A bouquet that is reminiscent of classic Wild Turkey, with big oak, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg, along with salted caramels, fresh orange peel, and just a hint of barbecue smoke. On the palate, Master's Keep is satisfying and complex. Hints of orange peel hide behind the initial wave of vanilla and caramel, before a big oak note comes through, finishing with a flavor reminiscent of an extinguished campfire with a subtle graham cracker and chocolate note emerging. The finish brings baking spice, oak, and warm caramel right at the end. A truly satisfying and enjoyable bourbon whiskey.
Reviewed by Distiller Staff
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Dalmore 18 Year
Distiller Score 92
The color is dark amber and full of nuts on the nose and almost, maybe soy sauce. The whisky is quite chewy and, in fact, tastes of the Nestlé candy Chunky which is milk chocolate, raisins, and peanuts. The fruit that stands out is orange and the finish is very nutty and slightly bitter.
Reviewed by Stephanie Moreno