Bastille 1789 Blended Whisky

This is a fantastic pour. Not sure how it only scored an 85. Sweet and smooth. Smells almost like bubble gum with sweet notes. Fruity, floural and light with honeysuckle. The finish is fairly long and pleasant.

Had with Chris and heather in Pittsburgh over Christmas break 2016. Found it mild and uninteresting

and now for something completely different: a blended French whisky from the Limousin region (which is mostly known for fine crafted Cognac). Bastille 1789. Like I said, it's blended and comes in at the minimum standard 80 proof. Oddly enough, I found it while visiting family in the mountains of West Virginia. I paid a very affordable $28 for a 750ml bottle. The color is a deep, shiny-new copper and giving it a swirl produces very long, silky legs in the tasting glass. On the nose there's a nice orange and apricot marmalade that will fade into a spicy, ginger burn if you inhale too quickly. On the tongue, it opens again rather softly with a fruit marmalade that turns a little too quickly into a ginger/pepper burn from the oak casks. The finish is insanely quick and short and all I really get is a blast of the advertised Limousin oak used to finish this whisky. There's no info on how long it was aged overall or finished, but it's a warm and quick blast of oak that is gone too quickly IMO. I'm not disappointed at all with the price point and a very respectable flavor profile for a blend. If it only stuck around a bit longer after swallowing it I would put this in another category of blends close to Compass Box. As it is, it's got an interesting flavor profile, but the quick finish somehow makes it rather forgettable- and that's a real shame. It could be so much more. Cheers, my friends.

EDIT: I was initially not very impressed (and that review is below). At second glance, this is one of those whiskeys that just needs to breathe a little bit to really open up. The wet cat/bad tequila nose is gone now that the bottle's been open, and that's opened up space for fresh apple and pear, vanilla, and cinnamon to come through. On the palate, , it's a very pleasant peary, apples-and-cinnamon sort of dram with a touch of creamy vanilla. The more time I spend with this one, the more I enjoy it - it's not my usual style, and probably won't become a go-to for me, but it's very enjoyable and would be a good introductory whisky for someone who's maybe not quite ready for a big, bold single malt. I could also see this doing well in cocktails, especially in a hot toddy or combined with some apple cider. I'd call this a solid 3.5 now. ***********************Original review*******I personally think that liberte, egalite, and fraternite could do a bit better for tribute than this, though it's not a bad whisky by any means. That said, it's certainly not a great one, either. The operative word here is suave...it's a very delicate nose with some apple and pear, and a little pinch of cinnamon and malt. There's also an unpleasant note to it, though, that immediately made me think of wet cat, cheap tequila, and bad college decisions...which, while a fun trip down Memory Lane, is perhaps not the most appetizing aroma from a $31 bottle of whisky. The palate is too watered down for me, but I did get some nice honey, apple, and spice notes...it's if like haroset were a whisky. There's a nip of white pepper at the very end on the palate, which is a pleasant surprise. I like it, I really do - I just don't love it.