Black Whiskey

Butter tea, wet corn, potato bread. Soft, full mouth with a dry finish. Stone fruits and grain.

On first sip, I tasted a lot of spice rather than complexity. With some fire on finish. This said, I found it original and pretty good for price point for sure. However, w 2 ice cubes melting, it grew on me through tasting. 6 months later: continues to grow on me

Three weeks ago i woke up to 6 or 7 whatsapp messages all with the same web link, a Forbes article that said that a Whiskey from Perú, (yes a whiskey with an "e"), had won best whiskey if the world, planet, universe, etc. Of course, my first thought was "here goes another award bought", and of course i was incredibly skeptic about it. The name of this Peruvian whiskey is Black Whiskey. This one has been made using black corn, that grows on the peruvian mountains. I managed to buy one online in a Miami store, even if Perú is our neighbor here in Ecuador, it was easier to find it there. I have seen some youtube videos where the owner, a United States of America citizen who lives in Perú, tells the story of how he had this conversation with a New York guy, who literally said "man you have to win an award to make your whiskey famous". Guess what, the whiskey then won. A little suspicious if you tell me... Bottled at an auspicious 45%abv, it has a dark reddish color. On the nose, it has a wonderful aroma. Cotton candy, it doesn't smell like grain whiskey at all. Maraschino cherries, red fruits and a spongy cake. Blackberries everywhere. With a couple of sips, the aroma became a maple syrup, it resembled a lot as a canadian Crown Royal whisky. Nice. The palate started completely muted for 2 seconds. Then, it releases notes of sweet plums, quince and black pepper. It feels a little rough and young, but not bad. In the second sip i had the same experience of the muted flavors for a couple of seconds. Aftertaste has the most classic bourbon finish ever. If i was blindfolded when tasting this one, out of the aftertaste alone i would have guess this one was Blackened whiskey by Metallica, or a Maker's Mark. Sour mash finish. Overall, as you might already guessed, this is not the best whiskey in the world, despite what the San Francisco Spirits Competition 2022 says about it. But, i have to be honest, this is quite good for a mostly grain whiskey. I am not a fond fan of the "e" in the name, since i am a purist, and whiskey is for Ireland and U.S., but as a "Uisgebeatha" this is quite enjoyable. It feels like a bourbon from the start to the end, and my score for it, due to a not very good palate is an 83 over 100.

On the nares heavy corn, but sweet corn. Notes of nuts and wood. Very similar to balcones texas whiskey

A bit like cognac. Corn, cognac, grapes, pineapple, caramel. Tastes like cognac, caramel, spicy black pepper, apple, bell pepper. Spicy finish. Unique.