corsair hydra

Rating: 19/23 I've been looking forward to trying this one for a while. While I wonder about its low ABV of 42%, it's been smoked with a fascinating combination of woods - pecan, apple, sugar maple, black walnut, and persimmon - then aged in port casks. Furthermore, this is a single barrel release of what was already a limited release. Corsair is almost always interesting, but it's often also challenging and sometimes just a dud. The hit-or-miss nature makes me worry, but I'm cautiously optimistic about this. N: Ooh! Tawny port hits me immediately, with a touch of smoke and some big leather. It has just enough sweetness, and then so many layers of wood build up. They range from dry and tart to green and very faintly vegetal to mildly herbal with hints of mint to ashy. A touch of nuttiness that reminds me a bit of buckwheat. These scents all work together nicely and make for a quite enjoyable nosing experience. A big hit of vanilla comes through at a couple of points. P: That dryness of tawny port mixed with restrained dry fruit hits first, then the ashy smoke comes pouring in. There's a tartness that seems quite leathery coming out of the smoke. Although lots of tannins come out of the leather, it doesn't seem overly tannic. I was worried that this might taste too much like a campfire, but it really doesn't. The port and smoke are really nicely balanced. This is an elegant malt well beyond its years. It reminds me a bit of Kavalan Soloist Port (22/23), though despite the tremendous fullness here (especially considering the low proof), this is not on the same level as the Kavalan. There's a hint of campfire, but it really isn't much. There are also some nice baking spices (cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, clove), which I do appreciate. And the port, of course, provides a nice fruitiness - here in the form of blackberry with hints of plum and cherry. Maybe faint peach as well. Despite the fruits, it's still quite a dry palate. There are chocolate notes here and there as well and the whole thing really tastes more than 2 years old. I'm not getting a ton of actual malt flavor, the malt's sweetness is there and I appreciate it. I eventually get a bit of nuttiness in the buckwheat dimension that I assume is from the malt. It's quite faint though. F: Dry, tannic wood, blackberry, a bit of ash, some fainter spices with a bit of a peppery bite. Just a bit of rich (not sweet) nutty malt character lying underneath. - Conclusion - This is really good. It's too bad that it isn't a staple. There's some really good balance here and the depth is really nice as well. The flavor is fairly unique, but no challenging (beyond being a bit tannic with leather and smoke). This is one of my favorite releases from Corsair. I put it above Ryemageddon (17/23), but below Grainiac (21-22/23). So it's an 18-20. I'm leaning against an 18 now. Side by side, I like this better than Cadenhead's Tullibardine 25 (1993) (19/23), but the strength of this affects my palate enough that I don't trust that side by side. This is quite close to Lismore 21 (19/23). The Lismore has more balanced complexity, but also shows off some muddled flavors and a touch of sulphur. If I had to go one way or the other, I'd probably lean slightly toward this. This is actually quite close in quality to Joseph Magnus (21/23). The Joseph Magnus is fuller and spicier, but this has some more dimensions to it. I'm not prepared to give this a 21, but it's closer to the Joseph Magnus than I'd expected. This is darned good. I was about to call it a high 19, but after trying it side by side with Joseph Magnus, I'm going with a 20. I can even see a 21 being back in the picture on a subsequent tasting. It hit me near the end of my tasting that this reminded me of Paul John Christmas Edition 2020 (16/23), so I took a sip to compare. I can see how plenty of people might prefer the Paul John, especially with the buttery toffee note it has side by side, but I really like how this just toes the line with its ashy smoke bordering on campfire, integrating some really nice leather instead of entering barbecue territory, and building out some depth with spices and fruits. This certainly has a more American profile, for what that's worth. It's more spicy and aggressive,. In this case, I just feel that the end product is better. So, I thought I was done, but I've come back around to this. I don't think that it's as close to Joseph Magnus as I previously did and I also don't think that this is a clear winner over the Lismore anymore. I'm still convinced that this is better than Amrut Peated, but I can now seriously imagine giving this an 18. I'm going to drop it to a 19. I still am a big fan of this, but it's striking me as thinner than it did previously. It's a real shame because I think that a few percent more ABV and this would really shine, but as it is now, it definitely is more watery than a lot of other whiskey and that is making me drop it down to a 19.

Smoke and wood, goes well with a good cigar

The nose has cedar smoke, molasses, and barley, almost like BBQ sauce. On the tongue there are smoked meats, fire embers, and malt.

Very smoky, firewood. Some fruit

Smoky, sweet, honey, fruity, leathery, cereal, woody, smooth. Mouthfeel is a little light, but the palate and finish are great.

Very smooth and easy to drink. Subtle smoke but noticeable. It would be interesting to compare side by side with the Corsair triple smoke.

This is a nice smokey flavor that gives you a lil hug in your mouth