Corsair Quinoa Whiskey

Roasted quinoa and cornmeal. Earthy grains. Different.

Rating: 18/23 Bottle kill tasting here. This is such an interesting dram, so I've kept it around for a long time and it's gotten a lot of air. I think that it's finally time to let it go though. N: Earthy, jalapeño, light tropical fruit, a hint of vanilla, light cinnamon, and a mellow malty sweetness forming the base. Faint tobacco. The nose is some sort of weird rye/bourbon/malt overlap zone. I'm actually really liking it. P: Sweet malty richness gets hit by earthiness and then a punch of jalapeño. As the jalapeño fades, cinnamon and black pepper come out, leading into tropical fruits that make me think of Willett Rye 4. A little bit of dry tobacco comes out. Clove, a touch of ginger. The complexity is good, but the depth is even more impressive. Dry tobacco with somewhat tannic - yet interesting - wood overlay the faintest of vegetal notes. F: Sweet yet earthy with a bold spiciness. Cinnamon, clove, faint jalapeño. Mature malt. Full-bodied wood. It's a surprisingly complex finish and it lingers for a long time. Really enjoyable. - Conclusion - Side by side with Russell's Reserve 10 (15-16), this is very competitive. I think the richness and funkiness here earn this the win. I also think that this beats George Dickel Bottled In Bond (16). I'm looking at a 16 to 17 here. I can even imagine an 18 though. This is not tremendously inferior to Belle Meade Cask Strength (19). It might even taste a little more mature. Resilient 15 (18) is really competitive with this. The resilient is a bit more hedonistic, but this is more funky and complex. After all of this comparing, I'm going with a 17. This does depend upon an incredible amount of air being introduced here, so fair warning. But the potential for this to develop is terrific. Gosh, maybe it's even an 18. What a wonderful surprise! I'll go up to 18, but I won't recommend this as I would most 18s simply because of the tremendous amount of air that went into this final sample. I'd seriously consider buying and aging another bottle if I found one though.

It's like a super smooth scotch (with a slight earthy flavor) but not smokey.

For something so young, well made

There is a lot of Earth on the nose with some herbal elements too that blend with bitter but oil, a bit of tobacco, and a hint of cherry. The palate is on the light side with the alcohol showing a bit much and some nice bright cherry coming through in a manner that is a hair reminiscent of Cognac. There is a bitter, oily nutty flavor that comes across as a bit rancid. The vanilla is there quite a bit. A hint of sawdust makes its way in too. There are some tobacco notes that bring in earthy character and come across a bit like coffee. There's some drying tartness that has a hint of cereal in it and is reminiscent of rye. Aside from the alcohol sharpness, there is nothing too inherently problematic going on here, but the flavor isn't particularly exciting and has some rough points to it. There are occasional glimmers of excellence, but it's an acquired taste at best. I wish I liked the earthiness and nuttiness, but the end result for this whiskey is that it tastes a bit like a Canadian whiskey crossed with a young bourbon, crossed with Nikka Whisky From The Barrel. The bright notes with some mild bitter backing is kind of a nice setup, but the end result is has too many flaws. Despite its flaws, this is a tremendous improvement on the likes of Ensign Red though. It also doesn't suffer from High West American Prarie's corn syrup caramel flavor. I appreciate that it makes more of a statement than Larceny does, so in that regard it certainly tastes more mature. That said, Larceny is notable for avoiding unappealing flavors and just sticking to the few that it has worked out. It similarly has a more robust and mature flavor than Maker's Mark does, though the similarity between the two is more apparent. Maker's lacks some of the nice hints such as honeysuckle that make Corsair Quinoa work. The nuttiness and earthiness along with the mild, bright, floral fruits really are the key players here. Compared with Balcones Baby Blue, this is richer with less of an off flavor. While this doesn't have quite the same degree of complexity, it does have that interesting quinoa earthiness that brings some nice tannins and evolves into a more hedonistic fruitiness wrapped in chocolate and tobacco.