It’s 2020. It’s December. Let’s shut this year down with a brand new whiskey (or whisky) every day. It’s my own personal whiskey advent calendar. +7! Dec. 31, 2020 It’s yearly release time! I made it through another December trying a brand new whiskey/whisky/rum each day. I really appreciate you Distiller friends for playing along, and pointing me in the direction of a lot of new things that I love. In particular, Spice Tree, Octomore, and Loch Lomond are 3 favorite new things on my shelf, and I’m almost certain I wouldn’t have found any of those on my own. Hell, the Octomore was a special order. So in addition to making this last month (of a very trying year) a lot of fun, you also changed my outlook on scotch and the look of my whiskey shelf. While about half of my bourbon supremacy schtick is for fun, I genuinely did believe that bourbon had a more diverse range of flavors and a greater flavor density. Leaving the Speyside region killed premise 1, and Octomore swallowed premise 2 whole without saying sorry. While I still prefer bourbon, I no longer view it as an argument to be won. Scotch has a lot to offer, so thank you for changing my mind. Nose is brinier than I’d expect. There’s pickles, lemon, apple, tea leaves, sugar, caramel, pancake batter, maple syrup. Fantastic nose. That body. The high rye influence is jarring at first, but it’s growing on me. With it comes heavy cane sugar, blood orange, green apple, and caramel. There’s a very grainy mouth feel, but it works. Finish is dark chocolate, cinnamon, pepper. Pepper over cinnamon. Nice buzz that trails off. I like this whiskey. Last time I tried one of these, my hair was 90% shorter, my family was 20% fewer in number, and my number of tastes was 95% fewer. A lot has changed, and I was afraid that I would be disappointed. It’s not quite what I expected or remembered, but I truly can’t find fault with it. It’s extremely well done. I added an ice cube on my second pour, and this is also phenomenal. Complexity goes way down, but the caramel and fruity notes emerge even more. On the rocks, this reminds me a lot of Rock Hill Farms or Hancock’s. And coming from me, that’s one of the biggest praises a bourbon can receive. Everybody have a safe and amazing New Years. Bugger off 2020, and cheers to 2021! ‘Tis the season. I’m day-to-day on my whiskey selection, so if you’re reading this and there’s something readily available out there you’d like me to enjoy/suffer through this holiday season, leave it in the comments. Merry whiskey to all, and to all a beer flight!