ctbeck11
Whiskey Del Bac Dorado Mesquite Smoked Single Malt
American Single Malt — Arizona, USA
Reviewed
August 13, 2021 (edited August 16, 2021)
Nose - smoked meat, mesquite, apple sauce, butterscotch, marshmallow, orange zest, vanilla, cherry, floral and vegetal notes, cinnamon, allspice, black pepper, mild to moderate ethanol burn.
Taste - mesquite, vanilla cream, baked apple, smoked meat, cherry, butterscotch, orange blossom, lemon, sweet floral notes, nutmeg, cinnamon, sour oak, black pepper, ginger, moderate alcohol bite, finishing medium short with mesquite, smoked meat, and citrusy apple flavors.
The nose is BBQ with a side of apple sauce. There are some floral, vegetal, and citrus notes as well, but not much else. The palate is a bit better, with baked apple and citrus accompanied by salty, thirst-inspiring smoked meat.
This has the unfortunate task of following my tasting of the excellent Whiskey Del Bac single cask Lost Lantern bottling. As expected, they share many characteristics, but Dorado is but a shadow of its cask strength counterpart. While not bad, it tastes overdiluted and young, with a rather short, unceremonious finish. If I hadn’t tasted the Lost Lantern yesterday, I may have liked this more. But alas, it’s just better than average for me. Many thanks to @ContemplativeFox for providing the sample!
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@Ctrexman lol
slu...ts
@ctbeck11 @soonershrink ...Yeah most of us here are proof *****
@soonershrink Yep. I bet I’d prefer that one as well. I run metrics on all my reviews, and there’s an extremely clear trend that when the proof increases, the score increases.
I haven't tried the regular Dorado, but I prefer the private barrel Dorado to Brimstone. But it's 124.5 proof and $25 more expensive, so it's not exactly a fair fight.
@Ctrexman But if Dorado was bottled at 53%, I might feel differently.
@Ctrexman For me, Brimstone. No question.
@ContemplativeFox Thanks! Really looking forward to doing the Corsair review series. I have ten of them on deck, and all of them smell wild.
@jonwilkinson7309 Thank you! Yep, it’s tough competition. Side by side, the Dorado seems thin and watery.
@dubz480 Thanks! Young, low proof whiskey is usually fighting an uphill battle with me. Their Distiller’s Cut would probably be more my speed.
Brimstone or this which is better
Greatnote :) I found this to taste too much like BBQ without having tremendous complexity or something that just "clicked" with me, but it's been several months at least. IMHO, Corsair wildfire is a much better bbq smoked malt.
Great review! I liked this one quite a bit, but I having tasted the Lost Lantern selection, I suspect I'll also find that the regular release won't stack up.
Interesting! I will tell you a good amount of the local Dorado Single Barrels are overbearing with the level of soot and smoke. I am glad Lost Lantern picked a great barrel (the good ones have some rich dessert notes that I have had)! Liquid Lays BBQ chips is how I describe the standard issue! Great review as always!