Nose: Freshly-cut grass clippings, sweet hay, petrichor on hard-baked red-soil roads. Parchment. Crisp and light with a little spice and fruit – mango, tangerine and strawberry. An unexpectedly light and sprightly rye nose that is very agreeable. With time a little vanilla note is detected.
Palate: Again, very grassy and slightly herbal in the arrival. Light lemon zest and some aniseed. There is, however, little development apart from a slow increase in spice notes and an almost effervescent citrus presence. The texture is OK but nothing special.
Finish: Medium. Mild spice and lemon trailing into the sunset.
A slightly unusual rye whisky with a strong focus on citrus. The nose is the standout attraction and it is refreshingly unusual. The palate, however, does not quite rise to the same standard, being abbreviated and shallow with no progress. I’d attribute this entirely to youth and it would be interesting to taste this if it were given a few more years of maturation in larger casks.
Adding water destroys the nose, subtracting all the distinctive aromas and rendering it more like an average rye, although some of the grassy notes remain. On the palate, water unleashes black pepper, hot capsicum and salt (and a little balancing sweetness). It does tone down the bright lemon focus but on the whole I preferred this one neat.
An interesting whiskey but like the Reservoir Wheat I just rated this is overpriced here. It’s almost worth the money, but then I think of all the very good scotch whiskies I could buy instead.
Tasted from a 30ml sample.
“Above Average” : 82/100 (3.25 stars)
160.0
AUD
per
Bottle
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No, that sold out, my neighbour was devastated not to get in on the action. TWC thought it wrong not to share the rare casks around so only gave them to restaurants and bars. The Bordeaux was definitely bolder and more flavourful but the Argonne was so nuanced, delicate and balanced I think it might be up there as one of my all time faves. I don’t know if TWC would be so kind as to share where the bottles went in Australia…
@DrRHCMadden Hmm, there's none listed on the TWC website, and they are the importers, I think. Maybe it was advance stock and more is incoming? I noticed they also still have the tasting kit for that virtual event available - I think I'll grab one, the Argonne sounds too good to miss out on even a 15ml poor.
Desperately want my own bottle of the rare cask 15 Argonne. That was pure magic last night. 15 ml sample though is a cruel volume of such rarified wonder.
@DrRHCMadden One can never have too much Arran :-)
@cascode that is a glowing testament for sure, when my AR and my back up AR are dwindled I will look to track some down. Currently spending whisky pennies on filling out my Arran portfolio…
@DrRHCMadden It can be hard to find but you can buy direct from the distillery online. I have several times and the service and shipping are excellent. It’s a very different profile to any other rye I’ve tasted, and for me the equal best rye there is along with the Archie Rose Hybrid. Where the AR is rich and akin to a single malt, Belgrove is crisp, and has honey and almost mezcal like notes. It can be challenging, but it is very good. Try and find a taste first - Peter Bignell, the owner, does the round of all the local whisky shows. Look on YouTube for a video about the distillery - it is mind blowing, so artisanal it makes Springbank look like Macallan. 😁
@cascode sadly not, have never seen any in Perth…
@DrRHCMadden Have you tried any Belgrove rye?
Sounds pretty good by the smell of it! Going to keep my eye out for it, but unfortunately nothing yet has taken my full fancy ryewise since Archie rose Malt Rye came along!