The_Rev
Slaughter House American Whiskey
Other Whiskey — (Bottled in California), USA
Reviewed
June 8, 2017 (edited August 29, 2022)
I don't usually do re-reviews; typically, I adopt the same attitude as Pontius Pilate in John's Gospel and declare that "what I have written, I have written." (Bet that's the first time Pilate's been quoted in a whiskey review). That said, this bottle, sadly, has earned a demotion and with it a new write-up. From the get-go, there was a certain almost-chemical note that I could never peg. In and amongst the sweet wine finish notes and and spices, it drifted - like a cheap shoe sole, or a garden hose, or a tennis ball..very rubbery. I figured it would go away with time. It didn't. It proved too off-putting for me to find this whiskey enjoyable, despite the many good things it does have going for it. Really rather disappointing.
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I have only done one or two re-reviews, but I have gone back and altered past reviews. If a grab an old bottle that I liked and found it now tastes like industrial waste I will demote it, usually putting in a foot note about new findings. No need to spend hours nosing, tasting and writing on something that you don't like anymore.
I don't know about the whiskey but the marketing could use a facelift.
Thanks for the opening to, for a second time, quote Pilate's words in the Gospel of John - "what is truth?" Now, with that out of the way, the subjectivity of all of this (from individual taste to individual processes for rating and beyond) is the challenge, and beauty, in all of this sampling and reviewing. Yesterday's dram of choice may be tomorrow's drain cleaner, or vice versa. I don't imagine I'll go around completely re-writing too many of my initial impressions, but this was such a spectacular change that I felt somewhat compelled to do it. My rating scheme can be boiled down to 5 stars=excellent quality (inc. value as a factor), 4=good, if not exceptional, but I drink it with no regrets, 3=something commendable, but something also flawed, 2=too flawed to enjoy except as a mixer, 1=virtually undrinkable. Since the previous 4 star rating was, in effect, a quality endorsement...well, I simply couldn't bear the thought of one of you lovely folks picking up a bottle of this stuff without knowing that, actually, I find the whiskey to have a major issue. Rubber-like flavors are my single biggest turn-off in a whiskey, and this unfortunately delivers too much of that.
Problem is, there is no absolute truth in a whisky review. Batches do vary, palates evolve and a malt that inspired you in the first place, might have lost its magic after a few years... It's all relative and changing all the time. On the other hand, I am probably a bit too lazy to write a new review each time I re-visit a malt.