Clarkebar
Stranahan's Sherry Cask
American Single Malt — Colorado, USA
Reviewed
December 28, 2018 (edited April 15, 2024)
I asked for this for Christmas. Interesting color and the bottle is topped with a nice metal bar jigger. Middlin' sweet alcohol vapor on the nosing. The slightest of sips from the Glencairn moves from tongue tip to the back in an evolving process. I do get a good deal of fruit flavors, everything from cherry and mango to coconut. Admittedly I may have contaminated the process with some eggnog earlier on, not only spiked with the usual brandy, rum and blended whiskey, but also some Tolerance Ginger Liqueur, added in for effect with the grated nutmeg. Even tasting this after 30 minutes or so later, not the ideal conditions for true tasting of an otherwise fine whiskey. Put me on the naughty list then.
I have to say I like this whiskey very much and put it in the same category as the David Phinney/Orin Hatch whiskeys like Slaughter House and Straight Edge: Experimental. It goes down very easy offering a variety of flavors and yet has sufficient whiskey bite to inform the senses that this is a decent effort. Ice chips improve things noticeably. No upper level complexity and no lingering finish here, but the swallow is still worth the bite, especially with some drawn air as with wine. It seems these wine-making whiskey makers just can't break old habits. Worth the asking price.
$70 in PA.
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