MrWizard's Ramblings

Over the course of my wheelings and dealings in the bourbon world… (read: meeting random folks from whiskey groups and whatnot) I try to share as many samples as possible to both spread the joy and allow others to try things they may not had an opportunity to do so in the past… Similarly, others are oftentimes willing to share samples with me. So I tend to accumulate random mini-bottles that contain whiskey. As the reader may have surmised from my more recent reviews I have enough to start grouping things into ‘themed’ articles but there are also plenty that don’t fit in with any others… So, no themed reviews today… just random samples…

Douglas Laing Scallywag Blend Special Edition 13 years old
EDIT after writing the below and doing a 10 seconds of research… This is supposed to be sherried!? I did leave it in the glass for probably solid 30 mins and somehow in that time all the sherry was gone. Trying it fresh from the bottle brings all the sherry back. I’m so confused. Okay okay… Seems I’m not crazy… after letting this breethe for solid 20+ minutes most of the sherry notes do disappear into peppery maltiness. Such a two-faced whiskey… quite interesting indeed.
Original: A blend of Speyside whiskeys with youngest being 13 years old, 46% abv and, if i recall correctly, this happens to be a special age-stated 13, edition. Malt malt malt on the nose. Reminds me of Longmorn 14. light citrus malt character. On the palate same light citrus malt from the nose but now with some noticeable notes of sweet vanilla from the oak. Not very sweet, if I had to describe this in terms of recent drinks… this is a mix of Longmorn 14 and Auchroisk 24 while being a little bit less concentrated than either due to 46% abv. Some white pepper spiciness works well and the aftertaste is quite pleasant, even if its not spectacular. Basically lemon meringue pie with vanilla custard, mostly hold the sugar? Very very pleasant malt. Water doesn’t do much other than open it up to more white pepper without the age or proof to balance it out. I’m torn on the grading… On one hand I really like both of the whiskeys I’ve mentioned… on the other… it’s not quite as good as either of them separately (though admittedly both are single cask bottles). If you want a great example of refill refill Speysider (without sherry or fancy barrel magic) this one may be easier to chase down than single barrel bottles of Old Malt Cask… because great things are rarely easy.
Score: B

Highland Park 8, McPhail’s Collection 43%abv
Prefacing this that I’m not a fan of young peat that has no sherry.
The nose got wisps of smoke and some stewed fruit though the relative youth of the malt makes itself known after a few minutes. The palate… is smoke, trending towards savory flavors with almost zero sweetness or vanilla. Aftertaste and second half of the palate unfortunately falls into unpleasant spicy bitterness that I’m really not a fan of but perhaps some may be. Unfortunately without anything outstanding about this whatsoever, this isn’t good to me. It may appear to the narrow overlap portion of Venn diagram that like both Highland Park, young malt, and refill barrels but even still I think there are better options available. Give me a nice 1st fill sherry Highland Park single cask and then we may talk.
Score: D

Compass Box Lost Blend
Blend: 70.8% Clynelish, 22% Caol Ila, 7.5% Alt-A-Bhainne… Bottled at 46% abv.
Oh Compass Box… The first and mostly only company that consistently puts out good blended whiskey. Sure, plenty of others have put out good blends, but consistently great ones? Yeah nobody, that I’m aware of. This particular bottle is a tribute to one of their first blends called “Eleuthera” for which the components are no longer available in quantities to sustain production. So seeing that they were able to get their hands on a small amount, a limited run this is! Read more details here: https://www.compassb … kies/index.php?id=14 … Also as per modus operandi this has Clynelish… Compass Box really likes their Clynelish in the blends but who can blame them, really? It’s a great multilayered whiskey that does extremely well as a middle layer of flavor to build on… Anyways!!! Smoke and light citrus fruits on the nose as well as tons of malty notes. The palate is more citrus, with some smoke and malt, but surprisingly low sweetness; all in balance, leaning towards nearly-sour notes. Perhaps smoked lemon drops, reduced sugar would be a good description? The aftertaste brings light nutty bitterness which once again works great with light Clynelish smoke and malt flavors. This reminds of summer shandy (beer+lemonade), but in a whiskey bottle. Bring it to your summer getaway and you won’t be disappointed.
Score: B (B+ if it’s summertime)

Bunnahabhain Pedro Ximenez Finish 54%
Note: No age info given on the sample. It is probably this, though it’s not a 100% guarantee: https://www.whiskyba … 30/bunnahabhain-2003
Finishing up this set of reviews in style! The nose is salt brick and stewed fruits from the sherry with peppered bits and a tiny whisper of tobacco. Perhaps lightly-smoked dried figs or dates if I had to call it out. I can keep on smelling this for quite a while. The mouth is pure indulgence of sherry, thick, syrupy, oh so delicious, definitely dried fig preserves is what I’m tasting now. Few wisps of smoke, but almost unnoticeable under all that cloying sherry, I’m probably imagining them as its supposed to be unpeated. Almost too sweet, the aftertaste lasts a long while and it feels just as if I ate a spoonful of caramelized fig preserves that were covered with burnt sugar caramel. Amazing dessert or after-dinner drink and I would take any day…. But it’s basically a high-proof syrup. I love the sample but I’m not sure I would love the entire bottle of it.
Score: B+
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Scoring Breakdown: https://www.aerin.or … age=scores_breakdown

Read more here… https://www.teelingw … en/teeling-whiskeys/. I’m the lazy reviewer I record my thoughts and let the reader do their own research on the minutiae. :)
Gotta keep that distillery themed reviews going. This time around from another zoom tasting this time with Teeling Irish whiskey. Their distillery is actual operational distillery in the middle of Dublin (though by law they cannot age or store alcohol within city limits so that’s carted off site to their warehouse. All the samples are 46% abv and I’ve tasted through their core range of products. Their master distiller/blender is well known for trying just about any kind of wood though very few of their experiments make it to the retailers in USA… But teeling is aged in anything between obscure spanish bodega casks to stout to all sorts of different wooden casks… Pretty if there’s a cask of it… they’ll age teeling in it. :)

Teeling Small Batch (Rum Casks)
This is the dark teeling bottle that’s commonly found in most bars and whiskey shops as long as they got irish whiskey. The spirit has been finished for 6 months in ex-rum casks of indeterminate origin. As is with MOST of their whiskeys… there’s some amount of single grain in the batch. The nose is fairly forward single grain smells which when combined with rum influence just smells like refined vanilla sugar and a little bit like vanilla extract. This is tasty in a conversation but falls apart under contemplative drinking due to low age, which doesn’t work with single grains as they need much longer time in the wood to truly sing. Workable in a bar or @work… but frankly… you’re not going to regret skipping it.
Score: C

Teeling Single Pot Still (10/2018)
The mash bill consists of 50% malted and 50% unmalted barley that has been triple distilled. Quite interesting, with funky notes on the nose that almost go into orange zest type of profile. Reminds of some other stuff of the ‘Distiller’s Cut’ type where the heads and tails were cut to the whims of the master distiller leaving more of the flavorful but also more volatile ethers in the spirit. As previously mentioned, orange/tangerine zest, slightly metallic notes and almost savoury character makes this an interesting experience on the palate. Not fully my sort of profile but it is certainly unique enough to pique someone’s interest. There’s some light malty notes but they are more of suggestion rather than a command on intensity. The youth and unmalted grain in the mash, are yet again is the most blatant downsides of this one. More wood and age and this has some amazing possibilities, but as it, it’s a bit of a let down.
Score: B-

Teeling Single Grain
From the site: “Mash bill consisting of 95% corn and 5% malted barley that has been triple distilled and matured exclusively in French oak Ex-Cabernet Sauvignon red wine casks from California”. This is very creme brulee on the nose and very vanilla extract-like. Almost feels like a slightly sweeter version of the small batch. Slight wine notes and yet again vanilla character on the palate. Nowhere near Starward’s red wine flavors by comparison, this feels more integrated with the individual whole. In many ways this drinks like more interesting, a ‘better’, version of small batch. Corn unfortunately provides almost no aftertaste that’s worth mentioning but I wouldn’t say no to this if I were offered.
Score: B

Teeling Single Malt
From the site: “100% malted barley, matured and finished in casks that impart the influence of five wine casks (Sherry, Port, Madeira, White Burgundy, Cabernet Sauvignon)”… And the kitchen sink. This malt is a little bit of everything version. I mean… read the description of the barrels in the mix. The upside is of course it’s very flavorful… the downside… its somewhat of a mess of everything on the flavor profile. Overall… I actually like it. It’s sweet, nutty and slightly reminiscent of sauternes finish with white raisins. Actually somewhat reminiscienting me of Arran’s Sauternes cask finish. Very enjoyable drink if you like sweet white wines and nuts pairing.
Score: B
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Scoring Breakdown: https://www.aerin.or … age=scores_breakdown

Its time! I feel like by now I’ve reviewed just about every major us bourbon distillery and yet somehow I’ve completely not touched on Michter’s which has a range of products from humble, but very palatable, US-1 line all the way to, silly expensive, Michter’s 25 year bourbon. Read their specs and story here: https://michters.com/whiskeys/ Perhaps I’ve been simply collecting samples for a line up…. Let’s gooooo!

Michter’s 10 year Bourbon 2018
Corn mash forward nose that’s not very sweet but not super pleasant as it has some sour notes in the play as corn does. Leaves almost a (cheap-ish) aftershave cologne smell after the corn notes drift away. The palate is an interesting mix and a juxtaposition (oooh I used a fancy word) of flavors so tightly packed that it feels like they’re gone instantly after a sip from the glass. Notably not very sweet or spicy compared to other distilleries, this seems to be Michter’s own character on display and I would expect this theme to continue through the rest of the review. This bourbon requires time and tiny sips to get it to display its beauty. Casual drinkers beware… without contemplation and making this an experience… the flavor is lost and this would taste borderline bland and uninteresting. Fairly short aftertaste where some of the more subtle flavors linger with a little bit of sweetness coming back. It’s a delicate one for sure. Water doesn’t do much to it, slightly opens up but not dramatically so. No real downsides and yet no greatness either. Good solid bourbon that should be about 100 bucks, not $150. At the price and availability… I’m having a hard time recommending a bottle. If you can find a sample or a bar pour at cost… do it for the checkbox.
Score: B-

Michter’s Toasted Barrel Bourbon 2020
Sweet corn caramel on the nose is in play here that offsets some sour whiffs and balances the notes into very pleasant nosing experience. I’ll sorta summarize it as such: take the review of the 10 from above; add more typical bourbon sweetness to it and a little bit more ‘roughness’ on the alcohol side. If i couldn’t really taste the alcohol in the 10 year, this one, while notably few points of proof lower is much more active on the palate. The alcohol-forward palate makes for a bit of a ‘mess’ which somewhat kills the experience. Paradoxically, this seems to have both nose, palate and a semblance of an aftertaste that’s tries to be of some interest but ends up being a little bit off the mark in each case. Adding water doesn’t do this any favors either. At $80 MSRP, this is making me reach for a Heaven Hill’s $17 Fighting Cock which is essentially on par with it in nearly every way (Disclaimer: to my palate preferences).
Score: C

Shenk’s 2020
Woody and slightly eucalyptus-like nose. Almost like walking through a pine forest or perhaps I’m getting some fresh dill. The nose by itself reminds me somewhat of Old Potrero Malted Rye…. And so does the palate. This feels like a mix of Old Potrero https://www.aerin.or … y:entry201115-213721 with Bomberger’s (review of that below). This is really… REALLY good to me. Slight downside is the lack of primary aftertaste that lasts. The secondary notes in that sticky rye bread flavor lasts a while but the primary flavors are gone fairly quick as per modus operandi of just about every Michter’s so far (and also just about every bourbon). Few drops of water makes the rye really sing and brings back the aftertaste. This is good, real good!
Score: A

Bomberger’s 2020
Light sweet cologne flavors with sweet vanilla caramel that are pleasant though disappear quickly. Rich, sweet and caramel-forward on the palate with some corn and wood notes. This is what a good bourbon should be like. The aftertaste is short but pleasant with lingering vanilla, wood caramel notes that cascade over each other into pleasant warmth. Arguably, a touch of too much barrel influence is felt on the palate for this one but overall this is a very good drink. Water tames the concentration somewhat but and brings interesting toasted wood notes to the fore. Little torn on water, but I’d skip adding water since the proof isn’t that high to begin with.
Score: B+

Shenk’s 2019
Typical Michter’s bourbon nose on this one with a splash of malted rye notes (fresh rye bread), but the rye influence is restrained. On the palate rye influence and bread notes are visible all over but they are well balanced by the bourbon itself. At typical, borderline-too-much-wood-tannins but that can be tamed with a few drops of water. The aftertaste lasts for a while but it’s mostly-wood influenced… then wait…. oh, hi there rye… I’ll go on a limb to say that Shenk’s has some malted rye content in the mash itself to taste the way it does (rye bread). Is it polarizing flavor? Perhaps! Do I like malted rye? Yes! Do I want more malted rye bourbons? YES! Few drops of water makes the rye really sing and brings back the aftertaste. This is good, but not quite there.
Score: A-

Michter’s Toasted Barrel Rye 2020
Sweet brown sugar and wisps of campfire smoke on the nose. Sweet and lively palate, tiny bit alcohol forward that almost feels like ginger spice, leather and tobacco notes make themselves known. Medium-length, warm, but ultimately boring aftertaste of the palate flavors. In many ways this is what I would want out of a rye whiskey, lively palate, sweet notes and lots of different flavors intermixed… Yet, this is let down by its own age and being rough around the edges. The toasted barrel, while arguably adding tobacco, and char notes, doesn’t do the wood balance any favors and would overwhelm the palate if it was any more pronounced… Just finish some older rye already. Can we have a 10 year rye toasted barrel finish pretty please? That would be swell! Seek this out at a bar if you can, it is well worth it.
Score: B

Michter’s 10 Year Rye 2020
Bits of savory rye bread on the nose combined with restrained caramel sweetness. Somewhat grassy (but no dill), eucalyptus, sweet caramel, pine needles on the mouth. Full of rolling waves of flavor even while being only 92.8 proof Wonderfully balanced. Amazing, warming and long aftertaste that lasts a while. This is quite delicious drink and borderline worth its $199 MSRP. A slightly tannic note at the end of aftertaste is the only minor detriment I can think of here. Water opens it up a little bit into sweeter notes but it is not strictly necessary.
Score: A-
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Scoring Breakdown: https://www.aerin.or … age=scores_breakdown

More samples, little time, so really short notes here.

John Paul XMas 2019
Sherry + Light Peat… Yum. Somewhat reminds me of a mezcal level of peat + sherry. The 2019 Christmas Edition describes itself as “PX casks with light peat influence” on the bottle. The peat brings notes of brine and PX brings delicious sweetness.
Score: B

John Paul XMas 2020
Almost has a cold-smoked fish nose on the nose, in a good way. The 2020 description is a mix of ex-Bourbon, PX and Oloroso casks, with light peat. This is surprisingly tasty in a smokey sweet kinda way. The smoke is somewhat light but definitely there and is well balanced vs the rest of the spirit. Compared to 2019 this is less sweet due to mix of non PX casks in this batch. More malt is felt on the palate for the same reasons as previously stated; a tiny bit of a metal aftertaste remains, but doesn’t detract as well as roasted honeycomb that seems to be characteristic to Paul John’s Malt.
Score: B-

John Paul Nirvana
Light and malty profile with a distinct honey undertone. This whiskey is aimed at bars and bartenders and is a new to distribution in US. At 40% abv, the proof is the biggest disappointment here. Definitely worth trying at a bar, otherwise stock the Classic for home bar which seems to be the same thing but full proof at 55%. Very slightly metallic aftertaste is present for my palate but it’s not a huge detriment compared to the proof.
Score: C

Glen Grant 15 have been previously covered here: https://www.aerin.or … y:entry201114-150301. I am expecting the 12 will be somewhat lesser version and 18 to have deeper flavors than the 15.

Glen Grant 12
I’ll summarize this as ‘expectations met to be a lesser version of the 15′. Lesser proof, though not lesser taste concentration. This is all malt and stone fruit and pears and apples all over itself but slightly less vibrat. Just get the 15, really.
Score: C (Because 15 exists)

Glen Grant 18
Woodier and somewhat deeper flavors than the 12 or the 15 due to higher proof, it doesn’t distinguish itself enough from to warrant a better score or value. Tasty? Yes. Special? No. Just get the 15! With 18 priced at $115 in total wine (as of this writing) this is a terrible value vs $56 for the 15 year old that’s nearly as good for half the price.
Score: B-
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Scoring Breakdown: https://www.aerin.or … age=scores_breakdown

… to review rye whiskey? My blog and my glass mean my rules! Plus, I really do need to get through as many pending reviews hanging over my head as I can before I lose motivation.

High West Double Rye Batch 17K21
Note: This being a bottle from 2017 is a blend of 2 year MGP and 16 year Barton rye whiskey. Starting in 2018, High West’s own rye replaced the Barton portion to mixed opinions. Since my bottle happens to be old… well I’m reviewing it for what it is. This cost me ~$37 at a local store. Another random note… High West seems to use a lot of recycled glass bottles which is great for them and the environment and makes for an unusual bottle on the shelf.
This has eucalyptus notes on the nose and palate for me as do a lot of ryes. Sweet and light having lots of complexity in its light flavors but at the same time… lacking a little bit of something for me. I’m torn. On one hand its excellent light rye bottle, and on the other… its… almost ‘boring?’. I feel like I’m in the whiskey game in the search of interesting and palate-pleasing flavors and this is the one of the most divisive bottles I’ve had on recent memory. Its both great and not great at the same time, while I cannot even articulate why I’m not a fan of it. Perhaps I’m imagining its having a slightly soapy aftertaste? I guess the bottle name does ring true with the “double” portion of it. Somewhat workable as sipping light rye and probably better for mixing, and it may be little too light for that too. Don’t chase this down.
Score: C

Masterson’s 10 Straight Rye Hungarian Oak Finish #PSH4
A 10 year Canadian Rye… okay… Finished in Hungarian Oak? Sign me up! Did I mention I’m a sucker for different finishes and single casks? The nose is full of wooden vanilla and… just wood without the typical char notes that bourbon evokes. Perhaps sweet oak? Let’s go with that. The palate doesn’t disappoint. This is continuation of everything the nose promised on the palate. This is actually great stuff. As with most rye whiskey, this has few eucalyptus notes but they are hidden and well integrated into the overall experience. There’s not much there to fault in this pour and I expect others that like lighter rye would agree with me. A fantastic drink that’s hard to equate to anything else I’ve had in the past.
Score: B+

Old Potrero Straight Rye Single Barrel #13 (KnL Pick)
Mark J. does an great in-depth review of this bottle here: https://the-right-sp … ye-single-barrel-13/
In Mark’s words: “gorgeous”. This is 100% malted rye. Yes, the ‘malted rye’ may be a polarizing topic, but for me, this is amazing stuff. The nose is definitely rye eucalyptus, but at the same time luscious dark brown sugar caramel and rye bread smell. I can spend a long time just nosing my glass. Very sweet and potent on the palate this whiskey is an experience rather than a drink. This hits right up my alley, sugar, fresh rye bread taste and smell, delicious nose, and supersaturated palate that’s almost syrup-like in its consistency. Strong proof and a long-lasting aftertaste of the primary palate flavors with no downsides for me. Certainly an experience that’s unlikely to be repeated anytime soon. Did I get another bottle? Oh yes I did! Will it emotionally scar those that aren’t the fans of this profile? Yes it may. More for me then! Unique, weird, sweet, delicious and oh-so tasty. Yay!
Score: A

Addendum here. Old Potrero Rye Port Cask finish with high proof is up the same alley if slightly more generic.
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Scoring Breakdown: https://www.aerin.or … age=scores_breakdown