Stranahan’s Colorado (Malt) Whiskey, Batch 204, 47%
It’s a colorado whiskey and if I recall correctly this happens to be a four barley mash bill. Making this technically an american single malt. These are fairly easy to find but certainly have picked at my curiosity to try them out. The nose is just pure banana pie or perhaps banana bread. Alcohol is barely felt, which isn’t surprising for an older bottle and relatively low proof compared to most bourbons I been having lately. The palate is more banana custard, with a little bit of tobacco notes. Very sweet but those bitter parts balance it out nicely with some bitter chocolate. The aftertaste is about medium with some more spices that float up, general burnt sugar sweetness and not offensive. Frankly it’s an inoffensive American Malt that’s a little too young and a little too boring to score high in the category of malts. It will also not offend anyone really but I don’t see myself chasing this down ever since there are literal tens of thousands of bottles that are better. Worth trying for American Malt checkbox but that’s really it. Being priced about $55 and fairly widely available does work in it’s favor but, yet again kinda young at the price.
Score: C+
Blue Spot Irish Whiskey, 2020 release, 7+ years, 58.7%
This is a blend of different malts matured for at least 7 years in bourbon, sherry, and madeira casks. Being a single pot still whiskey, this will be a blend of single malt and single grain whiskeys as mostly the norm with most Irish whiskeys. The nose is fairly strong with grain alcohol, sherry notes, bourbon spices and some madeira red fruits. The palate is nutty sweet with red wine and sherry there’s a lot of complexities here that could be coaxed out but mostly hiding behind primary flavors. Aftertaste is a little bit bitter and slightly sour with madeira dominating and lack of malt notes to make it better balanced. Overall, I actually like it more than say Redbreast Small Batch, which was way more grain-forward on the nose and palate. If this blend was single malt, it’d probably be amazing. As it is now… it’s on the upper levels of ‘good’. While little rough around the edges this is certainly very very good on it’s own. On the value side, I paid $75 out the door which does make what I paid a fantastic value proposition compared to others in this range.
Score: B+
Tomatin 12, Haskell’s SP, Cask #1831 53.0%
A 2002-vintage Tomatin, aged in ex-bourbon single cask at full proof and one of only 222 bottles. Quite rare single cask Original Bottling by the distillery itself. I’m aware of only a handful of other distilleries that do this and most prefer to go through a 3rd party bottler. I picked this up on a whim from Haskell’s with few other bottles and to be honest I’m not disappointed. The nose is typical malty mineral vanilla situation with ex-bourbon. Color is quite dark yellow amber borderline cider-like. Palate is super clean ex-bourbon spices with a solid nuttiness through that start with peaches but then go into ginger and sichuan pepper numbness. On the aftertaste, the numbness and pepper slowly fades into more malty vanilla. Overall this is delicious ex-bourbon cask that’s hitting all the right notes. It is by no means ground-breaking but I’m really finding it hard to fault a 12 years old scotch for what it is. Value-wise, I believe it was ~$60 which yet again points a solid price here. Zero complaints in context.
Score: B+
Tobermory 22, Old Malt Cask, 54.4%
An interesting 3rd fill sherry cask by Old Malt Cask bottling. The Tobermory is the unpeated branch of Ledaig which are both produced in same distillery but Tobermory isn’t peated and Ledaig is heavily peated. So a rare unpeated Island single malt. Grassy nose, with few sherry notes that are reasonably balanced by the spirit, slightly funky with pears and melons galore. It evokes a very specific dish for me, being a green pear and arugula salad with parmesan and almond slivers that’s lightly seasoned with white wine vinegar. Lots of citrus on the palate with lemons dominating, very fruity and slightly spicy with peppery spice that’s quite subtle, perhaps evoking candied ginger. Medium aftertaste with sweet and subtle vanilla notes. Overall this is citrusy, very very subtle Old Malt Cask that’s quite good for what it is… but not really mind-blowing in any parameter. A solid showing for a distillery checkbox and a fantastic summer shanty sipper.
https://www.klwines.com/p/i?i=1380521
Score: B+
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Scoring Breakdown: https://www.aerin.or … age=scores_breakdown