MrWizard's Ramblings

Pronounced “Vague-LAY… Ai-LAY”. Here are some peated or lightly peated islays.

Bruichladdich Islay Barley 2011, 50%
2010 edition has been reviewed here. Yet again, this is a showcase of local barley producers. This time it is 2011 vintage year and if you care about colors this one came in a grey tin. Aged 6 years in oak casks there’s nowhere to hide. Ripe melons, honey, cantaloupe on the nose, some butter and a touch of sea salt. The palate starts sweet and citrusy crisp, then punches with char and smoke notes together with generous serving of numbing sichuan spice mix. Long finish with buttered, candied and very toasty nuts. There’s a touch of smokiness at the very end of the aftertaste that lingers, very alike to after-effects of breathing smoke during a night in front of a campfire. Overall: Well, this is a surprise! A very entertaining Laddie-in-a-glass. And while this is slightly smokey for me, it certainly got that ’smoke-not-peat’ thing going in spades. Chalk it up as a success for 2011. Value: Still findable for ~$70, this is a solid value for an interesting and perhaps underrated bottle.
Score: A-

Bunnahabhain 15, Old Particular, K&L SP, 53%
A 2006 unpeated Bunna. The nose is brightly acidic, reminding me of Sauvignon Blanc wine with citrus and melons. There’s also a bit of a perfume there which I rather quite like but I cannot put my finger on the actual source. Let’s just settle for it smelling like yellow citrus and flower blossoms. The palate starts sweet and buttery with light mineral saltiness, then there’s a one-two punch of spice and wood that hits a flavor peak. From the peak, it gently fades into more salty minerality mingled with some malt sweetness and a bitter end note that’s not all that enjoyable. A splash of water tames that flavor peak, for better or worse smoothing out some of the interesting edges in the process. Overall: Quite off the beaten path in terms of profile this was not a great cask to pair with a Bunna. It’s certainly a fresh, light, citrusy, and fragrant but also unbalanced in its experience. It flows from one facet to the next in a disjointed manner. I’m really not a fan of a touch of bitterness note in the aftertaste either. Value: On paper, this is solidly priced at $109 for a well known distillery and a very reasonable age statement.
Here’s the original listing
Score: C+

Bunnahabhain 12, Cask Strength, 2021 Edition, 55.1%
It’s a well known fact that limited editions from Bunna are quite tasty. Let’s try this 2021 edition of cask strength 12 year old. Color is dark amber. The nose is quite intense with dried fruit and bourbon spices. There also seems to be a touch of chocolate in the mix. More intensity on the palate but the profile is mostly same from the nose. Surprisingly consistent aftertaste follows with warming pepper that lingers for a while. It is a little intense on the proof to be an easy drinker, though it reacts decently to water, I’d recommend skipping water here due to relatively low age. Overall: This is clearly a mix of bourbon and sherry casks but it definitely leans towards bourbon side of things. I like this quite a bit. It’s extremely consistent and while multi-layered it’s also easy to ‘understand’. This is right up the alley for folks that enjoy bourbon cask influence in scotch. Value: This is ~$89… Probably solid value.
Score: B+

Bunnahabhain 12, Cask Strength, 2022 Edition, 56.6%
It’s a well known fact that limited editions from Bunna are quite tasty. Let’s try this 2022 edition of cask strength 12 year old. The color is light chestnut. Quite intense sherry on the nose, dried cherries and prunes. The palate has more of the dried cherry fruit and spices but not overly complex. Medium length aftertaste with sherry sweetness and yet again more dried fruits there. Due to some viscosity this stick around the mouth for a while. Water doesn’t change or adds much other than diluting flavor. Skip the water. Overall: Bunna pairs well with sherry, but it’s not a particularly complex proposition here, leaving some nuance being hidden by sherry. This bottling will please sherry cask lovers, but will have others asking for more. Value: At ~$89 this is a solid value.
Score: B+

Bunnahabhain 12, Cask Strength, 2023 Edition, 60.1%
Injecting 2023 edition review here nearly a year later. It’s mostly same as 2022, slightly proofier so a few drops of water may be of benefit to calm it down. 2023 replaces toasted wood notes with toasted coffee thus changing some of the secondary spice profile to a slightly nutty profile. Overall though, the change is subtle enough that the two years are roughly equivalent to each other. Value: At ~$99 may still be worth it, though not for any more increases.
Score: B+

Addendum:
In the Bunna 12 CS 2021/22 showdown, there’s no clear winner… It really comes down to what the drinker enjoys. If they enjoy sherry: then choose 2022; If it’s bourbon casks then 2021 has the edge… Mixing the two in a roughly 1:1 proportion is, to me, tastes a little better than having them apart.
For the record, the ‘old’ Bunna 18 is much better than the ‘new’ Bunna 18.

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Scoring Breakdown: https://www.aerin.or … age=scores_breakdown

Welcome back! Some things changed, most things stayed the same. Plenty of bottles finally emptied out, some bottles have been opened, and life as we know goes on. The first few reviews are going to be a mix of thoughts as a catch up and go through several miscellaneous samples that are hard to put into any specific group.

Port Dundas 28, Single Grain Scotch, Sovereign, 51.3%
A 1990 Port Dundas grain, bottled by Sovereign. I have a bottle of this and got some hopes for it, though the quality of casks seems to be inconsistent. The nose starts gentle and vanilla-forward, but then picks up momentum into light tropical fruit direction with mangos and pineapple notes that are topped with grapefruit or blood orange zest. Let’s be honest, it smells like mango and blood orange custard pie, complete with spiced graham crust. The palate is (white) tropical fruit punch that’s been spiced with some peppers. Lots more spicines on the aftertaste but it doesn’t become sichuan hot, instead it fades into warm and sweet vanilla that lingers for a while. Overall: This is a spiced light tropical creme pie, and there’s nothing particularly wrong with it, though I wish it had a bit more oily character to leave a presence. As it is, it’s vibrant, sweet and fresh but not memorable enough to wistfully recall few years down the road later. Value: That was $80 in ‘ages’ ago, in 2019. A solid price that doesn’t exist anymore.
Store Page: https://www.klwines.com/p/i?i=1380526
Score: B

Glenglassaugh 9, Wine Hogshead, @SFWBSS SP Cask #2148, 57.1%
A bottled in 2022 as a SF group pick… At 9 years old and aged in a (Red) Wine cask. I’m not fully opposed to the distillery, but I’ve not found their product amazing. Of course this is the SF group pick… and in the spirit of getting single malts they put out… I’ve dipped my toes into this one too. The color is light-chestnut with a pink tinge to it. The nose is… well it’s proofy and young with addition of coat of red wine frosting all around bringing overabundance of dried red fruit notes. The palate is very sweet, and mostly filled with rich red dried fruit flavors and alcohol. Candied cherries and some plums dominate. The aftertaste is medium-length at best, slightly spicy but nothing of note happens there. Little bit of a water helps with the alcohol avalanche and lets the dessert wine notes forward. Overall: “It’s a fruit cake (pie)!” I keep on saying to myself. There’s nothing that pushes it above ‘drinkable dessert pour’. Enjoyable and situational but certainly not an everyday drinker. I’ll be quite interested in their product as the stocks gain few more years under their belt. Value: Eeeeeh, Glenglassaugh single casks go for around $99 and so it was the case here. I’ll argue this is about average price for what we got, including a fancy box.
Score: B-

Fukano “Amabie” SCWC/K&L SP Manzanilla Sherry #MS326, 42.2%
This single cask aged in sherry butt is distilled from rice and has no age statement. As an aside, manzanilla sherry is a lighter-textured, funky and spicy sherry, quite unlike Oloroso and PX which tend to be thicker and sweeter. The nose is sherry forward and is rather enjoyable with rice alcohol adding another layer to the ‘funk’ of the overall bouquet. The palate is pleasantly filled with spiced candied nuts and sweet rice undertones. Aside from rice sweetness notes, it’s got gently notes of nutmeg, cloves and some anice. Aftertaste is yet again slightly nutty and is rather spicy; quickly falling down into gentle pepperiness. Overall: This is a mix of very good sake flavors with an excellent sherry note. There’s very little cask influence beyond sherry and rice doesn’t bring anything groundbreaking or complex to the table. Perhaps there’s something to be said about this being ‘good’ because of its ’simplicity’ and lack of nuance. Just like sushi, there’s nowhere to hide here. This is equivalent to a piece of nigiri that’s got two components where typical complexity of scotch is a paella of flavors. I can tell it’s a ‘good quality’ product, because anything other than good would have been a disaster. Do I enjoy it? Yes I do… Is it anything like other japanese (malt) whiskeys? No, it’s an excellent soju/sake with sherry flavors that is a whiskey only by definition. Value: At $100 I’ve paid, and no age statement, this is probably a little over expensive, at $74 on sale… that’s about the right price.
https://www.klwines.com/p/i?i=1595455
Score: B (maybe)

Linkwood 11, Signatory, K&L SP, Charred Wine Hogshead, 59.2%
A Linkwood distilled in 2010. I’m a fan of Linkwood. Rather dark colored, but this is a *recharred* wine hogshead. The nose is proofy, with wine funkiness, toasted honey and red fruits. Palate is yet again very proofy, toasted honey, red fruits, wine tannins. The aftertaste is warming, generously peppered, lingers for long time with more red fruits and a touch of toasted sugar. With water it sorta falls apart with too much wine influence overtaking everything. Overall: I really want to like it but I cannot love it. It’s wild and proofy and decent at full proof, even if full proof is very punchy. Definitely a weird and a wild one, this will be my adventurous dessert pour as it’s certainly not a casual one. It does provide an interesting counterpoint to Glenglassaugh above it. With this one being more cask forward and Glenglassaugh being more spirit forward. Value: At $89… This was decent value for cask strength 11 year old malt…
https://www.klwines.com/p/i?i=1569866
Score: C+

Compass Box Juveniles Limited Edition, 46%
Another Compass Box bottling… John Glaser of CB is a savant in blending, to be fair. This bottle got a BELL in the punt! Unpeated malt, mostly from Clynelish and Balmenach distilleries with Strathmill the mix and a few others. The nose is extremely malty, almost overwhelmingly so. The palate is citrusy creme soda or light honey mead with a touch of alcohol, light honey wax, gentle spices. Quite thick, sweet and mouth-coating, lots of malt yet again. The aftertaste is long, delicately spiced and lingering. Overall: This is really bloody good pour. Thought this is much thicker and creamier on the palate that most ex-bourbon unpeated malts. Value: IIRC this was priced ~$100 in Costco… It’s a solid deal for a limited Compass Box bottling. I would struggle to pay more for a relatively non-premium release.
Read technical details here
Score: B+

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Scoring Breakdown: https://www.aerin.or … age=scores_breakdown

So Gregarious Grump is the label by Kris Hart of Houston Whiskey Group… Same person that is behind Prideful Goat… Except the Grump is for rums and brandies… I got some samples. Let’s do it. https://www.gregariousgrump.com/rums

Guyana (Diamond) 2003, 16 years old , Gregarious Grump, 46.8%
The nose is woody with caramel vanilla, light mint. Very solid toasted vanilla and wood shavings core on the palate, bordering on light varnish bitterness, not overly sweet and lower proof makes it imminently sippable though. Long warm and light minty aftertaste. Overall: I like Guyanese rum. This bottling is somewhat inconspicuous in among plenty of other casks but an excellent casual drinker. Value: N/A
Score: B+

Guyana (Diamond) 2003, 16 years old , Gregarious Grump, 54.5%
The nose intensity is amped up, to almost vanilla extract levels. The palate is full of sweet vanilla syrup, wood shavings, toasted oak. Excellent dessert balance that leans towards custard notes. Somewhat short, but yet again sweet and lightly spiced aftertaste follows. Overall: Right up my alley on sweetness and overall balance. Imagine cinnamon-dusted vanilla custard cake. Excellent nightcap here. Value: N/A
Score: A-

Guyana (Diamond) 2006, 16 years old , Gregarious Grump, 52.1%
Pine resin and mint on the nose. More pine resin, this time with brown sugar, dark honey, a touch of bitterness that doesn’t overwhelm the palate. Medium length aftertaste that’s genty fading into balanced and lightly spiced hard candies. Overall: A standout of the tasting here… Easy A! Excellent stuff. This is totally up my alley. Value: N/A
Score: A

Belize (Travelers) 2006, 14 years old, Gregarious Grump, 65.1%
Dark sugar molasses and vanilla is the name of the game here. The nose is nearly burnt sugar. More highly toasted bitterness on the palate, backed and balanced by sweetness, a touch of fermenting funk, vanilla, dark wood, tons of baking spices. Long sweet aftertaste follows with cinnamon, cloves and a touch of star anise. Overall: Excellent stuff, even if a touch bitter in its flavor profile and balance. Value: N/A
Score: B+

Jamaica (Long Pond) 1998, 22 years old, Plantation (K&L Store Pick) Single Cask, 49.4%
Filled into a used barrel and aged tropically for 18 years before being sent to France for finishing. After 2 years in old cognac barrels, the rum was transferred into ex-Bardstown Bourbon Company barrels which had previously held their wonderful Fusion bourbon. For what it’s worth that conflicts with the label… but I’ll trust the seller’s blurb more here. The nose is fragrant funk, musky sweet cologne. The palate, is wound up tight and yet incredibly complex with multiple layers of flavor going through real fast on the tongue. It’s like very tropical rum flavor together… jammed into very tight band. A veritable rum flavor rainbow I surf across. Very long mellow and sweet aftertaste follows with light sweetness funk and mint that calms down the palate after the crazy race that is the palate. It’s proof is about right out of the bottle with water not adding much to the experience but arguably diluting the flavor somewhat. Overall: This is crazily enjoyable, a little too sweet for some but darn it’s really tasty in a spiced custard pie kind of way. Value: Prices at $130… it’s pretty solid value considering lots of less reputable (or dishonest) rums are priced at much higher point.
https://www.klwines.com/p/i?i=1605705
Score: A-

Panama, 8 years old, Grander, @SFWBSS PS, 49.6%
Alrighty, so this is a bit cheat-y but I gotta record this. This was a great bottle, I’ve drank it as my daily driver on vacation. Panama Grander is solid tiki pour. Value: This was priced at $40! A steal!
Score: B+

Jamaica (New Yarmouth) 1994, 27 years old, Gregarious Grump, 67.5%
That proof is fire and is shockingly high after 27 years in a cask. Also shocking it doesn’t drink anywhere near that proof but at a relatively ‘gentle’ 60 or so. The nose is vanilla bomb with some old wood varnish notes. The palate is multilayered, complex, cinnamon vanilla creme brulee with a LOT of toasted sugar on top. Very long, slowly fading sweet aftertaste follows full of gentle spice and yet again cinnamon. Overall: This is Cinnamon Toast Crunch in a glass! I’m really enjoying drinking but it’s got such layered and complex character that it really requires some contemplation between sips. A true definition of a ’sipper’. Value: It’s MSRP ~$200 (since I got a bottle on sale for about $155). I’d say at 200 it’s a tough call but at the sale price it’s worth it. It’s not every day you can casually come across excellent single cask of that age.
Score: A

Barbados (Foursquare) 2009, 12 year old, Exceptional Selection XVII, 60%
This is a blend of pot and column still distillate tropically aged in ex-bourbon casks. Smells like toasted sugar, tropical fruits, and lots and lots of bourbon spices. The palate is… full of toasted sugar, tropical fruits, and bourbon spices. The aftertaste is… full of tropical fruits and bourbon spices gently fading. Overall: Absolutely excellent. There’s not much to complain here, though perhaps 60% abv is a little hot on its own and needs a drop of water in there. Additionally, it’s a touch… of a one-note… A very excellent note it is but there are no layered flavor harmony here, just excellence in execution. Value: This was ~$90-100, and Foursquare distillery originals provide excellent value here.
Score: A-

Guyana (El Dorado) 2009, 12 years old, Single Still “Versailles” Cask Strength, 56.2%
The stand out of the 2022 SF Rumfest for me. This is… Interesting. Distilled in the wooden pot still and bottled at cask strength this rm has been colored with caramel prior to aging because… Nobody knows why. My own speculative guess involves the theory that it wasn’t supposed to be bottled at cask proof originally and instead intended for lower-proofed general consumer market. Yet, here we are, with enthusiast-level bottle. The color is dark… Like dark chestnut. The nose is near-burnt coconut caramel all the way. The palate… start sweet, turns into near-bitter, and then the plethora of spices hit. Everything from citrus to, raspberries, to tropical fruits all together with the alcohol, dusted by cloves and nutmeg. The aftertaste is all of that secondary flavors with leche fruits and mango mostly winning though they still end up competing with a touch of caramelized sugar. This is all about riding that aftertaste here. Overall: A literally ball of flavor that hits right in the face. This has one unfortunate flaw and that is the caramel coloring… With age that caramel is perceived to be driving some of the flavor notes so mentally it’s hard to get over that visual of everything riding that coloring train. Basically, must like aged caramel to enjoy it, but if you do… It’s a banger. Value: This was $139 which is mediocre pricing for a 12 year rum when looked at blindly… But since I’ve already tried, it wasn’t a blind purchase.
Score: A
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Scoring Breakdown: https://www.aerin.or … age=scores_breakdown

Happy “official” New Year. This is my first entry started after the holidays (even though it’s January 16th). Mostly malt with a small inclusion of other since it’s sometimes hard to group thing together meaningfully.

Port Askaig 25 (Impex), 45.8%
This is a pleasant surprise gift from friend Mike. This is a Caol Ila 25 bottled by Impex in 2019. There are total of 3000 bottles of this, though there is a European counterpart to this batch, I’m not sure if it counts as part of the 3000 bottles. Either way… ‘Small’ batched IB Caol Ila 25! Did I mention I enjoy old peated whiskey even while I whine about young peat being gross yet? Lightly salted, complex smoke on the nose reminiscent of fish smokehouse that’s not been in use for a while. Salty floral notes, lightly spiced vanilla. Incredible legs on the Glencairn. The palate is gentle, floral vanilla, light smoke, almost no saltiness at all. Peppery, warming and lightly smoked aftertaste that lasts and lasts and lasts. Overall: Easily excellent example of light (or mostly dissipated) peat that’s complex rather than punchy. The palate is barely peated at all, with the smoke only showing up somewhat in the nose and in the aftertaste. Excellent drinker. There’s something to be said here that this is different from OB Caol Ila that’s typically saltier. The particular bottling could have benefited from sherried cask or two in the mix to bring up another layer of complexity… Overall though I’m grasping for straws with my biggest thought being that while it’s excellent, it doesn’t seem to stand out in a distinguishable way. Value: This was ~$350 in 2019… Eeeeh.. Leaving it at “This is tasty but I’d not buy a bottle”.
https://www.whiskyba … kaig-25-year-old-sms
Score: A

Mortlach 20, Cadenhead Small Batch, 53.4%
I seem to be reviewing a lot of Mortlach around here… Well, too bad! I enjoy these! And I write reviews. Small batch bottling from Cadenhead, 700ml so EU. The nose is full of baked pears and green apples with a touch of vanilla. The palate is excellently orchard-fruity ex-bourbon standard faire. I cannot believe it’s proof vs how gently it drinks. The long aftertaste is gentle vanilla and a little bit of ginger spice warming the very back. Overall: Excellent drinker, with nothing to complain about here in the scope. Value: N/A (from friend)
Score: A

Stranahan’s Cask Strength, Dry Creek Liquors SP, 57.86%
A high proof Stranahan’s single malt. No info unfortunately. Likely at reasonably respectable age as the distillery has been able to put up 10 year old malt release (though that one was distillery exclusive), suggesting that their stocks are coming up in average age nicely. Of note I’ve poorly reviewed the Small Batch (~2 years old) version and really liked the exclusive higher proof Carcavelos Cask (at very respectable 8.5 years of age). Let’s dig into this one. Tropical fruit pie on the nose, with bananas and mango fruits leading the charge predictably. More of the same tropical banana mango custard on the palate, rather sweet and spiced with cloves and nutmeg and topped with vanilla whipped creme. Long sweet, and tingly aftertaste follows that reminds of red hots cinnamon aftertaste. Overall: This is enjoyable. It’s not particularly complicated and the banana pie is certainly indicative of American single malt that may not appeal to some malt drinkers. Without the context though this is quite drinkable and high proof helps a ton here. Value: Similar Store Picks are priced circa $70… assuming that this is the same for this particular one… good value.
Score: B+

Hogback distillery Tasting… They do a bit of everything so this is going to be a mix. https://www.hogbackd … ry.com/our-whiskies/

Hogback ‘Oak & Aspen’ Bourbon, 61.8%
So this is a high rye bourbon finished with aspen wood stakes for 3 months. The sample is ~4 years old. The nose has a noticeably dry wood character to it, similar to lumber isle in a hardware store. The palate is spicy and pleasantly woody, sweet; lots of toasted notes, quite creamy texture. This reminds me somewhat of lighter MGP stuff, though I believe this is distilled at the distillery itself. Long, pleasantly sweet and lingering aftertaste follows with a touch of cinnamon in the very back. Overall: Enjoyable for a sipper. Hard to tell this is young. Lacks secondary notes, but overall a reasonably rounded experience, that extra wood really helped here I feel by filling in some gaps so that the palate doesn’t fall flat onto itself. Value: N/A. This is undiluted version, the official version is 44% abv and costs $45. If the high proof version is about $60, it’s a fair deal.
Score: B

Hogback ‘Eclipse’ Rye, 60.5%
This time a rye from the same distillery. From the blurb: “Aged a minimum of 4 years in a virgin oak barrel and ex-rum cask”. Smells like a typical rye to be honest, salty dill and pine, with a touch of nuttiness. The palate is a different story entirely. Very complex and multilayered. Salty, sweet, spicy, this reminds of a sweet and spicy pickle of some kind. The aftertaste calms down somewhat after the roller coaster that is the palate, its medium length, and slightly bitter at the very end. Water makes it a little better with apples coming through but it’s still a weird one. Overall: This has the ‘typical’ rye underpinnings which I usually don’t enjoy so I don’t particularly like this one either. The nose is alright, the palate is wild and aftertaste brings some bitterness. It certainly is flavorful but it’s almost like 3 different drinks rather than one. It could have used some more time in the cask to integrate better. I’ve finished it surprisingly after a bit of added water so perhaps it’s in the drinkable category. Still I’d rather mix than sip it. Value: This is $70 on the official site… Which isn’t a particularly great deal.
Score: C

Hogback Wallace Malt, 61.6%
This is a Cask #5: Matured in ex-rye American oak barrels for four years, then finished for six months in 4-year-old Cabernet Sauvignon red wine barrels from the Philip Togni Vineyard, Napa. The initial nose is quite funky and I’m letting it air out. The best approximation is that it smells like cooked buckwheat, nutty and somewhat yeasty. Frankly the nose has some of those newmake notes that come from low aging or weird cut during distillation. I am NOT a fan of this at full proof. I need to proof it down. Still nope. Too grassy and acrid, bordering on bitter. Way too weird for me. Overall: It’s possible that something’s off with my palate tonight, meanwhile: “I do not like green eggs and ham. I do NOT like them Sam-I-am”. Perhaps someone may enjoy it? Value: This is $149.99 SRP?! Hard pass.
Score: D-

Hogback Wallace Peated Malt, 61.2%
Peat and barley is sourced from Scotland. Matured in ex-rye American oak barrels for four years, then finished for six months in 2-year-old Cabernet Sauvignon red wine barrels from the Continuum Estate, Napa. Alrighty this is sweet & acrid, heavily peated and frankly not my thing. I can imagine a peat-heads liking this. Supposedly it tastes a lot like Ardbeg. I don’t like Ardbeg. Value: $175. Hard pass
Score: D+

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Scoring Breakdown: https://www.aerin.or … age=scores_breakdown

Redwood Empire Grizzly Beast Batch 1, 50%
An interesting sample here: It was aged for five years in a lot size of just 26 barrels. The mashbill is a unique four grain recipe of 69% corn, 22% rye, 5% malted barley, and 4% wheat. The nose is slightly metallic, with light sulfur, though becomes toasted sugar and vanilla-forward once my nose gets close enough to the glass. There’s also slight nuttyness there, but it smells almost exactly like a wooden box of matches to me. The palate redeems the nose, it starts oaky and nutty, then turns quite sugary-sweet, then turns spicy, lightly minty, and bread-forward. It’s really going through that gamut of 4 component grains layering the flavor on the palate. The aftertaste has some dried apricots and minty. It lingers for a long time after the primary primary notes rapidly faded. Overall: Well, this is an enjoyable anyday pour that will nether disappoint nor amaze. That sulfuric note is a concern though the rest of experience is flavorful and multilayered. Value: Batch 2 is being offered for $89 though it does use a different mash bill and is in my opinion somewhat on the higher-than-average price for the age of the alcohol. Batch 1 was ~80 about a year ago and arguably still average-priced. This is a good value at ~$60-70… It’s not great value at $90.
Score: B+

Woodinville Moscatel Finish, 50%
A sample from friend Aaron. While initially only available at the distillery, the special moscatel (muscat grape-based fortified wine) is occasionally available nationwide, albeit surely in very limited quantities. Of note, while this is Batch 2 vs the exclusive Batch 1, the casks are sister casks, meaning this is one year older (so this is 6 year old or so) than the first release and same general source and distillation time bracket. The nose is typically oaky and spicy bourbon backed by the sweet muscat fruit notes. There’s a light fruity sourness to the nose too, perhaps something inherent to Woodinville’s stills or casks, as I recall same note in their general releases. The palate is sweet, almost too sweet, then thankfully flips into very fruity and heavily spiced bourbon. Kinda like a boozy peach and apricot cobbler that’s very toasty. Proof is solid, but not overwhelming. The aftertaste is mediocre here, it’s reasonably short, sweet and leaves lingering cinnamon, coffee and nutmeg around. Overall: An interesting counterbalance to a bourbon that’s finished in port casks that’s named after Angels. I really wish that the fruit hung around a little longer in the aftertaste, though there’s not much to complain here. Extremely enjoyable, if sweet, pour that is thankfully balanced out by the robust amount of spices. Without moscatel this would be over-oaked unbalanced bottle so there is something in this combination. Easily one of the best finished bourbons around. Value: With $99, it’s a bit of a tough pill to swallow for a finished bourbon… Yet, moscatel finish is quite rare and this is overall quite good. So it’s worth a shot and frankly beats going to the distillery to get the bottle. ~$85 would have been much more approachable in my opinion.
Score: A (*Finished Bourbon)

Red Line Toasted Barrel, Breaking Bourbon Pick, 58.5%
This is MGP-sourced: https://www.breaking … h-bourbon-toastlines. The nose here is classic bourbon: grain, vanilla, baking spices, cornbread with syrup. More of the same on the palate, with definite sweet and woody vanilla toastiness coming in addition to everything that nose promised. Drinks quite under its proof. A ball of spices in the background continues into the aftertaste, seemingly fades and then comes back for a nice warm hug. Is this what they call the “Kentucky Hug” when referring to bourbon (even if this isn’t from Kentucky)? Overall: Very enjoyable both classic and modern light bourbon flavors. Not amazing but imminently drinkable. Value: N/A
Score: B+

A Midwinter Night’s Dram Rye Act 5 Scene 5, High West Distillery, 49.3%
So these releases are always of blend of straight rye whiskeys finished in french oak port barrels, exact composition and ratios, as well as sources, vary and aren’t disclosed. Nose-wise, this smells like High West rye finished in port cask (unimaginative ain’t it?). Actually, nuttiness, a little bit of eucalyptus, pepper, port sweetness come to my nose when I sniff it, the underlying core is still that fairly ‘bland’ High West rye. The palate is quite sweet and rounds up the light pepperiness of the rye nicely. The aftertaste continues with exact same notes as the palate had. Overall: This is pleasantly sweet and enjoyable… yet it falls a little flat somewhere and I’m thinking it’s the palate. It has some great primary flavors and falls through immediately into the aftertaste with nothing sticking around to smooth the transition. Value: This is a ‘fairly’ old bottle from 2017… at the time MSRP was ~$80, they are priced at suggested value of ~$100 if findable at retailers. The secondary is a bit higher. Not a bad drinker, but it’s value is in its scarcity, not the flavors.
Score: B+

Addendum: Having tried another of the MWND from 7.x series. It’s more of the same.

Sagamore Rye SiB, @SFWBSS Pick, 55%
(Short disclaimer, I’m somewhat under the weather with leftovers of a cold.) My first Sagamore rye sample ever! And my local group’s pick too! What a treat. On the nose, not very rye-forward, it smells more like a spicy bourbon. Sun-dried apricots, toasted wood, nearly-burnt pie crust. Definitely a spicy palate, with somewhat reasonable amount of rye-ness. More of the nose notes, this time loads of brown sugar, spiced up apricots, touch of charcoal bitterness. The aftertaste is lingering with baking spice black tea leaves, bordering on a very mild bergamot (earl gray tea) aftertaste. Overall: I’m enjoying the nose, the palate is alright, yet the aftertaste seems like it comes from a different bottle. The whole experience is good but not coherent and mostly seem to throw my palate around, not unlike a rollercoaster. There’s nothing particularly wrong with it, while nothing particularly amazing either. Glad I’ve tried it but I’d not finish a bottle if i had one. Value: This was $60… Which is reasonable for a single cask, and overall probably a decent deal.
Score: B-

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Scoring Breakdown: https://www.aerin.or … age=scores_breakdown