MrWizard's Ramblings

This entry is going to be mostly short (edit… it wasn’t) and sweet, while I wax poetic about finishing off my “must try this bourbon” list. Thank you again, amazing person, you know who you are. After the two samples below, I’ve tried or acquired every type of bourbon bottling to cover my bases of about 95% of American Bourbon-type Whiskey (by volume). Obviously it’s borderline impossible to cover every bottling but I’ve got a decent sample from just about everywhere major to get a taste of the distillery character.

Stagg Jr Batch 13
Short notes: Typical Buffalo Trace notes, amped up to 11 by the proof and concentration. Almost oily in character, wood, spices and sweetness are in decent balance with alcohol burn to give it a savory-sweetness that’s delicious. On the downside, its youth is somewhat betrayed by the nose. When it is swished around in the glencairn it gives out a slightly paint thinner-like notes. The aftertaste is short and not particularly exciting with typical Buffalo Trace character of somewhat bitter ash/wood. It benefits well from sitting around to open up and maybe a few drops of water to tune back alcohol. It’s a full flavor bomb and total pleaser for distillery fans. Do yourself a favor and trace down whatever is left of this batch in the wild as long as you like the style. I’ve heard that some of the Stagg Jr batches were not very exciting, but this one does not disappoint.
Score: N/A

Mystery Sample, Revealed Below
My benefactor on this endeavor sent me what he described as ’something nice to try in the 110 to 120 proof range, try to guess what it is’. So I tried. Few things helped me out here… One: I’m trying it side-by-side with Stagg Jr. Two: I’ve opened up a McKenzie wheated bourbon just yesterday to try and was incredibly impressed by its insanely long finish, I believe it was somewhere at around 20 minutes later and I was still tasting it in on the palate…

Again, short notes on the process: Nosing it, somewhat similar to Stagg with less alcohol burn (expected) and no rye spice notes (unexpected), sorta sweet perfume, rather than cologne. I’m smelling wood and some spice rather than flowers though. Still strong but not overwhelmingly so and no paint thinner notes that are often there in 120+ proofs. So far so good. Taste, still little-to-none rye spice, same wood and spices from the nose and an aftertaste that lasts 10+ minutes. A-ha! A nice wheated bourbon with buffalo trace notes in 110 to 120 proof range, well(er) that narrows it down only a few choices. Quick google later on the proofs and guess of it being wheater, so my guess: Weller Full Proof. A message exchange with the benefactor, and the truth is… DRUMROLL: “Weller Full Proof single barrel project private pick from Maison Corbeaux”.

Is it good? Absolutely! Really really incredibly, insanely good. I told my wife “This is the best wheated bourbon we will try in any conceivable future”, and I truly believe so. Are there ‘better’ bottles out there? Sure, Pappy 15+ and whatnot and even then its a ‘maybe better’ as taste is in the eye of the beholder. Does an Average Joe has a chance of ever trying this bottle? Sorry, it’s unlikely, unless they are very rich or insanely lucky. That being said, just about any Weller bottling, regular or store pick at MSRP, would be quite acceptable way to sample a Weller bourbon. Just be aware that in bourbons proof rather than age correlates to concentration of flavor. In the case above, I’ve been incredibly lucky to get both single barrel and highest proof outside of BTAC Weller, which is both an incredible combination of flavor and an honor to have been given a sample.
Score: N/A

Both of the samples in this review are fantastic and well worth trying. Produced by the Buffalo Trace distillery, they are different, yet interesting beasts of their own that any whiskey drinker would do a disservice to themselves by not having a taste.

So there we have it, with Stagg Jr and Weller Full Proof samples, I’ve completed my distillery/major brand tour and will eventually write a rant why bourbons are terrible. I’ll leave you with this as good summary of what I’ll probably rant about in the meantime: https://www.youtube. … /watch?v=C5KnRBQpkmM

A new day is upon us and that means more new bottles to try and blurb about.

Maker’s Mark Cask Strength - Batch 2018-01
I’ll start this on a short and sweet note here… Considering this is wheated bourbon so it’s less spicy than most due to less rye in the mash. This is very ‘meh’. Maybe in a mixer or part of a sauce it’s worth it. I’ve marinated some flank steak in it with tasty results. Sweet corn syrup nose, overly corn-sweet and thin body, more of that sweet corn aftertaste. After few weeks of the opening date, sugar mellowed out somewhat, and aftertaste changed to wood notes with a bit of menthol, so it became slightly better? Maybe. But it’s still not interesting to drink for me. Boring! Pass! (Note: picked it up for $30 at K&L to cover distillery bases)… Bit of an update about a year later… It’s pretty solid stuff when sick and not expecting nuance due to sinces killing ya. Still, will not buy again. Maker’s general releases get a solid ‘meh’ mark from me with some of the stave selection recipes and special editions bringing a breath of fresh air to otherwise un-inspiring lineup.
Score: N/A

Glenlivet Nadurra Batch OL0614
Wife Notes: Nose is a little sharp with elements of classic french perfumes. Palate is ‘woooOOohoOOo (spicy), then there’s caramel and more perfume’

This one is a lively and fun one. I make it no secret that a good special edition of Glenlivet easily makes its way to top 10 for me… Looking right at you Signatory bottlings.
This particular bottling of Nadurra is from 2014 after they dropped the 16 year old statement from the line, unfortunately. It happens to be unpeated first fill oloroso sherry casks at full strength. Color is deep amber. Nose is somewhat sharp, with notes of sourness and high alcohol bite, lots of sherry sweetness and caramel comes out. With time, nose settles into spicy plums with varnish notes. This one needs time to breathe. To the palate, savory, malty, caramely, super concentrated almost to the point of bitterness. Is that anise I’m tasting in the back? Slightly young or has young barrels mixed with the old as more likely explanation. Few drops of water help bringing down the bitterness and releases malt sweetness to the fore. The finish is long, spicy, and very sherry that lasts forever and ever. Fantastic finisher.
Worth seeking out if you’re a fan of sherry bombs? Absolutely! More than 1 bottle? YMMV.
Score: N/A

Arran Malt — Amarone Finish
Nose: Red stewed fruits and red cherries, toasted wood and slight nuttiness. Very pleasant and balanced. I can spend a long time sniffing this one. Does not become boring over time.
Palate: The nose continues into palate. More sweet and sour cherries and wood. Sweet malt and bit of nutty wood that are in decent balance with each other. A bit of savory, coupled with fruits keeps it interesting and makes me want to go for more.
Finish: More of same, savoury sweetness with red fruits and wood. Lasts for a long time and is quite peppery but balanced well with the other things in the bottle.
Water: Doesn’t do much. Skip!
Overall: I like this expression! Reminds me somewhat of Nikka From the Barrel in terms of balance of wood nuttiness and sweetness. Red fruits and cherries galore and that does not hurt the malt in the slightest. My only real complaint is that this is a NAS which suggests some young casks in there. It could certainly benefit from being older but I don’t know if age would clash with red wine finish. Of the two red wine barrel-finished scotches I’ve tried, both were exceptionally tasty. I wish I could get my hands on more samples of this sort of finish. If you’re a fan of nutty-sweet fruits in your drink, do yourself a service and try this one. There are no glaring flaws and it’s quite a tasty one.
Side Note: Arran distillery is highly underrated and should be kept an eye on for interesting bottles and single cask releases.
Score: N/A

Arran Malt — Sauternes Finish — Circa or before 2017.
Nose: White and green ripe grapes on an oaky background. Reminds me a bit of sitting outside eating grapes on the poarch of a wooden cabin, in the early fall while the weather is still warm. Doesn’t overwhelm, but slightly raw on the alcohol.
Palate: Sweet and punchy while masquerading as somewhat subtle. Obvious malt and vanilla. More of the white/green grapes on the mouth. Much sweeter than the nose, white raisins (sauternes) finally come out to the fore. Somewhat of a thin body. Light wood influence that does let itself be known.
Finish: Peppered white raisins that last a very long time. The sweetness slowly fades away leaving residual malt and pepper interplay.
Water: Water shows just how young this NAS is as grass notes come out which is a telltale sign of young malt. Buuuuuuuuuttt…. it brings raisins to the front as malt sugar interplays with sauternes sugar more, sort of sugar cane-like. The nose is ruined though, and the palate loses a bit of oomph for me.
Overall: I really want to like this one, but failing to do so… settling for ‘Its okay’. Its reaching for all the marks of greatness and yet it misses all of them by just a bit. It’s not quite peppery, not quite sweet, not quite woody enough. If you like sauternes finish on malts, this certainly offers a decent bargain vs a lot of others at much higher price. Eradur 10 Sauternes is $150 or so, Arran is about half that. I’ll certainly finish the bottle but I won’t be looking out to replace it next time.
Revisiting this few weeks later update: This became sweeter and woodier. Overall this is a “yes” for me. Its still somewhat tannic, peppery, woody, and sweet. Definitely a dessert scotch that at 50% doesn’t pull any punches.
Side Note: Arran distillery is highly underrated and should be kept an eye on for interesting bottles and single cask releases.
Score: N/A

Thanks to a nice person out there I’ve gotten few bourbon samples to try. These are mostly bourbons that are harder to come by and happen to be cask strength but not so rare as to be unicorns. More of ‘trying before buying situation’. The samples are mostly 1 oz or 2 oz so the notes will be correspondingly (mercifully) brief:

Starter/Pregame Elijah Craig Small Batch 94 proof, to clear the palate

Elijah Craig Barrel Proof batch C919 — 136.8 proof
Nose: Vanilla caramel sweetness balanced wood-heavy with leather and a bit of a cherry sourness. Very strong alcohol too.
Palate: Very alcohol-hot. Lots of baking spice trending towards bitter spices, cloves, nutmeg, etc. Caramel is subdued but unmistakably there. Not super sweet but good balance between the wood and spices.
Aftertaste: Cloves and nutmeg and baking spices and caramel and wood. Medium-long length, but the interesting things fade rather fast into burnt numbness.
With water: The alcohol edge is mostly gone and now it’s quite delicious and concentrated. Another to the tally of ‘add few drops of water’ as it primarily reigns in the alcohol so the rest of the flavors can play.
Overall: Certainly strong, concentrated and fiery with a decent balance between wood, spices, sweetness. Based on my other experiences with Elijah Craig, the Barrel Proof is the definitive version to get. Whether or not it’s up to everyone’s taste, that’s unclear. But if you like wood spice rather than rye spice, it’s definitely worth checking out. Would I drink? Yes. Would I buy a bottle? No.
Score: N/A

Heaven Hill “Archives” 10 years old K&L Pick Single Barrel — 133.2 proof (66.6% ABV Devil’s Proof)
Nose: Sweet and light vanilla, with bit of oak coming through, quite subdued.
Palate: Savoury when it hits the tongue. Very unusual and totally not what i expected out of HH. Tobacco and leather with a tad of ash. Smokey and floral.
Aftertaste: More umame and smoke saltiness/bitterness that lasts a while, but makes you want to come back to it.
With water: Sugar is back baby! More balanced between umami and corn sweetness and smoke. This gets a rare ‘add few drops of water’ recommendation from me. Subdues the aftertaste a bit though. Not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.
Overall: Something in-between malt and bourbon. Lacks malt depth or bourbon spice & caramel. Compensates with striding that line of trying to be both in a marketspace with no competition. Thumbs up and definitely worth trying, but don’t get a bottle all for yourself.
Score: N/A

Old Carter American Whiskey Batch 3; 12 year old — 138.1 proof
Nose: Very strong men’s perfume, some wood but balanced with darker aromatics. Seriously, french dark men’s perfume from the 80’s.
Palate: Omg! Coconut and caramel together? Match made in heaven for me. Also while being 138 proof, its quite well balanced. Leather, a bit of baking spice and smoke but back to that sweet-smokey coconut. Luxurious!
Aftertaste: More of the same from palate that lasts for a while. Very long and notes don’t disappear suddenly as it fades out.
With Water: Feels like a sacrilege to dilute it. With few drops: doesn’t seem to have done anything, except maybe bring more cinnamon to the fore. Don’t do it folks! It’s no small feat to enjoy a 138.1-proof, but in this case, it’s worth it!
Overall: YES. Absolutely worth seeking a bottle of this out. This is some of the best alcohol I’ve tried. I love it!
Score: N/A

Glentauchers 15 - Chieftain’s Single Sherry Butt
Wife Notes: Very fragrant. Front is sharp. Middle is okay. Back is nice. Fragrance, perfume and burn-y raisins,

A Speyside distillery I never heard of before this bottle. Oh yes, the sherry bomb. Arguably a nuclear sherry bomb. The most sherry bomb. It knows best bombs. Ramblings with a tinge of mocking aside, this is a dream for those looking for that oomph. The color needs to be mentioned as its pretty much dark amber, bordering on chestnut. This thing evolves overtime in the glass. Nose, unmistakably sherry, floor wax, lots of dark stewed fruits and nuts going on in there. Layers and layers of evolving sweet dark fruity goodness. Mouth, surprisingly savory instead of sweet, more of the same from the nose, wood and malt coming through as expected as well as a tiny bit of alcohol burn mixed with few bitter char notes. I suspect it needed to be bottled as it was becoming over aged in its barrel. The back is more of the burnt fruits coming forward as well as baking spice that is almost bourbon-like in its character. The malt character itself is unfortunately mostly lost under all that dark influence.
Overall: 15 year old, over-barreled, sherry bomb? Lots of folk love these. I’ll summarize it as something along the lines of ‘its tasty, but…. slightly off balance’. Would i buy another one? Likely not. Would i encourage others to try it? Absolutely! It’s a fascinating and pure sherry experience that is as concentrated as it gets without suckling at the actual barrel. Also, at original $75 the amount of flavor this provides for the price is real deal!
https://klwines.com/p/i?i=1420914
Score: N/A

Clynelish 14
Wife Notes: “I don’t like this. Very citrus-y and burn-y and not much else”

Ah Clynelish, the less-pretty sister of the legendary Brora… It’s also notable that there’s only one regular release by the distillery at 14 years old and most of the incredible amount of output from her stills ends up in blends. The distillery and brand are owned by Diageo, who as a company ain’t well thought of in the whiskey enthusiast world due to noticeable decline of quality of brands after being acquired as higher demand on throughput is asked of distillers and commitment to excellence slips in favor of profits. Clynelish also happens to be a linchpin of several blends.
Let’s talk Clynelish 14. Honestly, I like it. Its not a shining star in my book, but extremely serviceable malt that hits the right tone and has the right complexity. On the nose, lots and lots and lots of wood in my dram, slight alcohol burn and a tiny bit of ethanol whiff. I may be one of the few weirdos that like that smell in small quantities. Citrus peel comes through strong on second and third nose as well as green apple skins. Palate is where it shines, almost savory, more of those apples and ton of wood tannin coming in. Long finish that’s similar to the taste, doesn’t overwhelm but my mouth is coated with whiskey and its been several minutes while the aftertaste still has no indications of fading away, slight lemon peel bitterness at the very end. Very strong wood influence through and through, slightly oily while drinking, readily coats your mouth. In conclusion, its no prince, but being adopted into royal family ain’t too bad of a deal in the end of the day. As an aside… I’ve read that this thing is supposed to be lightly peated!? There’s certainly a ‘brine’ undertones to it, slightly reminiscent of ‘Laddies, but for the life of me, I’d not have said this has any peat in it beyond water residuals.

I can see why folks go coo-coo over old Brora juice. Clynelish 14 is probably 7/10 for my preferences, but if it was cranked up to 11 and with addition of another 15 years… Yes that would be lovely.
https://klwines.com/p/i?i=1011039
Score: N/A

Nikka from the Barrel
Wife Notes: Perfume and burnt sugar.

Ah, Japanese whiskey… Japanese ‘craft’ their whiskeys as opposed to Scotland’s ‘lets-see-what-happens’ approach to taste. I like you J-whiskeys! The world likes you a lot too. Japan is a small place and the world is thirsty for good Japanese malts, thus the pricing in the last few years have doubled or in some cases went through the stratosphere. It also helps that Japanese malt basically won every possible alcohol accolade and award in the last decade or so. Bottled by Nikka as a blend of different whiskeys from the same distillery, including grain whiskey, coffey still products as well as regular single malt, and consistently bottled at 51.4 abv for some odd Japanese-specific reason. The actual formula and contents is not disclosed other that its from Nikka distillery.
Nose: as is the rule of thumb with most Japanese malts… this one gives all the perfume on the nose and tends to fall into mostly oak-y sweetness with a hefty alcohol punch. Honestly, if i didn’t know its a blend… i wouldn’t have been able to call that aspect out. It is that expertly crafted. In the mouth, more sweet oak, balanced with alcohol burn and light tropical fruits in a hefty harmony. The alcohol is felt right through this one, yet perfectly balances with other flavors. Tiny bit of oak tannin in the very end and more of a white pepper back. Yet again very reminiscent of the best single malts from highlands. Beautiful, not over-sweet and balanced finish that’s unmistakably well-crafted Japanese whiskey.
In conclusion: Should you get a bottle? Yes definitely, if you can find it at MSRP! Would I? I already did. This is excellence in a bottle with a razor’s edge of balance that is ever strived for by both producers and consumers of malt. Think about Hibiki 12 that listened to too many death metal songs and now is an edgy goth makeup-covered person yet still the same sweetheart underneath and you will get the picture.
https://www.klwines.com/p/i?i=1367606
FYI: It’s Japanese-bottled Ben Nevis scotch after looking where the folks in the know are.
Score: N/A

Short preface… If you asked me about 5 years ago about American Single Malt, I’d laugh… but since then a number of new distilleries opened up that produce well regarded, and often delicious spirit.

Side Note: Continuing going down the open bottles on the shelf… I noticed an interesting fact… When i started writing these entries, I went through my open backlog at that time. And none of it is around anymore.

In addition to the ones below, I have Woodinville Bourbon (Double Gold SF Spirits 2020) and Dickel Bottled-in-Bond (Whiskey of the Year 2019 Spirits Advocate) open, but I’ve already talked about those two being excellent so I won’t repeat myself. Now, without further ado… I present the open bottles of American spirit that I am willing to have on The Shelf. As a side note, the price and availability of decent bourbons is… atrocious, but that’s something for a rant on a different day…

Colonel E.H. Taylor Bottled-in-Bond Small Batch
Wife Notes: Classic old school french perfume and cheerios. Smell-taste-aftertaste is exactly same. Not too much burn.

Short version… This stuff is delicious! If you can find it at about $50 its an amazing deal! Lets go through the pieces one by one, shall we… For once, I’ll talk about packaging first. This is one of the fanciest boxes that I’ve dealt with. Especially at that price, embossed lettering, stickers, the works. Someone in the marketing department really knows their stuff and this packaging isn’t cheap! No information on mashbill but the rest is there complete with a story and pictures. Nose: Cherry pie! Classic american black cherry pie. Cherry isn’t overwhelming but that little sweet-and-sour whiff is there and spot on. Palate is more pie, this time with less cherry and more classic bourbon spice. The alcohol is present but not overwhelming and balanced between sweet and spicy. The aftertaste… more of the same, long and very slow to fade. Yet again perfectly balanced. No bitterness, just spice, sweetness, and tiny bit of cherry lingering back there. Delicious, don’t be afraid to pick up a bottle or two. Fantastic sipper, Great to share. Should fit right into a manhattan if you’re feeling little extra.
https://klwines.com/p/i?i=1120322

Edit and Addendum: Having Tried EHT Single Barrel Bottled-in-Bond.

With the caveat that every barrel is different, I’ve not found anything special in the single barrel vs small batch. The individual notes were somewhat clearer but the overall melody was essentially the same. Overall, I don’t believe it’s worth chasing down BiB single barrel version or pay secondary price for a bottle.
Score: N/A

Hancock’s President’s Reserve Single Barrel
Wife Notes: Fruity. Tasty. Bread vanilla spice, not too much alcohol, warm finish

This is an interesting one. Picked up from Total Wine on a whim and off the ScotchNoob’s review. This bottle’s labeling is borderline awful and is at best unremarkable. The bottle shape itself is beautiful and evokes crystal decanter in shape and indents. The contents are at 88.9 proof and ’single barrel’ are the only data points given aside from this being Buffalo Trace juice. Lets dig in! This is by far the easiest-drinking bourbon I’ve had, but it doesn’t drink at all like a bourbon. It drinks more of a fruit punch. Decadent strong bourbon-y nose, sweet baking spices on the palate, flowers flowers flowers!!! almost no sign of alcohol, medium length full volume finish that lingers sweet in the very back as a subtle aftertaste for a very long time. Basically fancy Hawaiian fruit punch! Mai Tai with cloves and nutmeg? Complete disconnect of nose to palate, yet somehow still amazing for me. Would I pick another bottle? Absolutely (at msrp of around $50)! I’m like 3rd into the bottle and I only drank from it 3 times. It’s that easy of a drinker.
https://scotchnoob.c … -presidents-reserve/
https://www.totalwin … on-whiskey/p/5350750
Score: N/A

Balcones Texas Single Malt Whiskey Single Barrel Cask Strength (Total Wine Pick)
Wife note: Cheerios again. Very burny palate and tasty-sweet aftertaste. With water: Much better! Butter cookies.

Balcones is a Texas-based distillery, they have been in the press a lot due to interesting takes on distilled spirits with a fairly distinctive southern style, such as blue corn and interesting limited editions. Their entire aesthetic screams “Texas”. So today we’re talking about their single malt. Being single cask, this is highest proof bottle I have open at 64.3%. It’s technically good enough to be hand sanitizer. On the nose, burnt (think charred) sugar, bit of sandalwood, and tons of vanilla together with malt. Reminds of caramelized sugar on top of creme brûlée. No smoke but a bit of that char bitterness is there. Palate is alcohol bite, more vanilla and a lot of spices. More of that char too, almost ashy, the spirit and spices warm up as it goes down. Medium length sweet aftertaste much more balanced than the palate. Still that char and sandalwood, some spices that fade pretty fast into pleasant leftovers. With water, the palate snaps into line with the nose and aftertaste, and becomes brown-sugar cookies that are nicely toasted. Water recommended!
Overall, I cannot quite make my mind on it. It’s good in its own way but this one is not quite balanced well at full proof. I’ve certainly wanted to try single malt from this distillery and its a worthwhile experiment.
As a side note: This particular bottle gets me drunk really fast where others hardly phase me.
https://www.totalwi … e-brlsel/p/191597750
Score: N/A