Ryan Archives - Page 13 of 21

Tasting Notes From: Ryan

Glenallachie 12 Year 2008 PX Puncheon Cask #669 56.8% For Tara Spirits Germany

Nose: All the lovely classic px sherry notes

Palate: Eucalyptus with cherry simple syrup. Benefits from a large sip. The long finish on this is nice, the herbal wears off becomes a bit more nutty, coffee, and cacao nibs. Raw almonds.

Rating: 5 (Ryan) 6 (Shane) / 10 – I personally struggle with eucalyptus, and it’s extra odd mixed with px syrupyness. But if you stick with the ride, this is a solid pour.

Glenallachie 12 Year 2008 Sherry Butt 57.8% For First Cask Whisky Import Netherlands

Nose: Burnt coffee ice cream, prune juice, dates, raisins. Shaved my body today and smelled my armpits at the end. Under all that sweetness are some rough notes… like my armpit and julie’s fingernail polish. I can’t tell if the palate will be amazing or awful. Kinda scared. Going in.

Palate: I am in a complicated relationship with this palate. I love sour. It reminds me of the funky fermented side of belgians sours. And the industrial side of jamaican rum. All spice, steel cut oats,, horse milk. We all have a little bit of genghis khan in us. We’re talking Injera, sour fermented funky ass … ethiopian pancakes.

Rating: 5 (Ryan) 6 (Shane) / 10 – it is weird and neurotic and I like it. But I can’t imagine anyone else vibing it. So this rating should not carry any weight.

Glenallachie 11 Year 2009 Oloroso Hogshead Cask #7700 55.0% For France

Nose: Dr pepper, black peppercorn, Kookaburra black licorice, almond extract and Disaronno liquor, alfalfa and fresh straw

Palate: Blackberry and plum crumble. Dark chocolate. Organic rooibos. A strong lick of wood that layers in well with the syrupy sweetness. Layered in with an herbal kick. Like getting a digestif here in the canaries, where they put herbs into spirits and roll their own.

Rating: 6 / 10 – a completely lovely oloroso expression

Glenallachie PX puncheon 14YR 60.1% Cask #6624

Nose: Tobacco, cinnamon sticks, wood putty, nutmeg & ginger, mint chocolates.

Palate: Chocolate covered cherries, cinnamon hot cocoa, chewing tobacco, cola.

Rating: 7 / 10 – that is a proper sherry bomb

Bruichladdich 10 year 2002 Madeira 46% For Dramfool’s

Nose: Barnyard funk, touch of sulfur, hints of prime rib, sweet treats, lot of delightful things here dancing around on the nose. Maple candies. Frosting.

Palate: Chocolate, leather, heather, smoke, vanilla salt water taffy, salted cod.

Rating: 5 (Shane) 6 (Ryan) / 10

Bruichladdich 2002 20 year First Fill Bourbon 59% For Dramfool’s

Nose: Plain milk chocolate m&m’s, snack pack chocolate pudding cups, stale vanilla wafers you pick up at the costa rican gas station on the way to a company meeting… nearly a tradition. Graham crackers / circus animals, werther’s originals, tangerine flan with a well balanced layer of smoke.

Palate: Tangerine cut in half and plopped on the grill with a sprig of rosemary. Grapefruit peel. Wildflower honey. Sour grass.

Rating: 5 (Ryan) 7 (Shane) / 10 – a fun mix but surprised too

Capreolus Apple Eau de Vie “1000 Trees” 2019 Harvest 43%

Nose: Brilliant and pure essence of all the apples, gorgeous. The depth and breadth of the apple essence is such that I can taste and feel the texture of an apple slice in my mouth. Dried apple rings, with the tiniest dusting of cinnamon. Apple turnover. Raspberry leaves. Moss growing on apple bark? , elegant sweetness that isn’t cloying or cheap.

Palate: Pink peppercorn, green chillies, crab apple, tarragon.

Rating: 7 (Ryan) 6 (Shane) / 10 – amazing nose, palate a bit too sharp for me. Ryan: I can’t recall having had such a beautiful and pure expression that gets to the heart of what makes apples such a delightful and beautiful fruit in eau de vie until this.

Capreolus Quince Eau de Vie 2019 43%

Nose: Apricot stone, Loquat, Grapefruit peel, peach black tea. Wow, way different from Rochelt’s Quince. Nice kinda citrusy pop here. Creamy.

Palate: Dusty white pepper, an overstepped white citrus tea that had ice cubes which then overwatered it., tart note I can’t place, licking an envelope

Rating: 6 (Ryan) 5 (Shane) / 10 – one of the most amazing noses, but palate is both thin and sharp.

Capreolus Perry Pear Eau de Vie (var – Helen’s Early) 2021 43%

Nose: Blackberry brambles, pear skin, sitting under a weeping willow, basil, ivy

Palate: Intense tannins, green earthy, unripe blackberry, more medicinal and herbal.

Rating: 5 / 10 – aggressive and tart, which I like but it’s too much. But blended with the Brandy varietal was stunning.

Capreolus Perry Pear Eau de Vie (var – Brandy) 2021 43%

Nose: Caramel, jamon fat, french onion dip (? haha), movie theater popcorn–extra butter, rhubarb

Palate: Tangerine, tarragon, mmm you get that nice flavor/mouth feel of pear skin, camphor, n.

Rating: 7 / 10 – sweet and fatty and delicious.

Capreolus Damson Eau de Vie 2020 43%

Nose: Omg this smells incredible. end of bloom roses, subtle strawberry/raspberry notes, fiberglass cloth, orchid moss. There is a fruit intensity that borders on the artificial you’d find in candy (gushers, jolly ranchers).

Palate: Glycerine hand soap, with a stone fruit and slight citrus peel finish…pine-sole, the mouth feel is interesting, more waxy and feels like you pick up on some of that bloom mentioned

Rating: 5 / 10 – the soapiness is just hard for me.

Capreolus Damson Eau de Vie 2020 53%

Nose: This smells more like “plum” than the first. Very perfumey. Honey blossom and carnations. Almost more of a green house vibe here, get some tomato vine.

Palate: Same for mouthfeel here as above. That intense level of perfume comes through here too. Maybe tobacco, bergamot, black tea?

Rating: 7 / 10 – I like the fruit that pops, and the glycerine eases at this abv.

Ryan

Capreolus Raspberry Eau de Vie 2021 43%

Nose: Wow, just wow. This takes me back to my childhood, my brother and I filling our little baskets with fresh raspberries from the bush in our backyard and eating them to the point of being sick. Touch of nuttyness and leaf notes. Poppy seeds.

Palate: An ode to the raspberry, hints of ginger spice.

Rating: 8 / 10 – What an unbelievable aroma. And a beautiful distilled palate. 33KG of fruit to make 1L.

Somerset Pomona 20%

Nose: Apple brandy deliciousness, olives, cider, almonds, tobacco leaf, cloves

Palate: Elevated and alcoholic apple juice, just delightful and dangerously drinkable. An incredible balance between acidity and sweet.

Rating: 7 / 10 – their take on pommel – which is my new favorite dessert. brandy + juice – then aged on oak for a few years.

Somerset 5 Year Cider Brandy 42% (2nd fill french oak)

Nose: A lovely apple vinegar note. Nutmeg and chestnuts. Light milk chocolate. Managed to be fragrant and rich without being sweet. Crisp and clean apple. You get those subtle more cidery, olive, almond notes. Apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, apple chutney, meyer lemon. Hint of manure.

Palate: A class oak spice bouquet. Cocoa powder. Crab apple tartness. Thin and kinda gentle but with a long finish. Leathery and tobacco. Anise. Apple sauce/butter.

Rating: 6 (Ryan) 5 (Shane) / 10 – a perfectly lovely pour that is underpowered for my palate.