Nose: Sage. California pepper tree. Slightly rotten lime. Peanut butter or butterscotch fudge. Those greenhouse notes with more subtle savory notes. Weird note, but smells like paper fresh off the printer with ink.
Palate: Licking envelopes, orange blossom water, unripe figs / fig sap.
Rating: 6 / 10
Nose: Some barnyard that then gets cleaned with a dial soap bar. Putting my nose into a copper pot actively popping popcorn.
Palate: Pipe tobacco and smoking a cigar. Light turon with hints of cloves. Cardboard.
Rating: 6 / 10
Nose: I’m not typically in love at first sniff, but dannng, domaine whose name I can’t read because vincent handwriting is illegible, I might love you. Mom and I used to make plum butter every year from the orchard. We would take the plum acidity and sweetness, layer in baking spices and then concentrate and then concentrate until we have a spread fit for the gods. We would make so much and you can only eat it so quickly, that I recently had a debate with mom about expiration date. This isn’t a distillate or a wine, a 1998 plum butter vintage is quite suspect. Still smelled amazing though but I was too scared to try it out. The dutch might consider themselves the licorice maestros, and it is hard to argue given how much amazeballs salted licorice my mom used to drag home from business trips. But when dad started traveling to Australia for his eucalyptus research, he began to bring home a whole different take on licorice. Soft, chewy and rich flavors, layered both anise and licorice root oils. On mouthfeel they take the crown. But they also had a rich and decadent smell no other style has ever produced. There is so much more but I want to dive into the palate, so brain dump style: toasted pecans, dry oak right as I place it in the fire before it burst into flame, cassis concentrate, oyster mushroom, dr pepper at the bottom of my glass after it has dried.
Palate: I’ve been titillated by tart lately. Wood forward. And while on the first sip that is all I found, I reached for a bigger draw and flavors cascaded onwards. Maybe a lower abv? Definitely plum. Kind of reminds me of the higher abv Capreolus damson EDV we tried with Barney. Earl gray, hot. Bergamot and black tea. Licorice root. An adult tootsie roll. And something intensely floral that I can’t quite pin down.
Rating: 6 / 10 – top notch sniff, and a woody wood wood palate with tiny bursts of sweetness. Which I personally quite enjoy but might only appeal to those oak munchers. Hard to say. Wish I knew the ABV.
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
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.
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.
Nose: Farmyard, cloves, wet hay. cedar planks, pollen, danish pastry, super subtle orange marmalade on toast.
Palate: Oak and apple leather. Cigar box. Cocoa nibs. Farmy and funky, oxidized. Has a chicken marsala vibe (the sauce, not the chicken). Nice layer of sherry undertones that nicely play with the apple.
Rating: 5 (Ryan) 6 (Shane) / 10
Nose: Salted fruit bomb. Ripe yellow nectarines. Coriander and toasted cumin. Honeycomb and pollen. I love the springbank DNA with the waxy fruit influence. Like Clynelish and springbank had a love child. Boston fruit slices. Raspberries and Blackberries gummy candied. Scotch tape. A pair of wool socks. Grilled cheese animal style from in-n-out.
Palate: Toasted peach with a hint of sea salt and basil, corrugated cardboard, endive with grapefruit supremes.
Rating: 4 (Ryan) 6 (Shane) / 10 – I love the contrasts of the nose. Springbank is rarely quite so fruity. And while Ryan is rarely enamored by the tart side of life (sounds like a personal problem to me), I greatly enjoy it. Who doesn’t like a bit of zest?!?
Nose: Buttery, honey and salinity, smoked salmon, cinnamon. cedar filled with a sharp filtered sake. Cutting open a passion fruit. Lemon. Freshly washed sheet .. or maybe just downy sheets. Makes me want to cuddle a teddy bear.
Palate: Grilled watermelon rinds. (lightly) smoked pork belly. Agave syrup. Honeysuckle. Pool water / chlorine from when I swim laps. Packing tape.
Rating: 4 (Ryan) 6 (Shane) / 10 – Another lovely salty and tart fruity pour. Hits all parts of my tongue. Still wishing for a bit more of the Springbank dirtiness but enjoyable. Ryan says tart is an annoying way to romanticize bitterness. And I should own that I like pucker face. Two wins, or two fails depending on the audience.
Nose: Vero mango lollipops. Pineapple juice and coconut water. Sugar cookies, fresh whipped cream, with bits of mint or maybe oregano and orange zest. Bar of soap. Grapefruit rind.
Palate: Tangerine spritzer. Bandaids. Heather grass and light smoke.
Rating: 6 / 10 one of my first loves in Scotch. I tried it in a restaurant and immediately went out and bought a bottle. But somehow, given all of my journey, today it’s both good, and yet somehow could be more.
Nose: Creme de violette, flan w/ orange cream, catnip, smoked ham, touch of glue
Palate: Nice hit of smoke on the front that then evolves into palm sugar and fermented fruit kombucha with a touch of beef carpaccio. Finish is licking an envelope seal with that slight chemical sweetness. A dirty challenging moment akin to cough drops.
Rating: 5 (Shane) 6 (Ryan) / 10 – I go back and forth with really enjoying the challenge, and not having the energy to be challenged. I wonder if at the end of a large glass I’d still enjoy it.
Nose: Red grape skins, menthol, wine vibe.
Palate: Big rounded spicy, grapefruit peel, nutty with a vague sense of smoke
Rating: 6 / 10 – big flavors worth enjoying
Nose: Oak, with layer of oak on the oak, a underlayer of menthol, green grass, medical gauze
Palate: Big brown sugar hug, big oak, leather, a lick of menthol on the finish.
Rating: 6 / 10 – a delightful full bodied sipper, well rounded, big flavors, low proof. This would be the perfect concentrate in my banana bread. Sadly it is just one wooden big stiffie. I like a touch of character along with my wood.
Nose: Turnips, bear squeeze jar honey, green apple peel, hint of brown sugar
Palate: Concentrated punch of flavor, orange blossoms, cachou lajaunie, Physalis (aka golden berry) which are totally unrelated to syphilis despite the awkward overlap.
Rating: 6 / 10 – a pompous and thin fruity mint bomb.
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