Ryan Archives - The Distillates

Tasting Notes From: Ryan

Nine Leaves Ace of “Guru” 2018 Ex-Armagnac (3 Casks) 59% by Velier

Nose: nosing I would swear we are talking grain whisky or a buckwheat brown sugar shochu. Oats forward. Clarified butter, tangerine spa water, unripe pineapple and tart green grapes. Water improved the nose rounding it out. It’s quite piquant.

Palate: Tangerine/orange and whipped cream. cooked barley. Oats and creamy mouthfeel. Mirin. A dollop of spearmint, but overriding it all is a sharp and green wood. A note which becomes overwhelmingly dominant with a splash of water.

Rating: 5 / 10 – Label 10. Novelty 10. But this is about the liquid. I would never ever guess this was a rum. This is strange. Almost too intense or not intense enough. Might be a perfect candidate for a highball. And sparkling added, tested and approved.

Nine Leaves Two of “Pao” 2020 Ex-Sherry PX (2 Casks) 59% by Velier

Nose: Plum jam on country bread, mild mode made chai tea with milk. I have vivid sensory memories of walking into a malbec winery. Concentrated red wine tannins wafting off giant oak barrels, my friend Peter playing the piano as it echoes through the cathedram (no that isn’t a real word, but it’s where I pray). The smell was so intense it triggered my red wine allergy and I had to go lie outside amidst the vineyard. Bright cabinet spicer, coalescing into classic Graham crackers. This just has the best px nose after a rest in the glass, dates/figs, golden raisins, vanilla bean. Pfffft what a nose. This is gorgeous

Palate: jammy luscious hug. What a baller px cask – exceptional. Hot cocoa with ginger, turkish apricots. Christmas pudding. BUT it burns and has a bitter sharp moment like a pothole you weren’t expecting in a perfectly paved new country road.

Rating: 6 / 10 – without that bitter note, this would be a 9. But it is such a disharmonous moment. But what a nose and amazing px influence.

Martin Darroze 1989 26 Year 47.3%

Nose: Almond croissant, walnuts, marzipan in fruit shapes, touch of maple syrup, candied raisins.

Palate: Old stale milk duds, marzipan, getting better as its sits, biscoff cookies, graham cracker crust for a pie, layer of floral, I say begonia and ryan leans rose hips.

Rating: 4 / 10 – there is something to be enjoyed here, but I’m not impressed.

Martin Darroze 1994 21 Year 48.7%

Nose: Pencil shavings and graphite, canned pineapple rings, lychee syrup, cloves, champagne vinegar, oatmeal, green beans.

Palate: Tangerine marshmallows, tums fruity antiacids – in particular the chalky mouthfeel, angel food cake, dominant note of mirabel after some rest, brown sugar on oatmeal, and an ephemeral woody note that is warmth but not distinct enough to give a specific reference. The a very quiet baseline on a song.

Rating: 5 / 10 – a completely and totally acceptable pour.

Ryan

Springbank 2011 10 Year Fresh Sherry Cage 57.1%

Nose: Nothing like the whiff of that core springbank dna…stewed plums, figs, dates, that springbank salinity and smell of the sea, bandaids and iodine. Smoked salt butter. Bees wax.

Palate: Tastes like a drier sherry, maybe oloroso, slightly more savory, nose carries over nicely to the palate with that core springbank dna holding constant.

Rating: 6 / 10 – This is an interesting dance between springbank core dna and the fresh sherry cask and it works. Fun.

Domaine Louis Dupuy 1985 40%

Nose: Smells softer than the 1982, touch more fruity. Bubble gum. Cotton candy grapes. Lavender laundry soap… going deeper into floral cleaners

Palate: woody vegetal bitter, mouth cleaning soap. This is what I would punish my kids with after they use the lord’s name in vain.

Rating: 2 / 10 – I’m baffled at how potent it is at 40%, and yet it hits all the wrong notes just right. Only the penitent man shall pass.

Domaine Louis Dupuy 1982 40%

Nose: stone fruit, violet, orange marmalade, dark chocolate orange, hershey kisses, nutmeg and ginger cookie spice mix, intermittent moments of umami on the Worcestershire

Palate: wood forward, herbal black licorice candies. Powerful and viscous and coating. Dandelion. Bitter green. Graham crackers.

Rating: 4 / 10 – the nose is damn good, but the palate became all wood and lost its fruit mojo.

Balcones Luckenbach Finished in Texas Wine Cask 55%

Nose: Blueberries, forest strawberries, snozzberries, and orange supremes layered onto mascarpone cream on a graham cracker crust.

Palate: Mandarin cuties dominate, blood orange, orange blossom honey, grapefruit zest, cinnamon, caramelized nuts.

Rating: 7 / 10 – a delightful sweet sip.

Bourbon & American

Balcones 2016/2019 2 Year 9 Months #4204 64.8%

Nose: dark grapes fruit leather, tangerine peel, a fishing tackle box, oat milk, red juicy plums,

Palate: powerful oak forward character with, cloves, licorice, chicory and red grape tannins, old timey rootbeer barrel

Rating: 5 (Ryan) 6 (Shane) / 10 – oak monster. Either you like that… or poor ryan, you don’t.

Balcones True Blue 100 Proof Release Date Unknown (Not 2018 or 2021) 50%

Nose: Butterscotch, fresh goatsmilk, cornbread with a dollop of butter.

Palate: Nice touch of sweetness on this that compliments the wood, cedar, cinnamon life cereal. Leather on the finish. Scotch tape.

Rating: 6 (Ryan) 5 (Shane) / 10 – somehow manages to be both quite drinkable and yet someone ubiquitous, the nose is more enticing than the palate.

Balcones ZZTop Tres-Hombres 2021 #ZZ21-1 50%

Nose: Kumquat marmalade, endives, cointreau flambeed crepes or creme brulee, honey, rose petal hand lotion, sandalwood.

Palate: Orange cream soda, bitters, nutmeg, cedar, sandalwood, the ultra heavy dark ryle sourdough I got in germany, that nearly outweighs a brick, leather.

Rating: 6 / 10 – reminds me of the irishman brown ale finished whisky with its dark breadiness.

Vieux Sajous 2017 / 2021 4 Year Grand Terroir Saint Michel de l’Attalaye 56.3% by Velier VSGB

Nose: esters ahoy, touches of diesel, playdough, clarified butter / ghee, dried lemon peel, crayola crayons, ginger molasses cookie.

Palate: caraway seeds, cardamom, clove, slightly drying, cinnamon honey.

Rating: 5 / 10 – complex, juicy ,estery, tasty. I came in ready to be assaulted given my clairin experience. Not the case at all, this seems promising.

Hampden Estate Pagos 2023 467 gr/hlpa ester 52% by Velier VSGB

Nose: compared to the last Pagos, this one is far less funky on the nose, which is interesting given the higher ester count. Nice touch of sherry notes, dates, figs, walnuts. With time you pick up some sulphur. Fresh cut apple, cider vinegar.

Palate: lightest touch of sulphur is not pleasant, and quickly fades. Once you get past that the remaining palate is quite nice, good balance of ester to sherry where the esters are more refined. Well integrated graphite and tropical fruits. Grilled leaks. Mussels in sherry stock.

Rating: 6 / 10 – for me to be willing to skirt a touch of sulfur says just how well built this blend is. The sherry and ester plays so well together.

Hampden Estate Pagos 2022 394 gr/hlpa ester 52% by Velier VSGB

Nose: lovely rum funk, touch of cinnamon and sandalwood, wool ski socks, fermented overripe apricots, raisins, burning a pile of plant matter that is still slightly green, and a weird funky salinity.

Palate: nice initial touch of sweetness, clove cigarette, strong briney note of olives or a salted sheep cheese, hints of cardamom and carraway, overripe fruit leaning into the fake bubblegum flavor they used in the mould I had to sit still in when crafting my retainer. Five minutes is a long time for a tween to sit still.

Rating: 5 / 10 – While there is a lot going on that works, there is one strange note that underlies it. Like when you get a heavily rancio oloroso, which I personally struggle with the meaty side of the schwartz.

BeenLeigh 2013 / 2023 10 Year 59% by Velier VSGB

Nose: milk chocolate coated butter cookies (petit ecolier), almond scone, biscotti, coffee being roasted a block away

Palate: a giant wood hug, tobacco, carob malt balls, cloves, using a licorice root to clean your teeth, pineapple upside down cake.

Rating: 5 (Ryan) 6 (Shane) / 10 – I quite enjoy it, while Ryan finds it a hint too intense. That said, its DNA really lends itself to an elegant additive for a good banana bread or pudding.