Tasting Notes Archive - The Distillates

Tasting Notes

Bourbon & American

Balcones Texas Single Malt Whisky Goody Goody #14160 Used FO Ex-Rmb 64.2%

Nose: rum raisin ice cream, grape nerds / poprocks, nougat, cold wood cabin, tomato vine (after some time and sipping)

Palate: ice sweetness at the front, vanilla, rum raisin ice cream from the nose, less grapey, nice quality wood, a strong grape vinegar kombucha vibe, black tea, that core modern Balcones sour note. Tried it with a big splash of water and it becomes elegantly grapey with a gnarly bitter note. Better at full proof.

Rating: 6 (Ryan / Shane) / 10

Eau-De-Vie

Shane

Tuff Talk Distilling ‘Ook’ Banana Brandy 52%

Nose: I took this bottle along with a bunch of brandy to our home brewers beer festival this weekend. It was so much fun exposing them to “experimental” spirits. Every time someone grabbed Andy’s Tuff Talk Banana brandy their eyes would light up and hooooly cow that smells like banana. Well technically, JODER, como huele a platano. Que fenomeno. But you get the spirit of it. This is now my personal reference when it comes to the category. A category of maybe one provider given I have yet to get my hands on Capovilla’s one banana experiment, but so worth it. Alright, nose… the first impression is banana candy from my childhood – Haribo banana gummies or Malabar tuti fruti. But not cloying, rather it’s paired with a potent floralness. It’s the nuance of bananas that comes next – downright bizarre how I manage to get notes of fresh, nearly ripe but still a touch green bananas, and then a moment of gnarly goopy caramelized banana hits. It even had a hint of banana peel in it. I set this aside for a while and tried to forget banana… orange blossoms. And notes of guarapo (sugar cane juice). Almost could fool me into thinking it was a high ester unaged rhum agricole. I remember making a pink peppercorn simple syrup for julie once that could be a good crossover.

Palate: I enjoy drinking this straight, but I have to admit that this feels like it was born to be a cocktail ingredient. I sneak nips into my hot chocolate. I sprinkle it on crepes. And certainly someone who drinks cocktails will make something insane. Most EDV brings me back to the home(s) of my youth. To mom’s orchards. This is the first brandy that anchors me in my new home, in Canarias. Because if we know anything here, it’s that wacky herb known as a platano. The first sip is bananas, both literally and figuratively, but let’s move beyond the obvious. Having performed a half-dozen banana distillations myself, I want to bow down. It’s HARD to make good banana brandy. Its so easy to have that overripe banabread note dominate, which isn’t all that yummy – none of that here. There is something a hint of green initially, herbaceous. Like lemongrass without the sour note. Its so rhum agricole on a big sip, touches of anise seed with a real juicy fruit moment.

Rating: 8 / 10 – It’s stupid hard to rate this, because my rating might not apply to everyone. I wish I had another bottle. Or two frankly. In part due to my respect for its craftsmanship and in part because I’m nearly at the bottom of the bottle I absconded with from the tasting and I want to keep poking at how it ticks. But in the end cuz its just cool. According to my scale, that is an 8. People have a blast trying it.

Lheraud Cognac Petit Champagne 1932 43%

Nose: Molasses, orange and grapefruit peel. Apricot and tangerine tartlets. Almond meringues

Palate: Sweet yet tannic, think sweet southern black tea. Hints of cinnamon, canned peaches flambéed with rosemary. Cherry pits. Cotton candy aftertaste.

Rating: 9 / 10 This is unbelievable and worth the hunt. I’m not feeling verbose, more sarcastic. Thank god this is only 90 years old and not truly unobtainium. Every day drinker right here; With a freaking straw.

Lheraud Cognac Petit Champagne 1920 44%

Nose: A single epic note. Like that moment Michael Jackson grabs his woohoo and wails. Baking sugars and peach cobbler with a French country pie crust. There is a fairy dusting of nutmeg and allspice, a la salt bae. A subtle hint of turbinado and walnuts. Pine nuts, olive tapenade, herbal and gooey creamy cheese funk round this out with more time on the back half.

Palate: I thought I’d need to listen for the whispers given my propensity for no-holds-barred MMA cask strength whisky. Nope, plenty of character here. Each of the nose nuggets are neatly present. But really, we are talking about peaches and apricots. And then we head to herbal town, a rounded ricola herbal rinse. The late landed funk is hard to find on the palate. The finish stays herbal for a long time and got less interesting the more it rested. I’m going to give this another shot in a few nights.

Rating: 7 / 10. It’s super good and the herbal fans might rate this even higher than I do.

Lheraud Cognac Petit Champagne 1922 40%

Nose: Sweet balsamic vinegar. Sandalwood. Bit of funk, the body odor of an unwashed french man reliving his past hipness. Dr pepper and cola. Man back to funky, quite ripe stone fruits, black peach tea, walnuts, chewing tobacco, fresh dark potting soil. When I think rancio, it smells like this.

Palate: Black peach tea through and through. An unsweetened sarsaparilla or birch bark home brewed old-timey beverage. Green peppercorn, licorice root, and a stale high-end cinnamon stick. It has all the markers of being sweet without ever going there. There is an exceptional balance between herbal, sweet, and wood that leaves things in harmony.

Rating: 8 (shane) & 9 (ryan) / 10 this is seriously delicious in a way I did not expect. The nose and palate align, and even at the low abv this spirit shines.

Lheraud Cognac 1914 Petit Champagne 42%

Nose: I’ve been making chai from scratch again. It’s interesting how quickly they can vary in character, even with similar ingredients. Sojourn was asking me if I could make a decaf chai and I found myself staring at the rooibos and pondering. A rosehip, ping peppercorn red tea and wildflower honey concentrate, to be blended into oat or almond milk could be the ticket. Or you could just smell this glass and get the same experience. Potent notes groseille, not just the fruit but of the whole plant. Had a rhubarb fritz soft drink at lunch today, something I plan to repeat. Worth the shot my friends.

Palate: I think the biggest gift of this broken leg bullshit has been resetting my palate. I took nearly 4 months off of spirits to focus on recovery, a journey with many months left. But now, 42% has a full mouthfeel that it certainly did not back in 2022. Real deep fritz cola concentrate vibes, carob malt balls, licorice sticks they sell in health stores as alternative to a toothbrush, dried goji berries, and some herbs quickly landing in ricola territory.

Rating: 6 / 10 – I’m really enjoying this tonight, and its got a surprisingly intense palate. But you have to want the dense roots ‘n herbs mojo this delivers. Having just come back from Greece and enjoyed a ton of ouzo, this is definitely a step up, but it shares a lot of DNA.

Brian Borger

Mahu 1956 for Darroze

Nose: Yummy old oak, dried citrus peels (bitter orange, grapefruit); walnut baklava, and hints of that rare tropical rancio.

Palate: Nice full blast of oaky and booze, licorice, marmalade, butter, cardboard (fresh and dry), NOLA coffee and some passionfruit and pears (rancio).

Rating: 8 / 10 – the finish is quite sweet with walnuts, honey, oranges, and also a good amount of oaky bitterness. Overall it is a delicious armagnac, rustic with all the oak and licorice, but also sweet and complex.

Brian Borger

Saint Aubin 1973 29yr 47% for Darroze

Nose: Dates, walnuts and yogurt covered raisins.

Palate: Sweet, with cola, lemon zest, date paste and mushrooms.

Rating: 5 / 10 – Black pepper, vanilla buttercream and stone ground mustard. Overall, a tasty dram. Nice balance of sweet and oak, of age and fruit. Nothing surprised me here, for good or bad. These were common flavors on yak of this age. Enjoyable though.

Brian Borger

Bellair 1951 for Darroze

Nose: maple, oak, tons of licorice, linen, pear and butter.

Palate: apple skins, licorice and raspberry jam.

Rating: 4 / 10 – The finish is bitter lemon and juniper. I expected more rancio, but while this didn’t taste young, it had most of the boring components of aging and few of the exciting ones. I didn’t find anything wrong necessarily, but neither does it have much to recommend it.

Brian Borger

Pounon 1988 for Darroze

Nose: Oh I like this one! Extremely sweet and enticing. Stewed peaches, huge sweet oak and forest floor.

Palate: dark coffee, sweet caramelized raisins, Iberico ham, pepper jelly, tobacco, burnt toast, and dank earthy mushrooms. As always, it gets smoother and sweeter with time in the glass and warmth. But the funky mushroom flavors and burnt flavors come out more too.

Rating: 7 / 10 – 2/3 of the finish is black coffee, with 1/3 being apricot and fig jams.
For the most part, this is pretty fantastic. Reminds me of my favorite Darroze offerings from domaine Bouillon. But with a little less complexity and funk.

Brian Borger

Salie 1979 47% for Darroze

Nose: The abv tickled the nose, but there’s plenty of classic old Armagnac raisins. You can smell butter, French oak, plums, vanilla cream, balsamic vinegar, and some wool sweaters.

Palate: It tastes quite peppery and boozy, with pleasant drying oak and burn. A bit of tar, toasted pumpernickel rye and figs.

Rating: 6 / 10 – Pretty long finish, with tar, sour oranges and carpet.

Armagnac

Shane

Domaine Le Freche 1980 Cask #39 41.5% for L’encantada

Nose: sour gummy colas, freeze dried pineapple rings, black licorice, browned butter to the point of nuttyness, chinese 5 spice or maybe just cumin, canned pears with cloves, dark brown slowly caramelized onions topped with gruyere shavings. Next morning the glass smells like balsamic reduction. It just keeps transforming.

Palate: Starts with powerful cola. A bright burst of sweet dark warmth of panela (a dark sugar and molasses combo) and the nuttyness of De La Rosa Marzipan. Then a tiptoe across fruit funk .. prune juice, and a brush of sour reminiscent of a high end tonic. Sour but not too bitter, so I love it. Raw almonds. The mouthfeel is quite thin (as per the ABV), but leaves so much space for a rainbow of flavors. Makes my mouth water. Literally. But this can’t be a second or third dram. It has to come first. A delicate le Freche, go figure.

Rating: 7 / 10 – I’m buying another. The thin mouthfeel will annoy some folks, but I decided to embrace it.

Armagnac

Shane

Domaine Le Frêche 1990 #49 52.4% for L’encantada

Nose: Birch bark, chocolate covered espresso beans, black forest cake, dark molasses, figs brûlée with a dollop of blue cheese, tart plum butter with hints of clove and allspice, wintergreen lifesavers

Palate: How odd. I was expecting glendronach and got glen-tonic. Far more herbal and less fruit forward. The palate isn’t all full bodied as the ABV implied. Lemon zest, fresh muddled mint leaves, grape skin, gentle touch clove, a light spiciness reminiscent of radish sprouts, cola on the finish then a bitterness like crushed aspirin. and a feathering of oak.

Rating: 7 / 10 – Not sad I have a few bottles but I love tonic, so if that isn’t your thing, might want to pick a different release.

Armagnac

Shane

Domaine Le Frêche 1989 #120 49.9%for L’encantada

Nose: The only places open for breakfast in the Canaries are Jamonerias. I like high end cured ham just as much as the next guy, but fuck man, I just want some eggs benedict with thick cut black pepper bacon and a smoothie #expatproblems. The nose has the richness of the fatty layer of high end acorn fed iberico. And wafts of nuttyness. The spice cabinet is on the earthy side, cumin and saffron, with bright spots of clove. Middle eastern sweeties, Maamoul date cookies and pistachios. There is an umami to the nose harkening to some of the best dashi I had when in Japan.

Palate: Wintergreen. But none of the bitterness. In 5th grade in the US for many years all schools sent their kids to space camp. And you would go hike under the stars at night and they handed out wintergreen lifesavers. If you crunch them, they spark in the dark. So freaking cool. This pour is a powerful combination of sweet, sour and salty. Umeboshi japanese pickled plums. There is a traditional dish served here in the canaries: ultra thin tempura aubergine with sea salt and dark palm tree syrup. Like balsamic and molasses had a love child. This isn’t going to please everyone, but I absolutely love it. It’s challenging and interesting and everything I look for in a really good Le Freche.

Rating: 8 / 10 – I’m delighted I bought one. And wish I had a spare. Everything I liked in Le Freche 1980 turned up a notch. I’m struggling on the rating because for me it’s an 8, but I acknowledge it probably won’t be for others. It’s a touch too neurotic. Make sure you give it time to breathe in the glass. It really opened up.

Armagnac

Shane

Domaine Le Frêche 2007/2022 #45 57%for L’encantada

Nose: Peanut brittle & panela. Model glue, red spanish peanuts, boston baked beans, popcorn. Sweet tooth.

Palate: Coconut sugar and light brown sugar. Grapefruit peel, hint of tobacco, and the kick of white pepper.

Rating: 7 / 10 – This is an armagnac masquerading as a rum. Quite simple in its notes, but since I like all three of them :rolling_on_the_floor_laughing: , I’m quite happy.