Nose: Juniper berries, thyme, honey lemon lozenge, cardamom, banana peel
Palate: Juniper, cedar, carrot peel indeed, handmade thin frosted sugar, light rye crackers
Rating: 5 / 10 – a fun and unusual blend. Nothing I’ll hunt for but glad to have tried it. Blend of malted rye & corn
Nose: Redvines, dried prunes, ginger bread, peppermint
Palate: Halls strawberry cough drop, dried cherry, port reduction on cherry ice cream, a big ol mouthfeel
Rating: 7 / 10 – such a huge palate. Super fruity and intense.
Nose: Anchovies, salted toasted marshmallow, honey, thick cut pepper bacon
Palate: Peat wallop, aged balsamic vinegar on tomatoes with sea salt, anchovies, sweet Kalamata olives, big oak vibe
Rating: 6 / 10 – a fun dynamic pour with huge peat and a fun sour n sweet layer.
Nose: Honey ham, cucumber, melon pear (cucumber)
Palate: Honeydew melon, milk candies, brine, smoked eggplant
Rating: 6 / 10 – a nice sweet smoke, with a good rounded character. Wish it wasn’t watered but still lovely.
Nose: Funk that actually reminds me of springbank funk. Red berries, strawberry fruit leather. Gun powder/fireworks. Capers. Cedar, Menthol / eucalyptus, Vanilla bean.
Palate: Oh that is good. Grilled green bell pepper. Szechuan peppers. Burnt ends. Cedar for days, Cacao / chocolate, Blue diamond chocolate dusted almonds, Mole, Juicy red plum, The spirit of a spicy mexican hot coco, Plums & berries over hand churned, rich vanilla bean ice cream, Dr. Pepper reduction, Cracked pepper on finish
Rating: 9 (Shane) 8 (Ryan) / 10 – frankly on a clean palate, this could be a 10, but too deep into the tasting. This is so excellent.
Nose: I’ve spent all week drinking dirty chais. Julie bought me pumpkin chai tea bags from the clearance aisle, which I promptly threw into the trash. But she encouraged me to go find a solid chai tea bag. I prefer to make the concentrare from scratch but this month has been maxed. So, one chai tea bag, two spoonfuls of acacia honey, one shot of espresso and then fill my thermos to the top with oat milk. An earthiness, nearly tobacco. Goji berries and golden raisins.
Palate: Sharp and bitter for a second … morphing into bright fruit forward sweetness. Raisins. An orange herb drop. Prune juice. Black tea tannins and 80% dark cocoa, which Julie loves but I barely find palatable. Black peppercorn. Minutes later the palate lingers, like chocolate espresso beans. Despite all these potent and dominant flavors, the mouthfeel is thin and slightly strained.
Rating: 5 / 10 – I really like the nose on this, and all the elements to capture my imagination are there, but the palate just didn’t carry it through. For the ABV there was no lack of flavor, it just missed a roundedness in my mouth which would have made it worth pouring again. I wish I knew why this isn’t my jam.
Nose: Milk chocolate, oats, with a dash of cinnamon. A rich festive smoked horchata. There is a gofio factory a touch inland from daily surf break. Waiting for waves on my longboard while basing in the sun, the wind turns, and the whole lineup perks up. The smell of warm roasted oats and maize, almost coffee like, drifts by on the winds. You can’t help feeling like it’s breakfast time.
Palate: Delish. Potent smoke, but you gotta know that going into a Ledaig, followed by a wood 2×4. Not quite as dirty as some of its brethren. A hella good wallop. Like a straight edge kid from the 90s. Deeply roasted coffee with a spoonful of vanilla ice cream, cinnamon, and a shake of irish cream. Baking powder.. In the way that it shapes the flavor of a proper fluffy belgian waffle. With a spoonful of nutella.
Rating: 7 / 10 – Blind I could almost imagine this is a Killowen, which is a mutual complement. When I want a smokezilla with a clean foundation, this is going to be an easy choice.
Nose: Fabric bandaids. Hard cured sheep cheese and artichoke dip. I’ve always wondered if you could have honey from garden herbs. Imagine honey from dill flowers? Make me curious if bees get high on a daily basis? *Spices such as fennel, dill, saffron and anise contain psychoactive substances which can induce sedation, stimulation, or hallucinations.* Apparently I’ve never found the right dosage for my dishes. A present and warm peat. Today, Julie rejected the sandwich I brought her. Chorizo de Teror, which is closer to a foie gras than any sausage you would know. But it has this intense funk to it, which you either embrace, or simply defeats you overwhelming your taste buds.
Palate: Maritime with an intense attack. Boom! Salt, peat and sweet. I sometimes sneak jars of the hot pink pickled ginger they serve with sushi because I like the bite. A lovely sour acidity. I took the kids for dumplings on chinese new year this weekend, as is the tradition.
Rating: 7 / 10 – This my friends is pure neurosis. And yet somehow it just works for me tonight. I’m struggling to rate it, as I love it and would never reach for it on a regular basis, but would gladly have one in my cabinet, and know it would be there for a couple years before it was polished. We’ll see by next week if it holds at a 7 or lands a super solid 6.
Nose: I struggle to love Welch’s grape juice. Only because it was one of only two options as a kid until snapple finally burst onto the scene. And yet decades later, I remember the smell so distinctly. Bright and vibrant, with a touch of tannins and must. Frankly, a note I find more typical in cognac than armagnac. Underneath, hints of an herb garden, lemon balm and catnip. Sage.
Palate: Pretty spot on from the nose. Grape jam n herbs. Which could be pretty cool. A mouth drying effect, like eating pear skins. Even a touch of moist tobacco. A baking powder vibe, tannins balanced like tangerine peels and dried cherries. Reminds me of the mass-produced panettone that carrefour has during the holidays. I can eat a whole one of those things all by myself, and then often regret the indulgence.
Rating: 5 / 10 – too herbal for me, but this will appeal to the right crew.
Nose: I joined a sherry bomb tasting last week and could easily have snuck this in. With this nose, it might have even taken best in show. Leather, cocoa fruit pods, tobacco. Dried cherries, dates and ripe end of season plums. Back to the chocolate.
Palate: First sip is like an ephemeral dream, fleeting. Wish it had a hint more kick as it starts in thin. But once I set that high proof whisky curmudgeon in his corner and chill the duck out, I really delight in the palate. I used to soak dark cherries in bourbon in my freezer. In theory to make cocktails but in reality because they make such a sweet-tart rich bite. A craft cola that leans into its herbal nature. Very gentle coffee and chocolate notes. The oak shows as a mild tannic bitter but at this abv it’s a beautiful base note.
Rating: 7 / 10 – the more I drink the more it evolves. If you told me this was an old glen grant I would believe you.
Nose: Lemon peel, pepper, pine resin, spice box, baby bell with the wax, violets
Palate: Banana saltwater taffy, touch of caramel, overripe cantaloupe, manchego, lemon verbena tea, band-aids
Rating: 5 / 10 – a perfectly pleasant young laddie, but the slightly pine vibe isn’t bad but is an unusual note.
Nose: Brittle without the peanuts, that intense pine note is still quite present, egg salad, raw cedar, nice touch of the rivesaltes.
Palate: Big wood, dried cranberries, white isn’t not necessarily rubber sulfury, I flinched. Veers more vegetal towards the finish.
Rating: 3 (Shane) 4 (Ryan) / 10 – kinda gave me whiplash. ouch.
Nose: Smoked ham and cheese hot pockets, smoked caviar, meringue, wood smoked eggplant, fresh chopped chives.
Palate: Roasted peppers (bell & poblano), okra, browned butter, pan roasted spam, braggs amino acids. grilled and smoked head of lettuce with crisped anchovies. Freeze dried strawberries and a drizzle of sweet cream with sea salt
Rating: 6 (Ryan) 7 (Shane) / 10 – OH YUM YUM. This is great.
Nose: Prosciutto wrapped around cantaloupe, cedar chips, cotton candy, rose hips, orange peel, the tiniest brush of cloves, almost cola vibe
Palate: Bunch of peat well integrated with the other flavors, surprising for an older cask. The combo of barrels does wonders here. Very blackberry/raspberry, licorice. Wool socks. [Ryan]: Damn, I don’t tend to love the more heavily smoked, peaty side of the spectrum these days, but this is delicious.
Rating: 6 / 10 – when compared to the pure bourbon sister cask, it comes short, but on its own, a very nice pour.
Nose: Sugar cookies, poached pears, licorice stick, wintergreen life savers – the one they gave you in space camp to chew under the stars and so them spark, oily, packing tape, burnt brown sugar, fresh made caesar salad dressing.
Palate: Wood 2×6 to the face, smoked honey, biltong, deep brooding fresh cinnamon, yummy.
Rating: 5 (Ryan) 7 (Shane) / 10 – Rich smokey BBQ awesomeness.
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