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: 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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: Oh wow, smells delicious. Strong apple vinegar note. Intense concentrated apple syrup. Walnuts. Mulled cider, stewed apples. Cedar and lumber yard. Ferns.
Palate: Damn, that is lovely. Apples, chestnuts, acorns, walnuts, cedar, rich apple sauce/butter. Lemon peel. There is such a nice balance of wood to spirit here. Brown sugar. A fantastic rancio.
Rating: 7 (Shane) 8 (Ryan) / 10
Nose: Holy shit, I can’t believe this is a 2 year old spirit. This smells like a perfect love child between cognac and calvados. Black pepper. Celery. Old Bay Spice. Browned butter. Apple butter, spiced apple sauce. Nutty. Subtle rancio. Intense brown sugar. With water, more vanilla comes out.
Palate: This is super fun, I can’t wait to see how this evolves with time. Leather, tobacco, high notes from the apple. Light molasses. Surprisingly drinkable at nearly 70% 😛 There is some rum ester / funk vibe here. Rose hips. With water this comes to life. I rarely water down but this needs it.
Rating: 5 / 10 – this 5 is totally temporary as I think it will definitely increase with a bit more maturation. I look forward to buying a bottle.
Nose: Kale chips, or perhaps rainbow chard blanched for 5 seconds. Dry pine leaves with a sprinkling of resin. Mom’s blueberry bushes. They smell so enticing as the summer progresses. And yet for all the health inducing vegetal notes, a layer of dense fruit concentrate. Like reduced plum butter with a splash of red wine. The oak props this up
Palate: Oh that is … bitter? Sour? Tannic? Mouth cringingly tart. Even for me, and I love that element lately, it’s too much. But it passes and the dark stone fruits punch through while saliva cascades from my mouth like a Saint Bernard puppy happy to see you. Damn so juicy. Dusting of pie spices.
Rating: 4 / 10 – this has a lot of promise, but is a bit too hard to drink at the moment. Let’s round out the profile without losing the concentrated goodness or going any further down the herbal route.
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.
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