For the last couple years, I've done the Scotch Whisky Advent calendar from Drinks By The Dram where it's a 24 day Advent calendar with different 1 oz bottles of scotch. Some were so-so, some were good, some were very good, but it was fun to open up a door each day and see what little bottle was waiting for me.
Unfortunately, the main distributor in England, Masters of Malt - was recently purchased by InBev, and due to some legal reasons, they can no longer ship to the USA. While there were some other options on where to purchase, none were ideal, either not having the Advent Calendar I wanted, or they seemed to be marking it up a lot more than Masters of Malt was.
Anyway - I decided to do something different this year. During the year, I purchased a few bottles of various whisk(e)y - and I'm going to be doing a "12 Days of Whisk(e)y", starting today and ending on the 24th. I'll be sampling and reviewing 12 different rye/bourbon/Irish/Scotch - some I've had before, some new to me. While I did spend more to buy the 12 bottles over the Advent Calendar, I have about 12x the booze and I'm pretty sure I'm going to enjoy all of these.
We're starting things off with Templeton Rye 6 year. At my friend James' wedding a while back, I was introduced to Templeton Rye (at the time they only sold the 4 year) and fell in love. Before then I was drinking mostly Crown Royal - which is very sweet, and I found Templeton Rye much more enjoyable. One problem - I was living in St. Louis, and Templeton Rye was not sold in Missouri at the time. I had to snag bottles while in Iowa or order it online. Even while it was hard to find, I seemed to have gone through a lot of the "good stuff" (: Eventually it started being sold in MO (and most everywhere), and for the most part I've moved onto other things.
The 6 year tastes very much like the 4 year. Can't say it's any more smooth, but it is a bit stronger too (91.5 proof compared to 80 proof). Straight it has a nice rye flavor, a touch of sweetness, and some spice. A touch of water doesn't really change the flavor profile much. It's enjoyable, not sure if it's worth the extra cost over the 4 year though. Giving this a 3.0/5.0.
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