I poured 1oz samples into each of the glasses that have been labeled on the bottom and mixed them up. I then nosed and tasted each one, came up with my favorite two, tasted those again side by side, and decided on the best of the bunch and rated each one again as well.
Glass 1) On the nose I got caramel, creme brulee sugar, some orange as well. The taste - malt, initial pepper heat, brown sugar and bright citrus. The finish is peppery in the front, it's sweetness that lingers a long time, malt in the back. Going back to the nose after tasting - I find the malt there as well. Overall, this is pretty good, and I'll rate it 3.75/5.0 in this tasting.
Glass 2) The nose is bright orange, honey and sugar. The taste is peppery heat, somewhat intense. I get the sugar in the back as well. I was caught a bit off guard on this one. I've not been drinking much whisk(e)y lately and this one initially punched me around a bit. But after some acclimation, I started enjoying this one quite a bit. The finish I got a tingly heat and malt. Pretty robust and the finish did linger nicely. While the nose was a bit soft, the flavor and finish was surprisingly good. Overall I'll rate this 4.0/5.0.
Glass 3) I found soft flower, perfume, orange citrus, cugar candy and it seemed a bit dusty on the nose. The taste was flat, a bit malty, some floral, heat if I waited for it, some brown sugar and some orange. The finish was a touch of spice initial, then floral, perfume, that dusty note I got from the nose comes back as well. It lingers some, but overall this was underwhelming. Just not enjoying this one to much this go around, and I'll rate it a 3.0/5.0.
Glass 4) The nose I got some initial funk - not exactly sure what it was, but it wasn't pleasant, along with some acetone, apple and molasses. The taste I was getting the acetone and molasses. And the finish followed with acetone, floral, candy sugar and a touch of heat. For whatever reason, tonight this one was really a miss for me - rated 2.75/5.0.
Glass 3 was Knappogue Castle 12 Year California Blend - originally I rated that one a 3.5, so 3.0 is lower. Glass 4 was the Teeling Single Grain Irish Whiskey - which I did originally rate a 3.5 as well... so I just wasn't feeling it.
Trying Glass 1 and 2 side by side, the clear winner was Glass 2. It was just more interesting overall. Glass 1 ended up being the Powers Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey, Jonh's Lane, Aged 12 Years... which I rated 3.75 both times.
And the winner in Glass 2 was Redbreast 12 Year Cask Strength, Batch B1/22. While overall I didn't think this Redbreast CS was as good as some past ones, it's till good, and I rated it 4.0 both times. Next time I'll be putting the 4 bourbons from the 24 Days of Whisk(e)y up against each other in the same format - we'll see which one comes out ahead for me... cheers!
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