All right, what time is it? American Single Malt time... tonight we have Colkegan Single Malt Whiskey, Cask Strength from Santa Fe Spirits, coming in at 59% ABV... vs Stranahan's Original Colorado Single Malt Whiskey, 47% ABV... vs Wanderback Whiskey out of Hood River, OR - for this release they partnered with Balcones in TX, 52% ABV... vs McCarthy's Oregon Single Malt Whiskey, 6 Year, PX Sherry Cask Finished, also from Hood River, OR by Clear Creek Distillery, Cask Strength, 56.13% ABV.
As usual, I poured these, randomized the order, and then ran through them a few times.
One nice thing about American Single Malt is the variety you can get from different releases - you can have anything from bourbonish to Irish to Scottish to most anything in between. It also makes it a bit hard to compare and rank then though, because they can be so different.
Glass 1 : The nose I get ash, smoke, dirt, rich fruit, malt, touch of sweet bbq. Every time I go back to the nose, it gets better and better. The taste I get sweet bbq, ash, smoke, peppery, it's very nice. The finish I get a hot pepper numbing sensation, a nice mint freshness tingle, sweet bbq, then ash and smoke that lingers... with a touch of sour way in the background. This is really nice.
Glass 2 : The nose is malty, sweet, lemon and some dill and/or pickle. The taste is malty with that dill as well. The finish I get a sweet pickle... it's not the greatest finish but it does seem to linger. It feels a bit off tonight, for whatever reason I'm not particularly enjoying it. It's good, but it's certainly a letdown after Glass 1.
Glass 3 : The nose is malty and sweet with a chocolate fudge note. The taste follows closely - malty, sweet, chocolate, touch of pepper/cinnamon spice as well. The finish I get that pepper spice tingle, then it turns malty with maybe some orange. It's solid but nothing overly special.
Glass 4 : On the nose I get smoke, ash, fruit, malt... the nose is a bit odd with alcohol burn so I'm guessing this is pretty high proof. The taste is bold, with sweet fruit and a light smoke turning to cinnamon spice. The finish has that cinnamon, smoke, ash and a heat that lingers. This is very nice as well.
Tasting Glass 2 vs 3 ... 2 is clearly the last place pour tonight with 3 coming in 3rd place. Glass 2 was the Stranahan's ... for whatever reason, this one just didn't wow me tonight. I still gave it a 3.5/5.0 vs the original 3.75/5.0 ... so I still enjoyed it overall. Glass 3 was the Wanderback ... I give it a 3.75 both nights. Originally I got a TON of butterscotch... tonight that butterscotch was chocolate for me.
For the Glass 1 vs 4 comparison, Glass 1 is the clear winner, everything about it was superior. Glass 4 was the Colkegan... and I rated it 4.0/5.0 both nights. Glass 1 was the McCarthy's ... originally I rated that a 4.5 and tonight I would rate it 4.25. It's still *really* good and I would drink it all night if I could.
Until next time... cheers!!!
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