Whisk(e)y Wednesday 2026-10-21

Time for another Whisk(e)y Wednesday... always fun, here we go (:

On the nose, I get cherry, with some toffee and brown sugar. Seems mid-proof, maybe around 50% ABV... nose screams bourbon to me. The taste ... more of the same - cherry, toffee, maybe a touch of floral ... not enough to get me to budge from bourbon though. The finish, more cherry, then it turns to some wood bite in the back.

With water, the nose is similar but a bit more soft, taste as well. The finish I seem to find more proof and wood. I'll stick with bourbon, around 50% ABV - this seems pretty nice overall, I'll rate it a 3.5/5.0.

This was Old Forester, Oregon Single Barrel, WHSE H Floor 1, 50% ABV. This one cost $60 ... not sure if it's better than the standard Old Foresters that are easy to find, but it wasn't bad. Cheers!

Whisk(e)y Wednesday 2026-10-14

Another Wednesday ... time for a random sample for Whisk(e)y Wednesday, let's go!

On the nose, fruity, cherry, bubble gum, sweet, mint. The taste, molasses, bubble gum, proof, pepper, fruit, heat... and the mint. The finish ... minty as well, sweet, syrup, heat that lingers. This strikes me as a high proof (60%+ ABV) bourbon ... but I guess with the minty it could be a rye. 

With water, the nose is more sharp, then more sweet. Sweeter on taste and finish, with lots of heat. This is pretty good, I'll rate it 3.75/5.0 ... it does have a *lot* of heat though. This was the Jack Daniel's Single Barrel Barrel Proof Rye, coming in at a toasty 66.05% ABV. I rated this 3.5/5.0 during 2025 's 24 Days of Whisk(e)y... that night I just couldn't get past the proof. Maybe it mellowed with age a bit (:

Whisk(e)y Wednesday 2026-10-07

Here we go for another Whisk(e)y Wednesday. I was traveling last week, but I'm back and ready for some Whisk(e)y.

On the nose, this one is mild, not getting much other than alcohol. Nose seems a bit flat overall. The taste, fruit, sweet, ash, pepper, bbq, spicy. The finish has heat up front, then sweet, then back to the heat with some char.

With water, the nose is similar, I get some more heat on the nose now, so maybe it's not as low proof as I thought. It is sweeter on the taste, and the finish does linger nicely and has some ash now too. I'm not sure what to think, it feels a bit flat and young. The nose is oddly a let down compared to the taste, and usually I think peated Scotch (which I'm guessing this is) has a better nose than taste. I'll rate this a 3.75/5.0 tonight.

This ended up being Lagavulin 12 Year Cask Strength, 57.3% ABV. I had this back in 24 Days of Whisk(e)y 2023 and I rated it a 4.5/5.0 that night. I do have a woozy of this saved so I'll have to give it another try - but this is one of those Whiskies that if I know I'm drinking it, I enjoy it more because I know more what to expect and I know historically I enjoy it - so I try enjoying it, if that makes sense. Anyway ... that's the fun part of blind tastings.