2024 24 Days of Whisk(e)y - Day 6

Friday! Day 6 of 24 Days of Whisk(e)y ...tonight we're drinking Whistle Pig 10 Year Small Batch Rye, 50% ABV. This is distilled in Canada, aged and bottled in New York. 

I went into this one blind, and initially I thought this one was a bourbon. On the nose I got some citrus, orange, some bright fruit notes. A touch of vanilla as well, and maybe some light toffee. The taste I found some brown sugar, some pepper and some wood. I could be convinced there was a little licorice. Overall the nose and taste was fairly subtile.

The finish is about the same, but I did find a little marshmallow fluff too. Adding water things were very similar, probably even a bit more smooth, not really needed. While there is nothing wrong with this one, there was nothing that really wowed me either. I am not sure if it's the Canadian source or the 10 Year that is making this quite polished for a rye. You could tell it was 50% if you took a healthy sip, but otherwise the proof was fairly well hidden. I'm going to have to sip on this again some time, but tonight I'm giving it a 3.5/5.0. Cheers!

2024 24 Days of Whisk(e)y - Day 5

Day 5 ... here we come. I'm off work until Wednesday, so the weekend starts NOW! Tonight we're sipping on The Smoky Twelve, Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky from Benraich. This is three cask matured, in bourbon, sherry and Marsala casks. This one cost $60 and comes in at 46% ABV... let's see how it is.

There is a lot going on with the nose. No missing the smoke, but it reminds me of a rich Ardbeg smoke and peat... rich and earthy with a sweet meaty bbq thing going on too. Some vanilla and light fruit as well. Initially I got some alcohol burn, but I was probably just too far into the glass. I little bit of salty brine and a touch of rubber too.

The taste isn't quite as impressive. The fruit comes through... reminds me of orange marmalade or a non-specific berry jam... a lot of fruit but subtile enough it's hard to pick out what fruit for me. Some smoke, but it certainly takes a back seat to the fruit. The finish is nice and long. Good char turning ashy and then remaining for quite some time. I get a little bit of wood way at the end too, along with some nice heat to round things out.

Water doesn't change this much, and at 46% it probably doesn't need it. It turned things softer overall. I'll rate this a 4.0/5.0. I think the Colkegan from last night is more interesting, but this one is better balanced overall. Very happy with this one, cheers!

2024 24 Days of Whisk(e)y - Day 4

Hump... DAY!!! Tonight we're drinking Colkegan Single Malt Whiskey, Cask Strength from Santa Fe Spirits, coming in at 59% ABV. This was double distilled in pot stills, with mesquite-kilned malted barley. Aged in once used American White Oak Bourbon Barrels. I picked this up for $65... let's give this a go.

On the nose I get an initial hit of the alcohol, but after that dissipates I am finding the malt, a nice earthy rich smoke, and a savory sweet bbq meat profile. The taste carries on the earth rich smoke and a nice char. The smoke and char tasted a little different than a typical Islay Peated Scotch. In some ways this reminds me of Brimstone from Balcones, but I currently do not have any of that around, so I can't do a comparison... might have to pick up another bottle. 

The finish carries on with the smoke and char turning to ash in the back. I get a some fresh tingle, and there is a burn that lingers and builds. Water brings out some of the alcohol on the nose, with everything else about the same for me. I find more smoke on the taste with water, and it seems hotter on the finish.

Overall, this is really quite tasty, but it's the type of thing I commonly enjoy. Blind I was thinking it might be an American Single Malt, and I've been looking forward to trying this one out. I'll rate it 4.0/5.0 - cheers!

2024 24 Days of Whisk(e)y - Day 3

Day 3 ... tonight, we're drinking Maker's Mark Cask Strength, 55% ABV. After two Irish Whiskeys, this was a nice change. How was it? Let's find out... 

Initially on the nose, I wasn't getting much of anything. I had a little bit of the alcohol burn that should have clued me into the higher proof on this one. Eventually I did get typical bourbon notes including molasses/caramel, some red fruit and maybe a light pepper note, though that could have just been the proof.

The taste had some sweet along with some dry wood in the back. I got more of that peppery tingle, though again, sometimes proof can come across as peppery/spicy. I thought for a second this could have been a rye. But every time I went back for another sip it did get more typical bourbon. The finish seemed more spicy, with a lot of dry wood and some cherry.

Water didn't change things much, I could drink this either way. This one cost me $42 when I bought it, and for that price, it's pretty good overall. My biggest complaint is that it was a bit flat overall, and surprisingly soft for the proof. I would rate it 3.5/5.0.

2024 24 Days of Whisk(e)y - Day 2

All right, day 2. This one caught me off guard. On the initial nose I got a touch of sharpie marker / rubber cement. While that might sound like a bad thing - it's that it reminded me of those, not that it smelled exactly like that. After that, I got a candy cordial cherry and a little sweet fudge. I was guessing the proof was over 50%.

The taste was more tame, sweet cherry, a little chocolate, and maybe a little bit of red hot cinnamon as well. The finish was light and mild - didn't linger... with the cinnamon red hots the most notable item.

With water, not much changed, everything just tasted more tame. I like this more without water for sure. With all the cherry and sweetness, I was *positive* this was a bourbon ... but nope!

Teeling Single Grain Irish Whiskey, matured in California Cabernet Sauvignon wine barrels, which would give it that "red fruit" / cherry notes. Overall I did enjoy this, and I would rate it a 3.5/5.0 ... I probably liked night 1 a little bit better, but this one was close, and a pleasant surprise. Cheers!

2024 24 Days of Whisk(e)y - Day 1

All right, time to start this off. This year is a little different. While I do know the 24 bottles I'll be drinking this year, other than day 24, I do not know the order. I'm hopping on voice chat nightly to drink this with some friends who have the same set. We share nosing and tasting notes, then see what bottle we're drinking. I then take some more notes after knowing what the bottle is to see if there is anything more I find. This review is a combination of all those notes.

Tonight we're drinking Knappogue Castle 12 Year California Blend, bottled at 46% ABV. I like the regular 12 year from Knappogue Castle. This one is a blend of hand picked barrels, and it's bottled at 46% ABV instead of the 40% that the normal 12 year comes in at. This was purchased from Flaviar for $50.

On the nose, this one comes across with malt, apple, with orange cream sickle citrus as well. Some vanilla or maybe banana pudding in the back. The taste has the malt, citrus, orange along with some sweet apple. The finish has a nice warm spice along with some mellow dark sweetness like molasses. On the back end of the finish it lingers with some cool freshness too. 

With water, the nose is more flat and it brings out more malt on the taste. Probably best neat. Overall I like this one quite a bit. I'm going to rate this a 3.5/5.0 (leaning towards 3.75...). No idea if I like this one more than the regular 12 year as I do not have that one around currently and it's been a while since I had it. A nice solid start for the 24 days... cheers!

Whisk(e)y Wednesday - I'm Back!

It's getting close to 24 Days of Whisk(e)y time... so I figured I better warm up my nose and my palate. Tonight it's time to kill a bottle that's been around for a while, Ardbeg BizarreBQ - coming in at 50.9% ABV... no age statement. They say this one is a blend of Charred Oak Casks, Pedro Ximenez Sherry Casks, and a Unique BBQ Cask. A one off from Arbeg... how is it?

On the nose, I certainly get the char, bbq meat, molasses, marshmallow smores, and some sherry sweetness. The taste I certainly get some proof tingle, pepper spice, cinnamon ... it drinks hotter than expected after the nose. The finish I get char, tar, meat, bbq sauce with some ash in the back.

With water things are more sweet on the nose - meaty, sweet bbq and I get more of the sherry sweetness now. Taste is much more tame - with a hint of chocolate... but still BBQ meats, sherry, and spice. The finish is now spicier, but with some sweet, hot pepper and still ash in the back. 

The 50.9% is a nice touch on this, and it really is quite different with and without water - worth trying both ways. It cost $85 when I picked it up, and like most Ardbeg one offs I'll never see it again. It's different enough that if you're an Ardbeg fan and you see this at a reasonably price you should pick it up. It's not better than any of the core line offerings, just different. I'll rate it a 4.0/5.0... cheers!