Distilled: December 2003 Bottled: April 2017 Cask Type: Fresh Sherry No. of Bottles: 474
What Gary Says
Nose: Rich sherry bomb, plums, raisins, dates, smoked meat, leather, pipe tobacco, clove, oak. Palate: Rich and thick sweetness, fruit, berries, cherries, honey, brown sugar, toffee, balsamic, dark chocolate, clove and pepper spice. Finish: Long with sherry dripping and a bit of clove. Comments: Just delicious! Takes water like a champ, bringing out some maple candy notes on the nose. An unapologetic sherry bomb that hits all the right notes.
Our 12-year-old edition, always bottled at cask strength, is a wonderfully balanced dram that boasts a smooth buttery body and rich fruity palate. Add a drop of water to release milk chocolate and vanilla notes.
Our latest release*, bottled in January 2017, is 54.2% and the tasting notes are:
Nose: It’s reminiscent of walking in an autumn forest full of pine and chestnut trees, before returning home to the iodine of a Campbeltown malt and ending with a delicate hint of peat. Palate: A gorgeous richness on the palate which is balanced between citrus marmalade on toast and caramelised toasted marshmallows, not forgetting flavours of vanilla and pepper. It’s a lip licking meaty dram. Finish: A delicious, viscous, smooth liquid with a salty edge. It brings back memories of a ham joint which has been marinated in a rich honey sauce and slow baked in the oven.
*This content was listed in August 2020 (and there have been multiple releases since). As luck would have it, this refers to batch 14 which is 70% sherry/30% bourbon cask matured – the same as batch 15.
Special shout out to Ben’s Whisky Blogand The Washbackfor detailing out the Springbank 12 yr Cask Strength batch differences!
What Gary Says
Nose: Rich, sherry, dark fruits, heather, oak, floral, clove, thyme, leather. Palate: Rich and thick, dark fruits, balsamic, dark chocolate with berries, toffee, vanilla, caramel, honey and clove. Finish: Long and slightly drying with sherry, wisps of smoke and pepper spice. Comments: This is a lovely, complex dram! Rich, savory and sweet. A bit of water opens it up even more. I’m not sure why I had waited this long to buy a bottle of this. Other folks in the whisk(e)y circles I’m in have been Springbank fans for years. I had enjoyed it, but I think hadn’t appreciated it as much before (possibly due to those tastes being mixed amongst a LOT of other drams!) I managed to pick this bottle up in August 2020 for $90, which is below the current retail – but even at the latest prices, I wouldn’t hesitate to pull the trigger. There is batch to batch variation, as Springbank isn’t shooting for a consistent profile every time – and at least on this batch they didn’t provide any indication as to the batch. You can check sources for details using the ABV.
The Macallan Double Cask 12 Years Old forms part of our Double Cask range which marries the classic Macallan style and the unmistakable sweetness of American oak. This is a fully rounded single malt in perfect balance, with flavors of honey, citrus and ginger.
The perfect partnership of Oloroso sherry seasoned American and European oak casks creates the distinctive, warm character of this harmonious single malt. Our skilled whisky making team optimize the right mix of European and American sherry seasoned oak casks to allow the delicate and indulgent flavors of American oak to take centre stage while the more traditional Macallan characteristics of rich fruits, sherry and wood spice provide a reassuringly familiar backdrop.
THE EXPERIENCE COLOUR: Harvest sun. NOSE: Creamy butterscotch with a hint of toffee apple, candied orange, vanilla custard and newly felled oak. PALATE: Deliciously honeyed, wood spices and citrus, balanced with raisins and caramel. FINISH: Oak lingers, warm, sweet and drying.
What Gary Says
Nose: Lovely sherry with raisins, dates, plums, honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, bit of orange, oak, toffee, hazelnuts, a hint of leather. Palate: Sweet honey with raisins, oranges, nutmeg, vanilla sponge cake with caramel cremes. Finish: Moderate in length, damp with orange honey, figs and a bit of pepper. Comments: Very nice dram – less sherry intensive than Macallan 12 Year Sherry Oak, with more honey and a touch of vanilla. The nose on this has a load of complexity, more so than the palate – which is nice enough. The first time I tried this, I thought it stood out, but each time I’ve sampled it I have liked it more. If you’re a fan of the standard Macallan 12, I think you definitely should give this a try – roughly the same bank and an interesting offering.
Alberta Premium Cask Strength Rye 2020 Canadian Rye Whisky
63.9-66.0% ABV (sample reviewed @ 66%) $70 Website We would like to thank Alberta Distillers and Multiply for sending us a sample to review.
What the Distillery Says
Alberta Distillers, one of the first distilleries to create a true 100% rye whisky, is proud to introduce a limited-edition cask-strength whisky to the U.S. market: Alberta® Premium Cask Strength Rye. Originally released in Canada earlier this year, the limited-edition rye is crafted and distilled in Calgary, Alberta using pure 100% prairie rye mash bills and Rocky Mountain water. The result is a perfectly balanced liquid that reflects the brand’s Canadian heritage and expert whisky craftsmanship.
Making a name for itself in the Canadian market, Alberta Premium Cask Strength Rye comes to the U.S. after being sold out for months in Canada. Whisky fans can taste the purity in every bottle, distilled from the finest Canadian prairie grains grown by local farmers and refreshing glacier-fed Rocky Mountain spring water. This limited-edition, 100% rye is a very sippable whisky, best enjoyed neat with a drop of water or on the rocks.
“Alberta Distillers prides ourselves on being the producer of the world’s number one selling 100% rye whisky in Alberta® Premium,” George Teichroeb, General Manager of Alberta Distillery said. “We wanted to release a cask strength rye so our whisky fans can experience a 100% rye whisky in its purest form: straight from the barrel. This whisky truly is a great representative of our commitment to crafting superior rye whisky.”
The original Canadian release of this whisky left a mark on experts and consumers alike this past year, earning accolades such as Double Gold at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition, Best Cask Strength at the Canadian Whisky Awards and Gold at the Canadian Whisky Awards. It’s also crafted at the distillery that was awarded the Distillery of the Decade by the Canadian Whisky Awards.
Packaged in an eye-catching, faceted glass bottle, Alberta Premium Cask-Strength Rye features the below characteristics:
ABV: 63.9% – 66.0%
Color: Amber gold
Aroma: Sweet, woody and oaky with a hint of vanilla
Taste: Exceptionally smooth with notes of caramel, vanilla, and just a hint of chocolate that balance the spiciness of rye and black currant
Finish: Smooth and lingering with the complexity of spice, warm vanilla and dark fruit
What Gary Says
Nose: Soft vanilla with subtle oak, cedar, mint, nutmeg, hints of cherries and maple. Palate: Caramel and vanilla, milk chocolate, black currants, figs, cinnamon, nutmeg, cracked pepper with a bit of clove. Finish: Moderate in length, syrupy, fruity and lingering baking spices. Comments: I really love how rye whisky matures north of the U.S. border, and in particular in Alberta. I often get these cedar and maple notes which just feel very Canadian to me, and with older whisky it doesn’t get overly influenced from the oak. This is non-age stated, although doesn’t strike me as what I’d consider ‘young’ (4 years or less). Sampling this over the course of a week, I really enjoyed it. On the nose it benefits from sitting a bit in the glass (66% ABV is up there!) to let the alcohol vapors dissipate, and it takes water really well – bringing out more cedar and maple on the nose, and thickening the mouthfeel while amping up the fruit notes on the palate. There isn’t a lot of cask strength, 100% rye whisky out there – and this is priced fairly given that, so if you’re a fan of that sorta thing (which I am!) I’d pick one up while you can. OH – almost forgot, a premium bottle with a screwcap (which I consider bonus points; I prefer a pragmatic, tried/true solution for my bottle closures).
57.85% ABV $90 Website We would like to thank Barrell Craft Spirits and Ro-Bro Marketing & PR for sending us a sample to review.
What the Blender Says
Barrell Bourbon Batch 027 started with 6-year-old fruit forward barrels from Tennessee and 5-year-old spice forward barrels from Indiana. After these were blended together, 13 and 15-year-old barrels with more wood tannin and depth were layered in and a select number of 9-year-old barrels with a higher rye content were blended in for spice and assertiveness. Finally, 5 and 8-year-old wheated bourbon barrels were added to soften the batch, brighten the front palate, and solidify a cohesiveness to an otherwise extremely complex flavor profile.
A blend of straight Bourbon Whiskeys
Distilled and aged in Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana
Selection of 5, 6, 8, 9, 13, and 15-year-old barrels
Aged in American white oak barrels
Bottled in Kentucky
115.7 proof cask strength bottling
Mash bill: corn, rye and malted barley
FLAVOR NOTES Many bourbons just taste like caramel, some older bourbons taste like oak, but this — this bourbon is a cherry bomb. At times bright and juicy, at others, brooding and oxidized, but while there are many flavors to be found, cherry stands above them all.
Neat Appearance: Carrot. Nose: Supporting notes that span sweet desserts, woodsy herbs, and rich oils, but their presence is an afterthought to the singular and intense focus of this whisky’s nose, and that focus is squarely on old, comforting cherry. The oak is sweet and nutty, displaying amaretto and sweet, raisonated grapes. Deeper bass notes of sweet potato pie, walnut shells, and freshly ground coffee flesh out the aromatic register. The influence of rye is subtle here, potpourri, earl grey tea, and bouquet garni whisper at the periphery. Palate: The candied texture that falls short of syrupy and a just-gentle tannin suggest minimal oak extraction but significant concentration over long years spent slowly evaporating in a rickhouse. Like the nose, a bright, juicy acidity puts the focus squarely on a note of cherry so monumental that almost nothing else breaks through. A bit more floral than the nose, candied violet and lavender are just able to peek through, along with a steely minerality. Eventually, some oxidized notes evoke an old oloroso sherry, among them hazelnut, molé sauce, and stewed mushroom. Finish: A gentle, yet complex finish that makes one imagine a flavor wheel in thin air. This mysterious yet fruity bourbon leaves the palate with blood orange, rosehip, hibiscus, and sumac.
With a few drops of spring water Lychee, pineapple and honeydew melon emerge, and heather, sage, and cigar smoke lend a welcome complexity. This is followed by baklava, Boston cream pie, and a creamy brown ale, which lends a subtle hoppy note to the finish.
What Gary Says
Nose: Caramel, cherries, roasted walnuts, musty oak, herbal notes of fennel and dried mint with a hint of lavender. Palate: Sweet and thick with cherries and honey, vanilla, pepper spice, oak, raisins, cinnamon, and chocolate fudge. Finish: Moderately long with caramel and sour cherries. Comments: Another really well done blend. Cherries are definitely a prominent note, but to be clear this isn’t one dimensional in any way/shape/form. There is a sherry-like sweetness that I really like, which seems to intensify with a bit of water. Continue to be impressed with the blending by the folks at Barrell Craft Spirits, and like that they’re not looking for “consistency” across batches. I liked this almost as much as Batch 026, but if I had to pick a favorite, that one won by a bit – but I can’t see anyone being disappointed in either.
