Review

Barrell Dovetail Toasted

/ / Other Whisk(e)ys, Review /

Barrell Dovetail Toasted
Whiskey Finished in Rum, Port & Dunn Vineyards Cabernet Barrels
Secondary Maturation in Toasted American Oak

61.9% ABV
$200
Website
Barrell Toasted Dovetail Whiskey
We would like to thank Barrell Craft Spirits and Ro-Bro Marketing & PR for sending us a sample to review.

What the Blender Says

This limited-edition expression reimagines our award-winning Barrell Dovetail with an elevated dimension. Our signature blend—finished in structured California Cabernet, indulgent Port, and funky Rum casks—was further refined with 33 months of secondary maturation in toasted American oak, drawing out layers of caramelized sugar, warm spice, and rich oak. The result is a more decadent evolution of Dovetail—complex, opulent, and exquisitely polished.

Extended maturation in new American toasted oak deepens Dovetail’s character, layering vanilla bean, honeycomb, and caramelized sugar over its hallmark notes of dark cherry, fig, and cocoa. Roasted marshmallow and toffee meet baking spice and toasted hazelnut, while hints of coconut, leather, and sweet tobacco unfurl with each sip. The finish lingers luxuriously, where rich oak and warm spice frame jammy fruit, creating a more indulgent, opulent expression of Dovetail.

  • Finished in Rum, Port, and Dunn Vineyards Cabernet Barrels
  • Distilled in Indiana, Tennessee and Canada
  • Secondary Maturation in Toasted American Oak
  • 123.8 proof

What Gary Says

Nose: Vanilla, caramel, freshly polished oak, honey, pipe tobacco, cherry and a hint of leather.
Palate: Rich mouthfeel, syrupy and warm with brown sugar, dark chocolate, oak, blackberries, anise, cinnamon, cloves and leather.
Finish: Long and syrupy with honeyed fruit and oak.
Comments: I really enjoy Dovetail, as well as the Gray Label 1st Release. This is right up there with those – just a lovely, thick and syrupy whiskey. This drinks like a champ neat, but adding a bit of water brings out apricot and orange marmalade on the nose, and takes the fruit notes on the palate from blackberries towards raspberries and cherries. It also maintains that really thick and syrupy mouthfeel (which some folks may not put a lot of stock in, but I think definitely adds to the experience). Another great offering from the folks at Barrell Craft Spirits!

Rating: Must Try

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Tomintoul Cigar Malt Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky

/ / Review, Scottish Whisky, Speyside /

Tomintoul Cigar Malt
Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky

43% ABV
$80-$130
Website
Tomintoul Cigar Malt Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky

What the Distillery Says

Tomintoul Cigar Malt is an intricate combination of classic Tomintoul Single Malts and rare peated Tomintoul Single Malts. Each of these individual single malts have been either matured fully or finished in hand-selected Oloroso Sherry butts, sourced from Andalucía, Spain.

The rich and sweet sherry notes, creamy malt profile and gentle peat smoke make this single malt the perfect accompaniment to the world’s finest cigars.

Tasting Notes
Nose: Bold and pronounced with aromas of dried fruits, sweet spices, pecan pie and subtle peat smoke.
Palate: Sweet and rich with layers of chocolate raisins, butter toffees and brambles mingled with black pepper and smoky woody spices.
Finish: Warming and long with notes of mocha, maple syrup and toasted oak lingering on the tongue.

What Gary Says

Nose:  Plums, figs, mincemeat pie, smoke, leather, bit of peat and black tea.
Palate:  Chocolate, hazlenut, figs, blackberries, oak, pepper and caramel.
Finish:  Moderate in length with honey, dark fruit, medium roast coffee and smoke.
Comments:  This is nice! Smokey but balanced well with just a bit of peat. I haven’t had a lot of experience with Tomintoul, but I can imagine that this would pair nicely with a cigar (note I have to use my imagination as despite several attempts, I just don’t like cigars). But despite that lack of pairing, this has been a delightful summer sipper!

Rating: Stands Out

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Sagamore Spirit Barrel Select Rye Whiskey

/ / Review, Rye Whiskey /

Sagamore Spirit Barrel Select Rye Whiskey
Total Wine Selection

52.5% ABV
$65-80
Website
Sagamore Spirit Barrel Select Rye Whiskey

What the Producer Says

Barrel Select Rye Whiskey
The Sagamore Spirit Barrel Select program is a unique Maryland-style blend of 7-year-old straight rye whiskies. Each barrel of high-rye is expertly blended with a low-rye mash bill by our distilling team. No two expressions taste the same, and you are guaranteed to enjoy a one-of-a-kind product. The Sagamore Spirit Barrel Select program showcases the uniqueness of our distillers’ favorite barrels in each bottle.

Tasting Notes
Palate: Classic tasting notes include hints of caramel and vanilla with cinnamon and clove.
Age: 7 Years

What Gary Says

Nose:  Rye spice with fennel, dill, tarragon, mint, toasted oak, bright citrus with notes of lemon and lime.
Palate:  Creamy mouthfeel, vanilla then sharpens to grapefruit, lemon, a bit of orange, toffee, cinnamon and honey.
Finish:  Moderately long with grapefruit, cinnamon and vanilla.
Comments:  Just delightful! Honestly I am normally not a fan of grapefruit notes in my whiskey, but this has a lot going on beyond that. From what I see the price points on these vary quite a bit, with some folks snagging for $65 but $80 seems to be the SRP.

Rating: Must Try

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Blackened – Straight Whiskeys Finished in Brandy Casks

/ / Other Whisk(e)ys, Review /

BLACKENED
A Blend of Straight Whiskeys Finished in Brandy Casks

45% ABV
$30
Website
Blackened American Whiskey

What the Producer Says

This award-winning whiskey is a marriage of the finest North American straight bourbon & rye whiskeys and uniquely finished and sonically-enhanced in brandy casks, using the BLACK NOISE™ process to extract more flavor from the wood. The sweetness of the bourbon is perfectly balanced with the savory spice offered by the rye. The whiskey is further enhanced with the brandy cask finish adding notes of apricot, which plays perfectly alongside the honey and caramel notes of the blend.

TASTING NOTES
Nose: Burnt caramel, oak & honey
Palate: Honey, cinnamon, allspice, dark fruit, clove & mint
Finish: Long and smooth, slightly creamy with hints of butterscotch taffy, maple & honey

What Gary Says

Nose: Charred oak, caramel, vanilla and honey.
Palate: Honey, cinnamon candy, orange zest, grapefruit, bit of anise and mint.
Finish: Short to moderate in length with pepper spice and caramel apples.
Comments: For starters, I’m a huge fan of Metallica and the late great Dave Pickerell. The whole blasting music are barrels I thought was probably gimmicky, although we know in very mellow climates where the liquid doesn’t interact as much with the barrel the flavors are more muted. All that to say – I wanted to like this; I really did. It isn’t ‘horrible, dump it down the drain’, but I thought it was average at best. You do get some of the nuance from the brandy casks for sure, but it just never left me wanting to raise my glass again.

Rating: Average

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Barrell Triple Rum Cask Finish Whiskey

/ / Other Whisk(e)ys, Review /

Barrell Triple Rum Cask Finish Whiskey

Whiskey Finished in Jamaican, Barbados & St. Lucian Rum Casks

71.12% ABV
$200
Website
Barrell Triple Rum Cask Finish Whiskey
We would like to thank Barrell Craft Spirits and Ro-Bro Marketing & PR for sending us a sample to review.

What the Blender Says

The BCS team created this unique blend by selecting a diverse set of whiskeys sourced from both the United States and Canada, with some barrels aged for as long as 25 years. Each of these whiskeys was then meticulously finished in a distinct rum cask originating from one of three Caribbean nations—Jamaica, Barbados, or St. Lucia—imparting unique tropical and molasses-driven characteristics to the spirit. After the individual finishing processes were complete, the team skillfully blended the various components, harmonizing the bold spice of the whiskey with the rich, exotic sweetness of the rum casks to create a complex and layered final expression.

  • Distilled in Indiana, Tennessee and Canada
  • Finished in Jamaican, Barbados and St. Lucian Rum Casks
  • 142.24 proof

FLAVOR NOTES
A multitude of rummy esters swirl about this whiskey. A first whiff may yield geranium, but the second will be all orange zest and the next whiff full of kiwi and strawberry. The palate follows suit but with this whiskey’s corn-rich texture evoking creme anglaise and tahini. Each splash of water added volatilizes more aromas and reveals another fruit, be it banana, pineapple, or pomegranate.

​Neat
Appearance: Pale gold.
Nose: The esters inherited from the Jamaican rum are dense and prickly. At first the aroma is all orange flower water, buttercup and vanilla. There’s a strong waxy side and even a whiff of petrichor. In time, the citrus follows the flowers, and in its place comes pineapple, passionfruit, and strawberry.
Palate: Matcha, rosehip, and clove echo the floral opening of the nose. The flavors of fresh sugarcane and molasses highlight the rum. Hints of slightly burnt popcorn and roasted peanut reveal the spirit’s cereal origin. It grows more tropical the longer it’s held on the tongue, tasting of lychee, kiwi, and honeydew melon.
Finish: Rich pina colada is deftly balanced by limestone, salt, and a splash of mezcal. Contemplation is rewarded with honeysuckle, lime zest, and a bit of lingering peanut butter.
With a few drops of spring water
Cucumber and green banana burst forth with youthful exuberance. The nose is extremely sweet, displaying saltwater taffy, pandan chiffon cake, and maraschino liqueur. There’s also quite a vivid note of butter and some rootbeer adding a welcome herbal complexity before coffee ice cream takes over the finish.

What Gary Says

Nose: Rummy w/ notes of molasses, orange blossom, vanilla, tropical fruit notes of pineapple and kiwi.
Palate: Creamy mouthfeel, warm with honey, cinnamon, cloves, rosewater, molasses, nutty with a hint of caramel.
Finish: Moderate in length with coconut, pineapple and a bit of molasses.
Comments: The nose on this one is not as hot as you’d expect for a hazmat bottling. The palate is sharp and warm, and improves with some time in the glass. I prefer this dram with a bit of water, which thickens up the mouthfeel nicely and brings out some lovely notes of butterscotch and turtle brownies. The rum influence here is unmistakable, and risks masing the underlying spirit. Water helps bring out more of those whiskey notes of caramel. If you are fan of rum AND whiskey, this is a pretty unique offering and might be right in your wheelhouse, where if you’re a whiskey fan but not crazy about rum – well, this is triple rum cask finished so what you might expect.

Rating: Stands Out

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