Must Try

Johnnie Walker Explorers’ Club Collection – The Gold Route

/ / Review, Scottish Whisky, The Collector's Cabinet / ,

Johnnie Walker Explorers’ Club Collection – The Gold Route
Blended Scotch Whisky

40% ABV
$95 (for a 1 L bottle)
Website
Johnnie Walker Explorers Club Collection The Gold Route

What the Blender Says

NOTE: This is a discontinued item.
Johnnie Walker Explorer’s Club Collection – The Gold Route is a luxurious, alluring, contemporary blend which evokes the exotic fruit flavors and beautiful, rich golden colors experienced by agents of John Walker & Sons on their journeys through Amazonia and the Caribbean. This blend is available exclusively to travellers through Duty Free stores.
Johnnie Walker Explorer’s Club Collection – The Gold Route delivers a bold, distinctive smokiness followed by a rush of guava, coconut, mango and pitaya. An undercurrent of sweet vanilla and spice emerges before a smooth, luxurious finish combining rich currants and raisins.

What Gary Says

Nose:  Butter cream icing on freshly baked donuts, maple candies, subtle peat and smoke, herbaceous, fresh tobacco, a malty tropical note.
Palate:  Fruit forward with apple, pears, mangos, other tropical fruit with a subtle earthiness, honey, toffee and a chili spice.
Finish:  Moderate in length with a lingering chili spice and smoke.
Comments:  This is quite nice, especially for 40% ABV. The nose on this is as complex as any Johnnie Walker I can recall (in fact trying this side-by-side with Johnnie Walker Blue Label, I preferred the nose on this). This might be my favorite Johnnie Walker to date. A lovely, fruity, spicy dram!

Rating: Stands Out/Must Try

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Compass Box No Name Vol 2

/ / Review, Scottish Whisky / ,

Compass Box No Name Vol 2
Blended Malt Scotch Whisky

48.9% ABV
$150
Website
Compass Box No Name Vol 2

What the Blender Says

A serious, uncompromising smoky experience.
For this, the second Limited Edition of the No Name series, we’re again allowing the whisky to speak for itself. Still very smoky indeed, there is a new depth and delicacy. To borrow a musical analogy, No Name was peat as power chord; No Name, No. 2 has brought some harmonics to the party.

Built around an elegantly smoky Islay malt matured in refill Sherry butts, the second peated whisky we have used comes from the Isle of Skye. To these we added some old and ethereal single malt whisky from the Northern Highland village of Brora and just a dash of malt whisky finished in new French oak to add an underlying richness.

Bottled at 48.9% Not Chill-Filtered, Light 5 Micron Filtration, Natural Colour, Lead Whiskymaker: Jill Boyd
No Name, No. 2 will transport you straight to the peat bogs and malt kilns of Scotland’s West Coast. Weighty on the palate, hugely complex and concentrated, No Name, No. 2 also introduces a degree of delicacy. Our second whisky in the series offers an elegant mix of dried fruit notes, reminiscent of red cherries, and even a floral quality.

Those who snapped up No Name, and who are familiar with The Peat Monster, will love this latest exploration of the smoky whisky spectrum. No Name, No. 2 proves that peat is far from one-dimensional.

DISTILLERY SOURCING
Smoky single malt whiskies from the Caol Ila Distillery on Islay, and from the Talisker Distillery on the Isle of Skye.  Fruity malt whisky from the Clynelish Distillery in the Northern Highlands. A proprietary blend of Highland malts, aged in French oak, typically from the distilleries of Clynelish, Teaninich and Dailuaine.

AVAILABILITY: Release of 8,802 bottles worldwide.

FLAVOUR DESCRIPTORS: Highly complex peatiness and smokiness, accented by delicate cherry fruit notes. Full and concentrated on the palate, an interplay of peaty flavours develops throughout the long, satisfying finish.

What Gary Says

Nose:  Honey glazed chicken barbecued and smoked over a peat fire, grilled peaches, pears, pineapples, cherries, ashy campfire with hints of seaweed.
Palate:  Thick mouthfeel with sweet honey with cherries, peaches and baked apples that sharpens with fresh cracked pepper and smokey spice notes.
Finish:  Long, waxy with honey, lingering fruit notes and peat.
Comments:  Compared to No Name Vol 1, this has more fruit and nuance. Both are delicious pours, but if given the choice between the two I’d have to go with this one. A bit of water smooths the edges a bit without diminishing the fruit and mouthfeel. Really lovely blend and balance for lovers of Islay peat and smoke.

Rating: Must Try/Must Buy

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Compass Box No Name Vol 1

/ / Review, Scottish Whisky /

Compass Box No Name Vol 1
Blended Malt Scotch Whisky

48.9% ABV
$130 – $150
Website
Compass Box No Name Vol 1

What the Blender Says

For this, our peatiest whisky yet, we have decided on No Name.
The idea for this limited edition was sparked by the discovery of a parcel of casks of mature, heavy-peated single malt whisky from a well-known distillery located along Pier Road, in the Southeast of the island of Islay.

This whisky was given NO NAME to let the whisky speak for itself. It is massive in terms of the intensity and complexity peatiness, but tempered with hints of fruit character and an underlying sweetness.

The recipe is primarily sourced from the Pier Road distillery. The tempering single malt is from the Islay distillery in Port Askaig, with its more elegant, restrained peaty malt whisky.

To add dimension, fruit character and an ethereal element, we have added a small portion of malt whisky from a much-loved distillery in the Northern Highlands village of Brora. We finished things off with just a touch of malt whisky finished in French oak, providing a lovely underlying sweetness and richness.

AVAILABILITY: Limited Edition release of 15,000 bottles worldwide. Bottled September 2017.

FLAVOUR DESCRIPTORS: A bonfire-like smokiness on the nose with a peatiness that is by turns tarry and medicinal with hints of autumn leaves. A powerful smokiness and peatiness follow, accented by hints of ripe cherries, plums and spice.

What Gary Says

Nose:  Peat fire on the coast with sea salt, smoked meat and dried seaweed, bit of tar, hints of vanilla and honey just under the smoke.
Palate:  Sweet with peat and medicinal notes, pepper spice bite that fades into tropical fruit, bit of crème brûlée with nutmeg dusting.
Finish:  Moderately long with smoke and subtle fruit notes.
Comments:  On the nose this is clearly Ardbeg, and made me think more of an independent bottling of Ardbeg than a blend of any sort.  With some time in the glass it opens up a bit more and unveils the complexity within. The palate is a bit of a roller coaster – starting sweet, then a bit of a harsh bite that then fads into more gentle spice notes. My first sip I wasn’t terribly impressed with – thought it was too much Ardbeg (which I enjoy), but letting it sit helped it more than most.  A few drops of water also really open it up.

Rating: Must Try

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Laws Whiskey House San Luis Valley Straight Rye Whiskey Bonded 6 Years

/ / Review, Rye Whiskey /

Laws Whiskey House Bonded 6 Years
San Luis Valley Straight Rye Whiskey

50% ABV
$75
Website
LAWS Whiskey House Straight Rye Whiskey Bonded 6 yr
We would like to thank Laws Whiskey House and RadCraft for sending us a sample to review.

What the Distillery Says

Laws Whiskey House is a grain-to-glass distillery in Denver, Colorado that applies a “there are no shortcuts” philosophy to each batch of whiskey produced. Each batch is milled, cooked, fermented, distilled, and aged on-site, utilizing heirloom grains from family-owned Colorado farms. The practice of open air, on-grain fermentation captures the essence of Colorado’s terroir while the copper pot-column still produces a robust, grain-forward style of whiskey.

This expression hails from the San Luis Valley rye grain of a single season, shaped by us as the single distiller, then aged in our federally-bonded rack house for over six years.  Starting in April 2020, Bonded SLV Rye will be available in 15 states throughout 2020.

Tasting Notes: Sweet grass with honey and brine on the nose, cooling notes of wild mint and fennel, followed by deeper accents of sea salt, orange tee, and brown sugar on the palate. Finishes with a rich and buttery mouth feel accompanied by tobacco notes.

Mash Bill: 95% heirloom rye; 5% heirloom malted barley (all grown in Colorado)

Aged over six years in new, 53 gal, charred oak barrels

What Gary Says

Nose:  Thick with lemongrass, mint, heather, bit of sea air, raw honey, touch of oak, hint of brown sugar and green tea ice cream.
Palate:  Rich and viscous (borderline syrupy) mouthfeel, orange marmalade on rye toast, vanilla, brown sugar, cinnamon, pepper spice, touch of mint, barley malt, and a hint of clove.
Finish:  Fairly long, wet, and thickly lingering with malty spice notes.
Comments:  This has one of the best mouthfeels on a rye that I can recall – really thick and rich; just coats the tongue. Not as sharp on the palate for a high rye mashbill as you might expect, and the barley seems to have more of an influence than I’d expect.  I get a lot more malty notes.  In fact, if tasting blind, I might have thought this was an interesting blend of straight rye whiskey with a single malt scotch.  All that aside, this is just a delicious whiskey – and a very nice bottle too; quite hefty.

Rating: Must Try

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Barrell Rye Batch 003

/ / Review, Rye Whiskey / ,

Barrell Rye Batch 003

58.35% ABV
$90
Website
Barrell Rye batch 003
We would like to thank Barrell Craft Spirits and Ro-Bro Marketing & PR for sending us a sample to review.

What the Blender Says

Rye Batch 003 is a blend of rye whiskeys from Indiana, Poland, Tennessee and Canada, all with distinct personalities and varying ages. We started with Tennessee Rye barrels with caramel and dried fruit notes and added the Polish Rye for its nuttiness and mouthfeel. We then carefully layered in 13-year Canadian Rye to bring out earthy notes of grass, spearmint and apple. The Indiana Rye was the finishing touch to highlight the candied fruit and spiciness you expect from a rye.

  • A blend of straight Rye Whiskeys
  • Distilled and aged in Indiana, Tennessee, Poland, and Canada
  • Selection of 4 to 14-year-old barrels
  • Crafted and bottled in Kentucky
  • 116.7 proof cask strength bottling

FLAVOR NOTES
Cinnamon donuts lead into earthy notes of walnut, leather, and fallen leaves. Subtly fruity, with hints of white currant and honeydew melon peeking out over the classic rye spice of angelica, catnip and black licorice.

Neat
Appearance: A clear auburn with fiery orange highlights.
Nose: Sweet and earthy, like Indian pudding, halva, and shortbread. That theme is carried forward by corn sprouts, clay pots, honey, almonds, brown sugar and graphite weaving in and out. This is buoyed by bright and acidic kiwi, gooseberry, lemon curd and black cherry clafouti.
Palate: The high proof is tempered by rich peanut butter and a moderate sweetness that carries forward notes of molasses, coconut milk, and sweetened green tea. The relatively modest amount of tannin belies the oaky-driven flavors of pine resin, juniper berry, ginger and leather.
Finish: Holds the earthy theme, beginning with gentian, chewed cigar and mesquite smoke. As it grows gentler, some sweet cream and coconut take over and leave a lingering salty note.

With a splash of spring water
Aromatic spices are unleashed, showing cinnamon churros, mace, and cumin. A deep umami character slowly evolves, resembling red beans and button mushroom. As the alcohol is pushed back on the palate, dessert notes of carrot cake and hefeweizen rush forward before fading out to be replaced by black pepper on the finish.

What Gary Says

Nose:  Notes of pine with wintergreen mint, bit of caramel, orange and lemon with cinnamon, ginger, a hint of clove and freshly cracked pepper.
Palate:  Rich and warm with a creamy mouthfeel, fruit cake with bits of toffee and a cinnamon icing, citrus zest, subtle chocolate, clove, ginger, and a bit of pine.
Finish:  Long and drying, with an earthy and a tad savory chocolate orange note.
Comments:  This is a really delicious whiskey, with some unique notes I don’t see a lot of. Again, props to whomever does their tasting notes – I didn’t get all of that, but they really hit home on several notes (like molasses & sweetened green tea). I asked about how they approach purchasing barrels (this one in particular was intriguing to me, as I’d never had Polish rye that I can recall), and they explained that when purchasing barrels they look for barrels that have uniqueness and complexity, that can be used in a single barrel or a component to a product like this. They also do buy barrels with the intent to age further (so not just buying what is there and blending upon receipt). Another example of blending done really well.

Rating: Stands Out/Must Try

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