Probably Pass

Glenlivet Founders Reserve

/ / Review, Scottish Whisky, Speyside /

The Glenlivet Founders Reserve Single Malt Scotch Whisky
40% ABV
$45
Website
Glenlivet Founders
What the Distillery Says:
Inspired by our legendary founder George Smith, this whisky is an expression of both tradition and innovation.

Its creamy sweetness originates from the selective use of first-fill American oak casks, still so full of the Bourbon character their previous occupants left behind, and complemented by traditional oak casks. This sweetness contrasts wonderfully with the liveliness of zesty fruits, creating an expression that is worthy of its reserve status.

Colour: Pale gold
Nose: Citrus fruit, sweet orange
Palate: Zesty orange, pear, toffee apples
Finish: Long, creamy, smooth

There is a delicacy in the aroma that is infused with hints of citrus fruits, notably sweet orange. This sweet and fruity theme continues with notes of pears, zesty oranges and a hint of toffee apple, before a creamy, long and extremely smooth finish.

What Richard Says:
Nose: Grassy, citrus fresh, vanilla, and herbal throat lozenges.
Palate: Modestly sweet, grainy, and grassy but thin and uninspiring.
Finish: Malty fennel seed fading slow.
Comments: This latest No Age Statement line expansion by Glenlivet struggles to get traction in the line up. It’s very thin and doesn’t bring much to make you want to come back. It seems like a new Glenlivet to crush with soda if it wasn’t 50% more than the standard 12 year old. Skip the Founders Reserve and just get the 12 or 15 year olds.
Rating: Probably Pass

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Shieldaig Highland

/ / Highland, Review, Scottish Whisky /

Shieldaig Highland Finest Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky

40% ABV
$17.99 (Total Wine Exclusive)
Website
Shieldaig Highland Single Malt Whiskey

What the Retailer Says

Highlands, Scotland- From an island off of the Highland coast.This unique Single Malt brings the brine and smoke to a region known mostly for more delicate malts. Rich, complex and slowly matured. Best enjoyed straight up or with a cube or two of ice.

What Richard Says:

Nose: A hint of smoke with a more vegetal and briney backbone.
Palate: Dry, salty, and savory. It’s more than a little bland.
Finish: “Smooth” if you go for that kind of thing. Really it is uninspiring and leaves you with nothing to note.
Comments: This bottle (and Shieldaig brand) are bottled for Total Wine by Ian Macleod Distillers. This is typical of ultra low cost private label bottles. By that I mean unoffensive but unremarkable. If you need a super cheap scotch then this is probably as good as any other $18 bottle. But that doesn’t mean I would buy it.

Rating: Probably Pass

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Egan’s 10 Year Old

/ / Irish Whiskey, Review /

Egan’s Single Malt Irish Whiskey Aged 10 Years
47% ABV
$50
Website
Egans-Irish-Whiskey
What the Bottler Says:
While bourbon and Scotch get more press, Irish whiskeys have quietly become the fastest growing, barrel-aged spirit in America. They’re accessible, highly aromatic and loaded with an abundance of palate pleasing flavors. In addition, years of steadily increasing popularity have not significantly driven up their price, thus keeping them relative bargains.

Among the brands fanning the category’s popularity is recent arrival EGAN’S SINGLE MALT IRISH WHISKEY. Although new to the U.S. market, the whiskey can hardly be referred to as an overnight success. It actually represents a legacy of nearly 160 years. The founders established their firm on Bridge Street in the heart of Tullamore, County Offaly.

“For our initial foray into the American market we’ve selected a single malt that’s been barrel-aged for 10 years and bottled at 47% alcohol (94 proof),” says Jonathan Egan, 6th generation owner. “We firmly believe it to be one of the finest Irish single malts on the market. After a few minutes left alone with our whiskey, we’re confident that malt enthusiasts and aficionados will become lifelong fans.”

While I can’t speak for others, I’m convinced he’s right. The Egan’s Single Malt is bottled non-chill filtered, which leaves it unaltered and in full possession of its character. The whiskey has a fetching golden/amber appearance, a light, silky textured body and a generous fruit and malt bouquet. The longer you allow it to breath and fully oxygenate in the glass, the more of its engaging aromas will come forward. Egan’s has a slightly warm entry that quickly expands, filling the mouth with flavors of honey, malt, cranberries, apples and a bevy of baking spices. The long, dry finish reveals the added flavors of caramel and baking spices. With a price tag of under $50, it’s a virtual steal. Kudos

What Richard Says:
Nose: For a 10 Year old Cooley product the nose on this is more barrel forward. That lighter, grassy fresh, crisp apple Irish nose tucks itself way in the back behind the barrel.
Palate: Light, crisp, and fairly drinkable. I read somewhere that a fellow was referring to some of these rebranded Cooley malts as “relabeled Tyrconnell” or something to that effect. That’s fairly on par. I find this base whiskey to be unoffensive and fairly drinkable. However, in and of itself it does not leave much to bring you around for another go.
Finish: A little hotter than you would expect for an Irish whiskey of this age. It leaves you with impressions of wet wood and industrial solvents.
Comments: Meh. If this was $30 to $35 I would say average for a reasonably priced 10 year old Irish whiskey. Approaching $50 (and fortunately Matt bought this on sale) it’s an easy pass. There are a lot of whiskeys I would rather spend $50 on.
Rating: Probably Pass

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Old Hickory Straight Bourbon

/ / Bourbon, Review / ,

Old Hickory Straight Bourbon Whiskey
43% ABV
$39.99
Website
Old_Hickory_Whiskey_Straight_Bourbon_Bottle_300
What the Bottler Says:
Old Hickory White Label is a straight bourbon distilled at 86 proof, which is the traditional “Perfect Proof” preferred historically by American distillers. Created for modern whiskey cocktails and bourbon connoisseurs, Old Hickory White Label is rich and near mahogany in color. With intense spice and oak aromas, this bold whiskey is masculine and displays notes of cedar and gingerbread. The over-proof delivers a lingering finish of pie crust and sweet tobacco.

What Gary Says:
Nose: Young and thin, corn (but not as much corn sweet as I’d expect) and sour wood with a hint of anise.
Palate: Thin mouthfeel, young and more wood influence than I expected. Subtle sweetness with a hint of caramel and vanilla.
Finish: Fairly short and dry.
Comments: I tasted this before I read up on it, and based on taste alone – I figured this was under four years old, and possibly aged in smaller than 53 gallon barrels (as I get more wood for something fairly young). After researching further, I’m disappointed at the lack of transparency. First, the web-site states it was distilled at 86 proof. This could be true, but I doubt it – my guess is that it is bottled at 86 proof (big difference). I had to go to R.S. Lipman’s website to get a fact sheet, which spells out that this was distilled at “the historic Joseph E. Seagram’s facility in Lawrenceburg, IN” – which is another way to say this is MGP like many other NDP bourbons on the market. This isn’t a negative – MGP makes (and has made) some really solid whiskey! But Seagram’s went out of business in 2000, and the distillery has been owned by Pernod Ricard, CL Financial (who renamed it in 2007 to Lawrenceburg Distillers Indiana – LDI), and MGP Ingredients since 2011. Later they mention MGP (as they want to use the social responsibility, environmental health, innovations, etc that they list on their site), but I still find it disingenuous to not give them credit from the go. They state that the whiskey is aged a minimum of 4 yrs and “has stocks up to 7 years old”, and as the label has no age statement, it must be a minimum of 4 yrs old – although if there is 7 yr old stock included, I would suspect that is a very small amount.

Saying I was unimpressed would be an understatement. For 86 proof straight bourbon, I would be much happier with Evan Williams black label personally. And seeing the suggested retail price would make this an easy pass for me.
Rating: Probably Pass

What Richard Says:
Nose: Light and barely there. There’s a bit of corn and licorice in the back but little else.
Palate: Sweet. This is lacking depth of flavor. It’s basically just sweetness.
Finish: Light and forgettable.
Comments: Again, like the Old Hickory Blended Bourbon this isn’t bad per se. It’s really just a bland, uninspiring whiskey that would be fine for mixing if it wasn’t priced so high.
Rating: Average

We would like to thank Double Diamond Marketing & Communications for sending us a sample to review.

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Old Hickory Blended Bourbon

/ / Bourbon, Review / ,

Old Hickory Blended Bourbon Whiskey
40% ABV
$29.99
Website
Old_Hickory_Whiskey_Blended_Bourbon_Bottle_300
What the Bottler Says:
Old Hickory Black Label is a meritage of bourbon and whiskey distilled at 80 proof and blended to deliver classic flavors for traditional bar mixing or sipping straight. Amber in color, this crowd pleasing bourbon is bright and spicy with attractive aromas of cherry custard, pistachio gelato, and almond nougat. With a silky medium-to-full bodied taste, Old Hickory Black Label exhibits a tingling, engaging finish with lingering flavors of white toffee, dried cherry, and honey custard.

What Gary Says:
Nose: Young, malted corn and vanilla.
Palate: Sweet with a hint of malted chocolate and caramel, and a wisp of wood; very tame and “smooth”.
Finish: Medium, but forgettable.
Comments: Compared to the Old Hickory Straight Bourbon, I like this better – the nose has more balance and more sweetness; although the palate has little wood and is primarily sweet. Despite being a lower proof, this is darker as well. According to the back label, this blend is comprised of 89% whiskey aged 4 years; 11% minimum aged 2 years – which I do appreciate them putting right on the label. They list this as a blended bourbon, not a “straight bourbon”, which means it COULD contain flavoring or coloring. This is darker than the higher proof Old Hickory Straight Bourbon (which is 100% 4 yrs or older), so I would suspect this is the case.
Rating: Probably Pass

What Richard Says:
Nose: The nose comes out with a nice mellow creaminess that’s heavy on the corn. Sweet corn pudding with a little back note of vanilla and cinnamon.
Palate: Very smooth, mellow, and easy to swallow (not drink 😉 ).
Finish: It finishes a little hot but still pretty mellow.
Comments: First off, this comes in a very nice, solid bottle. Plus, there is an artificial cork. Regular Whisk(e)y Apostle readers will know that is a bonus for me. But putting a pig in a nice dress doesn’t make you want to take her to the dance. “Pig” is a bit harsh. There’s nothing wrong with this whiskey. There just isn’t much going on. Usually, when you read whiskey notes and you see “smooth” and “mellow” with not much else you can really read that as “bland” and “flavorless”. This isn’t that toned down but there’s really not a lot going on. This is not a slow sipper for the aficionado or the connoisseur. This is clearly more for the mixer and those who want “whiskey” but don’t really like the taste of whiskey. But at $30 it’s a bit too expensive for that. For those interested, this is an MGP made whiskey.
Rating: Average

We would like to thank Double Diamond Marketing & Communications for sending us a sample to review.

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