Favorite Whiskey?

Yep, I think it's all hipster bullshit (no offence to the hipsters). Either it tastes good, or it doesn't. Now, maybe I'd go along with "This tastes like caramel.", but all this in-depth crap is exactly that...crap. In my opinion, of course.

 

you know, ive only been able to taste notes of with one friends dad. he will open up something pour it add some small amount of water or like club soda, but he also uses the correct glasses often and that may help too.

 

There is definitely some of that influence. The only times I've ever tasted blueberries in whiskey has been with bottles that have the color blue on them.

This is why I try to do blinds as often as I can. Takes some of that influence out.

That said There are definitely some unique flavors that exist, I've had total blinds at bars/meetups where I could pick out the distillery without any other input than the whiskey

 

if you sat and tried to pick out the notes you can pick them out. first time i noticed i could do it was with Cajuns Cut. you can smell marshmallow and caramel pretty distinctly, but for the taste i was only able to get Caramel.

still trying to train my palate though, i feel like it helps with the enjoyment of the whiskey as opposed to just guzzling it down

 

I’m personally limited to the following:
Caramel
Vanilla
Cinnamon
Miscellaneous cooking spices
Pepper
Various fruits or dried fruits
Musty dough
Oak
Honey
Maple

Anything more complex than that “freshly ground Slovakian green peppercorns”…”Wilson baseball mitt leather”…uh no

PS I have never tasted or smelled leather or tobacco in a bourbon pour.

 

i will say, i have smelled/tasted tobacco in the T-Moon whiskey i have. it's also a super smoky flavor

like punch you in the taste buds smoky

 

Oh fuck, you just made my day, I can’t stop laughing. Needed that, what a long stupid day this was.

 

So I was looking back at some old honeymoon photos from 2014 and apparently I bought my first bottle of RR back then. Literally had no idea I've had it before last year when I first started getting into collecting more. Now it's a staple in the bar.




That heavy ice though

 

I'll need to try this with my Bookers since I can typically only pull more distinct flavor with a little ice.

 

I do think they make up most of it. However, read between the lines; "fruit salad, lush nectarine, custard. Floral, apple blossom, honeysuckle. Apple peels, pear, touch of smoke". None of those come to mind when drinking it, but all those words together tell me it's on the sweet side and it has a bit of smoke lingering in the background. If it said "tire, hot asphalt, bandaids steeped in iodine" I would say I've never tasted asphalt, but it gives me a good idea of the flavor profile of a heavily peated Islay. Nasty stuff that, but you get the idea.

I will add, a lot of bourbons you definitely can identify corn and oak.

 

Couldn’t pull the trigger.

 

Did your ring camera take this photo

 

I taste it and I'm like yup it's burny lol

Only one I really tasted anything outside of some caramel notes was Skrewball I could 100% taste peanut butter.

 

So for the last month my county's ABC stores had been on bourbon drought. Usually there's a weekly drop of something unusual, but nothing interesting throughout November really.

Today I found out why.

 

As for tonight's dram...

 

Took a bit of a risk this week and bought a couple open bottles with most of the whiskey remaining. This at least prevents me from hoarding since they’re already open. Both were absolute steals.

The Master’s Keep 17 is absolutely delicious. Richly oaky in the very best oaky sort of way without being astringent. Nice syrupy body. And a really nice hint of freshly ground Slovakian green peppercorn on the finish, as one might expect.

The Four Roses smells fantastic, and is good but doesn’t taste quite as good as it smells. No floral bouquet on the nose but a fair amount on the tongue (which makes no sense). A little thin for my liking but still yummy.

This was a fun risk that paid off. And maybe it’s just WT101 and Four Roses Small Batch in fancy bottles.

 

which duty fwee?

 

I remember going to Wilson’s Leather in the mall when that was a thing. It had a very distinct leather smell. Loved the smell of that store. I agree that I have never had that smell in a pour lol.