u/Alternative_Car5193

I'm just gonna have to stop saying, "..and Rye's not really my thing." Admitting a truth to yourself is always the first step... right?

Got home late... too late to crack a new expression and go through the motions... so picked up some McDonald's and keeping it simple and delicious. Donald Rumsfeld would peg this as a "known known."

Rossville Union 6 and any lemon/lime soda... instant 🍋 💣, all night long and twice on Sundays. Cheers everyone!

I couldn't wait any longer... been dying to tear into these for a long time. Sagamore's Double Oak and Cask Strength Rye Whiskeys. So let's get to it... totally off the cuff.

First cracks, first thoughts; KBT's, 15+ minutes, etc. 💧💧💧 in between going back and forth.

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Nose:

DO: blood oranges, dark brown sugar, sweet oak (are you listening Kenny Coleman?) Carmelized char. Little ethanol... just a delicious aroma.

CS: vanilla, warm rye bread, definitely more ethanol to tickle the hairs. It's a considerably and noticeably lighter smell. We'll see how that pans out...

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Palate:

DO: interesting.. kind turns to the sour side, but not in a bad way. Kinda lemon rind, rye spice and white pepper. I want to say almost salty, but that's not it? Slightly metallic... weird. Tasty, but weird.

CS: holy crap.... that's a whole different ballgame! Sweet cinnamon/sugar toast... rye toast. More sweet oak... lemonade... damn, that's just delicious. Maybe some peanuts on the way down...

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Finish:

DO: short and sweet, little hug. No real new flavor notes other than those from the palate. Rye bread lingers.

CS: peanut shells, cinnamon without the sugar, heat and hugs... Maryland Hug? Drying dusty note cleans up the tongue. Makes you want to sip, and sip, and sip...

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Combined: yeah I couldn't resist with the last quarter ounce of each... Nose, just lots of oak now; Palate, yeah the DO is just overpowering those beautiful flavors of the CS. Just barrel char, bread flour, almost sourdough. Finish is just dry and not really encouraging. It was worth a shot.

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Final thoughts: well this wasn't a competition, but there's such a clear winner here that it boggles the mind.

DO: let me be fair... this is tasty and a perfectly servable rye. I don't think it's great neat, but I've had worse. I do think it's going to be great in light cocktails. 7.5 on the Volume Dial scale.

CS: hoe-lee chit... this has got to be one of those rye's that'll turn a bourbon snob to the Rye Side. If I didn't have to go to work tomorrow, I'd pour myself another dram right this minute. Sweet, delicious, drinks well below its proof (123) without losing the spices you expect from rye... I could go on and on. Put simply... this is just damn good whiskey. This one goes to 11.

Packaging: I would be remiss if I didn't mention the glass... these beautiful glass towers with gorgeous angles and heavy bases, embossed on the sides and bottom, with just outstanding labeling. Simply fantastic glass.

This was a fun one. I know that Sagamore's finally got a bourbon out there, and I pray to the gods that it's a core product that will eventually make its way to The PRO. If these two are indicative of what Maryland can produce... I'm all in and can recommend the Cask Strength 1000%

Cheers to all... hope everyone has a great weekend, all around the globe! 🥃🥃

Yet another bottle that I've had for a couple months, just waiting for a crack. Watched some U-toobers flip out about it last night, so I thought it sounded like a good reason to get it opened.

First thoughts... KBT, 15 minutes, neat/water/ice etc.

Nose: I keep trying, but I'm an hour into it and I still can't get past the ethanol wall. I know there's notes in there but I can't find 'em.

Palate: vanilla, rye spice, lots of oak. Frosting. Hugs the tongue for a good long while.

Finish: leather, warming, decent hug, dry lemons way way way on the back end.

With water: well, I don't know because I drank the whole pour neat.

So what does that say? I don't really know. Nothing really stands out about it, but rarely do i go through an entire pour neat unless it's got that "oh damn!" factor (Stagg, ER, Peerless DO, New Riff SBBP.) I will say I had a glass of ice water nearby (as I always do,) and it was really good, vanilla forward, with a sip of water first and then a sip of the juice.

So... hell I don't know what to say. It's good. Obviously a great sipper. It'll be interesting when it rolls around again. Otherwise... cheers! 🥃🥃

...given that I spent most of the day with smoke in my eyes. But I'm sure it's nothing compared to those fighting the wildfires... may God bless their souls and keep them safe.

On with the bottle... first crack, first thoughts:

Nose: sweet, dark brown sugar, caramel and oak. Deceptively little ethanol on the nose, masking what's to come with a false sense of security...

Palate: Holy Red Hots Batman! If you could take the gummie cinnamon red hots, liquify them and then dip your tongue in the sauce... you'd have this bourbon. Cinnamon all day long. And like so many spicy foods... the more you sip, the more you're palate gets used to it. Still... this is some hot liquid, but so delicious in that fire.

Finish: heat continues down the pipe, followed by more oak, tobacco, drying out at the end, which makes you want another sip. Some peanuts slide through there in the middle.

With water: some Limestone Water brings out that ethanol that was missing on the nose. The palate gets a higher note of lemony citrus riding the cinnamon. It's okay, but actually much better without the water.

On the rocks: brings down the heat, but brings down the fun. Still, there's some new notes there that feel like the beginnings of great cocktails.

Other thoughts: this is MGP at its finest. Between the Blue Corn and an exclusive mash bill for SH... this is great Colorado whiskey with a distinct character that would seem sure to satisfy anyone looking for delicious higher proof experience. Can't wait to see what this does with some bottle breathing.

(*last change: threw some Woodford Reserve Old Fashioned premix in, and a cocktail cherry... damn delicious, as suspected. )

Cheers to all... enjoy your evening/morning/day!

EDIT: OKAY, CLEARLY I SHOULDN'T HAVE EVEN BOTHERED TO POST THIS AFTER I ACCIDENTALLY DELETED MY 4 PAGES OF TASTING NOTES AND AN EXPLANATION OF WHY I FELT LIKE I SOMEHOW BLEW THE FLIGHT, AND THEREFORE COULDN'T INCLUDE THAT. MY APOLOGIES TO THE SPOT LOVERS OF THE WORLD. I WAS MAD AT MYSELF, NOT THE SPOTS. (BUT ALSO... NO WHERE DID I SAY I WOULDN'T TRY AGAIN. )

HAVE A GOOD WHATEVER.

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This just starts out as notes, but, well... you'll see.

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Or not. I just erased 4 pages of notes. Poof! Gone forever.

LOL... and I thought I was pissed off before.

Well, I guess just bullet points summary then:

* Green: was okay.

* Yellow: sucked.

* Red: no flavor notes other than "Irish Whiskey."

* Blue: didn't get there 'cuz I gave up at Red.

There was a whole page to explain my failure at this vertical, but it's gone, and I don't feel like rewriting it. Suffice it to say I'm giving up on Scotch and Irish for now. Maybe my palate's not sophisticated enough. Maybe I'm not sophisticated enough. Right now... I'm too mad to give a 🤬.

Plenty of unopened Bourbon, Rye, ASM & ALW left on the shelves to drink though... see you there.

Making up for yesterday's 'not knowing what day it was because I get so stressed out at work,' phuck-up. (Which turned out delicious anyway.)

This pic (or something similar with all 4 bottles) was originally going to be posted as "Finally, Finally... and FINALLY X2!" (Yep... I got two of the OGD.) I went through Remedy Liquor's DtC channel to get these after giving up any hope of ever seeing them here in The People's Republic of Oregon.

I highly recommend Remedy if you're comfortable ordering online. D/L the Shop app to tie into and track your orders. I've done two orders with them so far and find them quite satisfactory. Excellent packing and decent shipping times.

On to the pour... again, first crack, first thoughts:

Neat, KBT glass, 15 minutes, etc...

Nose: kind sweet and spicy (ethanol) at the same time.. interesting interplay. Oranges.. dark ones... blood orange. There was a strong peanut smell right out of the bottle, but it quickly disappeared.

Palate: okay... damn. Immediately, this reminds me of Benchmark Full Proof. This is a donkey punch in the face, but in the greatest possible way. This is hot, spicy, black pepper and cinnamon and fresh ground cloves. First thought is "wow I can't do this straight," immediately followed by taking another sip... and another... and another...

Finish: goes down easier than I would have expected. Lots of hugging... and quickly goes to the head. Very... quickly. Otherwise some nice oakiness, all the spices have intermingled, and it just seems very satisfying. This is a great Rye... and Rye is not my main gig.

With water: using my usual Kentucky Limestone Water, a few drops (well, what comes after a few? A couple few?)... anyway... it opened this up quite nicely. Just enough proofing down to make it entirely sippable and a great bourbon alternative.

Other thoughts: also like the BFP, this is probably going to be amazing in cocktails. All the ass kicking you could want to punch through, but with quality flavor to back it up. This is my first Sazerac Rye, and after reading lots of reviews and comments, I knew I wanted to go straight to the Full Proof without eff'ing around with the 90 that's common here in the P.R.O. I'm very glad that I chose that path. Damn good juice!

Anyway... just about finished my pour now, and feeling damned comfortable I must say. Hope you're all having a great Saturday night (or Sunday morning,) as I'm looking forward to my weekend on Monday. Cheers to all!

But, I already poured it, and so far no regrets. We'll do Friday Ryeday tomorrow.

First crack, first thoughts...

Nose: sweet, lots of caramel, easy vanilla pickup. Corn with an extended wiff, so.... caramel corn. Nice.

Palate: sweet, but hot. This is probably the spiciest BiB I've had so far. White pepper coats the tongue. Standard bourbon flavors, but i can't pick out much else. Nothing wrong here though... this is definitive Bourbon.

Finish: great Kentucky Hug. Warm, coating... kinda just ties your throat and tongue together for one long slide. Some lemon way way on the back end.

Pretty damn good as a sipper. Fantastic after an eff'ed up day at work. These kind of expressions just make me long for winter and getting warmed up with a nice pour.

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend, and cheers to all! 🥃🥃

I was sick last night. I was very sick this morning at 3 am. I was horribly sick right before coming home from work, and while munching on something in the car, I could tell my taste buds were way off kilter... so I'm passing on the vertical until I'm back to normal. Don't want to waste the experience, right?

That does NOT mean, however, that i can't work on a bottle kill. A double Old Fashioned felt like the perfect answer.... and it was. Tasty as hell. Might even have a Penelope Blackberry pour after dinner. It's my Friday. Cheers to everyone!

well, not yet anyway.

So while I'm at work, I want to take a poll, as to what the proper 'verticle' order should be.

If you go by age, the Blue would come 1st, because it is strictly 7 years, while Green is blended between 7 to 10 year old whiskeys; followed of course by Yellow and Red.

If you go by the Spot website... then Green comes first, as it is there 'core product,' followed by two other Greens (which I'm excluding,) and then Blue, Yellow and Red.

And lastly... some have suggested that Blue should go last, based on its ABV/proof.

So while I'm at work... waiting for 6 pm to roll around... I would love to hear your suggestions for the "right proper" Spot flight order. I already know what I'm going to do in my head... but what say you?

And boy did I need it. What a suckass, stressed out day. So glad it's over 😌

So here we are with the Pikesville, a rye so overwhelmingly recommended here late last week. I have some other ryes that I'm just dying to crack open, but this seemed to be the immediate choice, plain and simple. Let's get crackin', shall we?

Nose: very nice. Dark orange, maybe blood orange. Some ethanol but well integrated. Just a bit of unsweetened chocolate.

Palate: well, this certainly brings the heat right up front. Loads of fresh ground black pepper, rye bread chips (like the ones in chex mix.) There's some other notes I'm sure, but it all seems very spice heat forward. Not unenjoyable by any means, but it does start making me immediately think of cocktails.

Finish: medium, nice hug, pepper hangs on the tongue... wraps up nicely with some tangy citrus notes.

With water: a few drops of Kentucky Limestone Mixing Water and you subdue the heat, but only just a tad. Pretty much changes nothing.

I skipped the ice and I'm just sipping at this point, with a cola on the side and a plate full of pizza, which it pairs with amazingly well. It's a perfectly peppery meal.

All in all I can understand the appeal this garnered. But honestly I can't wait to try some old fashioned mixes with this... seems like it just wants to go down that road.

Cheers to all, and have a great weekend!

So, tomorrow's Friday Ryeday, and my next hop across the pond is going to be a vertical (hopefully it will be.. Spot on; ) so not wanting to interrupt that, I thought I'd just pick something from the (too) many unopened bottles for tonight's pour. And for the sake of fun, this time I let OnlyDrams "pick my pour."

And so here we are with Bulleit Bottled in Bond, KSBW. I picked this one out a month or so ago because it seemed like a juice that Bulleit authentically distilled and age and bottled themselves. And to be honest, I don't know enough about Bulleit's history to make any informed comments about any other expressions, but I know there have been controversies. Anyway... let's get on with it already!

First pour, so first thoughts:

Nose: "wow... this smells great." Just wandered around, doing other things, with this in my hand and smelling it over and over. Vanilla, caramel, something fruity...

Palate: grapes! I know something else I have had that note, but I haven't tasted it in much of anything. Vanilla, grapes, little bit of sweet oak, pretty sweet in general. This is very tasty 😋

Finish: short and sweet... literally. Heat on the back end, little bit of dusty peanuts, cinnamon spice left on the front of the tongue.

With water: and here's where this just takes off! For water, I use Kentucky Limestone Water (get the 4 pack from amaze-on,) and added just a few 'drops' to maybe half my 1.5 oz pour. Took another quick nosing, and wow... the vanilla and caramel, and now nougat were just front and center. The palate confirmed the suspicion... Milky Way bar all the way. Chocolate, vanilla, caramel, nougat. Just absolutely delicious at this point, and really no point in going further.

So yeah... what a pleasant and tasty surprise this little diversion turned out to be. I know there's lots of Bulleit fans in here, as well as plenty of detractors... but if you haven't tried their Bottled in Bond, I believe you owe it to yourself to give it a shot. Pun intended!

Hope you all have a wonderful and peaceful night! Cheers to all... 🥃🥃

..after the MFC experiment, was to stick with another Corn Whiskey, and an Oregon one at that. I've had this for awhile (like so many others,) but am only just now getting around to opening it.

This is pretty simple.

Nose is vanilla and corn bread all day long.

Palate is light Karo syrup... without the viscosity.

Finish is pepper, sweetness that borders on too much.

So, much like MFC, this is kind of a one trick pony, which is not to say that's necessarily a bad thing. You can sip these drams neat, and even enjoy them... IF you're in the mood for their particular brand of uniqueness.

On the other hand... they also kind of scream "mix me!" So, I obliged and put some lemon lime soda in what was left in my glass. Sweet lemons!

Cheers everyone!

Maybe not "challenged," but recommended for certain. All I'll say is... "Maybe I can see what you're saying, but that doesn't mean I understand it... or agree with it."

Perhaps a better root beer. Barqs... or Henry's. Yeah... Henry Weinhard's Private Reserve would probably bring this home. We'll see...

Still hanging out with the British Isles products, tonight we turn to Ireland to see what they have to offer the whiskey world, or at least... my meager collection.

Without necessarily doing a deep dive into research, what reading and recommendation hunting I did do inevitably led me right here, by an overwhelming majority. Redbreast 12 is hands down the No.1 recommended entry point into Irish Whiskey, (again, at least by my estimation.) So, here we go...

First pour, so first thoughts:

Nose: mild, pleasant, subtle orange peel. No ethanol whatsoever. One of the rare moments when I can stick my whole schnozz in the glass for a deep whiff.

Palate: subtle. This is the operative word here. Citrus... now more lemon, but still hints of orange; basic (fundamental?) whiskey notes. I don't like using this word, but this is... very approachable.

Finish: finally some heat on the swallow, fades fast. No real hug, but there's definitely that certain something that makes you want to keep sipping.

With water: brings out some pepper.

On the rocks: lemons come back, pepper turns white. Almost a little bit of salt on the tip of the tongue, especially on the finish. That's a real curious note. Subtle but absolutely noticeable.

Well... that was different, but in a much better way. Entirely drinkable, right from the first sip. Kind of feels like the first revisit should go straight to rocks, without that water added step. I sense that that's going to be a great dram.

Hope you're all having a wonderful evening... or morning... or whatever. Cheers to all!

Well it's been a week since my disappointing Glenmorangie "fist scotch ever" experience, so tonight I thought I'd try the only other Scotch I have, (not counting the little Glenmorangie 3 pack vertical of minis I bought.)

Been sipping on it for a good 30 minutes or so now... definitely more enjoyable than the G., albeit still very different than my beloved bourbons. It's almost like having two siblings that are polar opposites... you can tell they're from the same DNA (whiskey,) but one is generally sweet, and this one seems to run on the sour side. But at least this Classic Laddie seems to be an enjoyable sour.

Anyway, some first thoughts for this first pour:

Nose: smells very nice, light, floral again, maybe a tiny hint of lemon peel or something like it.

Palate: sour, white pepper, ethanol, something slightly acidic but not unenjoyable.

Finish: warm, drying, oakey, hints of citrus after a moment or two. Nice Kent... er... Nice Scottish hug.

With water: kind of just tones everything down, without revealing anything new.

This is one of those where at first I don't think I like it, but yet I keep sippin' on it and can't quite understand what makes me keep wanting more. I feel like ultimately, that's a good thing. It's challenging me in some way, and if that keeps me drinking it, then yeah... that's a good thing.

BTW... I do understand that this is NOT your typical Islay, peated single malt, and I'll keep that in the back of my mind.

I think I'd like to explore Speyside next. As always... suggestions are more than welcome. Budget would probably be between 50-150. Typically I'm more than willing to pay a little more for something if it's a well known benchmark for a specific variety of whisky, so really anywhere in that range is cool.

Anyway... blah blah blah.. I'm getting too chatty. Must be the 'Laddie! 😁 Cheers everyone!

A few weeks ago I posted a little ditty about make a simple Jack'n'Coke, and I got (jokingly) 💩 upon for using a can of regular coke. Lots of helpful suggestions to use Mexican Coke ensued, as well as to use various "better" expressions of Jack, including some of the Single Barrel bottles i already have on my shelf.

Well that didn't seem appropriate, (well maybe ill try just the basic SB with the black label... eventually,) plus I've been hearing a lot about how good these Bonded Series bottles are... so that seemed to be like the logical upgrade path to take, of course along with the real cane sugar mixer.

Last night I decided to start though by seeing if I would notice a difference in the standard drink, as opposed to using a HFCS coke like before. I wouldn't say it was life changing as some might have suggested... but it was definitely a more vanilla forward experience... and quite possibly LESS carbonated.

I almost think I would have to go get another can of regular coke, and then do a 'flight' of coke>MC>coke&jack>MC&Jack. Anything for science, right?

Anyway... looking forward to eventually cracking those Bonded expressions... especially the Triple Mash. Cheers to all!

I've been passing in Henry for months now... and have done so yet again. By a landslide... here was our poll winner. Thanks again to all who chimed in... I trust you all!

62 years old... never have I ever. Not blended, not single malt, no nothing. So here goes...

First pour, so first thoughts:

Nose: floral (first time I've used that description, but easy to pick up here,) tangerines, clover. (Three leaf, not four. 😉)

Palette: boy... I don't know. Must. Stale air. Oak, but not like bourbon or rye oak. Acetone.

Finish: more musty, dusty, drying. Sour going down. Some of that tangerine sneaks back in.

With water drops: hard to say, cuz that brought the hard swallow, massive alcohol burn straight down the throat, and minutes of coughing.

That's usually when the pour comes to a disappointing close. Just like the early pours of Jack SBBP. Damn.

Well, I guess I'll have to try again in a week or two. I really had high hopes for this, but the experience went sideways. Cheers to all anyway.