Mizunara-Finished Irish Whiskey is vivid, but delicate with seamless depth. It is vibrant, fruity, and floral on the nose, enjoying a luxuriously smooth mouthfeel with notes of dark chocolate orange, sandalwood, and cinnamon synonymous with Mizunara whiskeys.
Sneaky Peat Whiskey Review
One of my favorite blended malts at any price is Johnny Walker Green, so when Sneaky Peat advertised itself as a Blended Malt with a bit of peat while being $15 cheaper, JWG became my instant point of comparison. Going into this tasting with that lens, I was pleasantly surprised with what I experienced while returning to the bottle over the course of a couple weeks. While I don’t find Sneaky Peat to be as complex as Johnny Walker Green, it is solidly in the same ballpark and just as good a value to me. The nose was on the weaker side but quite sweet and pleasant with pears and green apples combining with the malted barley. Faint campfire smoke brought along some sugar in the form of toasted marshmallow. The taste was silky smooth with a mouthfeel reminiscent of an Irish whiskey. The note of sweet, soft oak that joined the mild peat made me confident that few, if any, of the single malts were especially young and the sugar presented itself more like honeycomb and cocoa malt.
Bourbon 101 – A Primer for Bourbon Novices
View PostHeaven’s Door Master Blenders’ Edition Redbreast Collaboration Review
I’m someone who likes to try new things and enjoys seeing the results of experimentation. Because of that, I very well may have been curious enough to try this even at it’s steep price point had I not been sent this sample from Heaven’s Door. I’m a fan of Irish Whiskey generally, and Redbreast specifically, so to see a 10-year old bourbon finished in their casks and with the collaboration of their Master Blender Billy Leighton got me excited to crack it open. I’ll also give credit where its due and point out that Ryan Perry, the Master Blender at Heaven’s Door also surely pulled his own weight in selecting the sourced bourbon to include in this project.
Wonderland Distilling Cask Strength Review
Last October I reviewed the first whiskey offering out of Wonderland and really enjoyed it. I like it when smaller distilleries try to do their own thing, rather than try to copy the big boys and beat them at a game they’ve perfected. The idea of blending three straight whiskies together that are all aged separately is not 100% novel, but is unique enough to give the folks at Wonderland a niche in the market. The only critique I had in my review last year was that I felt it had been proofed down too far and that a bottling at 90-100 proof would allow it to really shine. I’m not sure if they were paying attention to little-old-me when they decided to create this cask-strength offering, but I certainly jumped at the chance to review it when given the opportunity!
The Dublin Liberties Copper Alley Review
You may have read my review of the 5-year offering from The Dublin Liberties, Oak Devil, and seen that I did not recommend it very highly (mostly as a result of it being overpriced for what it is). I don’t believe that to be the case here with Copper Alley. It has many of the stereotypical notes of a pot-stilled Irish Whiskey while also bringing some new things to the table as a result of its sherry-cask finish. Most notably, those sherry casks bring some interesting wine notes to both the palate and the dry finish, which I quite enjoyed.
The Dublin Liberties Oak Devil Review
I really enjoy Irish Whiskey and put them into roughly two categories where value is concerned. One of them is the cheaper, simple whiskies that I’d used for mixing with ginger ale, pouring over ice, etc., and the other is for richer, more complex whiskies that I’ll sip slowly and enjoy on their own. For me, Tullamore Dew and Writers’ Tears would be examples of the former that I immensely enjoy and Red Breast or Green Spot would be examples of the latter.
BenRiach The Original Twelve Review
I’ve had a hard time remembering a time when my tasting notes differed so widely from the brand’s own for a bottle I actually liked (usually when the difference is this great, it’s a dumpster fire). The sample bottle I received tasted simply like The Original Ten that had a couple extra years on it. I did not pick up virtually any of the sugar or dark fruit notes that a sherried whisky or one aged in port casks should impart. To the contrary, I found the finish quite tart and dry. That being said, I quite liked this bottle and wouldn’t want people to think that it’s not worth a taste. Of the non-smoked whiskies coming out of Benriach right now, though, I believe The Original Ten to be a better value.
Benriach The Smoky Twelve Review
If you’re reading this, you’ve most likely seen this bottle in the #3 spot of the Whisky Advocate Top 20 Whiskies of 2020 list and have come to Bourbon & Banter as your one-stop-shop for some honest feedback.
Here’s what I’ll tell you: this whisky is like drinking a very good, mildly-sherried scotch while someone across the room from you is smoking a cigar that you think you’d like the smell of it were closer. I do not say that to imply that this is a bad whisky: it’s not. While it’s Nose is only solid, the Taste on this is really something special, and the Finish is really unique and enjoyable.