Reviews

Four Roses 2016 Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon Review

Photo courtesy: Four Roses

One of the more anticipated fall bourbon releases is Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batches.  Four Roses produces 10 distinct bourbon recipes using two different mash bills and five different strains of yeast.  If you want to learn more about each recipe, visit the distillery’s website.  Their standard Small Batch is made up of four of the ten recipes.  This year’s Limited Edition is comprised of three: a 12-year-old OESO, 12-year-old OBSV, and 16-year-old OESK.  Also of note is the proof.  Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch bourbon is bottled at cask strength of 55.9% abv, or 111.8 proof.  Only 9,258 bottles will be available in the U.S. market.  Let’s get to it.

On the nose, cinnamon apples and spice cake waft out of the glass first.  They are followed by burnt orange peel, toffee and a touch of tobacco.  I love the journey this whiskey takes you on.  First, there’s an initial burst of sweet caramel.  Then, the spices ramp up – cinnamon, clove, and cayenne pepper.  Next a vanilla creaminess quenches the fire, so to speak.  Finally, the long finish is full of sweet orange candy and some rye sharpness.  There’s lots going on here.

Master Distiller Brent Elliott came up with a great combination of ages and recipes for this year’s lucious edition.  It’s different from last year’s solid release, showing these guys can make lots of quality whiskey.  Very well done.  I don’t have to tell you to pick one up if you see it.  You already knew that.  9/10

Thanks to Four Roses for the sample.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Lagavulin 25-Year-Old 200th Anniversary Single Malt Whisky Review

On the bicentennial of (legal) distilling at Lagavulin, the Islay distillery has released a sumptuous 25-year-old expression to celebrate.  This one pays homage to its distillery managers, including current Distillery Manager Georgie Crawford.  All who have proudly filled that position have their name and years served printed on the bottle.  As for the whisky itself, it’s matured in sherry casks and bottled at cask strength (50.9% abv).

At 50.9% abv, Lagavulin 25 comes in surprisingly mellower than expected in the nose in that there is no alcohol vapor getting in the way of lucious aromas.  Smoked pineapple & mango, slightly burnt toffee, some sherried fruit and a touch of Caribbean rum funk make up the majority of the nose.  Those lovely peaty notes are also present, albeit in a more integrated manner and not as heavy as say the 8- or 12-year-old expressions.  A little airtime also reveals Danish pastry, or some sort of sweet bread and spice.  On the palate, Lagavulin 25 features sweet ripe mango, sherried malt, spice, freshly squeezed mandarin orange and a nice herbalness over a soft bed of wood smoke and cured meat.  With a peated whisky of this age, the smoky characteristic has had time to mellow out.  There’s a richness here not normally found in the standard 16-year-old expression.  We can thank those sherry casks for that.  The finish is long and a tad spicy, leaving behind a pleasant sweet & smoked malt note alongside a sprinkling of orange zest.

We have upon us what I describe as one of the greatest whiskies I’ve had the pleasure of tasting.  Yes, it’s rare (8,000 bottles worldwide) and expensive ($1,200 a bottle) and most of us will never have the chance to try it.  Nonetheless, Lagavulin 25 is a magnificently rich and well-aged expression of the Islay distillery that earns my highest mark to date on this blog.  9.75/10

Thanks to Diageo for the sample.  As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Whoop & Holler American Whiskey Review

Photo courtesy of Diageo.

Photo courtesy of Diageo.

There seems to be a trend in American whiskey nowadays that favors old age statements.  The thinking that “older is better” still floods the minds of many whiskey drinkers.  Diageo reacted to this demand for old American whiskey by creating the Orphan Barrel brand.  All of its releases, except the Gifted Horse, have been at LEAST 15 years of age.  Their oldest, Old Blowhard, was a staggering 26 years old.  The thing to know about Orphan Barrel releases is that oak is going to be a major player.  If you’re okay with lots of oak in your whiskey, chances are you’re a fan of Orphan Barrel.

The brand’s oldest release to date, and the oldest American whiskey I’ve ever heard of, is Whoop & Holler, a 28-year-old American whiskey distilled at the George Dickel distillery.  It most certainly underwent Dickel’s charcoal filtering prior to barreling.  So why isn’t this a Tennessee whisky?  My best guess is it was at least partially aged in Kentucky at Diageo’s Stitzel-Weller warehouses.  Once it leaves Tennessee for maturation, it can’t be called Tennessee whisky.  Whoop & Holler is a one-time release, priced around $175 a bottle.

So, 28 years, huh?  The general consensus among whiskey distillers is that American whiskey hits its sweet spot between 8 and 12 years old.  That age range means there is balance between the spirit and the barrel.  The barrel begins taking over the spirit in the flavor department after that.  Sure, there are exceptions to every rule.  Refer to Elijah Craig 21, Pappy Van Winkle 20, Sazerac 18 and most George T. Stagg releases.  Even in the Orphan Barrel camp, their excellent 22-year-old Lost Prophet is a deliciously enjoyable bourbon.  So… how does a 28-year-old American whiskey taste?

I can best describe the nose as dominantly old oak and cedar.  That second part reminds me of an old leather coat hanging inside of a wooden closet.  Dark fruit, apricot marmalade and burnt orange peel play around in the background.  On the palate there is an initial sweet blast of bittersweet fruit and black cherry cola, soon developing into leather, tobacco, and burnt caramel.  Oak tannins quickly take over, providing an astringency alongside spicy black peppercorns and dusty oak.  The finish is short, dry and dominated by oak and some spice.  The whiskey has a somewhat thin mouthfeel due mostly to its low 42% abv.

For all intents and purposes, Whoop & Holler is a 28-year-old George Dickel.  I think Dickel’s 9- and 14-year-old expressions are wonderful.  The latter just begins to flirt with the oaky side of the line, but in an elegant way.  The recently released 17-year-old George Dickel was fine enough, and though it handled its age well for the most part, it was not as balanced as I’d like.  With Whoop & Holler, the barrel influence is just too overpowering.  My first tasting found nothing more than oak, oak, and more oak.  When I tasted the whiskey a day later to jot down notes for this review, the tiny bit of airtime worked wonders in slightly taming its oaky nature.  One thing of note is its low proof.  I think it’s low for a simple reason.  Any higher, and the oak dominance would be too much.

If you’re into really oaky whiskies, then Whoop & Holler is your dream whiskey taken up a notch.  Me?  A third taste didn’t improve upon my listed tasting notes.  There’s just too much oak here for my taste.  Orphan Barrel’s 26-year-old Old Blowhard was full of oak, but had some redeeming qualities that made it interesting to drink.  Whoop & Holler’s spirit, however, lost its battle with the barrel long ago.  

6/10

Thanks to Diageo for the sample!  As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.