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Hazelburn 10 Year
Hazelburn is one of three brands of Scotch from the Springbank Distillery. While the other two, the Springbank and Longrow have medium and heavy peat profiles, the Hazelburn is the unpeated, triple distilled version within their portfolio of whiskies. Let’s check out this Hazelburn 10 Year together….
Thomas S. Moore Bourbon Finished in Cabernet Sauvignon Casks
We will be tasting another release from Thomas S. Moore, this time the Cabernet Sauvignon finish. These bourbons were first aged for 5-6 years in the traditional American Oak casks and then underwent an “extended cask finish” for up to 4 additional years, making the unofficial age statement in the 9-10 range (plus or minus). I liked the Chardonnay Cask Finish, but thought it was a little overpriced, let’s see how the big bold Napa Cab interacted with the core 1792 bourbon.
Cardhu Gold Reserve Single Malt Game of Thrones: House Targaryen
In honor of this past weekend’s debut of House of the Dragon on HBO, we have a special review for one of the bottles from the Diageo Game of Thrones Scotch series, which came out a few years ago. This, of course, is the House of Targaryen bottle, a Cardhu Gold Reserve. Warning, this review may be combustible…
1792 Aged 12 Years
We have taken a sip of the 1792 Small Batch and Single Barrel releases so far, but we got our hands on a bottle of the 12 Year old, let’s see how this “premium” release matches up with the more affordable staples….
George Dickel Bottled in Bond Aged 13 Years (distilled in Spring 2007)
Heading back to Tennessee to try a George Dickel Bottle in Bond. I remember liking the 11 year old release back in 2020 so let’s see how the 13 year old released in 2021 sips….
BenRiach Aged 16 Years
Next up is a BenRiach 16 Year Old. I have done a couple of reviews on BenRiach before, the Smokey 12 was actually the first review I posted and I did another that was a SMWS release. I enjoyed both and thought they were both aptly priced for the tasting experience. Let’s see how this fares….
Putnam Rye & Putnam Rye Red Wine Barrel Finish
In honor of Father’s Day, the next review is for Putnam Rye made by Boston Harbor Distillery. I first had this bottle when my wife took me to the distillery for a tasting on my first Father’s Day after my oldest was born…On the 6 year(ish) Father's Day anniversary of my first visit, I thought it appropriate to do a double tasting of the rye and rye finished in red wine barrels….
Jack Daniel’s Gentleman Jack
Next up is Gentleman Jack made by the iconic Jack Daniels. I know I'm supposed to give deference to good old King Jack, but, oh well…..
Penelope Bourbon Toasted Barrel Series Barrel Strength
This next review is for Penelope Bourbon Toasted Barrel Series Barrel Strength Whiskey which already gives us a lot to unpack just from the name. This is a new label which is blending and bottling MGPI Bourbons. I had a lot of strong feelings about this one…
Westland American Single Malt Cask No. 2548
Our next review is on a store pick, the Westland American Single Malt Whiskey Cask No. 2548 which I purchased from Gordon’s Wine in the Greater Boston area. I try to limit my store picks to liquor stores who I know have good taste as I have been burned a few times on others, but Gordon’s tends to pick some good ones. I’ve had this bottle for a bit and finally decided to crack it open for a tasting.
Glenfarclas 105 Cask Strength
The last Bottle Kill Week review is Glenfarclas 105 Cask Strength. This was my first Glenfarclas and it was recommended to me by someone whose whiskey tastes I highly respect. I had been eyeing a few of their bottles for quite some time so I was easily persuaded to check out this release.
Thomas S. Moore Kentucky Straight Bourbon Finished in Chardonnay Casks
Thomas S. Moore Kentucky Straight Bourbon is a newer whiskey on the market from Barton 1792 Distillery, sister distillery of Buffalo Trace, all under the Sazerac umbrella. This newer series released three Bourbons with an “extended cask finish” in Port, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Chardonnay wine casks. According to the labels, these bourbons were aged “many years” and then finished for “several more years”. Typically, you see “finishing” for 6-12 months, so having something finished for “many years” should impart more of the wine cask elements to the final product. We will be reviewing the Chardonnay finished version of this series. While I do love me a nice port finish, I wanted to try something new, and Chardonnay finished bourbons are not that common. So here we go.
Green Spot Irish Whiskey Finished in Zinfandel Wine Casks
The Green Spot Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey is a nice little Irish Whiskey with a long history. My first bottle(s) of it were purchased 6-7 years ago and I burned through them pretty quickly. This particular expression was finished for 12 months in Zinfandel wine casks from Chateau Montelena, a Calistoga, Napa Valley, vineyard. The Green Spot is a NAS whiskey blended from 7-10 year old ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks. According to Vivino, Montelena’s Zinfandel is bold with lots of oak, vanilla, and both black and red fruits. I no longer have the regular Green Spot to use as a baseline, but let’s see how this one goes….
Glen Moray Elgin Classic Port Finish
This is the final review (for now) on my lower price point whisk(e)y reviews. We have explored bourbon, rye and Irish thus far, so now it is time for a single malt Scotch. In an attempt to keep it an apples-to-apples comparison, I selected another $30 bottle to see how a single malt matches up at that price point.
Glenmorangie “A Tale of Winter”
Glenmorangie A Tale of Winter is the 2nd release of their “A Tale of…” Limited Edition releases. I’m doing this backwards by reviewing this one first, but it has been subarctic temperatures in the Northeast and what better time to crack a bottle named after Winter than when you are shivering…