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| Hi, this is one of our (almost) daily tastings. Santé! |
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April 13, 2023 |
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A wild bunch of American whiskies, part dos
Remember the Jack Daniel's 'Triple Mash' easily won it yesterday, while I wouldn't have bet a kopeck (or any miniature of Macallan) on that! Let's see what we have today…
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Heaven Hill (40%, OB, USA, Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, +/-2022) 
I've never, ever tried this modest NAS version of Heaven Hill. With Scotch malts, the cheapest within a brand's range are seldom the worst, on the contrary (see Ardbeg, Springbank…) but is that true with bourbon too? Colour: gold. Nose: fully on custard and pancake, with a little sawdust, flour, nutmeg and cinnamon in the background. Nothing to get excited about this far, I would say. Mouth: sweet, okay, with some oak, some custard and some syrups. A touch of lavender/rye. Finish: short and a little oaky indeed. Nicer liquorice in the aftertaste. Comments: a little 'yawn' but it's probably very okay in cocktails. The bottle is lovely, though, but as they say in westerns, its more hill than heaven (do they say that in westerns indeed, S.?)
SGP:630 - 75 points. |
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Rebel Yell '100 Proof' (50%, OB, USA, Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey, +/-2022) 
My life with Rebel Yell has always been complicated, but then again, I haven't tried dozens of them. Colour: pale gold. Nose: this one's more floral, with a touch of lavender, then honeysuckle. There's an earthy touch too, a little honey, liquorice, nougat, caramel, fudge… It is actually very soft, despite the higher strength. With water: custard, popcorn, breakfast tea… Mouth (neat): starts nicely spicy but the oak is soon to take over. Too spicy and drying for me, this is almost plank juice to me, sticks your tongue to your palate so to speak, now water may help… With water: that rather worked. Nice oranges, marmalade, liquorice, lavender sweet brittle, cinnamon… But it remains a little astringent. Finish: medium. Some caramel, more violets, lavender and sweet peppers, more oak again in the aftertaste. Comments: a good one for sure, but malt drinkers may consider that it's 80% about oak, which is way too much (depending on the school you belong to). Pretty schismatic!
SGP:651 - 80 points. |
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Koval 'Rye' (50%, OB, USA, single barrel, for Kirsch Import, cask #5628, 2022) 
Do you remember Koval's Millet? We do! Colour: deep gold. Nose: but yes. Bicycle inner tube, thyme tea, sauna oils, fumes, orange jam (not marmalade), rye bread, earth, caraway and nutmeg, aquavit… With water: peppermint, caraway, gentian and new rubber. Hurray! Mouth (neat): sublimely floral, fruity and spicy, thick, syrupy, with notes of mizunara (I swear, your honour) and pine liqueur, plus something like pumpernickel liqueur. Which, obviously, couldn't exist. Un-boring American whiskey. With water: no changes, except that the cards got reshuffled, with the piney flavours now on top. Finish: long, on some kind of spicy, peppery and mentholy marmalade, with once again a piney signature. Comments: we have a new leader!
SGP:661 - 88 points. |
This one would make sense in this context… |
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FEW 'Rye' (50.5%, OB, USA, for LMDW Antipodes, single barrel special selection, cask #17.2723, 2022)
101° proof US, that's awesome. And whiskey from Illinois, that's awesome too. This baby harbours 70% rye, 20% maize and 10% malted barley. Colour: deep gold. Nose: it's a tie (not so fast, S.!) This FEW just noses rather sweeter, more on triple-sec, Grand-Marnier (Cuvée du Centenaire, of course), and consequently, less on oak spices and pinewood. I love it just as much. With water: eucalyptus wood. A walk in an eucalyptus forest in the end of August, say in Corsica. Mouth (neat): big thick boy, full of liquorice, small oranges, oak oils and genepy, verbena and wormwood. We need to bow, this oozes of wood technology fully mastered (If I humbly may). Some mentholated heavy honey, manuka, thyme, heather… With water: same, no changes. Finish: pretty long, and no changes either. We're using French water, so I suppose it went on strike. Comments: I should have mentioned moist gingerbread. Anyway, another glorious FEW and more proof that rye rocks – and yes, we know it is the cross and the banner to distil rye, even if this is not pure rye.
SGP:661 - 88 points. |
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Kentucky Bourbon 3 yo 2018/2021 (53.2%, Les Grands Alambics, USA, Birds Series, 162 bottles) 
If our friends selected such a young bourbon, they must have had their reasons. Colour: gold. Nose: dominant oranges, Jaffa cakes, orange blossom, fresh panettone, rather lavender honey (which isn't that spicy) and some raisined sweet white wine such as vin de paille (straw wine). I find it very interesting that a very young bourbon would take us to the wine world. With water: chalk! Chalk in bourbon, all right then. Mouth (neat): high rye proportion, I would suppose. Spicy cakes, loads of cinnamon, bitter oranges, marmalade, something flinty, rather a lot of pepper… With water: no changes. You could add a litre of our official Vittel – where's the cheque by the way, Nestlé? – it wouldn't move a millimetre. Finish: rather long, closer to the grains, with touches of varnish and some capsicum. That's the wood. Comments: most probably a little young, which feels towards the peppery finish and aftertaste. The rest is impeccable, to well-born souls, value does not wait for the number of years, says the adage.
SGP:651 - 85 points. |
I'm sure we should have tried the next one a few years ago already but WF moves in mysterious ways. Right, right… |
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Fine Tennessee Whiskey 15 yo 2003/2018 (49.6%, Whisky-Fässle, USA)
This should be Dickel. These ducks are so funny! Colour: full gold. Nose: zillion tons of custard, some mango purée, some polenta, and some yellow flowers, such as the usual dandelions and buttercups. It is not particularly complex, but as they say, what it does well it does brilliantly. Mouth: the nose was very okay but this extremely coconutty palate is in a different league. I'm not coconut's best friend but this time I'll bow. Some incredible coconut wine, with just some cracked pepper and a little orange liqueur in the corners. Do they grow coconut trees in Tennessee? Finish: a little 'too much' now, perhaps. Comments: great, you could make a perfect piña colada with one, you wouldn't even need any rum or any coconut milk, all you'd need would be pineapple juice. Good fun with this secret George Dickel from the tropics!
SGP:640 - 85 points. |
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