This blend is made up as follows: 45% 4 year-old rye whiskey from Vermont (aged in Vermont oak); 30% 5 year-old wheat whisky from Canada (aged in char #1); 25% 5 year-old barley whisky from Canada (aged in char #3). Bottled at 43% ABV.
Appearance – This Whiskey is mid Gold in colour, it beads up on the swirl line, and reluctantly drops thick legs whilst retaining some along the swirl line like syrup.
Nose – The first aroma to come to me on the nose is oranges, lemons and cherries, not zesty citrus rind though, more of a warm orange/lemon based drink. There’s a gentle spice here too, mixed with grains/ cereals, eucalyptus and chocolate also. There are also notes of linseed oil, old style glazing putty, wood varnish and walnuts. After it’s sat for a while there is a dusty note, along with dandelion and burdock.
Palate – The palate starts off with similar notes to the nose, but then it changes, now I get the flavour from licking a battery as a kid, and for the first time I can taste the smell of copper tube, as I’m a plumber by trade it’s an aroma I know very well. There is ginger here, nuttiness, the dandelion and burdock is now on the palate, with vanilla, butterscotch and it’s a little drying too.
Finish – The finish is medium in length, there’s more drying, almost cloying, with cherryade, more nuttiness, flat cola, linseed oil and a touch of salinity.
My thoughts – I keep thinking to myself “what a weird Bourbon”, then I remember, “oh yeah it’s not a Bourbon”, and I have to say that this really does stick out as unusual to me, there are flavours I do like, though I think many might find it “too metallic” in nature, but the drying is just too much for me, I’m not a fan of drying, and this whisky in my humble opinion is very dry.
Would I buy a bottle? – Sadly this time it’s a no. There are parts i like, but others I don’t, and I’d say it’s a 50:50 balance for me, not enough in it for me to buy a bottle.
Pic credit – The Whisky Exchange.
