This is the second of three 21 year old Speyside single malts in this series. We started with the Glenfarclas 21 and will be following up with the Balvenie 21 Portwood. Let’s see how this stacks up against the Glenfarclas.

Glenfiddich 21

Age: 21 years

Abv: 80 proof

Color: A medium gold

Price: $179.99

Neat

Nose: Sweet and delicate with floral, fruity and honey notes.

Taste: Sweet honey notes and complimented by banana and warm spice with a decent mouthfeel given the low proof.

Finish: Long and dry with warm spice and malt notes.

1 Star - Good whiskey: I would choose to drink this over readily available whiskies

Conclusion

This was very good and pretty different from the rest of the Speysides I’ve reviewed so far. I like the notes the rum casks impart though I was a little disappointed with the proof drop from 86 to 80 from the 18 year to the 21 year. It was close call between this and the Glenfarclas 21 but I preferred the more traditional sherry notes of the Glenfarclas.

Overall it’s a great bottle but I don’t think it justifies the price jump from the Glenfiddich 18 year. That said, if you can find it on a decent sale it’s a solid pickup.

This the second review in a five part verticalish series on Wild Turkey bourbon comparing 5 of their relatively recent releases and one dusty against each other and my favorite Wild Turkey juice of all time: Moonshine Grill’s Russell’s Reserve pick.

We’re moving up from Wild Turkey 101 to Rare Breed.

Wild Turkey Rare Breed

Age: NAS

Abv: 116.8 proof

Color: A medium amber

Price: $42.99

Laser Code: LL/GH020357

Neat

Nose: Warm, sweet and inviting with brown sugar, vanilla and baking spice notes.

Taste: Sweet brown sugar and vanilla notes are balanced against warm baking spice and rye. Decent mouthfeel but a little thinner than I expected from the proof.

Finish: Long dry finish with lingering baking spice notes.

Conclusion

Somehow this was both higher proof, more flavorful and less harsh than the 101 which made it an excellent step up in quality though it comes with a similar step up in price. The Rare Breed didn’t quite measure up the the Moonshine “Cheesy Gold Foil” which had all the same brown sugar and warm spicy goodness but also had a very nice oak note bringing welcome additional complexity. While this dram wasn’t my favorite of the bunch it certainly wins when you factor in price and availability.

Overall this is great bourbon at a good price and is a great into to barrel proof bourbons for folks looking to get into them. All in all this is a whiskey that does everything right but doesn’t do something special to put it over into the 9 or 10 range for me.

2 Stars - Very good whiskey: I would want to have a bottle

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This the first review in a five part verticalish series on Wild Turkey bourbon comparing 5 of their relatively recent releases and one dusty against each other and my favorite Wild Turkey juice of all time: Moonshine Grill’s Russell’s Reserve pick.

We’re starting with good old Wild Turkey 101, skipping the 81 proof expression, and going up from there.

Wild Turkey 101

Age: 6-8 years according to the label

Abv: 101 proof

Color: A medium amber

Price: $21.99

Laser Code: LL/GJ250237

Neat

Nose: Slightly harsh with rye spice and caramel notes.

Taste: Caramel and rye spice notes dominate but there is a small note of young grain and some harshness as well.

Finish: Some vanilla comes into the finish but it is mostly spice and a bit of lingering heat.

On a rock

Nose: No more harshness with just caramel, vanilla and warm spice notes.

Taste: Vanilla and toffee notes with just a hint of spice and a nice mouthfeel.

Finish: Short, sweet and simple with mostly vanilla notes.

Conclusion

First off this was much better than drinking Wild Turkey 101 on a plane out of a plastic cup! That said I still wasn’t a huge fan of it neat. Adding a little ice saved it for me though. It’s definitely a solid bottle for the price but for me the difference between this and a ~$30 bottle, say McKenna 10 year, isn’t significant enough to justify going below that. That said I will happily drink the rest of this bottle on the rocks outside this summer.

This fell well short of the high bar set by The Moonshine “Cheesy Gold Foil” when tasted side by side but it did beat out at least one of it’s pricier Turkey brothers.

Quality

6 - a fine whiskey that does not standout in either direction

Value based on what I paid

Great - a good whiskey I’m still happy to drink

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This is the third and final in a 3 part series tasting my way up the Glenfarclas lineup with the 12 year, 17 year and 21 year. This mini series has been a lot of fun and doing more scotch reviews is building my hype for my trip in May! So let’s see the last one of these Glenfarclas stacks up.

Glenfarclas 21

Age: 21 years

Abv: 86 proof

Color: A deep gold

Price: $129.99

Neat

Nose: Strong sherry notes of dark fruit are backed by some floral and oak notes.

Taste: Floral and malt notes through out with oak and dark fruit as well, similarly nice mouthfeel to the 17.

Finish: Medium length with sweet dark fruit and nuts giving way to warm spice.

Conclusion

First off another great single malt from Glenfarclas. I wish I had discovered these guys earlier as a nice change up from Balvenie and Glenfiddich. This had more oak than the younger expressions and was less of a sherry bomb.

Overall I preferred the 17 year from these 3, especially given the price difference. I’ll be reviewing 2 more 21 year Speyside single malts to see how they compare with the Glenfarclas.

2 Stars - Very good whiskey: I would want to have a bottle

The long awaited second Joseph Magnus pick from Oak Liquor Cabinet arrived yesterday so naturally I went and grabbed one but between the price and my good, but not amazing, experience with the regular Joseph Magnus Straight Bourbon I was a little hesitant to buy multiples. So let’s see if that was the right call:

Joseph Magnus Oak Liquor Cabinet Pick 2019

Age: 12.5 years

Abv: 106.2 proof

Color: A medium copper

Price: $99.99

Neat

Nose: Warm and sweet with predominantly butterscotch and vanilla notes with a hint of warm spice.

Taste: Spicier than the nose but in a good way with more butter scotch and strong baking spice notes with vanilla and oak notes in the background. The mouthfeel is delightfully creamy.

Finish: Long oak forward and slightly dry with lingering brown sugar and warm spice notes.

On a rock

Nose: All sweetness with rich brown sugar and vanilla notes.

Taste: This was like an extra buttery butterscotch candy with a very creamy mouthfeel.

Finish: Cut very short by the ice this was just a quick note of butterscotch and then a bit of dryness.

Conclusion

I’ll start by saying that I’m definitely going to swing buy tomorrow to get a backup bottle if there are any left! I loved this both neat and on a rock which is great with the weather getting up into the 80s here in central Texas.

This was very similar to the Smooth Ambler Old Scout I have but without the twinge of hot cinnamon at the end which gave it a small boost for me but the lack of cherry notes was a bit of a loss. These two are neck and neck so I’ll have to do a blind tasting round to make a call.

These last two bottles have really brought me around on MGP bourbon and I am determined to try several more now!

9 - a favorite I’d like to keep on my shelf

Fair - Worth the money, happy with my purchase

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This is the second in a 3 part series tasting my way up the Glenfarclas lineup with the 12 year, 17 year and 21 year.

Glenfarclas 17

Age: 17 years

Abv: 86 proof

Color: A light, pale gold

Cask Type: 100% Oloroso sherry casks

Price: $104.99

Neat

Nose: Gentle and sweet nose with honey, dark fruit, malt and oak notes

Taste: More of the same notes from the notes with strong sherry notes and a surprisingly viscous mouthfeel for the proof.

Finish: Medium length finish with sweet honey and oak fading to warm spice notes.

Conclusion

This is another great whiskey from Glenfarclas with strong sherry notes and softer edges than the 12 year. The oak notes are more developed throughout bringing in another dimension and bringing it up a notch. Glenfiddich takes the belt back at this price range though the outstanding Glenfiddich 18. All in all another great sherried single malt from Glenfarclas.

2 Stars - Very good whiskey: I would want to have a bottle

I’ve always been a bit lukewarm on MGP bourbon, especially the 10 years I’ve tried, and had only tried Smooth Ambler’s own distillate before but with the Old Scout straight bourbon going away a friend told me I had to try it so I cashed in on a relationship with a local shop owner to get a bottle at retail. I will admit that I was tempted to trade it away but I stayed strong and cracked it as soon I got home. Let’s see if that was the right choice!

Smooth Ambler Old Scout

Age: 10 years

Abv: 119.6 proof

Color: A deep, darker amber

Price: $69.99

Barrel #: 4122

Picked by: Sarah

Bottled on: 11/28/2016

Neat

Nose: Rich brown sugar, strong vanilla and subtler warm baking spice notes come through with just a hint of oak,

Taste: More brown sugar and vanilla notes up front with sweet cherries and baking spice near the end. The mouthfeel is excellent!

Finish: The cherry and warm spice notes linger for some time before a hotter almost cinnamon note comes in this very long finish.

On a rock

Nose: The ice toned down the sweetness while bringing out some more of the spice notes leading a balance of vanilla and warm spice.

Taste: The mouthfeel on ice is probably the best I’ve had. It’s silky and viscous and coats the inside of your mouth with the wonderful notes. The ice again lessens the sweetness and brings the cherry and an oak note out.

Finish: Unfortunately much shorter but without that twinge of cinnamon heat. Medium length with cherry and spice notes.

Conclusion

Wow! That was excellent. It reminds me of Old Rip Van Winkle in all the right ways even if it doesn’t quite get to that level. It drinks significantly below it’s proof so much so that when I drank some straight after getting home, before reading the whole label, I thought this was closer to 100 proof which led to a pleasant evening :) The only thing keeping it out of the 10 bucket was that slightly unpleasant twinge of cinnamon and heat at the end. I know some folks like that but it just isn’t for me. Overall I’d definitely buy another bottle or 5 at near retail if I ever get the chance.

On another note I can finally understand some of the hype around MGP bourbon after this guy!

4 Stars - Extraordinary whiskey: An all time favorite

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This is the first in a 3 part series tasting my way up the Glenfarclas lineup with the 12 year, 17 year and 21 year. Glenfarclas is older family owned Speyside distillery that I’ve recently taken a liking to. All three of these expressions are exclusively aged in Oloroso sherry casks and are delightfully sweet.

Glenfarclas 12 Year

Age: 12 years

Abv: 86 proof

Color: A lighter gold

Cask Type: 100% Oloroso sherry casks

Price: $44.99

Neat

Nose: The sherry influence is very clear with rich dark fruit, sweet honey and fresh oak notes.

Taste: More honey, dark fruit and oak notes from the nose. Decent mouthfeel for the proof.

Finish: Medium length with sweet honey and just a touch of warm spice

On a rock

Nose: The ice mutes the oak notes leaving simple and sweet honey and dark fruit.

Taste: Again very similar to the nose with just the honey and fruit notes.

Finish: The finish held up surprisingly well to ice maintaining both the sweet and spicy notes and most of its duration.

Conclusion

I’m a fan of this bottle as far as 12 year single malts go especially for the price. It’s only a few more dollars than the Glenfiddich 12 and is more than worth it. The rich sherry notes throughout appeal to my palette, the mouthfeel is more viscous and a few more proof points don’t hurt either. On the other side of the spectrum this is a bit cheaper than Macallan’s 12 year expressions and can easily hold its own against them. I’ll definitely be broadening my 12 year scotch horizons in the coming months and will be using this guy as my baseline.

1 Star - Good whiskey: I would choose to drink this over readily available whiskies

I’m gearing up to review an Smooth Ambler Old Scout single barrel bourbon before they are all gone but I wanted to get a few other MGP bourbon reviews up first. I’d picked up samples of OKI 10 year Batch 33 and Blaum Bros Oldfangled Knotter 10 year during some local trades.

Both of these MGP sourced brands have a good bit of hype around them so let’s see how they stack up!

OKI 10 Year Batch 33

Age: 10 years

Abv: 97.9 proof

Neat

Nose: Strong herbal notes with some oak and vanilla notes as well.

Taste: Intense spice notes alongside more herbs, oak and vanilla. It was also very dry.

Finish: Long and dry with herbal and baking spice notes.

1 Star - Good whiskey: I would choose to drink this over readily available whiskies

Blaum Bro Oldfangled Knotter

Age: 10 years

Abv: 114.8 proof

Neat

Nose: Surprisingly delicate nose with honey, rye spice and oak notes.

Taste: Also a surprisingly thin mouthfeel for the proof, with lots of rye spice with some oak and just a bit of sweetness.

Finish: Long and very spicy.

1 Star - Good whiskey: I would choose to drink this over readily available whiskies

Conclusion

I was not a big fan of either bottle and while the extra proof was nice neither was better than the somewhat readily available Boone County 1833 or the pricey but present Joseph Magnus Straight Bourbon for me. I won’t be chasing either of these bottles.

I still haven’t reviewed an MGP straight bourbon that really blew my away but I’m optimistic for the SAOS.

This is the third in a 3 part series comparing some of Glenfiddich’s mid range solera vat single malts: the Select Cask, the Reserve Cask and the 15 year Solera Reserve. I tasted all 3 of them together but not blindly.

The final entry is the Reserve Cask which is another duty free only bottle that is exclusively aged in sherry casks before being married in the solera vat. I picked this up alongside the Select Cask on the way back from Mexico.

Review

Age: NAS

Abv: 80 proof

Color: A darker amber

Price: $60

Neat

Nose: Rich dark cherry notes complimented by spice and a bit of oak

Taste: Ripe cherry and spice notes with some more oak notes in the background. Solid mouthfeel given the proof but not as nice as the 15 year.

Finish: Medium length finish with lingering sweet, dark cherry

Conclusion

I really enjoyed this deeply sherry influence expression. It had the longest finish of the 3 solera bottles, a nice mouthfeel and rich oak notes with no bitterness. Overall this is solid bottle for the price if you like sherried Speyside single malts and a worthwhile duty free snag even though the 15 year did edge it out by a nose for me.

It was a lot fun to try all 3 of these solera cask single malts side by side and this was a good reminder that most duty free exclusives aren’t anything amazing.

7 - a great whiskey I’d order at a bar

Fair - Worth the money, happy with my purchase

You can also follow me on Instagram(@atxbourbon) or reddit to keep up with these reviews and my other whiskey-centric adventures.

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