Willett partnered with Kings of Leon to release a series of Willett whiskies under the Kiamichi label. I haven’t listened to King of Leon since “Sex on Fire” was big in the 00s but I’m always in for a new Willett release. I missed the 19 year old bourbon but grabbed both the 5 and 8 year old ryes.

 

Kiamichi 5 Year rye

Age: 5 years

Proof: 108

Neat

Notes: The nose is minty and herbaceous. Great mouthfeel for the proof. Nice herbal and spice blend with some vanilla sweetness on the palate. A slight bitter note toward the end. Long warm finish with more vanilla and spice.

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

Kiamichi 8 Year rye

Age: 8 year

Proof: 110

Neat

Notes: Outstanding nose, sweet with herbal tea and vanilla cream notes with fainter caramel and oak. The palate is minty and oaky with more tea as well. The finish was similar to the 5 year but a bit oakier.

Stars: 3 - Excellent whiskey: I would be willing to hunt down a bottle

Conclusion

The 5 year was very good but it was a steep price for 5 year old rye. The 8 on the other hand took everything good about the 5 and turned it up a notch or 2. I’m very glad to have a backup of the 8. That said I would take any of my 8 year WFE SiB ryes over it.

TL;DR: The 5 was good but the 8 was better in every way(other than price). Not quite at the level of WFE SiB ryes.

I was excited to see GlenDronach release a port aged whiskey that wasn’t one of their hard to come by single casks. I really enjoyed this one and it made an excellent base for a penicillin.

 

GlenDronach Portwood

Age: 92

Proof: NAS

Neat

Notes: The nose is sweet and easy with honey, pear and dried dark fruit notes. The palate is more of the same with the addition of some holiday spice and a bit of oak. The finish is medium length and slightly dry with dark fruit and holiday spice.

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

TL;DR: Great release that highlights the port.

Penicillin Recipe

• 1.5 oz GlenDronach Portwood
• 1 oz lemon juice
• .5 oz Liber & Co Fiery Ginger Syrup
• Spray twice with Ardbeg Wee Beastie from an atomizer

In writing my last post I realized that I had never reviewed any of the previous Remus Repeals and still had at least a few ounces of each one that hit Texas (so no batch 1) so here we go!

Remus Repeal II

Age: Blend of 10 and 11 year

Proof: 100

Neat

Notes: Best nose of the bunch with leather, oak, caramel and vanilla extract. The palate brings more leather, more oak and more caramel plus a nice bit of spice. The mouthfeel is above average for 100 proof. The finish is medium length but with a great flavor of caramel cream and warm spice.

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

Remus Repeal III

Age: Blend of 11 and 12 year

Proof: 100

Neat

Notes: The nose is sweet and oaky with a nice vanilla note plus a bit of spice. The palate has a buttercream sweetness, warm spice, oak and something slightly acidic/bitter (citrus maybe?). The finish is very long with more of the same and the mouthfeel is quite nice.

Stars: 3 - Excellent whiskey: I would be willing to hunt down a bottle

Remus Repeal IV

Age: 12 years

Proof: 100

Neat

Notes: The nose is faint with only a bit of sweet and oak. The palate brings a rich brown sugar and more rich oak. The finish is long and well balanced with baking spice, oak and more brown sugar

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

Remus Repeal V

Age: Blend of 13 to 16 year

Proof: 100

Neat

Notes: Sweet notes of toasted oak, caramel and vanilla frosting on the nose. The palate is rich and balanced with vanilla, caramel, leather and a bit of dried fruit. The mouthfeel is excellent for 100 proof. The finish is long and slightly dry like a nice red wine with lingering vanilla and warm spice.

Stars: 3 - Excellent whiskey: I would be willing to hunt down a bottle

Conclusion

V and III were the standouts for me. IV was all sweet and oak in a good way that reminds of an MGP take on Eagle Rare. II had a great nose and the palate didn’t quite measure up to that high bar. Overall these were great whiskies with no losers in the bunch. I hope they can get back to this level with VII.

 

TL;DR: V > III > II> IV >> VI

I grabbed both of this year’s special releases from Ross & Squibb (MGP) and was excited to get into them. Well aged MGP is usually a treat and even though this year’s Repeal VI is quite a bit younger than last year’s release I am optimistic. On the other hand the Gatsby is a year older than the Volstead but is lower proof despite being cask strength that said I do like low proof barrel proof.

 

Remus Gatsby Reserve

Age: 15 years

Proof: 97.8

Neat

Notes: Leather and brown sugar dominate the nose. The palate brings in rich oak as well as more brown sugar and leather. The mouthfeel is solid for the proof but nothing crazy. The finish is very long with plenty of oak, fainter spice and a lingering vanilla note.

Stars: 3 - Excellent whiskey: I would be willing to hunt down a bottle

Remus Repeal Reserve VI

Age: A blend of 8 to 14 year old

Proof: 100

Neat

Notes: Younger MGP notes are prominent throughout with fruit and grain. Thinner mouthfeel than I would expect at 100 proof. The long finish is quite nice with well balanced oak, spice and vanilla but doesn’t do enough to impress.

Stars: 0 - Fine: I would not specifically choose to drink this over other readily available options

Conclusion

The Gatsby is excellent. It hits all the notes I’d want out of older MGP and reminds me of the old MGP Joseph Magnus picks in a great way. I really enjoyed the Remus Volstead as well and thought it was worth it enough to grab a backup. This old MGP profile just isn’t something you can find easily. The recent Lorely release from Henry M Wright is pretty comparable and was a similar price so it’s hard to feel too bad about $200 MSRP or even the $240 I paid for it.

The Repeal VI on the otherhand was not. If you told me it was a low proof, 6-7 year old Remus pick I would have believed you. I went back and tasted it next to Repeal V and the 5 was substantially better. It’s enjoyable to drink but given the price and semi-scarcity I wouldn’t go out of my way for it when there are plenty of other MGP options that are at least as good.

It’s been an uneven year for Ross & Squibb. Given the raw material they are working with and the impressive results other folks have had with their whiskey I hope they can dial in the next Remus Repeal release and I am still waiting on a Gatsby style release of some of their rye!

TL;DR: This year’s Repeal was a letdown but the Gatsby was a great follow up to the Volstead.

After loving Douro Cruise, when SMWS announced another Speyside single malt aged in a dessert wine cask I was in. This time it was Full Bloom, an 18 year old aged in Welsh Muscat barrels and still bottled at 100 proof.

 

SMWS Full Bloom

Age: 18

Proof: 100

Neat

Notes: The extra age was apparent on the big nose with rich oak notes supported by caramel and fruit sweetness and cinnamon spice. The palate is a little more tame with more oak, caramel and a fruit note that I can’t place. The finish is long and slightly dry with oak, cinnamon and sticky honey notes. The mouthfeel and proof integration were nice but unremarkable.

Stars: 1 - Good whisky: I would choose to drink this over readily available whiskies

Conclusion

This is a good bottle for sure but doesn’t stand out enough from the much cheaper Douro Cruise to win that one. On the other hand $180 for a 100 proof, 18 year old single malt isn’t a bad price. I was hoping for more here but that might have just been me.

TL;DR: Good whisky but I was hoping for more

This was one of the first peated bottles I grabbed from SMWS. The combination of being “lightly” peated and it being Bowmore won me over.

 

SMWS 3.315 A Moment of Salinity

Age: 16 Years

Proof: 113

Neat

Notes: The nose is coastal with soft smoke, medium saltiness and a meaty note. The palate brings me to a BBQ on the beach with salted, smoked meat, vanilla cream and faint spice. The finish is long and dry with smoke and salt.

Stars: 3 - Excellent whiskey: I would be willing to hunt down a bottle

Conclusion

This was an excellent bottle. It brought the perfect level of smoke and the savory notes I like from a good peated scotch. The second fill hogshead isn’t doing a ton so most of the flavor here comes from the well oxidized distillate and I am a fan.

TL;DR: My kind of Islay Scotch

When Scotch Malt Whisky Society started doing blends I wasn’t sure that was for me but then they announced their 14th batch, Douro Cruise, and since I am a sucker for port aged whisky I had to give it a shot. I’m very glad I did.

 

SMWS Douro Cruise

Age: 10 years

Proof: 100

Neat

Notes: The nose is sweet and rich with honey, pear and strawberry notes. The palate brings more honey, some malt and dried dark fruit notes. The finish is long with plenty of sweet fruit balanced by warm spice and a subtle oak. The proof integration and mouthfeel are solid and what I would expect from a 100 proof single malt.

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

Conclusion

Overall this was a great whiskey that was sweet and relatively straightforward but really nailed the notes it brought. This bottle definitely opened me up to future blends from SMWS.

TL;DR: Great bottle, sweet and easy. Looking forward to more SMWS blends.

 

Jack Daniel’s Decoy Hill

Age: NAS

Proof: 135.1

Neat

Notes: Bananas and baking spice plus a good amount of ethanol burn throughout. Once you get past the ethanol it’s sort of like a boozy banana bread with a caramel butter spread.

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

Conclusion

This is great neat if you can get past the proof or if you dilute it a bit. More importantly it is one of my favorite whiskies to use in an Old Fashioned.

TL;DR: A great JD pick that leans into the things that make JD barrel proof so tasty

 

Spec’s Eagle Rare Barrel #057

Age: 10 years

Proof: 90

Neat

Notes: The nose brings cherries and forest notes. More cherry and oak along with other earthy notes on the palate. A pleasant mouthfeel which is great for the proof. The finish is surprisingly long with dried cherry, faint spice and oak notes.

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

Conclusion

The notes here literally reminds me of drinking a cherry coke zero in a forest in northern Seattle. So that’s cool for me but probably doesn’t help anyone else much. It dials up the cherry and earthy notes I usually get from Eagle Rare and manages to punch above its weight in terms of proof. Spec’s continues to bring good picks for a big box store and I hope start to see them again one day.

TL;DR: A solid Eagle Rare pick that leans in on the cherry and earthy notes.

 

Glenfiddich Fire and Cane

Age: NAS

Proof: 86

Neat

Notes: Campfire smoke and vanilla creme sweetness. Fainter malt noes with a hint of fruit. Thin mouthfeel and short finish.

Stars: 0 - Fine: I would not specifically choose to drink this over other readily available options

Conclusion

I wish this had been a slightly higher proof, NCF release. The rum and smoke notes go together nicely but the dram is just too thin and watery. There is a moment mid palate when I went “this is good” but all too quickly it was gone. Even a 92 proof NCF take would have been a huge upgrade. This bottle really highlights why I have moved away from most OB scotches to focus on higher proof IBs.

TL;DR: Enjoyable flavors but the anemic proof is underwhelming