Finish: Light warmth and medium length, milk chocolate, vanilla, butterscotch, apples, honey, malt, grains, and floral.
Thoughts: There are no unpleasant off notes, and this is what your average whisky drinker would call “smooth”, because of this though the body and finish are a touch weak on an otherwise tastey dram.
Finish: Gentle warmth, medium length, a touch more pepper and oak with vanilla, custard, almond paste, and more white chocolate with just a touch of sherry
Thoughts: If you like vanilla or white chocolate with a touch of fruit this will be the drink for you. Blended more for the average persons idea of a fancy whisky rather than a whisky snob, but still a good showing. Cut the price tag in half and it would be a great buy.
Distilled/Owned by: Jim Beam & Undisclosed Canadian Distiller(s) / Beam Suntory
Region: Kentucky & Canada
55.9% ABV
Aged For: NAS (Blend of 8, 13, and 40 Year whisky)
Mashbill: Undisclosed (Blend of Kentucky rye, Canadian rye, and Canadian Corn whisky)
Cask Type: Mix of new charred oak, re-charred barrels, and ex-bourbon casks
Chill Filtered: No
Color Added: No
Color: Golden
Drank: Neat, in a glencairn
Nose: Cinnamon rye spice, butterscotch, eucalyptus, vanilla syrup, lavender, caraway seeds, cracked corn, and caramel, the scent of alcohol lingers moderately in the background
Feel: Medium body
Taste: Cloves, tobacco, black pepper, rye, oak, cinnamon, toffee, butterscotch, herbal notes with perhaps cumin? Apple and VSOP brandy if I really focus on the fruit aspects. Bounces back and forth between sweet and spicy herbal.
Finish: Medium length and warmth. If the palate fought over spicy and sweet, sweet is winning now. Oak, vanilla, caramel, honey, butterscotch, and cream soda, with rye spice having a nice linger in the background.
Thoughts: I actually think Freddie made a decent blend here. The rye spices and sweet buttery flavors of old Canadian corn whisky pair nicely. The palate could have used a bit more body, and with most releases these days its priced $25 to $35 dollars over what it should be, but overall its something I think most fans of rye or bourbon would enjoy.