Grade: B-
Type: Scotland, Single Malt, Islay
Age: 12 Yrs
ABV: 40.00%
Price: $50
Availability: Better Whiskey Stores
The nose is peaty with some floral notes. The palate is salty, peaty, citrus and slightly soapy. The finish is light smoke and lingering medicine. I like this expression. However for the money I do like the Legend expression better as they taste very similar.
Grade: B-
Type: American, Rye, Kentucky
Age: N/A
ABV: 50.00%
Price: $40
Availability: Wide
The nose on this is rye spice and vanilla. On the palate it’s an easy drinking rye/spice with a decent amount of wood/oak. The finish is sweet and much milder than most ryes of this ABV. If you are looking for a nice easy to sip rye, this is it. If you are looking for a big bold rye that has a punch, this is not it.
Grade: B
Type: Scotland, Single Malt, Speyside
Age: 18 Yrs
ABV: 43.00%
Price: $180
Availability: Wide
The nose has some citrus, vanilla, dried fruits. On the palate there is the typical Macallan sherry and spice with some orange…very easy on the palate. The finish has some wood and sherry, This is very nicely done. The price can range a bit here, so shop around. You can do better for your money, but some people will just insist on having some Macallan.
Grade: B
Type: Scotland, Single Malt, Highland
ABV: 60.20
Age: N/A
Price: $68
Availability: Better Whiskey Stores
(Sampled from batch 45) This is a non chill-filtered cask strength expression that was soaked in oloroso sherry butts. The nose is spicy with sweet orange notes. The palate has some dried fruit, creamy with a healthy amount of sherry. The finish is a bit bitter and hot, with some chocolate and spice. I really like this expression. However, I have had some of the other batches which I have liked better. From batch to batch these are a bit different, some are in the B+ range.
Grade: C+
Type: Ireland, Blend
ABV:40.00%
Age: N/A
Price: $30
Availability: Better Whiskey Stores
The nose is fruit with a sweet citrus. The palate is light and sweet and malty, not bad. The finish is simple and unremarkable. Decent blend
Grade: B
Type: American, Bourbon, Kentucky
ABV: 53.50%
Age: 10 Yrs
Price: $40
Availability: Better Whiskey Stores
The nose is splendid, rye, anise maple syrup and pancakes. The palate is very sweet, much sweeter than most bourbons. It tastes like a cake or cookie dough. The finish is short and light..could be better. Overall this is a very tasty bottle. You will want more and more of this when you taste it.
Grade: C+
Type: American, Tennessee
ABV: 40.00%
Age: N/A
Price: $19
Availability: Wide
It’s time to review what is perhaps the most iconic American Whiskey that there is. The nose is sweet with corn, rye and wood.. nice smell actually. The palate is sweet and syrupy with some vanilla corn. The finish is where this light bodied expression really starts to fade into an average whiskey…. light lacquer with a warming sensation. Good for mixing or large group parties
Grade: B+
Type: Scotland, Single Malt, Island
ABV: 54.20%
Age: 15 Yrs
Price: $120
Availability: Rare/Better Whiskey Stores
This is a sherry bomb. The nose is sherry, fruit and malt. The palate is raisin cakebread, spice, and massive sherry. The sherry continues to linger in the finish which makes you want more and more. This is really good stuff. They make this in different ABV’s at time for some stores as a hand selected expression. However, the standard expression is much of the same with a slight degree in ABV. Non chill filtered with a single cask
Grade: C+
Type: American, Malt Whiskey, Montana
Age: N/A
ABV: 45.00%
Price: $63
Availability: Semi Rare (distribution has not yet reached most states)
This is another craft distillery that is making expensive but average whiskey. I was reading the tasting notes from the companies website and….. well it tastes nothing like that. The nose is slightly sweet and the palate is much of the same with some malt, but very bland. The finish has some oak and not much else. Extremely boring whiskey, but not offensive in anyway.
Grade: B+
Type: American, Bourbon, Kentucky
Age: 10 Yrs
ABV: 45.00%
Price: $37
Availability: Better Whiskey Stores
Jimmy Russell hits it out of the park on this expression. It’s affordable and fantastic. The nose is vanilla, toffee, and alcohol. On the palate is where this bottle stands out, cinnamon, spice, vanilla, it’s quite sweet. The finish is hot with lacquer. However, it’s a nice burn after such a complex build up on the palate. Delicious!!
Bay Area Whiskey Reviews 