Egan's 10 Years Old Single Malt Irish Whiskey
See the Full BevX Featured Review & Beverage of the WeekBrilliant, crystal clear. The aromatics are beautiful and complex ideally marrying cereal grains with rich honeycomb, caramel, wild flowers and herbs, mint, delicate citrus notes, and sweet oak with a hint of campfire. The palate fully confirms the nose delivering a lush toffee-like core with waves of herbs, brown baking spice, and honey in support. Full-bodied and quite silky with perfect balance and long, lingering flavors that become both dry and sweet. $49.99 – 4.5 Stars
Tullamore D.E.W. Trilogy 15 Years Old Blended Irish Whiskey
Brilliant, amber and crystal clear. The nose is very pretty and rather complex perfectly marrying baked orchard fruits with caramel, brown baking spices, toasted nuts, and candied ginger with citrus zest. The palate echoes the nose with waves of rich fruit being bettered by the flood of spices, honey, and oak that simply takeover. Medium-bodied being rather rich and creamy with pronounced spice notes that add balance. $79.99 – 4 Stars
Hyde Single Malt Irish Whiskey
Brilliant, crystal clear. The aromatics are very spicy with a well-integrated oak backbone that offers a perfect platform for ripe, rich stone fruits, lemon curd, honey, and caramel. The palate echoes the nose delivering a rich and quite spicy fruit, Sherry, and honey-focused core with layers of pepper, brown baking spices, and loads of oak. Full-bodied with intense spice, Sherry, and oak flavors that envelop the rich fruit. $70 – 4 Stars
Kinahan's Blended Irish Whiskey
Brilliant, crystal clear. The aromatics are quite beautiful filling the nose with scents of ripe orchard fruits featuring pear and peach with accents of wild herbs, mint, honey, and vanilla. The palate echoes the nose delivering waves of fruit and malted barley at its core with flanking notes of herbs, oak, dark cocoa nibs, and subtle brown baking spices with a hint of citrus. Medium to full-bodied with ideal balance and long, lingering flavors that become drier on the finish. $39.99 – 4.5 Stars
Kinahan's Single Malt Irish Whiskey
Brilliant, crystal clear. The aromatics are certainly generous offering rich scents of butter toffee, honey, dried red fruits, toasted grain, orange peel and black tea with hints of allspice, pepper, and oak. The palate is in full agreement with the nose with the fruit component taking center stage then being quickly enveloped by spice, wood, and cigar. Full-bodied with a a dense and assertive core that finishes dry. $64.99 – 4 Stars
Teeling Single Malt Irish Whiskey
Brilliant, crystal clear. The aromatics are quite complex offering scents of roasted malt with ripe stone fruits with rich butter toffee, and toasted almonds with hints of lemon zest and nutmeg. The palate echoes the nose delivering a lush while very vibrant fruit and grain-driven core with loads of brown baking spices, ginger biscuits, vanilla bean, and bright citrus accents. Medium-bodied with ideal balance as the acidity level is quite generous and finishing with dry barrel notes. $59.99 – 4 Stars
Teeling Small Batch Blended Irish Whiskey
See the Full BevX Featured Review & Beverage of the WeekBrilliant, crystal clear. The nose is wonderfully seductive with sweet Irish malt in the forefront, supporting notes of exotic brown baking spices, vanilla, toasted oak, and beautiful Caribbean Rum accents. The palate echoes the nose delivering a complex mélange of grain and spice notes offered on a silky palate. Medium-bodied with perfect balance due to bright acidity and dry, oak cask notes. $34.99 – 5 Stars
Grand Traverse Distillery Straight Bourbon
Brilliant, crystal clear. The aromatics are complex and pure with scents of toasted grain, caramel, vanilla bean, cigar box, smoky hardwood charcoal notes, nutmeg, and cigar box. The palate is full agreement with the nose offering a silky and zesty marriage of fruit, caramel, pepper, and brown baking spices with a silky blast that coats the palate and lingers for minutes. Medium-bodied and not as dense or assertive as many Bourbons, which is interesting as it's bottled over-proof without showing a hint of being hot. $54 – 4.5 Stars
Clyde May's Special Reserve American Whiskey
See the Full BevX Featured Review & Beverage of the WeekRich, vibrant burgundy color. The generous aromatics are loaded with rich caramel, dried orchard fruits, toffee, butterscotch, nutmeg, cinnamon, Amaretto, and candied orange peel. The palate is harmonious and seamless being decadent with a spicy edge with loads of viscosity to give the Whiskey length and depth. It finishes with a complex brown spice accent, hints of clove, and toasted oak. Full-bodied and totally hedonistic offering rich, ripe, sweet flavors with great balance and dexterity considering the high proof. $70 – 4.5 Stars
Elijah Craig 21 Years Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon
Deep, brilliant amber color with hints of copper and mahogany. This incredible Bourbon provides great joy straight from the bottle. After a few minutes of aeration this beauty really comes to life offering complex scents of dried fruit, rich honey, caramel, spicy rye, walnuts, toasted coconuts, and brown baking spice. This is instantly among my all-time favorite Bourbon aromas. The palate is equally robust and rustic with black pepper on the front-end that reluctantly gives way to brown baking spices and then brown butter and honey. This is an assertive rye-heavy style but it is remarkably gentle and semisweet at times as well changing constantly in the glass. A true legend. $140 – 5 Stars
