There were two bottle kills during this tasting which I'm really going to miss - Filibuster Dual Cask Rye and the Kirkland Signature 18 Yr Old Sherry Cask Finish. I found both of these whiskies very approachable and drinkable with the right amount of complexity to make them interesting but not so much so that you had to sit with it for 1/2 hour to really appreciate them. First, the Filibuster Dual Cask Rye never did much for me straight, but adding a few drops of water or an ice cube brought out an explosion of honey. It was almost like drinking a mixed drink. Personally, this honey flavoring really did it for me although I have to say more than one of my good whisky drinking buddies were turned off by it. The KS Sherry Cask finish meanwhile was a fruit bomb. Depending on any given evening (i.e. what I had for dinner) I'd get peaches, cherries, apples, and or pears - pretty much everything but citrus. One time it was all apricot. There was also a nice cereal under the fruit. Nothing complex here, but fun to drink because I didn't know what fruit I'd get that evening. When the opportunity arises... I'll pick up another bottle of each for my shelf!
Sandwiched below the Filibuster and just above the Kirkland Signature is the Glenfarclas 105. Sangria (red wine and dark/stone fruit notes) dominate the nose but the palate is completely different with its herbal with mature oak flavors. The sangria notes then come back on the moderately long finish. At first I was a bit put off by the about face between nose and palate, but this bottle keeps growing on me. Unfortunately, I killed the Filibuster early on and I wonder if I'd do a comparison now I'd still put the Filibuster above the 105. Also, it's very smooth for a 60% whisky.
To celebrate my daughter's 3rd birthday I opened up a bottle of Willett's Family Estate 3 YO Rye. This one has the same character as the 2 and 4 yo WFE ryes - mint, bright rye spice, sweet, and a healthy burn. The burn was what pulled this down below the Kirkland Signature for me and it nearly pulled it down below the 1792 Single Barrel as well.
The strength of this set of whiskies in this tasting is demonstrated by the fact that the 1792 Single Barrel comes in sixth. Over the holidays a friend of mine and their family all bought a different bottle of single barrel bourbon and went at it. This one was my friend's favorite and it's going to be my go to SB as well. This whisky has a superb balance of bourbon-sweetness followed up with a nice pepper warmth. And it is smmmooooottth. One of the smoothest I've ever had. If it had a bolder sweetness I think I would have put it above the WFE.
After the 1792 comes the Reservoir Hunter & Scott 18 Yr. This one has a complex sweetness with a healthy dose of mature oak but unfortunately has a noticeable rubber scent and taste. Now, I really like peated scotches so that rubber scent really isn't a deal breaker for me. Sometimes I like it... but not this time so it ranks below the 1792. The Reservoir does come in above the Old Overholt which is good and drinkable but rather non-distinctive. The OO is a great value though and I'd buy it again.
Pulling up the rear are two whiskies that are currently part of my Sippable Unsippable Blend. Some may say the Kirkland Signature Irish Whisky is a good value like the Old Overholt... but it just really doesn't do it for me. It has sweet-cleaner notes that are a turn off to me. Finally, I said there were two killed bottles I was going to miss, but we're not going to miss the third. I say "we" because the same friend that brought over the 1792 SB and Old Overholt also brought over the last of their bottle of Twin Valley Distillers Single Cask Barrel. Yep, you read that right - "Single Cask Barrel". Maybe I shouldn't knock it because it was some of their first product and its a very small operation. Buuuttttt.... the scent and taste was like a burnt tropical fruit laffy taffy. Bleh.
| Colley Rank | Whisk(e)y | Normalized R-rating | Win-Loss | SOS Rank | Change | |
| 7 | Lagavulin 12 Yr CS | 0.9031 | 37 | 3 | 12 | 1 |
| 35 | Filibuster Dual Cask Rye | 0.7688 | 22 | 6 | 52 | 15 |
| 97 | Glenfarclas 105 | 0.6056 | 12 | 8 | 101 | 50 |
| 100 | Kirkland Signature 18 Yr Sherry Cask Finish | 0.5996 | 19 | 14 | 107 | 35 |
| 87 | Willett's Rye 3 Yr | 0.6219 | 12 | 6 | 95 | -53 |
| 156 | 1792 Single Barrel | 0.4991 | 5 | 5 | 156 | NR |
| 233 | Old Overholt Rye | 0.3395 | 9 | 18 | 222 | 0 |
| 285 | Kirkland Signature Irish Whisky | 0.1663 | 3 | 31 | 280 | -3 |
| 301 | Twin Valley Single Cask Barrel Bourbon | 0.1227 | 3 | 26 | 292 | NR |
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