Black Dog Triple Gold Reserve

A good friend of mine has been trying to get me to try Indian whisky for a while. Although I approached this taste with skepticism, further driven by the slow pour top ( I've never had a great whisky that was poured from a slow pour top ) as well as the plastic soda-bottle like cap, I decided to keep an open mind and give this a shot. Immediately upon the nose, the sherry cask influence is strong. Berries dominate the nose but beyond that is honey, hazelnut and a touch of vanilla. The taste begins light and sweet. That honey on the nose opens up the taste to include sweet and slightly tart raspberries and slightly spicy peppercorn. There's a bit of an herbal bite and overall the taste is sweet with a little bit of spice. The finish is rather one dimensional. That peppercorn leads the charge as well as some grapefruit rind. Citrus with a slight bitter twang. It is rather smooth but also a bit unremarkable. Average blended whisky just about accurately describes the entire experience. This... didn't blow my socks off. BUT that said, it IS better than the Korean Whisky I tried some years ago although, that is a rather low bar. It's fine in a pinch and I'd place it in the same category as other mediocre blends like Monkey Shoulder and Black Label.

So much better than Monkey Shoulder. Lovely sweet honey on the nose, bitter chocolate and citrus on the palate. A bit of pepper on the finish.

Really good affordable blend. Great for cocktails