The Original Santa Fe Whiskey Mesquite Smoked American Single Malt

Batch #13. I honestly don't understand the reviews by this site or other reviewers. I think maybe you all have blown out your senses smoking cigars. On first taste this was one of the worst whiskeys I have ever had, on par with Wyoming Whiskey early batches. Smoke covering a terribly bitter product. I will say it tasted better after it aired out a bit so I raised a half star and the possibility I have a bad early batch. I also dont think this site or reviewers take into account value. If I go to a restaurant and a burger is $25, it better be one of the best burgers I've ever had vs expectations on a $10 burger. The Quiet Man 8yr Double Gold San Francisco Spirits, amazing taste and value, $44.95, 86 this site. This product, 2yrs (and I'm not age snob, I think product has other issues besides age) $44.95, 91 this site, enough said.

Tasted neat from a grappa copita after several minutes of rest. This is a "sample" from a DTC subscription received as a gift. The nose of this whiskey is very shy. Faint apple skins, cooked cereal, ethanol. On the palate this is peppery and sour simultaneously. There's a bit of dried apple, an echo of jalepeno against a background of cereal. I'm finding it hard to tease out any specific flavors, but more importantly I'm not really encouraged to go searching. This is a pretty unremarkable whiskey. I need to be fair to this one. It reminds me of the Suntory Toki Japanese whiskey. I found that one also a bit on the boring side sipped neat. It was better with soda in a highball and I suspect this may be also, but I'm unlikely to find out as I don't see a bottle in my future.

I have found through my journey that I am challenged with enjoying some of the more traditional peat and smoke flavors of scotch, but this tidy little dram really agreed with me. Upon firs sniff I thought this was going to be like a lot of the scotches I didn't really care for, there was a lot of smoke and peat and a little trace of lilac, but its hard to pull out over the smoke of this bad boy. My first sip felt a little over powered by the smoke, so I twirled it around in my glass a bit and it started to open up with some dry berries and cream. This had a very enjoyable mouth feel, but the smoke is the dominant feature here. Quite bitter, but still smooth. Scotch may not be my jam, but this I can get down with.

Tasted this 2 oz sample blind. The nose was different, I picked up maybe a peach and apricot, and something that reminded me of scotch. First taste and I was pretty sure it wasn't bourbon and probably not scotch, so I guessed American made whiskey which was good guess. I picked up very little sweetness. There's a tart citrus note, and a mesquite smokiness that pretty prevalent. Definitely tastes young with a substantial bite for the lower proof. The finish is peppery with an after taste that's smoke and licorice. I had fun trying this one blind. It definitely offers up a unique taste, but not likely one I would purchase for myself.

A balanced, American Single Malt Whiskey by Santa Fe Spirits in New Mexico made using mesquite instead of peat while smoking their malted barley. aged in American oak barrels for two years in a climate-controlled warehouse. It has a rich birth with white chocolate, vanilla bean, marzipan, floral & wood notes; while a complex life adds notes of hickory wood, black currant, rhubarb & smoke; that led to a balanced death of medium length with notes of raspberry & malted barley. 'Mesquite is one of the most expensive woods in America.' April / September 2019 / July / October / December 2020 / August 2022

This is stupid good. I usually only like campbelton peat or briney Oban notes but this smells like a lagavulin and tastes like something very different altogether. Really enjoying this one. Will buy another and or seek out other expressions. Some American malts can be a little boring. This is not one of those. Bought it for the experience and im glad this was recommended by my lcoal shop and even happier my local brought it in.