Ellington Reserve 8 Year

The 8 year statement is impressive and confusing for what is obviously such a low-end whiskey. There's some earth on the nose with a bit of vegetation and a waft of mushroom. It's a light nose though. The palate is richer than that of the regular Ellington, though this means that it lets the gross caramel show through more, along with a new mushroom flavor. It tastes substantially more artificial than the regular Ellington does. The mushroom is interesting and there's a bit more tingling spice here, but the flavor is still simplistic and it doesn't come together. This is a hard one to drink. I think I'd rather have the regular Ellington. There is a bit of something rich in here that hints at honey and orange zest, but there's far too little and it doesn't overcome the gross flavors. In direct comparison, there is more going on here than in the regular Ellington, with some more appealing richness I suppose. Still though, it's not very good; that says more about my overrating the regular Ellington upon first taste than it does about me underrating this. There's more richness and character here than in the regular Ellington. It almost doesn't taste like paint thinner. It's a big improvement over regular Ellington, though it's still awful. It's quite different from black velvet, and while this does taste worse, I do appreciate its complexity. There's a bit of a rum flavor in here with some smoke like fireworks and sweetness. This has substantially more character than Black Velvet does.

Nose - nutmeg, egg nog, brown sugar, black pepper, rubber, cocoa, dusty corn, artificial caramel, vanilla, old wood, mild to moderate ethanol burn. Taste - bland corn sweetness, nutmeg, cherry, black pepper, caramel, vanilla, cinnamon, dry honey, light oak notes, nondescript citrus, mild alcohol bite, finishing fast and cloying with chemical caramel, vanilla, and a bit of barrel spice. Oh, Canada. We meet again. Actually this is one of the better Canadians I’ve tasted, certainly superior to Canadian Mist, but not quite at the level of Crown Royal Deluxe. However, there’s not much to love here. It’s got that same nasty, bland, cloying sweetness that seems to accompany most of the whiskies from Canada I’ve tried. This is poor, but not undrinkable.

Incredibly smooth whisky with a simple, forward flavor profile. On the nose its VERY maple syrup forward. Light carmel. Sipping, I get a lot of maple and some carmel, almost a butterscotch or toffee note. Only gripe is that I wish it was a bit stronger than 80 proof but, that being the only thing, this is a great canadian whisky in general, and even better for the price.

Super smooth Canadian blended whisky with caramel notes on the nose and the palate. Almost tastes like it was flavored with caramel. Total Wine employee was eager to pour me a taster

This one is delightful. Just enough bite in the finish to let you know you’re alive. Tasty and approachable. Much better than the basic Ellington whisky.

Basically undrinkable neat. No flavor to it. Nothing but hot spice and oak. Good in ginger ale like Crown or Canadian Club but not much other use.