Grangestone Highland Single Malt Bourbon Cask Finish

The nose has a bit of a vanilla and caramel side that could be mistaken for rum but is definitely reminiscent of bourbon. The nose also has more hay than expected. The palate is grassier and more viscous than Grangestone Rum Cask, with less sweetness as well but also no particularly interesting character to balance the absence. There is some caramel and vanilla to be sure, but it all kind of blends together. The nose has some nice rich vanilla with a bit of butterscotch, but also wet wood and some earthy grass. The palate is very grassy with some earthiness and a tiny bit of squashy vegetal flavor. It's very lightly flavored, though it does have plenty of vanilla and a little bit of very light caramel. It isn't so much delicate as it is watered-down. There's a bit of a bad flavor in here that is hard to suss out entirely, but it's kind of fiery and a bit bitter in an herbal way like bad alcohol. The nose is kind of grassy and a little squashy in a kind of scotchy way. The palate is sweet and light in way that is a bit reminiscent of an Irish whiskey. It's grassy and sweet like the lightest possible caramel. It's not great, but it's not totally terrible. There's some gross bitter backing, but it's not a deal-breaker. The quality is far below that of Bushmill's Black.

Nose - apple juice, vanilla, cloying floral note, honey, grape, wet grass, lemon, cereal grain, hay, moderate to high ethanol burn. Taste - sweet and sour apple juice, honey, grape, vanilla, orange and lemon zest, fresh cut grass, grainy caramel, moderate to high alcohol bite, finishing fast and very sweet with young, bright alcohol and fading apple juice and honey flavors. This is not good, definitely a step down from the already very average 12 year offering. This one tastes very young and crosses into cloying territory. I really don’t like that sweet and sour apple juice note. It was on the 12 year as well, but it’s much more pronounced here than I remember it being on the other. At $25 for a single malt scotch, I imagine you get what you pay for. I’d rather spend the same money on a decent blended scotch and not mess with this one.

The nose has a very distinct nose of wax with honeyed raisins and a slight amount of oak. The palate has a sweet, honey raisin beginning with a middle of oak that finishes out with some smokiness. An interesting characteristic of this single malt is the change from being slightly syrupy to very dry in a single sip due to the odd cask combination used here. A hint of water opens up some smokiness here. This is a Total Wine Spirits Direct single malt that claims to be double matured in American Oak and Bourbon Oak. No age statement is given, the whiskey is clearly chill-filtered, and there is most definitely caramel color added. Not great, but drinkable.

Tasted 4 bottles blind. The bourbon cask, sherry cask, rum cask, and 12yr single malts from grangestone. Nosing and tasting notes are from the blind tasting. On the nose you get cherries and apricot covered in honey with a nice bergamot and lilac thread running through as well. The taste is immediately sweet and the apricot is up front. Following that is a honeyed earl grey tea. The finish is short with the honey getting a bit darker and a light oak note moving in. Overall this was my favorite of the blind tasting. It was my top pick in both rounds of tasting and I considered it the winner by a substantial margin.

Nose: Oak coming strong and the bourbon is competing with it well. Apples and grapes. Very dry and not much happening. Palate: Sour apples. Sweet candies. Artificial fruity flavor like what you’d find in a snow cone. Oak hitting hard again. Finish: Very brief. Doesn’t stick around for tea, that’s for sure. Dry and sour. Very hard to describe. Overall Thoughts. Just don’t buy it. It’s another Total Wine generic but it’s just not good in any way. This is just bad whisky. After I’d had another Grangestone earlier on I thought I’d like this but I was very wrong.

EXPLORATION: At first serviceable, but lacks complexity. Nose is vanilla, orange, and cereal. Tastes sweet, bitter orange, with a brief vanilla finish. Upon further tasting it begins to flatten. I wouldn’t buy a bottle of this, but I’d be happy throwing it in a cocktail or, gods forbid, some coke. But perhaps there's nothing wrong with that. EXHORTATION: Seek not, lest ye be in the market for tasting samplers from different barrel finishes, or you’re in need of a cheap mixer. Though I feel there’s probably better mixers for the same price.