Bech & call

Jan Becker Becherovka (Czech Republic) – Texturally Chartreuse-like but aromatically more like a spice accident. Cinnamon, for certain, and I’m pretty sure about cloves, and there’s a supporting role played by anise. Sweet, but cut with some bitterness, it’s less akin to actual bitters than it is to the sort of herbal quasi-liqueurs found all over Europe but rarely far afield from their region of production. (This bottle, in fact, was smuggled back…though it seems that it’s legally available in the States these days.) Fun. (10/11)

The needle & the Dumangin done

Dumangin Vieux Marc de Champagne (Champagne) – Spirituous exotica, kinda-sorta floral, or mineral, but then neither. Fruit plays a role as well, but it’s hard to identify which or how. And there are non-primary complexities as well. I like this as much as any marc I’ve tasted since a Château Grillet many, many years ago.. (9/11)

Crazy puffs

Willett Bourbon “Cocoa Loco” (Kentucky) – 119.2 proof, aged eight years in white oak. For a time, every sip of this tasted overtly, overwhelmingly, and somewhat unpleasantly of dill, like a very poorly and yet lavishly-oaked Chilean cabernet. That characteristic eventually faded into oblivion, and while what’s left never failed to taste of various polishes, sheens, and buffs, an incredible amount of dark mahogany character eventually emerged. Impossible to ignore, not burdened by excess sweetness as so many American wooded spirits are, and while I would in no way call it sophisticated, it’s certainly swaggering. I like it. (7/11)

Square deal

Rittenhouse Rye (Kentucky) – 100 proof, and the heat is all over this stuff. I’m sure that there are innumerable applications that dampen these spirits (pun intended, and yes I know and enjoy many said dampenings), but it’s a bit of a firehose to deal with in its native form. But oh, is it good anyway. Grains, leaves, seeds, dirt pellets. Everything that bourbon is not. A friend told me that, in terms of sipping tipples, I was destined to be more of a rye guy than a wheat freak. He was right. This is so, so, so much more interesting (to me) than all but the van Winkle Bourbons, and I haven’t even plumbed the depths of the aged versions of this particular spirit. (6/11)

Number one with a...

Bulleit “95” Rye Whiskey (America) – Unlike a fair number of the mass-market ryes, this actually tastes as if it was made by fans of rye rather than the mass-market. Ultimately, however, it’s fairly insignificant. Decent, basic, good guzzling rye, but lacking the grainy complexities of better ryes. A good thing to have around, but the Nixonian among us may want to keep a bottle of Rittenhouse in a plain brown wrapper. (6/11)

Saz you

Sazerac Rye (Kentucky) – Not bad, but there’s certainly better, despite the paradigmatic name. Some grain, some grass, some minor sweetness, but very restrained – almost dilute – and simple. (8/11)

New Underrelease

Old Overholt Straight Rye Whiskey (Kentucky) – I tend to use this as a blending component in cocktails rather than a drink in itself (though I do like rye on its own), because it’s a attenuated in isolation. There’s really not much more to be said about it. It’s average, though for the price I’m not sure more than that should be expected. (9/11)

Or ask his brother Sherwin

Evan Williams 2001 Single Barrel Vintage Bourbon (Kentucky) – Lots of oak, chewy and toasty, with peach seed. Fiery and direct. Everything’s delivered up front in a burst, after which there’s just not much to hold one’s interest. (9/11)

Phoaigian slip

Laphroaig 10 Year Scotch Whisky (Islay) – Straightfoward Islay smoke with a brittle, slightly fierce edge. Good stuff. (7/11)

Joes

Torres “10” Penedès Brandy (Cataluña) – Supple caramel, wet satin, a touch of cane sugar. I don’t want to like this as much as I do, but it’s awfully easy to like. (6/11)

Cold River, keep on freezin'

Maine Distilleries “Cold River” Vodka (Maine) – Stale butter and old wax. I’m told, by gurus of my acquaintance, that this is likely ethyl myristate or ethyl palmitate. Well, Ethyl Mermanate can take her margarine-stanky tail back to vodka school, because this is offensive when used in any situation in which one might actually think to use vodka rather than Napa chardonnay. (8/11)

The crown rests heavy

Crown Royal Canadian Whiskey “Black” (Canada) – Mostly sugar, with minty wood and confectionary. (8/11)

Baby baumer

J. Nusbaumer Alisier Eau-de-Vie (Alsace) – What I’ve learned, as an enthusiastic alisier amateur (in the French sense of that word), is that this spirit can be taken in fruity or floral directions. I prefer the latter, especially as it is so often paired with a delicacy so rare in this category of spirits. But this, a sweet and pretty berry version, is good too. Hyper-pure, as if infused with blue glacial ice, with a somewhat indefinable fruit character somewhere in a realm between Rainier cherries, dragon fruit, mirabelle plums, and one of those toxic-looking white things you find on mountain hikes but don’t dare eat. Boisterous. (5/11)

Unbenromachable

Benromach Single Malt Scotch Whisky (Madeira Casks) (Speyside) – Sticky and ponderous. There’s good, peaty material here, but far too much sheen and sugary glitter trying to bury it. I like a lot of Benromach’s whiskys, but this isn’t all that much fun. (5/11)

Livet, don't love it

The Glenlivet 15 Year Single Malt Scotch Whisky “French Oak Reserve” (Scotland) – Nothing great, nothing bad, just kinda “eh.” Very short for a scotch, which is an oddity. (5/11)

Michter Michter

Michter’s Single Barrel Straight Rye Whiskey (Kentucky) – Grainy, grassy, slightly bitter…all good. But then, gooped-up and sticky, with molasses-textured caramel and butterscotch. This is sorority punch rye. (5/11)

Singer

Metté Marc de Gewurztraminer (Alsace) – So much spice, smoked meat, and coriander whipped up by raw distillate. Very easy to hate, and I almost do…but in the end, it’s just so gloriously weird that I love it. Marc can be appealing or it can be challenging, but I think marc de gewurztraminer is the post-graduate examination of marc; so, so difficult without proper preparation. (9/10)

Goutte idea

Cazottes Eau-de-Vie Goutte de Mauzac Rosé Passerillé (Southwest France) – Floral as much as fruity, with the quality of my preferred clear spirits in that it goes beyond a simple spirituous expression of the source material to achieve something a little more interesting. Those who prefer that purity might not like this as much. There’s a delicacy along with the usual heat that’s not often found, either. (3/11)

Martin

Ledaig 20 Year Scotch Whisky (Isle of Mull) – As broad a peat aroma as I’ve smelled in a Scotch. Not strong, just broad. Drinking this is to experience the sensation of consuming a Scottish woolen blanket. That, since it’s probably not clear, is a compliment. I really love this. (3/11)

Poire, poire, pitiful vie

Weinbach Eau-de-Vie Poire William (Alsace) – Extremely intense, round, and fulsome, as stylistically befits any beverage from this house. Ripe pear, salt, minerality, sweat (an oddly regular component of this particular spirit, across producers and appellations). So much going on that the heat, which is not inconsiderable, actually takes a step back. I like this a lot. (2/11)