Western Gold 6 Years Old Bourbon Whiskey

I had read some good reviews of this award winning 6 year old bourbon, available from Lidl, and although price shouldn't affect judgment, the £15.49 price tag, along with the recommendations, persuaded me to give it a go. As the label says, it is smooth, it's also sweet, but curiously there is no specific stand out flavour. This means that neat it's quite nice, I certainly prefer it to Jack Daniel's Old No. 7 or Jim Beam Original White Label, which the square bottle suggests it's being targeted against, however, there's no real taste that would make me want to come back to it. 

It's OK neat, it's certainly good value for money, so if you "need" or "want" a drink, then it's worth buying, but if you fancy a "good", rather than "nice" bourbon, then you may want to look elsewhere.

I also thought I'd give it a go with various mixers, that was a waste of time, as the whiskey has no stand out flavour, they just diluted it, rather than enhancing any particular taste.

Tesco Finest 12 Year Old Highland Single Malt Scotch Whisky

Like the Speyside I reviewed a while ago, this retails for £25, and now and again drops to £20. Like the Speyside, it's been crafted by Master Blender, Richard Paterson, it's excellent value for money, a fine whisky. It's quite sweet, smooth, but probably slightly harsher than the Speyside.

I prefer the Speyside, I like the sweet honeyness of it, I can't really put my finger on the flavours here, perhaps more caramel and fruit, not a bad thing necessarily, just an observation. I've seen other comments on the internet people comparing the two, saying they prefer the Highland to the Speyside, they're both very good, worth buying, at full price and definitely so when reduced.

I guess these are both good "beginner's" whiskies. They're not too complicated, not peaty, nothing overpowering, so good while you're beginning your journey, and still finding your feet, but maybe the whisky connoisseur would find them a bit too tame, there's nothing to get too excited about.

Wild Turkey 81 Vs. Wild Turkey 101

Every now and again, on https://www.hotukdeals.com people moan when the 81 comes up as being on special offer, but how the 101 isn't, so when the 101 was available for £25 I thought I'd give it a go, as a lot of people say it's better.

So, what's the difference? Well the 81 is 81 proof, which is 40.5% alcohol, while the 101 is an eye watering 101 proof, 50.5%, and yes, you can tell the difference straight away, and feel the effects the following morning!

The extra alcohol hits you straight away, you can tell this is a stronger drink, this wil put hairs on your chest :)

when drunk neat, it's for sipping. With a mixer, it still tastes strong, it didn't really work for me with coke, better with a large lump of ice to slowly melt and water it down!

The taste is similar, more treacle than the normal 81, less honey, same pear and spice, and much more of a kick, nowhere near as smooth. Woodford Reserve and Gentleman Jack retain some smoothness with a little extra alcohol content, but the extra alcohol here removes all the smoothness of the 81 entirely :(

I won't buy it again, sadly I didn't enjoy it too much.

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Tesco Finest 12 Year Old Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky

I won't pretend to know enough about whisky to guess at who makes this whisky, I'll leave that to other sites, but what I do know, that for £25 it's very reasonably priced. Both this and the Highland occasionally get reduced to £20 making them even more of a bargain than they already are!

A very nice balance of fruit and spice, hint of honey, nothing too overpowering, not too sweet, there's a nice amount of burn, and the taste lingers. The back of the bottle says "and a gentle depth of peat smoke enhanced by maturation", I only noticed the peat just after I read that and was looking for it, which for me is a good thing, I'm not a fan of peated whisky, so don't let that influence you either way!

Well worth buying again, you can buy worse, for more money, this is definitely one of my favourites now.

Buffalo Trace Vs. Wild Turkey

The Buffalo Trace was reduced this time round in the supermarket, again from £23 to £15, and gives an equal rival to Wild Turkey. It's not the same, but is similar. Again it's smooth, sweet, probably more pear to it with spice, but again no particularly overpowering taste, which is a good thing in my book. Buffalo Trace also a hint of honey, Wild Turkey more syrup perhaps? Neither are overly sweet, the spice gives the right balance.

Like Wild Turkey, it's versatile, you can drink neat, on the rocks, do a shot, or with a mixer, it's good however you take it :)

Also like Wild Turkey, I'd happily buy this again, or order in a bar, drink round a friend's house etc.

I prefer Wild Turkey to Buffalo Trace. I'm not saying it's better, just more to my liking, I certainly prefer both of these to Jack Daniel's or Jim Beam. Gentleman Jack is a bit nicer in my opinion than either as it's smoother, but not worth the extra cost.

Jameson Irish Whiskey

The last Irish Whiskey I tried was Bushmill's, I wasn't impressed, a friend had recommended it, as a sweeter alternative to Scotch Whisky, and it put me off.

At work today, we were talking about whisky and whiskey, and a colleague said he likes Jameson, which is available in most supermarkets, often on a special offer, but I had never tried it.

As it happens a 1/2 bottle is on special offer at the moment, for £10 in Sainsbury's and Tesco, so I thought I'd give it a shot, as I'd rather buy a 1/2 bottle on a whim to try than a full bottle as that gives you plenty to experiment with 😃

I like this a lot more than Bushmill's. I'm not sure I'll buy it again, neat, it's smooth, and sweet, and has no distinguishing flavours as such, but has a bit of a funny aftertaste, so at first seems very nice, but after you've had a few isn't so nice. Ice didn't help, if anything that exaggerated the aftertaste 😔

So another to add to the list of drinks I'd drink if offered at a friend's, but wouldn't buy by choice.

Wild Turkey

Well this is a pleasant surprise, again, special offer, and definitely one of the best value for money drinks I've had, down to £15 from £23. This is a good drink, would be happy with it at £23, so when it's £15 it's a real bargain, excellent value for money. Quite a smooth, sweet, vanilla bourbon. It often goes down to this price, so would be silly to pay more. It's versatile as well, at this price, you can drink it with a mixer if you need a "long" drink, or you can down a shot of it, if in the mood, or if you'd prefer you can sip and enjoy it.

This is a prime example of why Scotch single malt whisky sales are falling. "Good" whisky sometimes gets reduced to £20-£25, which is more than the rrp of this bourbon  which the supermarkets like, as it's more profitable, so it must be mass produced on a much larger scale for them to discount so frequently, and still make a profit.

But at the end of the day, with only limited funds available, you can buy a really nice drink for £15 a bottle. Is a single malt, costing nearly double the price, twice as nice? That's personal opinion, but as I'm enjoying these bourbons, it seems that they'll become my normal drink, and the single malts will only be bought with birthday and Christmas money :(

Woodford Reserve

I bought this the same day as the Gentleman Jack, again large discount (£10) in the supermarket was all the incentive I needed to give it a go, it's been on my wish list for a while 😃

It's similar to Gentleman Jack, it's a very sweet, smooth, mellow whiskey, vanilla, caramel, spice. Again, it's a good whiskey to drink neat, one sip at a time to enjoy the flavour, don't want to ruin it with coke or any other mixer.

But there's the problem, it's perhaps too mellow! Don't get me wrong, it's a nice drink, and you do feel the 43.2% kick rather than 40%, the taste lingers that little bit longer, but there's not much real flavour to it, you have to concentrate on it while drinking it. It's kind of forgettable. I prefer Gentleman Jack, that has a more lasting flavour to it. 

I did try Woodford Reserve with Coke, and also with lemonade (both 1 part spirit, 2 parts mixer) and it was a waste, with it being so mellow, the flavour was lost.

It's a nice drink, but in short I really don't think it's worth the extra money over Bulleit, although I think it's nicer than Bulleit Rye.

So my "league table" so far of American Whiskey/bourbon

1) Gentleman Jack

2) Bulleit

3) Woodford Reserve

4) Bulleit Rye

5) Jack Daniels

The first 3 I'll buy again, as I enjoyed them neat, Bulleit is better value for money, but I'd buy Gentlemen Jack again when on special offer. The last two, I wouldn't buy again, I'd drink either if out with Coke, but they wouldn't be my first choice of drink.

Gentleman Jack

Another case of a large price reduction (£10) in the supermarket twisting my arm to give Gentleman Jack a go, and I'm glad I did, I find Gentleman Jack to be much nicer than regular Jack Daniel's old No. 7. This I can very happily drink neat, no need for coke. I did try it with coke (ratio 1 part Gentleman jack, 2 parts coke), and as expected it was nice, very smooth, and sweet, however it would be a shame to pollute such a good whiskey with coke!

It's much smoother and sweeter than the traditional Jack Daniel's Old No. 7. The flavour is similar, vanilla, caramel, but where it has been charcoal filtered twice, rather than once, you can enjoy that flavour more as the harshness is gone, it's cleaner, but still a welcome slight kick with the finish.

Cardhu Gold Reserve

This is definitely one of the better NAS whiskies I've had, it's very nice. Very sweet and smooth, honey-like, with pleasant burn and aftertaste as it goes down, just right for a sore throat :)

It's very nice and drinkable, could quite happily sip it all evening, neat, or with a dash of water or an ice cube to make it last a little longer!

The honey may make it a bit too sweet and overpowering for some, but I would happily buy this again. However as often is the case with my whisky purchases, I paid £25 in the supermarket, not the £42 RRP, it's the £25 I'd happily again, I don't think I'd pay much more than that.

One day I'll treat myself, probably in a pub, rather than to a whole bottle, just in case, to a more expensive whisky to see if I can taste the difference.

Bulleit Bourbon Frontier Whiskey Vs. Jack Daniel's Old No. 7

Different review to "normal" for me. JD and coke is a classic, it's a nice drink, it's never been my favourite but over Christmas bottles of JD were reduced in supermarkets so I bought a bottle.
Neat, it's not great, it's harsh, and no particularly distinct flavours, but with coke it's good, the sweetness helps, I like a ratio of 1 part JD, 2 parts coke.

A while ago a friend said he moved off JD to other US Whiskies and bourbons, so when Bulleit was on offer in the supermarket, I thought I'd give it a go. Glad I did, it's much better than JD. It can be drunk neat, it's much smoother, and has a pleasant whiskey, spicy taste, hints of vanilla. Again, with coke the sweetness brings out the flavour even more.

I've got the rye whiskey to try next, as that's been on offer again as well :)

Whisky in the Freezer

Dalwhinnie Winter's Gold has the serving suggestion of from the freezer, so as an experimented I decanted some Jura Origin 10 year old, Glenfiddich 12 year old, and some Talisker Skye into small bottles and put them in the freezer for a week or so, I was curious to see if they would taste any different. In short, they lost most of their flavour. The Jura is relatively bland anyway, so this was a complete waste of time from the freezer, the Glenfiddich was ok, but a waste of a good whisky.

The Talisker Skye however I found more drinkable, but that's because the peatiness was dumbed down, but no other flavours were exaggerated.

So, in short, if it says put it in the freezer, it's not a bad idea, if it doesn't, don't, unless you're not too keen on it ;)

Glenfiddich 12 Year Old

I think this was the first single malt I ever bought a bottle of, I think it was to celebrate coming to the end my final year of my degree. I've not bought it since, not for an particular reason, however £10 off a bottle in the supermarket (down to £25 from £35)  over Christmas tempted me to revisit.

It's very nice, but another "cup of tea" whisky. I can see why it's so popular and well known around the world, it's smooth, but has that slight burn at the end. Hints of vanilla, fruit(pear), spice, but nothing too overpowering, no peat or smoke. It ticks all the right boxes, but is safe, nothing too special or outstanding about it, which I guess is why it's a classic, there's nothing wrong with it, I can see why it's so popular, and has won awards, it's a safe bet.

Better in my opinion than the Glenmorangie or the Jura, but I still prefer the Aberfeldy, or the Penderyn if I fancy something a bit more out there.

Another case of a whisky I'd be delighted to receive as a gift, but probably wouldn't buy again for myself, but I'd be tempted to try the older ones if the price was right.