Uh-oh, here comes trouble. Sourdough, lemon, toffee, creamy vanilla, banana bread, and a few floral notes compete with the intimidating high alcohol. It begins with orange-shred marmalade, fleeting nutty-chocolate notes, and lots of peppery spice before a substantial onslaught of alcohol tramples the taste buds. Sure, it can be tamed with water, but is that really the point? Provocative, hedonistic, raw, and reckless; I’m very glad it’s around. (5,300 bottles)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2019)

Light berry fruit notes, with resin, walnuts, and icing sugar on the nose. More confident berry notes on the palate, with a hint of cloves, then developing licorice, dark chocolate, and tangerine. The finish is spicy, with aniseed.

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Summer 2019)

Rich fruit, spiced orange, fudge, fragrant spices, and sweet, playful smoke make for a splendid nosing experience. The piscine flavors, however, may best suit smokeheads, as, along with fudge and vanilla, this has a splendid flavor of oily, smoky kippers. Golden syrup, green apple, and black pepper emerge, but the smoked-fish flavors spill into the finish to swim with pepper and fruity sweetness.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2019)

An American whiskey from Indianapolis-based Hotel Tango. The nose has notes of slate, herbs, tea, lemon peel, bitter orange, and vanilla wafer. The palate is somewhat green, with raisin, cinnamon candy, vanillin, grenadine, bitter chocolate, pecan, and cracked pepper. The finish is long and flavorful, offering orange, cherry, vanilla ice cream, mocha, and licorice. Perhaps too much wood influence, but water balances it well, creating a smooth, complex, and enjoyable whiskey.

Reviewed by: David Fleming (Summer 2019)

Classical fruity rye notes of orange, green apple, and blueberry on the nose, along with fresh-baked muffin and a whiff of new oak. The palate is somewhat arch at first, but it quickly melts into honey, warm chocolate sauce, caramel, cinnamon, baking spice, orange candy, walnut, and a hint of pipe tobacco. The finish is light and well-balanced, with more orange, along with chocolate malt, caramel, iced tea, and black pepper.

Reviewed by: David Fleming (Summer 2019)

Fruity and fresh, there are aromas of Juicy Fruit gum, honeydew, underripe bananas, and floral notes—a garden in bloom. The palate retains freshness with herbaceous flavors of parsley and cucumber, as well as melon, licorice, white pepper, and a pop of cumin. Oak, pepper, licorice, and bouquet garni on the finish. Unconventional but enjoyable flavors, driven by the still.

Reviewed by: Susannah Skiver Barton (Summer 2019)

This undergoes secondary maturation in heavily toasted and smoked new charred oak barrels, but you wouldn’t know it from the delicate nose, redolent with white flowers, Asian pear, cardamom, toasted almonds, and milk chocolate; the only hint is a bit of burnt sugar and dry leaves. On the palate, those special barrels reveal themselves with flavors of cedar, black pepper, chipotle, and barbecue potato chips, as well as apple, pecan, and milk chocolate. The finish has chili-chocolate and long, polished oak.

Reviewed by: Susannah Skiver Barton (Summer 2019)

The nose is loaded with jasmine, orange blossoms, fresh peaches, gummy bears, red wine, grape fruit leather, and lashings of vanilla. In the mouth, it’s a mixed berry bonanza—raspberry, blueberry, and strawberry—with cherry, Red Vines, chocolate, and a hint of tobacco leaf. Though light, with a somewhat short finish, it’s well-balanced and tasty.

Reviewed by: Susannah Skiver Barton (Summer 2019)

Unbaked pastry dough, swirled with brown sugar and chopped almonds, meets orange blossom water, cream soda, coconut flakes, and pistachio pudding. There’s more pastry, toasted coconut and almonds, cinnamon, brown sugar, and orange on the palate, along with plenty of oak. A splash of water goes a long way to emphasize the prettier flavors while playing down some of the youthful heat.

Reviewed by: Susannah Skiver Barton (Summer 2019)

This blend of bourbon and rye offers quince, kiwi, jasmine, honey, vanilla, angel food cake, sultanas, and lemon meringue on the nose. The palate is somewhat barrel-forward, but offers coconut, banana flan, maple syrup, cinnamon, roasted almonds, and lemon, with an appealing char note. The finish is gently spicy, smooth, and light, ending with sweet vanilla and soft oak. Perhaps a bit closed at times, and lacks some cohesiveness, but it’s very easy to enjoy.

Reviewed by: David Fleming (Summer 2019)

Fresh oak on the nose, floral notes, baked apple, bananas, and chocolate malt. The palate is light and slightly green, with herbal parsley notes, lime, and lemon, then expanding to vanilla, bitter chocolate, peanut shells, pepper, and tobacco. The finish is chocolaty, with more notes of peanut, as well as orange peel, herbaceousness, and peppery heat.

Reviewed by: David Fleming (Summer 2019)

The first house release of Tamnavulin since the 1990s. Sherry, hazelnuts, ginger, cinnamon, and milk chocolate on the nose. Medium-bodied, with sweet sherry, damsons, light spice, and toffee on the palate. Fruity oak in the finish.

Reviewed by: Gavin Smith (Summer 2019)

A light and sweet bourbon, with butterscotch candy, toasted coconut, lemon curd, marshmallow, and a bit of chalkiness on the nose. The palate is floral, tending toward cedar and sandalwood perfume, with marzipan, milk chocolate, and orange. It finishes with hookah tobacco, toasted oak, and almonds.

Reviewed by: Susannah Skiver Barton (Summer 2019)

Give the nose time to open up, and it reveals herbal and earthy aromas, with fennel, dill, root beer, and evergreen forest, as well as sprinklings of cinnamon and cloves. The palate is chewy and vivacious, although the proof keeps the heat in check; flavors of chocolate, clove, allspice, orange oil, and nutty oak are ultimately enfolded in cigar wrapper, black pepper, and orange Creamsicle.

Reviewed by: Susannah Skiver Barton (Summer 2019)

Legendary Canadian whisky blender Mike Booth blends small batches within sight of Newfoundland’s Signal Hill, using 95% corn and 5% barley whiskies matured in new oak, bourbon, and Canadian whisky barrels. Golden raisins and dried fruits with brown sugar, maple cream, dark rum, and classic peppery rye spices on the palate. Citrus peel, sandalwood, vanilla, soft oak, and a hint of spice. Rummy throughout with blackstrap molasses tugging on the palate in the finish.

Reviewed by: Davin de Kergommeaux (Summer 2019)

A blend of high-rye bourbon from Indiana and a small amount of Colorado single malt. Black tea, cooked stone fruits, blackberry jam, white pepper, and cinnamon toast on the nose. The palate is sweet and light, with hot cocoa mix, toasted oak, cola, iced tea, orange, and clove that crescendos in a flash of heat and then subsides. Dried blueberries, dark chocolate, and integrated oak on the finish. Water not recommended. Best Value

Reviewed by: Susannah Skiver Barton (Summer 2019)

Connacht Whiskey Co. finished 4 year old grain whiskey in port barrels for 3 to 6 months in this new and improved recipe. Cherry soda, rose hip, lemon zest, vanilla frosting, and dry grass aromas with a taste of damson, cherry, redcurrant jelly, pepper, and a good lift of sugary sweetness. A potpourri of spices bubbles up in the aftertaste amid lingering trails of fruity sweetness.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Summer 2019)

A blend of straight bourbons and American whiskeys, all aged at least 4 years, this is fruit cocktail in a glass: cherries, blackberries, wild strawberries, and sweet orange, along with allspice, clove, nutmeg, and a hint of cedar. Sweet, viscous, and full in the mouth, with more fruit (cooked cherry, orange peel, peach), spices, and plenty of oak all the way to the finish.

Reviewed by: Susannah Skiver Barton (Summer 2019)