Brenne has a fruity, vinous demeanor unlike anything else on the whisky market, and this year’s bottling deploys a greater use of Cognac barrels. Ripe honeydew melon, poached pear, strands of lemon and mandarin, and warm, creamed rice pudding. Mandarin segments in watermelon juice liberally sprinkled with pepper, then some fudge-like sweetness emerges, barbed with fennel. The French oak spices persist into the finish, heaping on the pepper and licorice.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Spring 2017)

A nice jolt of violets, pepper, and sawn oak on the nose is underscored by some green stick and leafy sassafras notes, turning a bit more dark and chewy on the palate, with caramel, figgy fruit, green peppercorns, and a long and bold finish dominated by dark chocolate. Softens up nicely with water, and reveals more fruitiness.

Reviewed by: Jeffery Lindenmuth (Spring 2017)

A solid presence in the range, the strength and malt content continue to mark these out over their contemporaries. Grapefruit peels, sliced juicy orange, and lemon butter icing on the nose. The palate is thinner than others in the range, with crystallized orange, fudge, plus cardamom and mild pepper. The finish of sugared satsumas is boosted by a long lasting trail of spices.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Spring 2017)

Finished in barrels that once held nocino, a walnut liqueur. This whiskey immediately offers chocolate, oak, leather, vanilla, roasted pecans, and smoke-fired marshmallow. Then port, oatmeal stout, cherry cola, nutmeg, applesauce, roasted nuts, and caramel. The final notes are soft, but an extremely short finish erodes the palate’s promise.

Reviewed by: Fred Minnick (Spring 2017)

Benachie, formerly known as Jericho, was an Aberdeenshire distillery built southeast of Huntly that existed from 1822–1913. A dark amber dram with a nose of marmalade, ground almond, cherry lips, and vanilla essence. Attractive, but not overly aromatic. Cooked plums after a peppery rush begin an attenuated flavor journey, exiting with a spicy finale.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Spring 2017)

This is a non-chill filtered bottling. Initially, it’s perfume-centric with highly floral notes until a grain neutralizer sets in, with hints of caramel and vanilla. Cornbread, honey, and slight hints of pepper, herbs, and tobacco. Finishes short with a mouthful of lovely sweet corn pudding.

Reviewed by: Fred Minnick (Spring 2017)

When one imagines the Indiana ryes, this maximizes every note on the nose, warming up with mint, dill, oak, macerated cherries, and a ton of baking spices. There’s a bit of a medicinal palate property in cherry throat lozenge form, followed by oak and chocolate. Its best attribute is an unexpected long finish with a big bite of candied ginger.

Reviewed by: Fred Minnick (Spring 2017)

Caramel corn, vanilla cream, citrus, evergreen, and a peppering of cinnamon. Soft oak finish. Pleasant, straightforward, youthful, and uncomplicated. Would prefer to see it bottled at a higher strength.

Reviewed by: John Hansell (Spring 2017)

The oak is nicely subdued and integrated here, allowing buttered fruits to show through—baked spiced apple and poached pear—laced with spearmint and bay leaf. The creamy palate is nicely balanced with baking spices of cinnamon and clove and hints of pepper, giving way to a pleasantly drying, chalky finish. Price is per 375 ml.

Reviewed by: Jeffery Lindenmuth (Spring 2017)

Soft, creamy, and corn-driven, with sweet stone fruit and char aromas up front. The palate delivers on the nose; simple, direct, and enjoyable, pleasantly soft and creamy, then turning slightly nutty with sweet praline sweetness and a touch of cocoa. While lacking in complexity and verve, it shows smoothness for a whiskey aged less than 2 years.

Reviewed by: Jeffery Lindenmuth (Spring 2017)

This whiskey pours light, sweet, and pure, with fresh bread and honeyed malt up front while displaying some evident youth to the spirit. The palate offers warm cereals, floral notes, Bit-O-Honey candy, and malty sweetness on the palate. Not especially complex, but delicate, clean, and pretty.

Reviewed by: Jeffery Lindenmuth (Spring 2017)

Beginning with charcoal smoke, oak, herbs, and vanilla, grains set in, in the form of cornbread, rye muffin, and spelt pasta. This 3 year old lacks the mouthfeel or richness one hopes for in a rye. The finish is flat and short. This is an okay cocktail mixer, but lacks the oomph for a sipper.

Reviewed by: Fred Minnick (Spring 2017)

Generously oaky, with sawdust, horse saddle, vanilla, honey, and a chalky, mineral quality on the nose. The palate is mouth-coating, with a full-bodied punch of sweet fruit, caramel, treacle, and heat, but even with dilution, the astringent wood tannins, chalk dust, and dry leathery finish come on too quickly. The rare craft bourbon that might have been better a bit younger. (Loch & K(e)y exclusive)

Reviewed by: Jeffery Lindenmuth (Spring 2017)

Fruit driven, with banana and circus peanuts candies, florals, and violet candies, this turns more peppery and minty on the palate, where warm cereal meets some varnish notes with a bit of heat and slight bitterness that makes it feel a bit rough around the edges. 100% Montana and Canada rye, aged 2 years in full-sized barrels.

Reviewed by: Jeffery Lindenmuth (Spring 2017)

This composite includes 28 year old barrels that yielded a flavor profile similar to pre-Prohibition blends. Smoke, mint, herbs, dandelion, chamomile, and horehound. Earthiness warms the palate with a slight hint of whole-grain toast. A medium finish shows a bit of black licorice. This style is so reminiscent of early 1900s whiskeys that it’s a must-pour for a palate history lesson. You just don’t taste these notes elsewhere.

Reviewed by: Fred Minnick (Spring 2017)

Campfire smoke, fusel notes, green twigs, and rhum agricole give a rustic edge to this big and broad-shouldered whiskey. Full-bodied with an attitude, the sweet clover honey, oily character,  and lingering burnt sugar bitterness feel a bit disjointed. Pot distilled and aged in charred oak for 3 years.

Reviewed by: Jeffery Lindenmuth (Spring 2017)

Sourced whiskey from MGP, it’s fairly muted with hints of dill, oregano, basil, sawdust, hay, and mint. Then vegetal, cherry cough syrup, and candy corn notes over cola, maple, and oak. Traces of baking spices appear just before sweet syrup over an extremely short finish. Although many notes appeared, none were particularly pronounced.

Reviewed by: Fred Minnick (Spring 2017)