This madeira-finished whisky delivers a beautiful combination of crunchy red apple, dried apple rings, toasted oak, cubes of vanilla fudge, honey, and dabs of orange. It’s a friendly dram and it draws you in; attractive but not flashy or abundantly fragrant. Soft fruits, though not instantly sweet, accompanied by vegetal notes, almonds, and some spicy bitterness, with ginger, pepper, and clove encircling the tongue.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2018)

Laden with herbs and spices—mint, caraway, earthy ginger—on the nose, along with furniture polish and lemon. The palate is oak-driven and rich, full of dark chocolate, zippy caraway, roasted lemon, and ginger. There’s a pleasant fruitiness as well, but the finish is dry, all gentle spice and chocolate. Takes water well—in fact, a few drops helps to tame some of the punchy heat. A blend of bourbon, rye, and malt whiskeys.

Reviewed by: Susannah Skiver Barton (Fall 2018)

A Wisconsin rye aged in used American oak and new French oak, then finished in a Limousin oak solera. Heavily perfumed; incense and sandalwood on top of leather, gentle wood, and pleasingly soft rye spice. Golden raisins, white flowers, and violets on the palate, with a sweet and balanced finish. Softer and less assertive than traditional rye whiskeys, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Reviewed by: Adam Polonski (Fall 2018)

Bright, delicate, and approachable. While not a showstopper, it delivers generous sweet fruit, almost candied red apple sweetness, along with floral and black cherry notes. On the palate, it shows modest structure, with notes of lemon and pistachio, along with gentle wisps of baking spice and sandalwood. A blend of two Kentucky straight rye whiskeys and two Kentucky straight bourbons.

Reviewed by: Jeffery Lindenmuth (Fall 2018)

Hailing from the Lorraine region, this single malt is double distilled in Charentais pot stills. Orange flesh, lemon sherbet, strawberry bubble gum, candied fruit jellies, grapefruit, and dry spice, with shades of vanilla on the nose. To taste, a wishy-washy orange note with a thin structure hung with milk chocolate, mango juice, papaya, wood spice, and ground ginger, concluding in a pulped-fruit ending.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2018)

Redolent of marshmallow and vanilla, this is restrained on the nose, but revels in pretty sweetness, with peaches and cream, ripe banana, and circus peanuts candies. On the palate, this collaboration with actor Matthew McConaughey betrays some of its Wild Turkey pedigree, capturing the house earthiness. For its modest proof, it pours a bit hot on the palate, with plenty of oak tannins, making it a nice sipper on the rocks or with water. Value pick

Reviewed by: Jeffery Lindenmuth (Fall 2018)

This lighter, fruity, spicy whisky is not for peat lovers. Bourbon, whisky, and rum casks were used for finishing, resulting in a nose of rich honey, golden syrup, peach stone, apricot, honeydew, coriander seed, ginger, and white pepper. Citrus, butter fudge, dried and tropical fruits, rumbling spices, and tangy orange create a creamy combination, from which a familiar Johnnie Walker identity suddenly snaps into place. (Travel Retail exclusive)

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2018)

A host of sweet confections awaits in this whiskey, which appears to be Kentucky bourbon with some types of added flavoring. Big caramel gives way to angel food cake, crème brûlée, lemon chiffon, and batter. But it doesn’t stray far enough to resemble a flavored whiskey, delivering an oily texture and nice viscosity, oozing with apple, citrus, grape soda, and hints of leather. Not one for the purist, but enjoyable all the same.

Reviewed by: Jeffery Lindenmuth (Fall 2018)

The port cask finish wraps the toffee and baked orange in an extra layer of richness. There is subtlety in the aroma of the port notes, with red cherry and dried cranberry mingling with well-integrated spices in the background. Richer dark caramels infused with red fruits, including cranberry, red currant, and pomegranate, chased by feisty spices. The finish has concentrated red fruit juices, nougat, and long-lasting spices.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2018)

Encompassing more than just Islay malts, the youngest liquid in this is from 1995. Malt loaf, peat barns, heavy salty smoke, hazelnut latte, roasted fennel seed, star anise, and sooty embers. This one could set the smoke alarms off. Good weight in the mouth, with pears in chocolate, clove, aniseed, vegetal notes, and deceptively less smoke until the powerfully intense finish of spice, soft fruit, cocoa, and seemingly eternal smoke.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2018)

A solid, basic bourbon, with pure sweetness, honey, marzipan, and wildflower notes. The sweet drive is nicely backed with drying oak on the pronounced finish, like sucking on a sweet and woody cherry Popsicle stick. A simple and enjoyable crowd pleaser, and smaller sibling to the Barrel Proof, our 2017 Whisky of the Year.

Reviewed by: Jeffery Lindenmuth (Fall 2018)

Malt and seaweed drying around rock pools, this builds up a good head of dry, fibrous peat smoke, with sautéed mushrooms, chocolate nibs, and ozone. Sweet lemons and sugar mice on the palate, it slides into a creamy-smooth pool of milk chocolate, the smoke kicking in later on, dragging a layer of clove and pepper in its wake. Proof that an Islay experience need not break the bank.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2018)

Comparatively speaking, the aromas of red apple, peppercorn, baked ham, and rowanberry make it the least enticing nose in the Tyrconnell range, although the port cask endows a beautiful delicate blush to the whiskey’s color. The mouthfeel is thinner too, with red apple, watermelon, mouth-drawing oak, fruit chews, and burnt spices in the end. A redeeming finish, however, the gums tingling delightfully with fruit and spice.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2018)

A much darker dram, with smoke from log fires, chocolate, toasted oak, crispy bacon, and dark toffee, but this really drills home the smoke, which dominates over the other characteristics. Toffee, malt, dark cherry, smoking oak, cinnamon, and pepper, but tasting is a rather linear experience. Some redeeming qualities, but it lacks the focus of the rest of the range. Finish of banana loaf and singed fruitcake.

Reviewed by: Jonny McCormick (Fall 2018)

It’s all about the grain on the nose: corncob, cooked mash, along with hay and grass, brown sugar, and earthy dried herbs. Chewy tannins overtake more subtle fruit and spice notes in the mouth; add a little water to reveal grape jelly, milk chocolate, and cinnamon candy. An impressive start from this young Kentucky distillery, though the short finish shows it has some developing yet to do. (236 bottles)

Reviewed by: Susannah Skiver Barton (Fall 2018)

Seattle bourbon made using Northwest grains. Aromas of goldenrod, golden raisins, and spicy stewed prunes; a panoply of alluring spices, chocolate, and oak. The palate carries through with similar notes, along with apricot and dark red fruits, but a dusty edge and an excess of tight, tannic green oak hold it back. Chili-chocolate spice, minerality, and lingering fruit on the finish. Impressive complexity, but somewhat woody and off-balance.

Reviewed by: Adam Polonski (Fall 2018)

There’s no missing the peat here; the nose is rife with ash, rubber tires, wood-burning fireplace, and cedar bark. But it also reveals lovely aromas of roasted apples, charred corn, black pepper, and roasted walnuts. Sweet corn, apples, honey, and nuts step forward on the palate, which is a bit hot, along with black pepper, cinnamon, dark chocolate, and oak. The finish is enjoyable ashiness—the end of a cigar.

Reviewed by: Susannah Skiver Barton (Fall 2018)

Oak-driven and tightly wound, with herbal licorice, beeswax, and dried peaches. There is a real outdoorsy quality here of forest floor, autumn leaves, and cut grass. But it feels somewhat tired and weary on the palate, then falls apart with the addition of water. Grab the older bottling (50% ABV). This release has dropped in both proof and quality.

Reviewed by: Jeffery Lindenmuth (Fall 2018)