Whiskey favorites: Noah’s Mill, Filibuster, Yamazaki

Today’s post has no story, no regional theme, no tasting event with pretty pictures.  It’s just about the whiskey.  Specifically, it’s about three whiskeys I bought fairly recently that are in danger of being consumed before I get a chance review them.

I like having a variety of whiskeys available to me at any given time.  The “good stuff” is hidden away in a high cabinet, far from the dangerously flailing limbs of counter-climbing children and also out of my line of sight so I don’t drink it up when I’m already a couple of sheets to the wind.

Unfortunately, my kitchen storage hasn’t kept up with my enthusiasm for tasting new whiskey.  The overflow booze is kept on the kitchen counter, squeezed between the toaster and the electric tea kettle.  I’d clear out a cabinet for it, but none of my remaining cabinet spaces are tall enough to accommodate the bottles without adjusting shelves and generally making a mess of things.

And let’s be realistic.  My house isn’t so neat that a bunch of bottles on the counter are really that big of a deal.

Eventually, I exceed my available counter space (i.e., it gets hard to make the kids’ toaster waffles), and then promise myself not to buy anything else until I make space.  Where by “make space,” yeah, I mean drink whiskey.  It’s a hardship.  Those weeks, when I finish off all of the whiskeys that are close to the end of the bottle, my recycle bin looks like eight or ten alcoholics live here.

But even with all of that variety available to me, I inevitably find myself reaching for the same few bottles over and over.  These are some of those bottles.

Noah’s Mill Bourbon

Bottled at 57.15 ABV, or 114.3 proof, Noah’s Mill doesn’t drink like a cask strength bourbon.  It is noticeably higher than 90 proof, but doesn’t blow the roof off the place in terms of burn.

The nose is earthy with leather and wood up front, and just a hint of the sweeter essences of honey and toffee with dried fruit and a bit of cocoa.

In the mouth, there is so much going on!  It’s a journey across your tongue, and a challenge to slow it down enough to describe all of the complexity.  For me, the dominant notes are caramel, raisins, and black cherry on the tip of the tongue, sweet nut paste and spicy rye mid-palate, and a distinct salted nut essence at the back of the mouth.  This is by no means an exhaustive list.  There is a lot going on in this bourbon.

Noah’s Mill, like many cask strength bourbons, has that creamy, clinging sensation in the mouth that is always a winner for me.  The finish is moderately long with caramel, oak, cocoa, peppery spice, and a deeply pleasant warm burn.

The salted nut hit reminds me strongly of Johnny Drum.  If you like Johnny Drum, I think you’ll like Noah’s Mill.  Both are bottled by Kentucky Bourbon Distillers (KBD), and both bear their distinctive stamp, with fairly similar flavor profiles. The Noah’s Mill is a bit more expensive, typically in the mid-$40 range as opposed to Johnny Drum’s $30 price tag, but for that price, you get a stronger bourbon in terms of ABV and I would argue also a stronger bourbon in terms of deliciousness. But then, I am a sucker for cask strength and mouthfeel.

Filibuster Dual Cask Kentucky Straight Bourbon

Let me start by saying that I am not the one drinking up the Filibuster in my house.  My husband is.  I bought it, tried it, and initially thought, eh… I’ll drink this after I’ve had one or two of something else.  But my husband loves it.  I’ve mentioned before that he and I don’t have similar palates for whiskey.  I’ll describe my experience, since his description is more along the lines of, “I don’t know.  I just love it!”

Filibuster is made from bourbon distilled in Kentucky, but finished locally in D.C. It gets an initial aging in charred American oak and then a second finishing in French oak previously used to age wine.

The result is… oaky.  The nose is dominated by wood with some caramel and vanilla underneath. Creamy syrupy caramel on the tip of the tongue starts things off with promise, but as it moves through the mouth, the oak is just overpowering for me.  The finish is the best part of this whiskey.  It is quite long, with more wood, caramel, honey, and some of the grape essence from the wine barrels lingering.

Plenty to like here  if you love your bourbons heavy with oak, and clearly my husband does.  And the finish is really very nice.  But for me, Filibuster is like getting spanked with a big piece of wood.  Not in a good way.

Yamazaki 12-year-old single malt

I have been feeling for some time that I should really be more on top of the Japanese whisky thing.  (Yes, apparently Japanese whiskies use the Scotch spelling, omitting the e.)  Last time I went to my local booze shop, I wasn’t particularly excited about anything, so I figured it was time to grab a Japanese single malt, and Yamazaki seemed like the logical choice.  It is made by Suntory, of Lost in Translation fame, and my irrational love of Bill Murray pretty much demanded that I start my journey into Japanese whisky with Yamazaki.

The nose says Speyside: apples, citrus, and exotic fruits, with some oak, leather, and a whiff of peat. In the mouth, it is extraordinarily well-balanced.  Strong honey up front that stays with you as you move the sip across your tongue.  The sweetness is joined by oak, mild peat, nutmeg, and a peppery spice, in roughly that order as it moves from front to back of the mouth.

The finish is moderate and earthy with oak, smoke, leather, and pepper sweetened by just a hint of lingering honey.

This whisky is up there with the best from Scotland, and has very rapidly become a favorite of mine.  I’m eager to try the 18-year-old version, maybe when I get my tax refund. I don’t have a lot of Japanese whisky experience to compare this one to others, but it’s certainly a lovely place to start.  Plus, you know, Bill Murray.