If you are a devout daily reader of this site, you may have noticed that this is a spirit on a Wednesday and that a beer review happened yesterday. This is because HBR is undergoing a new change to stymie the onslaught of whiskey taking up so much of the review space for spirits. We’ll now do Whiskey on Wednesday every other week, and leave Monday for all other spirits. Meaning your monthly spirit reviews just jumped from 4 to 6! With that let’s get into the whiskey.
On second thought, maybe let’s not. It honestly took multiple tries at tasting to make sure the whole odd fruit gusher candy vibe running through this ‘bourbon’ was real. Also while we’re at it – hey Portland Maine? Ya ain’t bourbon county so piss off.
What they Say: “Specially blended from a selection of fine bourbon whiskies. Produced and bottled by Stroudwater Distiller, Portland, ME”
Taste: 3.5 – There is like a puff of smoke among the spirit to hint this is a whiskey, but nothing more.
Aftertaste: 2.0 – You get that same odd whiskey & sugar fruit flavouring from the aroma more so here. It’s not good.
Burn/Smooth: 3.0 – This does give a reasonable burn going down, with not a great approach to a warmth.
Aroma: 4.0 – It’s like a whiskey had sex with a fruit gusher. You honestly get citrus, sugar, and tropical fruits all over what should just be a bourbon (from Maine)
Honesty: 6.0 – They don’t say much, and the imagery and bottle are spot on. That may be there saving grace here.
Mixability: 4.0
W/ Rocks: 2.0 – It turns the whiskey into something you can discern while drinking, which somehow makes it worse.
Whiskey and Coke: 6.0 – It’s okay and tasty to drink. Finally, something is done right.
Value: 1.0 – We did not pay that price for this, and thank whoever’s up there that we did not. This is in small batch actually goo whisky territory of which this does not belong.
Google Shop Average: $40
Website: http://stroudwaterdistillery.com/
Reviewer Scores:
BuffaloJern: 3.0
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Metric Score: 23.5/70 |+| Metric Average: 3.36 |+| Reviewer Average: 3.0
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Final Thoughts: Well sorry it was something as low tier as this, but don’t worry next time it’s another Laphroaig because while we’ve moved it to Wednesday that doesn’t mean our tastes on whiskey have dramatically altered either.
