Frank Kuo

9.4

Color of tea. Nose of smoke, peat, sweet dates, spicy and strong alcohol, and more coal like peat. The nose is powerful. Taste is another hit of smoky peat. First sip is dry, however the sweetness surfaces later. Hidden note of marginal sweet apple. Aftertaste shows some baked apple and more smoky peat note. Clean, powerful, straightforward, and tasty. — 2 years ago

David Kline

9.3

Atop heady iodine, wet mossy and pine bio, green apple sliced thin, melon, lemon and lime peel, smoky glazed ham with pineapple, igneous grind, dried sunflower blossom, jasmine, fall maple leaves, roasted corn with sweet chillies, cinnamon, and the faintest matchstick sail memory scents. Instantly warm and welcoming ginger candy, caramel, leather, graphite, cinnamon oil, hazelnut, pine sap, mint, calvados, cherry stem, eucalyptus, tangerine oil, lime, and jalapeño. Intense and lingering, filling the mouth beyond its capacity to taste. Really lovely Talisker manifestation conjuring metal and stone textures like some dark tale of briny ghosts! #Talisker #scotch #scotchwhisky #scotchwhiskey #whiskey #whisky #TaliskerStorm #singlemalt #Isleofskye #Scotland #madebythesea #classicmaltsselection #Islay — 4 years ago

with Courtney

David Kline

9.4

This is an amazing example of precision new wood finish. Don’t get me wrong, there is a forest of new oak, butIt’s not overwhelmed or undercut, sideswiped or fracked by it. It is a perfect counterbalance to the heat and oak in this instance. Butterscotch and candied lemon bacon-smoked, and coated in Provence chocolates of candied lavender. Tangerine, grapefruit, lemon, baked apple, pepper, baked pear with vanilla bean and toffee sweeping you off in comfort. — 4 years ago

Norman Gennaro

8.9

Catch up tasting. Clearly Apple wood on the nose and strong on the flavor profile. It’s sweet and if you told me there was apple juice in it, I’d believe it. — 2 years ago

Jeff Orlowski

9.1

Vanilla and malt on nose. Full body, hint of acid, mildly dry. Lemon, apple, pears, and honey. — 3 years ago

with Michael and Joe

David Shaw

9.2

I drink so much local cider in the Pacific Northwest, but it’s good to benchmark occasionally versus the Old World standards. More head on the initial pour than cider in the glass; the head looks more like a malt syrup ale than a clean cider. After dampening down, the cider shows moderate carbonation with steady flow of pinpoint bubbles through ultra clear golden brown. Funk and maybe butter, but a dense apple profile on the nose. Frothy but lightly flavored in the mouth, rich, tending semi dry with a frothy finish. Buttery, malic and slightly perfumed aftertaste. Mild pulp astringency and flavor emerges with repeated tasting. Product is 5.5% alc/vol, unfiltered, unpasteurized. Subtly textured mouthfeel overall and lightly flavored, nuanced and totally delightful, unexpected excellence as it tastes so good in characteristics I did not anticipate it would display. It’s just not crafted as most New World ciders are, in all the best ways. Calling it rustic misses most of the positives, at least of this vintage; there’s much more complexity going on here. Great value and a delightful companion on a chilly early fall evening. — 4 years ago

Mark Flesher

9.1

After 12 hours of the operating room, my daughter got Mickey D's (apple slices....gotta keep it healthy) and I thoroughly enjoyed a cheeseburger with this Midas Touch Ancient Ale! Great roasted toffee malt, a touch sweet, very complex beer that went well with "beef." — 5 years ago

Brandon Boesch

9.9

With age gets more cherry syrup on the nose, some oak, a bit of citrus, and baking spice. Palate is insanity. Sweet cherries, tart green apple, some sweet malt, vanilla, baking spice, I think apple butter as well. Underlying all of this is a funky, acidic citrus/forest component. The taste lingers for minutes and evolves. One of the best sours I’ve ever had. — 3 years ago

Oliver Pomerantz

9.5

Special and delicious. Green apple and butterscotch — 4 years ago

David Kline

9.3

Scribbly, disjointed scumble above very cloudy toddy. Cut blood orange, red grapefruit, persimmon, table grape, and baked lemon. Wild, yeasty notes, with scraped aloe plant, dill, carrot, and carnation-daisy. Whoa. Chardonnay perfumes envelope dried green olive and green apple tastes. Weird, white pepper-dried raspberry that has nutritional yeast and cedar. Lime-pineapple devoid of fructose. Active mouthfeel has lemon peel oils, grapefruit pith, salty guava, amplified dragonfruit, and kafir leaves with crushed poppyseed dusting. Stone fruit stone tastes. Overall, a Brett-like orange, with floral suggestions of lillies dragging. Complex, and really amazing, finishing with a tartar-biscuit nod to warm Champagne vintages. Only nature could conjure this. Steel pans with whole citrus and stone fruit purées that turn herbal in the tangle of peel, leaves, stems and seed. — 4 years ago