2024 Day 11 - Doc Swinson Triple Oak
- Paul Mora
- Dec 22, 2024
- 1 min read
OK, brace yourselves. At 114.6 proof this bottle is a major kick in the pants.
As many of you may know, my first love is whisky from Scotland. More importantly, whisky from the Isla region. I love deep smoky overpowering flavors. I hope this bottle is not too over the top.
I find Doc Swinson to be one of those out of this world bourbons. They practice the art of blending, just like the distillers in Scotland. Using different casks to create an amazing blend of subtleness and sweet. This is one of my top favorite bourbons.
The color is a very deep copper. It is extremely refined with notes of cherry, vanilla custard with a floral undertone in the nose. Given the high proof, the palette is not shockingly hot. It is brown sugary sweet upfront, with dark chocolate, leather and almonds. It finishes with salty caramel, dark cherry and milk chocolate. Overall this blend is elegant. Given it's bottle proof, I can't believe how smooth it drinks. But please be careful.
I truly hope you enjoy this one as much as I have. Please let me know in your comments.
Two more days to go! We hope you are enjoying this year's Advent Calendar. It has been exciting to share.
Not as hot as the proof agree. I could see how a couple pours of this could sneak up on you. A lot of pepper and several types, white pepper+. I’m a fan - but one pour an evening is enough.
Ok class, we finished our homework a bit late. Having poured this one the first thing that struck the nose was it's alcohol content - I knew this was gonna have some heat. After the first sip the most striking thing was questioning if there were a bourbon or a scotch, the profile had a hint of peat to it. Then smooooooth - this drinks very well. I had to look it up and was surprised to learn this is distilled in WA just south of the Canadian border and they have some wild bottles in their library. Time for a road-trip!
This one may be pushing it's way up into favorites. I could drink far too much of this and live to regret it. And then I would likely do it again. It is so good! It smells almost as good as it tastes. Paul you mentioned almonds and cherries, and that is some of what I can taste. I, once again, do not have the words to express what I am tasting, but whatever it is, it is GOOD. Thanks!
I've tried many of the bold peat smoke laced scotches like Lagavulin. My initial takes included words like gasoline. Perhaps some day I'll learn to appreciate it. Like Daniel suggested, want and like are often worlds apart. This is indeed a bold bourbon and many factors more enjoyable than Lagavulin to me. I think its virtue, like most world class wines, is the close integration of aromas and flavors. You immediately sense the complexity, and enjoy it, but you'll have to work a little bit to discover why. This is a gem.
I had to look this up, but Doc's is made in upper northwest of the Pacific Northwest. About as PNW as you can get before you become really, really nice and a connoisseur of all things flannel and McKenzie Brothers films. But I do appreciate that they claim the climate in which they make this stuff is about as close as they can get to the Scottish Highlands without being forced to drink Irn-Bru. I have a hard time with Scotch, I think, in the same way that some people only taste soap when they eat cilantro. My OR6A2 only lets me taste Band-Aids. But I really WANT to love scotch. I have a buddy who was named after a…