Highland Park Thor is limited to 23,000 bottles worldwide (and just 1,500 for the U.S. market). It’s housed in a unique wooden frame meant to parallel the design of a traditional Viking ship. So in addition to a tasty dram, it’s also a conversation piece.

Tasting notes courtesy of Highland Park –

Appearance: Rich amber, with an iron ore glow.

Nose: Concentrated and forceful, with an explosion of aromatic smoke, pungent fresh ginger, antique copper, stewed plums, and golden syrup. With water, earthy notes emerge, like a garden after a heavy rain shower.

Palate: Thor’s high strength grabs the palate and refuses to let go.  Initially dry, with fiery gingerbread then vanilla, blackberries, fresh mango, peach and hints of cinnamon. As its big flavors swirl around the mouth, some softer, sweeter notes develop, giving Thor an unexpected layer of complexity and depth.

Finish: The finish thunders on, leaving behind lingering notes of sweet vanilla and an intense spiciness.

Find it online for about $200.

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Dive into Eagle Rare Single Barrel for aromas of toasted bread, vanilla, charcoal and almonds. Take a sip to find a very rich, oily mouthfeel and lots of oak that surfaces with sweet caramel and dry resin. Dried fruits, leather and cocoa hit mid palate, and then the finish: it’s very peppery with lots of baking spices, but a honeyed background keeps things in check. The finish lasts seemingly forever.

That’s one serious whiskey. It hits all the typical bourbon notes, but adds another layer of depth. That complex, assertive and intense nature takes it beyond your usual suspects. And that alluring play between spicy and sweet keeps us coming back for more.

Plus, the price is just right.

Stats:
- 45% Alcohol by Volume
- $25-30

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- Knob Creek Single Barrel Bourbon
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White whiskeys are typically the product of small distillers who can’t afford to age their spirits for several years before bottling (technically, whiskeys have to be aged, and White Pike sees the inside of a barrel for 18 minutes before bottling). They have their place, sure, but the proliferation of white whiskeys has reached a nearly overwhelming rate. That said, as far as white spirits go, we’ll take whiskey over vodka nine times out of 10, but even we have to concede that there’s more of a market for vodkas than unaged whiskeys.

Master Distiller Thomas McKenzie created White Pike from a recipe of corn, spelt and malted wheat, and the company says that White Pike mixes in ways that brown whiskeys cannot. Until we sample White Pike for ourselves, here are some details and tasting notes from the company –

The White Pike Difference

- White Pike mixes in ways brown whiskeys won’t
- Farming, distillation and bottling all done locally
- When we bottle it, we ship it straight away
- Ingredients: organic spelt, corn, malted wheat
- Family-owned distillery, Alabama-trained Master Distiller
- No commercial enzymes are used because malted wheat gets the job done better

Tasting Notes

Nose: Smells like harvest time in a creamy cornfield
Taste: Calls to mind fresh buttered toast, rich in the middle and smooth as silk
Finish: Very clean, integrated
Overall: Good for a mixer, or a little nip with a taste of water behind it.

For now, White Pike Whiskey is only available in New York, with prices starting around $32.

In the below video, Stephen reveals his guide to getting the best sensory experience out of your whisky (we’ll drop the ‘e’ in deference to Scotland). He shares his tips for fully experiencing whisky, from sight to smell to taste. From there, he even discusses how to blend your own whisky for a different tasting experience.

Though the video focuses on Dewar’s, the same general principles can be applied to other whiskies and other spirits.

Knob Creek Rye is a blend of rye whiskeys that have been aged up to nine years. It pours a light amber color in the glass and has distinctly spicy aromas of rye grains and strong oak. The nose hints at sweet vanilla undertones, which open up on the palate, along with notes of cherry, charcoal and tobacco. It remains rich and full-bodied from open to close, and finishes with a warm, lingering spice.

That’s some good rye. At 100 proof, it’s more spicy than hot, and like the bourbon, it’s easy to drink straight. That said, rye whiskeys always have good application in cocktails, and Knob Creek Rye is no different. Mix it into Manhattans and Old Fashioneds, or try it in an Old Pal Cocktail, a drink which begs for a 100 proof base.

Well done, Knob Creek. It’s been a good 20 years, and between the Bourbon, Single Barrel Bourbon and new Knob Creek Rye, that’s a solid trio.

Knob Creek Rye Whiskey will be available in select markets starting in March 2012 and will be released nationally in July 2012.

Stats:
- 50% Alcohol by Volume
- $35.99

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- Knob Creek Single Barrel Bourbon Review
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Bushmills is one of the only distilleries in the world that produces its whiskeys completely under one roof. The “grain to glass” facility malts, distills, matures, blends and bottles at Ireland’s oldest working distillery.

Bushmills Irish Honey pours a light straw gold and has aromas of sweetened grains, honey and pears. More honey comes through on the palate, plus more pears and hints of ripe apples. It’s sweet, but not overly so, and it finishes with notes of malty grains.

Overall, Bushmills Irish Honey is clean, pleasant and very drinkable. The hints of orchard fruit are a nice touch, but the pervasive honey – though applied with a mostly subtle hand – begs for some countering spice.

That said, we’re not exactly the target market for this product, as Bushmills 10-Year is more akin to our wheelhouse. But fans of sweetened whiskeys will find a lot to like about this new product.

Stats:
- 35% Alcohol by Volume
- $25

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On the nose, The Glenrothes 1998 Vintage is lush with pineapples and mangos, plus a hint of vanilla. On the palate there’s banana, coconut and dried cherry, all mingling with a faint background of sweet caramel and spicy cinnamon. The finish is long and dry with a nice balance between spice and vanilla.

Overall, good stuff. It’s got more character than The Glenrothes Select Reserve, but is somewhat less nuanced than the oaky, honeyed 1985 Vintage. Hats off to Gordon Motion for bottling a whisky that so delicately balances tropical fruits with vanilla. We think we’ll have another glass.

Stats:
- 43% Alcohol by Volume
- $45

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- Mackinlay’s Rare Old Highland Malt Whisky
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- Best Scotch Whisky

The data-driven whiskey guide was created to give readers an easier way to find the best spirit in a particular category, all while factoring in price and value. We’ve started with whiskey and will hopefully expand to other spirits down the line.

The ratings are numerical values on a scale of 1 to 100. But rather than assigning a definitive score to each individual whiskey, the FindTheBest Smart Rating is a weighted average of five whiskey rating sources: the Beverage Testing Institute, the International Wine and Spirits Competition, the LA Whiskey Society, the San Francisco World Spirits Competition and Wine Enthusiast Magazine. So a score of 100 does not denote a perfect whiskey. Instead, it indicates a spirit that consistently received top marks from the aforementioned ratings institutions and sits at the top of its class when compared to other whiskeys.

We hope you enjoy the guide and find it helpful. You can access it by clicking the Whiskey Guide link in the top navigation bar of every page or by visiting whiskey.cocktailenthusiast.com.

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Jefferson’s founder and master blender Trey Zoeller combed through many barrels of aged rye whiskeys before settling on the right components for Jefferson’s Rye. Let’s see how he did.

On the nose, Jefferson’s Rye is full of sugar and spice. In this case, brown sugar and cinnamon, plus hints of caramel and nutmeg. Drink up to find toasty grains, honey and creamy vanilla, all wrapped up in a cocoon of cooling mint. The whiskey finishes smoothly with hints of toffee and pepper.

Overall, it really is quite similar to WhistlePig, but at a more affordable price point. Both are whiskeys worth knowing, but we’ll give the nod to Jefferson’s for affordability.

An interesting note – Jefferson’s presumably comes from rye whiskey stocks that are primarily used in small quantities for blending into Canadian whiskeys. It’s great to see brands like Jefferson’s and WhistlePig featuring these barrels as straight ryes.

Stats:
- 47% Alcohol by Volume
- $40

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The new whiskey gets its name from its double aging process. Woodford Reserve Double Oaked is first aged in toasted, charred barrels created at Woodford’s cooperage. This initial maturation provides much of the color and flavor, but the second step is what makes the spirit unique. It’s moved to another custom barrel – one that’s been toasted twice as long as the initial barrel, and then very lightly charred. The heavy toast qualities impart lots of soft, sweet oak characteristics to the whiskey.

Woodford Reserve Double Oaked is sweet and spicy on the nose, with lots of vanilla, honey, chocolate and cinnamon. The entry brings more vanilla, plus caramel, baked apples and baking spices. Mid-palate it becomes quite creamy and hints at marzipan before finishing with lingering notes of oak and honey. Though the oak is very present throughout, the whiskey remains well-balanced and smooth from start to finish, never killing the drinker’s palate with too much oak.

Look for Woodford Reserve Double Oaked on store shelves beginning in March. It clocks in at 90.4 proof (45.2% alcohol by volume), and is expected to retail for $50 per bottle.

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For more about whiskey, check out our whiskey guide.