Tasting Report: Jack Rose Premier Drams 2024

Now in its 5th year, Jack Rose’s Premier Drams continues to be one of the standout whiskey events anywhere. WhiskyFest may have given up on our nation’s capital long ago, but Jack Rose owner Bill Thomas has proven that the city’s whiskey lovers will turn out if the right bottles are on offer. That means no humdrum, standard expressions like what you’ll find scattered around most other festivals. Premier Drams, as the name suggests, pours only premium offerings like limited editions, single casks, and new releases.

Bourbon has been plentiful at previous events, with Willett regularly making a rare appearance and generating the lion’s share of queuing. Willett and other beloved bourbon brands showed up again in a big way this year, but the Scotch selection was equally impressive. Or at least that’s what I found myself sipping most of over the course of a very boozy afternoon. Read on for a sampling of what was tasted, recalled to the best of my admittedly fuzzy memory.

Scotch

Compass Box Art & Decadence – An elegant blend of uniquely-aged single malts from Balmenach, Glen Moray and Linkwood with a top dressing of grain whisky from Port Dundas. It’s soft and fruity on the nose with a bit of subtle smoke. A hefty, malty body, however, carries sizable sherry influence highlighted by citrus and cocoa. It’s impressively beefy for a blend but maybe a little too wine-forward. B+

Compass Box Metropolis – Part of the Extinct Blends Quartet, this release showcases 30-year-old Aberlour and 26-year-old Bowmore, among several other well-aged malts. The aroma is warm with toffee and tobacco, while the palate is silky and honeyed with a soft ashy smoke and lingering notes of well-baked apple. A healthy dousing of baking spice lingers on the creamy finish. A-

Compass Box Celestial – This final release in the Extinct Blends Quartet includes in its recipe Pulteney, Ardbeg and Caol Ila. The Islay influence is clear with a nose of sweet smoke and seafoam accented with chocolate and dried herbs. The palate is oily and rich with notes of malt and grilled peaches that give way to torched sugar and vanilla cream before a long gently peppered and sweet finish of beach bonfire and cinnamon candies. A

Springbank Local Barley 10 Years Old – Springbank is rare enough to see at a whisky festival, never mind the ultra-limited local barley releases made exclusively from Campbeltown grain. This bottling from 2021 is bright and honeyed with sponge cake and lemon cream on the nose. The palate is juicy sweet and well-balanced with notes of pear cake and baking spice that give way to a clean creamy finish warm with clove and candied ginger. I may have sampled this dram two or three times. A

Springbank Cask Strength 12 Years Old – A 2024 release of the coveted Springbank Cask Strength. This bottling showcases loads of cinnamon sugar and spice on the nose with undertones of barbecue and salty smoke. The palate offers up sugared nuts and spice followed by poached pear and raw honey with a warm, malty finish. A-

Cadenhead’s Enigma 15 Years Old – A 2023 blend of two famous Campbeltown malts: 15-year-old Hazelburn and 16-year-old Kilkerran. This is light but complex with layers of freshly cooked malt, smoke, spice, and subtle tropical fruits. The finish is long and warm with citrus peel and barley sugar. Exceptional stuff. A

The Macallan Rare Cask 2023 – An accessible, top tier non-age stated offering from The Macallan. It’s a classic sherry-forward expression from the brand with plenty of citrus and stone fruit complementing a nutty, malty foundation. That said, it’s all a bit thin and doesn’t present with the kind of richness and complexity you’d expect for a luxury-priced bottling. B+

Raasay Dun Cana – An annual limited edition from craft single malt maker Raasay aged in oloroso and Pedro Ximenez quarter casks. It’s a beautiful whisky with a big nose of ripe red fruit and undertones of rye spice. The palate is all stewed dark fruit at first but brightens on the finish with citrus and slightly oxidized notes of mulled wine. The hype is real with this little island distillery. A-

Benriach Cask Edition 1994 Virgin Oak – Aged 28 years in virgin oak casks and bottled at cask strength, this one is barrel-forward but still gentle on the nose with resin and wood spice. The palate is high tone but elegant, showcasing plenty of baking spice, sandalwood, and furniture polish. The finish is warm and well-spiced with clove and cinnamon stick. Energetic for its age and quite enjoyable. A-

SMWS Sm’oak 25 Years Old – Another memorable dram and one of the more unique Laphroaig single casks I’ve tasted. The nose showcases vegetal seaweed and brine while the palate is all fresh herbs wrapped in soft, ashy smoke and creosote. It’s unusually green for a peated single malt this old. The finish is perfumed with exotic spice and oak and a gentle woodsmoke. Super unique. B+

Bourbon

Uncle Nearest Single Barrel Bourbon (No. 2312) – I’ve tasted a few Uncle Nearest single barrel bourbons, but this one stands out for its balance and approachability. It offers up maple candy and caramel on the nose with a sweet peppery palate of caramel green apple and candy corn, while the finish is warm and lingering with baking spice. B+

Brook Hill 10 Years Old – An old bourbon label reborn under indie bottler and recent bourbon bro darling Rare Character. It’s impossibly soft at cask strength with a nose of spun sugar, caramel sauce, and praline. The palate is warm and well-spiced showing more cask strength character with ample spice and candy apple before a finish of chili pepper and cinnamon. A-

Barrell Bourbon Ice Wine Finish – This was my first taste of our #1 whiskey of 2024, and while I didn’t love it as much as Chris, it was still a standout. The bright, sweet nose showcases notes of peach candies and cocktail cherry that give way to a full, round palate of apple pie and almond cake before a long finish of honey and ginger scones. Barrell’s blending magicians at their best. A-

Maker’s The Heart Release 2024 – This new Maker’s Mark limited edition feels like a middle ground between Cellar Aged and the old Wood Finishing Series. It’s not quite as burly or punchy as the latter but also not quite as finessed and layered as the former. There’s lots of red fruit on the nose and the palate sees a nice mix of oak and spice with a modest sweetness. A slight twist on the classic. A-

Seelbach’s 15 Years Old – Seelbach is better known as a craft-focused online retailer, but they’ve dabbled with indie bottling over the years. This 15-year bourbon from an undisclosed source is the oldest expression I’ve seen from the outfit, and it’s an impressively mature and unusually fruity bourbon. Oak and Zebra stripe gum on the nose gives way to an oily, warm palate of jackfruit and orange candies. A bit of latent heat and barrel spice on the finish helps to reign in the sweetness. A-

Rye

New Riff Balboa Rye – Made with heirloom Balboa rye but aged and bottled to the same specs as New Riff’s flagship rye whiskey. It’s grain-forward on the nose with warm rye bread and grist that opens to reveal treacle and herbs, dill foremost. The palate is well-spiced with undertones of dark fruit and a warm finish of root beer and wintergreen. Fun stuff. A-

Rare Character Single Barrel Rye – I’ll be honest. I can’t even remember which Rare Character single barrel expressions I sampled because co-founder Pablo Moix was slinging them behind the basement bar like a Cirque du Soleil performer. I know I tried at least one single barrel rye, around 8 or 10 years old, and it was extraordinarily fresh and unique. Truth in advertising, folks. A

Willett Rye 10 Years Old “OHLQ Exclusive 2022” – Willett is typically one of the standout drams of the event, but I apparently chose poorly and wasn’t prepared to queue for another 20 minutes for a do-over. Or maybe I just prefer younger Willett expressions. The nose on the 10 year I sampled was bright and juicy with a big wintergreen note, while the muscular palate was loaded with menthol and clove. Just a bit too heavy on the rye spice for my liking. B+

Wilderness Trail Single Barrel Rye – Wilderness Trail continues to churn out older versions of its flagship whiskeys, as well as more and more single barrels. This well-aged rye is engaging with lots of depth on the nose showcasing a chocolate-forward, almost toasted profile. Pulled from a high floor, according to distiller Pat Heist, the palate is all cocoa and spearmint with a fresh silky finish of Andes mints. A-

World Whisky

Found North Single Barrel Port Finish Rye – Canadian sourced rye whisky finished in Port casks and bottled at cask strength. It’s quite tart, bordering on sour, with a lot of tannic astringency up front. A maple syrup sweetness underneath at least gives things a pleasant mouthfeel. This one probably deserves the benefit of the doubt, given my palate fatigue and the inherent risks of mixing heavily finished whiskies with anything else. B-

The Matsui Sakura Cask – Matured in Japanese cherry wood casks. It opens with a plump, sugary nose of buttercream and lemon cake with a dark fruit syrup drizzle. It’s light on the palate and silky but with a little less to give than the aroma. Strawberry shortcake and vanilla bean lead into a clean, honeyed finish of malt and cocktail cherry. A touch too sweet and light on its feet but maybe the most interesting dram of the day. B+

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