Uncut, Unfiltered! Whisky under these conditions are amazing. Uncut.you get a ton of flavor because there is no water added after it comes out of the barrelall the flavor stays!
The unfiltered term means non-chill filtered. To do this they lower the temperature of the whisky down to about 32 degrees. This causes the fatty molecules to clump up. They are then filtered out. Doing this helps to prevent the whisky from clouding up when it cools. The problem is that those fatty molecules impart citrus notes to the flavor. Removing them means removing another facet of the flavor profile.
Five examples of Uncut, Unfiltered whiskies were sampled by out tasters. The following is the way they ranked them and a few tasting notes from each.
5th Place: Smoke Wagon, Uncut-Unfiltered, Bourbon, 57.63% ABV, $65
Heavy pepper notes, Cinnamon fruit taste, Smoked apple, Subtle sweet with oak, Long warm finish.
4th Place: Still 630, S.S. Sorghum Straight Whiskey, 66.95% ABV, $65
Licorice on the nose, Great caramel notes, Sweet and soft, Rich flavor, Short finish.
3rd Place: Benriach Cask Strength, Batch 2, Single Malt Scotch, 60.6% ABV, $90
Smooth, Layers of sweetness, Thick mouth feel, Pleasant sherry profile, Good finish.
2nd Place: High N Wicked, the Wild Rover, Irish Whiskey, 58.7% ABV, $140
Vanilla nose, Really smooth, Black tea taste forward, Not much finish.
1st Place: Jack Daniels, Single Barrel, Barrel Proof, Tennessee Whiskey, 66.4% ABV, $60
Slight ethanol on the nose, Sweet syrup taste, Sweet on the pallet, Long finish.
Its important to note that these are all great products and they all scored very close to each other. My two favorites were the Still 630 and the Smoke Wagon, and they came in last. But each of these expressions were really good.
Thank you to all those who participated!
Doug