Ainsley Brae Burgundy Casks

Score: 8/23 I'm doubtful, but have heard that Ainsley Brae might be a hidden gem. Kind of. A hidden quartz: a bit better than its price tag suggests. My local Total Wine only had the Burgundy finish, which I fear won't be very representative, but, oh well, I've had terrible sherry finishes before and rarely found that different finishes on bad scotch improve it much. Also, I enjoyed the Tullibardine Burgundy well enough, so maybe this will be decent. Nose: I detect malt mingled with sulfur and strawberry gummies. It's quite sweet and fairly rich. There are both hay and freshly cut grass present. It smells somewhat muddled and the sweet strawberry is concerning, but it doesn't smell terrible. I get a little spice, but also a whiff of alcohol. It certainly smells young. Palate: What a hope-crushing first taste! It's thin (often a problem with unfortified wine finishes) with clashing flavors that don't stand out and a strong flavor of Welch's strawberry gummies. You know, those ones that look like strawberries, but actually have no strawberry flavor, natural or artificial, inside of them (seriously, check the back - it's mostly pineapple flavoring in these)? There is some pleasant woody spice here mixed with hay, grass, some spearmint, and sulfur. It's a bit rough with some noticeable alcohol, but it isn't too bad. The strawberry sweetness is both excessive, masking the other flavors, and kind of the only thing hiding how watery this is. It definitely tastes very young. Yeah, this is the typical experience for a bad, young scotch with a poor finish, similar to Grangestone. There's nothing special about this palate. The palate is actually richer and more viscous than Grant's Triple Wood, but it's also less balanced with a bit more roughness. Grant's tastes more refined, but also more sulfuric. When I taste Grant's, I think of scotch. This is strange. Finish: This is actually the main issue. I get a surge in the strawberry gummies flavor on the finish. There's a rise in fake caramel flavor with increased strawberry fruitiness and a little more rich bitterness. It's unpleasant. While I believe a single release can't define an entire line, the fact that such an obviously bad whisky was released under the Ainsley Brae name strongly suggests that the other finished releases are also bad. Especially considering the price, I expect I'll be avoiding Ainsley Brae in the future. I mean, I got this on sale for $25. ON SALE. It's normally $30. THIRTY DOLLARS! I could buy a Glenmorangie The Original, Sazerac, or Eagle Rare for that price! Heck, I could buy a Wild Turkey 101 for less and be much happier or a Doorly's 12 for less and be thrilled! This is bad and in terms of value for money, it's awful! At least with some of the worse scotches like Glen Logie, they're very cheap and you could still dump them in some rowdy mixed drink without drawing too much attention. The Burgundy finish here demands attention in a negative way. I kind of wonder if it is one of those California Burgundies that is just a bad red blend with a fancy name since it has a bit of that cheap flavor to it. In the end, this is perhaps slightly better than Grant's, but they're pretty close. I'm thinking a 6-10 on this one and leaning toward an 8.

This is a very young scotch, and it shows. Overly sweet with an unusual ripe fruit note, possibly from the burgundy cask. I disliked it neat; it's tolerable on the rocks.