HYDE 8 Year Cask Strength Bourbon Matured

This is the final bottling in the Hyde series, an 8-year-old cask strength single grain, matured in ex-Bourbon and bottled at 59%. Nose: A rough start with significant acetone. The high proof, combined with what seems like lower quality grain spirit, creates an unpleasant aroma. After 10 minutes, some acetone fades, but it remains off-putting. A faint oaky vanilla and perhaps a clove-like spice are barely perceptible. Palate: Oily and spirit-forward. Malted barley, tannic fresh oak, and intense black pepper dominate. If you can push past the pepper, there are subtle toffee-butterscotch and milk chocolate notes, but they require considerable effort to find. Finish: Short. Peppery, grainy, and slightly gritty, with a hint of vanilla. Simply put, it's bad. Contrary to reviews calling it 'moreish' and 'lipsmacking', this was not enjoyable for me. It feels like 'cask strength' is used to market poor quality. Aggressive, uncontrolled, harsh, and lacking character, flavor, or any redeeming features. At AUD$130, it's atrocious. Even at a discounted AUD$99, it's still terrible. After six bottlings, I question who produces Hyde's spirit. Hyde: Run and hide. (Pictured with a Western Australian LCT-Pegmatite from Greenbushes, featuring lepidolite and feldspar.) Hyde scores: No. 3 Bourbon Cask: 2/5; No. 4 Rum Cask Finish: 1.75/5; No. 6 Presidents Reserve: 2.75/5; No. 7 Sherry Matured 1893: 3/5; No. 8 Stout Cask Finish: 3.5/5; 8-year-old single grain: 1.25/5

I really hoped this would be a home run. An 8-year age statement, cask strength, bourbon barrel, NCF, and single grain? There are very few cask strength Irish whiskies on the market, so when I saw this available in Ireland, I snatched it up. Aroma: Pleasant, almost docile, with faint sweetness and graham crackers drifting up. Based on the aroma alone, one wouldn't guess this to be 59%. Palate: The palate is probably the best part of this dram. Really oily and amazing mouthfeel, with gentle grassy and floral notes, and a clear bourbon barrel influence shining through in vanilla and butterscotch flavors. Similar to the aroma, from the palate alone you wouldn't guess this to be 59%, although the legs give it away. The minimal alcohol burn for the proof is a testament to its age. Finish: The raw alcohol rises up, with almost no oak, sweet, or potstill spice to cover it. The finish is unfortunately the most disappointing part of this dram – it doesn't have enough impact to get it over the hump, even at cask strength and NCF. The pure ethanol taste, not even that much of a burn, but just really strong 'vodka/neutral alcohol' flavors come through. This makes me think there's probably a good bit of grain alcohol and not as much malt compared to other Irish drams. From a sheer novelty standpoint, a cask strength, age-stated Irish whiskey, I would purchase this again, even though it isn't great value for money. I love Irish whiskey, and this is a very pleasant, although not outstanding, dram.