Parker's Heritage 8 Year Malt Whiskey

Nose: Like fresh toast, just made but not burnt. Rich honey, demerara sugars, French vanilla, and roasted chocolate-coated peanuts. All bourbon on the nose initially, until pleasingly light barley makes an appearance like a character in a classic film. Yet, there's nothing alarming about the fresh straw and light grains that contain a funk with an almost green, seed-like quality. Raisin, cranberry, vanilla nougat, yellow corn, scone batter, and some French toast with a good amount of powdered sugar. The nose is full of breakfast notes – like the interior of a cereal box brimming with grains and coated in honey. Beneath the breakfast notes is freshly cut oak wood, not green but youthful again, which is surprising considering how intensely charred the barrels were. Through final whiffs, this nose brought back personal memories, fitting with the approaching holiday. My grandmother, who passed away about 4 years ago, comes to mind as I smell this, reminding me of my younger days spent with her and her close friend, picking out roasted mixed nuts from an old, dark, well-polished mahogany serving dish: walnuts, cashews, pecans, almonds, and peanuts dusted with fine sugar. I can still recall reaching my little fingers into that always full bowl, searching for the finest nuts, perfectly roasted. Peanut brittle offers a quiet goodbye.

Parker's Heritage 8-Year-Old Straight Malt 9th Edition A refined Kentucky Straight Malt Whiskey; a tribute to the sixth-generation Master Distiller Emeritus, Parker Beam. It begins with a sour profile featuring notes of maple, leather, pine, oak, bitter chocolate, spice, and cooling mint; while an oily mid-palate introduces notes of bread, grass, cedar, oak, sweet corn, hints of toffee, and butterscotch; culminating in a long and bitter finish with notes of malted barley, oak, almond, and a touch of smoke. July / December 2018 / July 2022

Nose - Maple, malty, brown sugar, vanilla, peanut Palate - Orange, peanut oil, butterscotch, vanilla, strong oak, cinnamon spice Finish - Medium, malty finish with hints of butterscotch and spice A very drinkable and distinctive whiskey. The nose and palate are excellent. It's well-balanced and has fantastic peanut oil and butterscotch flavors on the palate. The oak is surprisingly present for an 8-year-old spirit, but it's not overwhelming.

This particular batch of Parker's hasn't garnered much praise compared to earlier bottlings, but I'm drawn to the malt. It's certainly not a bourbon, yet it's clearly derived from corn, as the sweetness remains. I'm enjoying the caramel/peanut flavor profile. The aroma hints at more than the palate delivers, but it goes down very smoothly for a 108 proof. Drank neat in a Glencairn glass.

Nose - Malty with vanilla, caramel, corn, oak, brown sugar, molasses, and linseed oil. Palate - Smoky with a burst of spice, chili powder, and sweetness balanced by vanilla, honey, and a hint of caramel apple. Finish - Coats the mouth and is warming, with chili powder on top of oak dryness and lingering spice.

Malt upfront reminds me of balvenie but the back end has some bourbon Cimarron maple syrup. Tasted oily, sweet dried fruit, spices, some bell pepper which I like, earthy. Finished with spices, burn in a good way, smooth, long and lingering. This whiskey is great.