St. George California Single Malt Whiskey Fall 2021 Cask #5 (Lost Lantern)

I must take some personal blame for this low rating: I anticipated something closer to St George's annual single malt release, one of my all-time favorite American single malts. Lost Lantern using the white label for this release should have prepared me for a different flavor profile, but even so, I still found this one far too erratic. I'm not a big fan yet of the "distilled from beer" trend, but some producers have achieved a more coherent experience than this bottling. Charbay R5, for instance. The ester and hop-derived flavors in this are all over the place, and the final product didn't seem to offer any intentional experience. I skipped the 2022 version, though I'll always wonder if they got closer to some kind of vision. If you do try it, expect a strong hop presence on the nose and citrus clashing with a variety of other flavors like banana and creamy malt on the palate.