Woodford Reserve Blended Malt Sherry Cask Finish 2024 (Distillery Series)

It's been a while since I put anything down here. I'm somewhat excited because I'll openly admit I really like Woodford Malt. Nose - I have nothing to compare this to. A huge blast of just potent alcohol sweetness. Oak and cotton candy...and the cotton candy and oak just overwhelm you, making it impossible to keep smelling. Once I got used to it, I detected rich oak over vanilla/white chocolate. However, there's a prevalent funk here. You might think of oak and cotton candy as a sweet dessert, but no, the funky notes stem from those two elements. It warms the nose, becoming warmer the deeper the smell travels... kind of like how Ardbeg has a cooling effect. This is that effect amplified and with heat. It's like mothballs, hay, and somehow an alcoholic sting behind sugary funk. Beyond that, I'm starting to pick up classic sherry notes of raisins and figs. Red fruity gummies. It's not alcohol-forward, but there's a hint of that here. Taste - First drink in 4-5 days. The strangeness continues. It arrives sweet, almost more like a port wine than sherry. But it instantly shifts into that oily Woodford Malt character, though darker... dirtier, stranger. A slight spice. A decent alcoholic presence, but to be fair, I haven't had a drink in a bit. The body provides more oily notes than expected at Woodford's high proofs. This is supposedly a blend of 5 different malts Woodford is producing, and it tastes like someone just combined 5 whiskies and finished them in a cask. I enjoy the initial sweetness, but the rest of this is unfortunately a complete mess, with the finish just getting worse and worse. It does have some nice spice and a lingering finish... but that can't redeem the rest of it. 5 stars on my personal scale. A 1.25 on a quality scale. I always score out of 4 and reserve 5s for truly exceptional whiskey. It costs about 70, so I'm calling it 140 since it's a 375ml bottle, so people won't expect it to be inexpensive. Hard pass in my opinion, but it's something different.

This is significantly sweeter than any other Woodford offering, by a wide margin. It still carries the characteristic Woodford taste but is quite distinct. The liquid itself is decent, but the added ingredients make it very different and solid. I'm pleased I only purchased the 350ml size, even though it cost more than most full bottles. It earns a higher score due to its uniqueness.

Sweet Sherry finish, enjoyable but I'm not a big fan of sherry finished bourbons.