Whiskey Review Round Up: Rock Town Hickory Smoked Whiskey

Bread, cherry candy, and more butter transition to wood and cardboard. There’s a vague savoriness in the mid-palate. Light mouthfeel. Final Score: 79/100 Tasting Notes: Rock Town Single Barrel Reserve Hickory Smoked Whiskey Color: Light copper Nose, neat: Vanilla, hard candy, and honey mix with faint smoke Palate, neat: Buttered toast, nutmeg, and fairly strong, bitter oak, along with a faintly meaty note. Hot and tannic. Nose, with water: Some of the creamy notes of the regular Hickory Smoked Whiskey come out, though they’re not nearly as strong. I also get salted caramel, apricot, and, again, a slight savoriness. Palate, with water: Honey and wood are here, along with some light smoke, but underlying everything is a funky, faintly gross combination I can only describe as prosciutto mixed with ink. It’s… odd. Decent body. Final Score: 78/100 Final Thoughts Both these whiskeys came across, to me, as something of a weird mess. The Hickory Smoked Whiskey is like drinking melted butter, with fairly little of the smoke flavor the distillery reports. The Single Barrel Reserve is less one-note, but if anything, more of a head-scratcher, with its strange combination of sweetness, umami, and funk. The nice way to describe it, I guess, would be “interesting,” although I don’t care for it personally. [SHOP FOR A BOTTLE OF ROCK TOWN HICKORY SMOKED WHISKEY]