Discovery Road - "Smile" - Review

Happy Friday my whisky loving friends,

To finish off my reviews of the Discovery Road whisky range I had a sample of the Discovery Road "Smile".  This is the last in the range that I'll be reviewing and finishes off from where I started which was the introduction a few weeks back.  If you still need to check out the introduction you can click right here.

Discovery Road "Smile" is a 7 year old Dutch whisky made from 100% rye and, as with the others, it has been bottled at 46% ABV.

Also released in December 2013 it is described on Dominic Roskrow's website http://worldwhisky.co.uk, as "An absolute corker.  This mixes spicy rye notes with a delicious toffee and milk chocolate, soft peach and apricot fruits and a red liquorice core."   

Here's what I think:

Nose - Creamy biscuit, oak and vanilla.  Reminds me very much of pot still Irish whiskey, specifically Redbreast.  Some pine / cedar wood comes through with a touch of dried fruit and mixed spice.  With some water the pine becomes a bit plastic like but in a good way.  With even more time the dried fruit becomes huge.

Palate - Spicy and creamy.  The pine is still evident with some menthol.  Dried fruit still shows up with red apple.  Also has a nice tang of what feels like virgin oak.  All that water does to the palate is make it much softer.

Finish - A touch light but fresh fruit is dominant with a sherried xmas cake feel.

A top notch dram that's evidently young but packs a huge amount of flavour.

As with all of the Discovery Road range this bottling can be found on Master of Malt - http://www.masterofmalt.com/whiskies/discovery-road/discovery-road-smile-100-percent-rye-whisky/

Well that's the whole range tasted, enjoyed and reviewed and all I can say is wow.  The Discovery Road range really highlights what is to be gained by looking a little further afield when it comes to buying your drams.  Dominic Roskrow really has pulled out all the stops to bring us some absolute belters and I for one can't wait to see where this journey takes us.

If I had to rate the current range in order of preference then I would have to go:

1 - Courage
2 - Smile
3 - Four Lions

But don't let this fool you into thinking that "Four Lions" is in anyway the weak link.  All 3 are amazing and each has it's own personality.  

Once again, huge thanks to Dom for the samples.  It's been a real pleasure and an taste bud opening experience.

Until next time,

Slainte 

SI