The most recent version of the Thomas H. Handy was the one I was able to get for the Bottle-Share, and as I told here yesterday, I owed you a review. I tasted an earlier of this whiskey and was quite, no very, thrilled with it. Some serious alcohol, but in the 2007 version it didn’t get in the way of the flavour.

Nose:
It has not as much rye on the nose, at first, as the Sazerac 18, and more a scent of rum. Also milk chocolate, corn syrup. Although there is a very heavy sweetness, it still has some freshness to it, with a thick layer of mint, almost like mouth wash. Lemon cake and later the crust of dark bread.

Taste:
Here you really pick up on the alcohol. This dram needs lots of time to loosen up and, contrary to the previous release of the Handy, its masking the flavours a little bit. There is a lot of sugary sweetness and the mouth feel is very dry. Needs a lot of time to start giving some flavour. There is some pink peppercorn in there somewhere.

Finish:
The finish loses a little of the alcohol burn quickly after which a lot of tropical fruits pop up. Gaining some points here 😉 Mango, papaya, pineapple, stuff like that. Liking it a lot, especially since the rye is still here as well, and some of the spices that go along with it. Some clove at least. Also, some sweet dough and bread.

I’m in a bit of a conundrum (had to google that…) with this one. I absolutely love the nose after it airs a little bit, and the finish is pretty good too. The taste, however, is way too closed off and doesn’t really give me much, flavourwise. So, based on that, a partial fan of the Thomas H. Handy of this year.

Thomas H. Handy, 2010, 63.45%, about 115 euros at Master of Malt

Nose: 9
Taste: 6
Finish: 8
Overal experience: 7
Price/quality: 0

Total: 30 points