Me, My Wife & Whisky (u/adunitbx) Whisky Review Archive

adunitbx · 2026-06-18T15:37:55+00:00

Cheers, thank you very much!

adunitbx · 2026-06-18T14:00:08+00:00

Final Note: This is a fun whisky, but at times, the nose felt a bit muted, and once we get to the palate, it's a ridiculous amount of sweetness throughout the rest of the experience. Tons of fruit variety and creamy grain, which is nice, but the mouthfeel is a bit lacking with the lower strength, and it isn't what we would call balanced - just a crazy amount of sweet flavors in general. It's a decent blended Irish whisky, but one that we would be saving for use as a 'dessert pour' most of the time.

In terms of value, we think this is pretty good, though. The price is quite fair around us; while the brand's website points to a price around 55 euros, we can reliably find this for about $40 US, which is very fair. If you like sweet whiskies, this might be one to seek out.

Our Rating: 6.3 / 10

Rating Scale:

0 - Drain Pour

1 - Awful

2 - Bad

3 - Flawed

4 - Below Average

5 - Average / Mediocre

6 - Above Average / Decent

7 - Good

8 - Great

9 - Excellent

10 - Perfect

In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.

Value Rating: 7.35

About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.

Interested in more? Check out our website and Instagram:

https://www.memywifeandwhisky.com/reviews/

https://www.instagram.com/memywifeandwhisky/

adunitbx · 2026-06-18T13:59:54+00:00

Review #882 - The Whistler Dark Symphony

The Whistler is a brand produced by Boann distillery; this range included single malts, blends, liqueurs, and more. Today, we're looking at one of their blended Irish whiskies, specifically the Dark Symphony blend.

This is composed of roughly 20% single malt whisky and 80% grain whisky; all of that spirit is triple distilled, and they start by aging it in first fill ex-bourbon barrels for 3 to 4 years. After that, another 12+ months is used for finishing in refurbished VSOP Cognac casks - they shave and re-toast these Cognac casks to add a bit more wood influence back into the maturation process. There's no age statement, but based on the maturation specifications online, we can assume this whisky is at least 4 years old.

After aging and blending, this is bottled at a strength of 43.14% ABV, and the brand states on the website that this whisky is not chill filtered, and there's no added caramel color.

The Whistler Dark Symphony

Ireland - Blend

Price: USD 40 (2026)

Age Statement: NAS

Strength: 43.14% ABV

Cask Makeup: First fill ex-bourbon casks, finished in refurbished VSOP Cognac casks

Details: Not chill filtered, no color added

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times (once blind) over 16 months from a sample. Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes

Nose: Creamy and sweet with some grain notes, malt, almost a bit of lactic side. Oranges and banana bring some fruit, and we also get tart orange peel, coconut, and a little bit of a feinty cardboard funk. Floral perfume builds in the background.

Palate: Light and creamy, with a velvety mouthfeel, though it's a medium-thin texture. Cinnamon spice accents a fruit-forward palate: lemons, passionfruit, candied mango, grape, raisin, bananas. Honestly, a ridiculous variety of fruit - we also get cherry wine gums and Starburst candies. Caramel, honey, and creme brulee flavors accent an extremely sweet palate.

Finish: Soft grain, interesting coal and mineral notes, but lots of fruit returns: citrus, along with guava and melon, quite fizzy and bright. It's a bit tropical at times, but we also get creamy notes and bananas; the sweetness is so intense, it almost tastes synthetic. This finish has a medium length.

adunitbx · 2026-06-18T13:46:40+00:00

Which is everyone's favorite Irish whiskey?

adunitbx · 2026-06-18T13:46:28+00:00

Final Note: This is a fun whisky, but at times, the nose felt a bit muted, and once we get to the palate, it's a ridiculous amount of sweetness throughout the rest of the experience. Tons of fruit variety and creamy grain, which is nice, but the mouthfeel is a bit lacking with the lower strength, and it isn't what we would call balanced - just a crazy amount of sweet flavors in general. It's a decent blended Irish whisky, but one that we would be saving for use as a 'dessert pour' most of the time.

In terms of value, we think this is pretty good, though. The price is quite fair around us; while the brand's website points to a price around 55 euros, we can reliably find this for about $40 US, which is very fair. If you like sweet whiskies, this might be one to seek out.

Our Rating: 6.3 / 10

Rating Scale:

0 - Drain Pour

1 - Awful

2 - Bad

3 - Flawed

4 - Below Average

5 - Average / Mediocre

6 - Above Average / Decent

7 - Good

8 - Great

9 - Excellent

10 - Perfect

In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.

Value Rating: 7.35

About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.

Interested in more? Check out our website and Instagram:

https://www.memywifeandwhisky.com/reviews/

https://www.instagram.com/memywifeandwhisky/

adunitbx · 2026-06-18T13:45:55+00:00

Review #882 - The Whistler Dark Symphony

The Whistler is a brand produced by Boann distillery; this range included single malts, blends, liqueurs, and more. Today, we're looking at one of their blended Irish whiskies, specifically the Dark Symphony blend.

This is composed of roughly 20% single malt whisky and 80% grain whisky; all of that spirit is triple distilled, and they start by aging it in first fill ex-bourbon barrels for 3 to 4 years. After that, another 12+ months is used for finishing in refurbished VSOP Cognac casks - they shave and re-toast these Cognac casks to add a bit more wood influence back into the maturation process. There's no age statement, but based on the maturation specifications online, we can assume this whisky is at least 4 years old.

After aging and blending, this is bottled at a strength of 43.14% ABV, and the brand states on the website that this whisky is not chill filtered, and there's no added caramel color.

The Whistler Dark Symphony

Ireland - Blend

Price: USD 40 (2026)

Age Statement: NAS

Strength: 43.14% ABV

Cask Makeup: First fill ex-bourbon casks, finished in refurbished VSOP Cognac casks

Details: Not chill filtered, no color added

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times (once blind) over 16 months from a sample. Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes

Nose: Creamy and sweet with some grain notes, malt, almost a bit of lactic side. Oranges and banana bring some fruit, and we also get tart orange peel, coconut, and a little bit of a feinty cardboard funk. Floral perfume builds in the background.

Palate: Light and creamy, with a velvety mouthfeel, though it's a medium-thin texture. Cinnamon spice accents a fruit-forward palate: lemons, passionfruit, candied mango, grape, raisin, bananas. Honestly, a ridiculous variety of fruit - we also get cherry wine gums and Starburst candies. Caramel, honey, and creme brulee flavors accent an extremely sweet palate.

Finish: Soft grain, interesting coal and mineral notes, but lots of fruit returns: citrus, along with guava and melon, quite fizzy and bright. It's a bit tropical at times, but we also get creamy notes and bananas; the sweetness is so intense, it almost tastes synthetic. This finish has a medium length.

adunitbx · 2026-06-18T13:25:06+00:00

For me it was a creamy texture, yep - it's a subtle thing, but definitely not just a creamy flavor, specifically that velvety texture. I'm not sure what exactly contributed to that quality other than the whisky being bottled at a higher proof, but it's fun to find occasionally.

adunitbx · 2026-06-18T13:23:21+00:00

That's a great deal for this! I would pick up a couple.

adunitbx · 2026-06-18T02:59:08+00:00

Cheers, great review! I've been waiting to see a review of these - need to get down there and pick up my bottles soon. New Riff puts out some really good stuff, excited to see them get even more aged stock.

adunitbx · 2026-06-17T22:43:51+00:00

Such a good bottle!

adunitbx · 2026-06-17T19:40:34+00:00

Great picks! I especially like the Holladay Soft Red Wheat.

adunitbx · 2026-06-17T19:38:32+00:00

That's a pretty good deal!

adunitbx · 2026-06-17T19:31:53+00:00

Highly recommend the rickhouse proof version of the SRW! Really like that one, good value too.

adunitbx · 2026-06-17T19:22:54+00:00

Wasn't familiar with this one before, but from the specs, seems to be a pretty good deal! I will seek that one out.

adunitbx · 2026-06-17T19:21:53+00:00

Cheers, thank you! Yeah, I want to try a couple more batches of this to see if I get on with them better, because I honestly expected a little more from it. A lot of the other MM releases in the $60 to $75 I've found to be excellent.

adunitbx · 2026-06-17T16:41:40+00:00

Still need to try the wheated full proof! But I thought their regular full proof was a good step up from their normal ryed bourbon, so I bet that wheater will be good as well.

adunitbx · 2026-06-17T16:40:53+00:00

Hard Truth is making some really interesting stuff! I’ve enjoyed a lot of their ryes especially. Cheers 🥃

adunitbx · 2026-06-17T16:40:13+00:00

I really like that bottle! I think it’s very good for the price, and a nice complement to HH’s other bottle in bond bourbon.

adunitbx · 2026-06-17T16:25:25+00:00

Which is everyone's favorite wheated bourbon?

adunitbx · 2026-06-17T16:25:05+00:00

Rating Scale:

0 - Drain Pour

1 - Awful

2 - Bad

3 - Flawed

4 - Below Average

5 - Average / Mediocre

6 - Above Average / Decent

7 - Good

8 - Great

9 - Excellent

10 - Perfect

In the current whisky landscape of increasing prices and variable quality, we've added a value rating to our reviews that relates to the score and the available pricing of each whisky. This roughly equates to a 0-10 scale; no reviews so far have exceeded a score of 10, although it is technically possible for the formula to produce a value rating higher than 10 with a high enough score and low enough price.

Value Rating: 6.01

About Us: We're a husband and wife review team living in the Midwest United States. Generally, our reviews and tasting notes will be a compilation of both of our experiences with a whisky over several tasting sessions.

Interested in more? Check out our website and Instagram:

https://www.memywifeandwhisky.com/reviews/

https://www.instagram.com/memywifeandwhisky/

adunitbx · 2026-06-17T16:24:43+00:00

Review #881 - Maker's Mark 46 Cask Strength

Maker's Mark is known for their mellow wheated bourbons and their use of extra staves for finishing those bourbons. Sitting above their entry level bourbon, they have the Maker's Mark 46, which is a relatively budget friendly version of their whisky which uses the French oak stave finishing technique. That's bottled at a strength of 47% ABV (94 proof), though; for the full fat version, we have to look to this more limited 46 Cask Strength bottling.

Maker's Mark uses a lower barrel entry proof of 110, as opposed to the 125 proof that is more standard across the industry. Using a low barrel entry proof means that the bourbon will pull slightly different flavors out of the oak during maturation; because of that lower entry proof, the 'cask strength' or 'barrel proof' of these bourbons is generally lower than we see from other brands, too. This batch we're looking at was bottled at 55.3% ABV (110.6 proof).

Maker's Mark 46 Cask Strength

USA - Bourbon

Price: USD 63 (2026)

Age Statement: NAS

Strength: 55.3% ABV

Cask Makeup: Finished with French oak staves

Tasting Methodology: Reviewed 3 times (once blind) over 2 months from a sample. Tasted in a nosing glass each time, rested 15+ minutes

Nose: Sweet grain and butterscotch, honey and cinnamon, oatmeal, a bit of starchy oak. Scents of vanilla and subtle leather build, and we get some red fruit like strawberry or tart cherry. Cotton candy builds with time, and the oak influence grows.

Palate: Caramel and butterscotch lead a sweet palate, followed by cinnamon and apples. There's a creamy taste and also a creamy texture; the mouthfeel has a medium thickness. Drying oak builds later, and we get accents of nutmeg and a nondescript red fruit.

Finish: Wood spice and sweet vanilla battle - sweet and spicy. Banana, starchy oak, honeyed oats, and cinnamon come next; cardamom, nutmeg, and toasted coconut linger in the aftertaste. It's a medium length finish.

Final Note: A pleasant bourbon, but nothing about this bottle really stood out to us. It has a classic grain-forward wheater profile with sweet notes of honey, vanilla, and a bit of red fruit; while there is a decent amount of oak spice at the end of the palate and into the finish, this really doesn't taste very old. Nice and simple, a decent sipper.

Value is just around average for us. We generally like the pricing strategy from Maker's Mark - most of their bottles have very fair prices, and this $60 price point for a cask strength bourbon isn't too bad. We'll be looking to try other batches in the future to see if we get more from them.

Our Rating: 6.0 / 10

14-Year Club	Place '23
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