Review by: dustbunna

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Distillery: Clear Creek.

Bottler: Distillery bottling.

Region: Pacific Northwest, USA.

ABV: 56.83%. Cask strength.

Age: 6.5 years. Distilled in 2017. Bottled in 2024.

Cask type: Casa Magdalena rum cask full maturation.

Price: $62 for 375mL (bottle split, full cost $125 for 750mL.)

Natural Color. Non-chill-filtered.

Bottle open across approx. 4 months, notes taken leisurely across that period. Bold notes taken beneath the shoulder, regular-formatted notes taken further into the bottle past the halfway point, italicized notes taken towards the heel.

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Nose: mint, camphor, freshly extinguished campfire, white fruits (melon, Asian pear), bubblegum, kiwi, green grapes, hint of clay.

Palate: medium-full body ~ pipe smoke, acrylic paint, more mint and camphor, cane juice, marshmallow, pine resin.

Finish: medium length ~ mint, vanilla cake, more Asian pear, goes a bit earthy and grassy, faint wisp of pipe smoke on the tail end.

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Conclusion: This McCarthy’s single cask was picked out by our own DemiTastes for Single Malt Frontier and is one of the very few McCarthy’s releases (two single casks so far, to my knowledge) that never touched Oregon oak, Clear Creek’s go-to wood for maturing their spirit. Fully maturing this in a Casa Magdalena rum cask gave it a lovely sweet fruitiness throughout, quite different from the red fruits I’m used to finding in their whisky: white and green fruits emerge here, in a bright and inviting profile wrapped around the core of pipe smoke, mint and camphor. I haven’t always gotten along with rum casks in the past, but I thought this marriage of wood and spirit brought out the best of both—and worked extremely well. One of my favorites from Clear Creek so far, right up there with the recent 6yr Oloroso finish and the Hard Water single cask.

Final Score: 87.

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Scoring Legend:

• 95-100: As good as it gets. Jaw-dropping, eye-widening, unforgettable whisky.
• 90-94: Sublime, a personal favorite in its category.
• 85-89: Excellent, a standout dram.
• 80-84: Quite good. Quality stuff.
• 75-79: Decent whisky worth tasting.
• 70-74: Meh. It’s definitely drinkable, but it can do better.
• 60-69: Not so good. I might not turn down a glass if I needed a drink.
• 50-59: Save it for mixing.
• 0-49: Blech.