Category Archives: Irish Whiskey

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you all!

If you’re drinking Irish today (and you probably are), consider upgrading your dram with something a little more sophisticated.

Bushmills 16 Year Old is a single malt (rare enough for Irish) that is matured in ex-Bourbon barrels or Oloroso sherry barrels — a portion of the production in each. The two barrel types are then married and finished in Port barrels for a triple-wooded attack.

Continue reading “Review: Bushmills Single Malt 16 Years Old Irish Whiskey” »

OMG how the people love Redbreast. It wins awards, has hipster cred, and bartenders love the stuff. It’s the hippest Irish whiskey on earth, and it costs a boatload.

Somehow I’ve never really gotten into it.

Made by Midleton (which also makes Jameson and other Irish brands), it is distilled three times in a copper pot still before aging. Now the venerable 12 year old Redbreast is newly available in a cask strength version, bumping the proof up to 115.4.

Most people drink Irish because it is so easygoing, and Redbreast shows why the Other Half may be getting into it: It is not so easy, bolder, fuller, more flavorful, and a little rough around the edges, perhaps primarily due to the use of both malted and unmalted barley in the mashbill. There is plenty to like here: That telltale Irish whiskey banana character (almost over-ripe in the way it comes across), coconut, nougat, dried figs, raisins, and butterscotch syrup. It’s creamy and rich, almost like a dessert or an ice cream topping. But it keeps that quirky funkiness — a kind of bitter edge that you really only catch on the finish.

Of course, at cask strength it is a different experience than at 80 proof. But even I was embarrassed at how easy it goes down without cutting it with water. The side effect of high-proof whiskey is always that crazy long finish, though (I wouldn’t call it “burn” here), something you can only cut with… another sip.

Now that I’ve spent more time with Redbreast, I’m starting to see what the others do. I can’t speak for the 80-proof varieties (yet), but this could be the start of a beautiful friendship.

A- / $70 / irishdistillers.ie

There are about a half dozen unique things going on with this new Irish whiskey. Let’s enumerate them one by one.

1) It’s being sold and branded not by a distillery and not by an Irish company but by a California winery. It is, however, made in Ireland, in conjunction with Cooley Distillery (a giant in Irish whiskey).

2) It’s aged (four years) in ex-Bourbon barrels, then finished in Concannon Petite Sirah barrels for four more months. Most Irish isn’t finished in any other kind of barrel, much less a Petite Sirah wine barrel. (In fact, I’ve never heard of anything being finished in a Petite Sirah barrel.)

OK, that’s two things, but those are two really big things, am I right?

Concannon, as the name suggests, has Irish heritage, so a whiskey from this Cali winemaker makes more sense than you’d think. And the results, I have to say, are impressive.

The nose is rich with nougat character, soft sugar, a bit of vanilla, like a custard. This continues on the palate, where a lush body offers up orange juice, banana pudding, and a bit of oak wood. The body is spot-on, balanced in the way that makes everyone find Irish whiskey so easy to drink. It may not have the depth of a well-aged Jameson Reserve, but for an Irish in this price range it’s got soul to spare. Well done.

80 proof.

A- / $25 / concannonvineyard.com

Jameson is one of the big darlings of the whiskey world right now — Irish is currently the fastest growing spirits category, and Jameson is at the top of the sales charts. We’ve long loved Jameson’s various incarnations, and now it’s out with a new one.

Jameson Black Barrel is mostly malted barley aged for considerably longer than standard Jameson — 12 years vs. 5 to 7, in both Bourbon and sherry casks. Then a touch of grain whiskey that’s been aged in Wild Turkey barrels is added to the mix. Bottling alcohol level remains at 80 proof.

While there’s nothing specifically “black” about Black Barrel, it’s a considerably different experience than standard label Jameson. The nose is rich, Bourbon-like, with vanilla and toasty oak notes. The body is creamy and impressively smooth, undercut with some citrus character likely brought on by the sherry cask influence. The finish offers grain notes, like a bowl of thick, raisined oatmeal, with a fleeting touch of smoke at the end. It’s night and day with regular Jameson, which is all fresh fruit and grass, with a menthol character to it. Black Barrel, side by side, very quickly overwhelms the regular bottling. As Irish whiskey goes, it’s almost decadent.

A- / $38 / jamesonwhiskey.com

Knappogue Castle has long shunned traditional age statements, instead vintage dating its whiskey with a year instead of telling you how long it’s been sitting around.

That is changing, as Knappogue is finally moving from vintages to age, in order, as the company says, to better communicate to the customer how old these whiskeys are. After all, “1998″ could mean a whiskey that is 2 or 12 years old, depending on when it went into the bottle.

Knappogue 12 Year Old Single Malt is the first product under the new rules, and it’s a winner. The nose is strong and heady, belying the light yellow color that all Knappogue tends to have. The body is rich with malted grain, almost woody, with nutty caramel notes, before fading into a lightly flowery character with a touch of citrus on it. Some smokiness seeps in on the finale, which is otherwise clean and refreshing.

80 proof.

A- / $42 / knappoguewhiskey.com