
March 20, 2017

St. Patrick’s a few days late
but done properly

Unlike most whisky bloggers, I totally missed St-Patrick’s last week. The slowest copita in the west! But let’s try to fix that…

Hyde 6 yo ‘No.3 The Aras Cask’ (46%, Hibernia Distillers, single grain Irish, bourbon, +/-2016)

According to the label, this is supposed to be triple distilled grain whiskey. Ah?! Dr. Jekyll’s work? This bottle celebrate 1916’s uprisings. These distillers seem to source their whiskies. Colour: gold. Nose: pencil shavings and a little vanilla, plus nail polish remover. Baby whisky. Mouth: very young, varnishy, with a layer of oak, mocha, vanilla, and lemon fudge. Finish: short, quite spirity. Comments: I guess you have to start from somewhere. Reminds me of some bottom-shelf bourbon, but yeah, it’s drinkable – I’m not saying sippable. Lovely packaging. SGP:430 - 60 points.

The Quiet Man 8 yo (40%, OB, single malt Irish, +/-2016)

Another sourced whiskey with a story and some very fashionable retro packaging sold by future distillers, it seems. Always the same story, brandbuilders vs. distillers. Colour: white wine. Nose: hold on, there is some action! Some shoe polish blended with apple juice and drops of turpentine, as well as quite some cough syrup. The bags of apple peelings and a wee touch of mango, which makes it very Irish indeed. Very nice. Mouth: indeed, very nice, with some roasted fruits (oranges) and some barley water, plus a kind of peppery smokiness that goes well. A touch of pear and pineapple, sign of youth. Finish: short, but that’s the low strength. Comments: it’s the blogger’s mantra, why only 40% vol. when the spirit is nice? Taxes? Come on… In any case, I like this one, with its Tyrconnelly side. SGP:541 - 78 points.

Dunville’s ‘Three Crowns’ (43.5%, OB, Irish blend, +/-2016)

This by the good people at Echlinville’s and offered in one of those trendy replica bottles. Good luck to the whisky lovers in fifty years time, how will they manage to find out about when these whiskies were bottled? The barcodes? Nutrition facts on the back labels? Various health warnings? Colour: white wine. Nose: a handful of old coins and a bag of sawdust. Mouth: raw at first, then a little fruitier. Jelly babies, nail polish. Finish: yes. Comments: I liked the Hyde 6yo rather better. SGP:330 - 56 points.

Let’s get serious if you don’t mind…

Irish Single Malt ‘Extra Old’ (50.6%, Whisky-Fässle, barrel)

Perhaps a multi-vintage? Remember that in the spirits industry, extra old (or XO) usually means younger than aged-stated or vintaged bottlings. Colour: white wine. Nose: yep. Parsley, guavas, tinned mangos, bananas, fern, cut grass… Very nice balance between fruits and grasses. Nothing to complain about. Mouth: same feeling of ‘balance’, this time rather between oldness and youth. Old polished tropical fruits and some tenser grassy/peely notes. With water: same, but water kind of ‘blends’ it even better. Finish: medium, always on this thin line between fruits and grasses. Let’s say grassy fruits. Comments: it’s not that I would cry with joy, but I really like this one. And it loves water. In fact I think water is mandatory. SGP:550 - 84 points.

Emerald Isle 24 yo 1991/2016 (52.6%, Specialty Drinks, cask #8507)

Let’s hope this baby is a great as its sister cask that came out a little earlier (I believe). Well I can’t see why it would not. Colour: pale gold. Nose: yippee! Mangos and passion fruits and bananas and stuff. Quite sublime (unless you don’t like mangos and passion fruits and bananas and stuff.) With water: sunflower oil and other oils. Always love it when water brings out the oiliness. Mouth (neat): oh yes, these mentholated and earthy half-rotten tropical fruits! It’s actually all quite decadent, literary, and philosophical. Beedies, whacky spice mixes, curious mushrooms, blood oranges, pink bananas, tamarind, ueber-ripe mangos… All we’d also need is the Grateful Dead. With water: becomes a little gentler, but some lovely herbal teas are coming in. Rosehip tea. Finish: long, but settled. Green tea and multi-vitamin fruit juice. Comments: the best of the best of the Irish. Hope there will be more casks. SGP:661 - 91 points.

Irish Single Malt 1989/2016 (45.5%, Maltbarn, bourbon, 211 bottles)

Another one that’ll probably be boringly good. Colour: straw. Nose: it’s a calmer and gentler Emerald 1991, a little more on high-end teas, and a little less on whacky exotic fruits. In fact, it almost smells like a fabulous box of fabulous Cuban cigars that you would have just fabulously opened in fabulous company. Superb essential oils. Mouth: perfect. It’s close to the 1991 and yet they are diametrically opposed. Softer, better balanced, sublimely fruity, with a floral side (those flower jellies and jams that modern chefs like to add on the sides of your plates)… Totally wonderful. Finish: only medium, and perhaps even a notch short, but that’s not problem at all. Touches of overripe apples. Comments: between the ’91 and this ’89… well my heart is torn between the two of them. So… SGP:561 - 91 points.

Oh while we are at it…

Finest Old Liqueur Scotch Whisky 11 yo (45%, Shaw, Irish malt whisky, 70.8cl, +/-1920s)

A very interesting bottle! Indeed the label states that this is some ‘Finest Old Liqueur Scotch Whisky blended with choice all malt Irish whisky’. So it’s either and indeed a blend of Scotch and Irish malts, or it’s Irish malt whisky advertised as ‘Scotch style’ before those kinds of mentions would have got strongly forbidden. The strength displayed as a % ABV is quite unusual as well. Colour: gold, slightly hazy. Nose: it’s rather very honeyed, we’re close to mead and pure honey. Soft, with some barley water as well… Well this is one of the gentlest noses I’ve, well, nosed since the beginning of this year. Mead, really… Mouth: more action. More honey, then some kind of lightly peated pineapple juice, with a wee metallic edge and a growing feeling of yesterday’s early grey tea. It’s not that it got flat, not at all, but it sure has lost some of its knack. Finish: short and tea-ish. Normal given the age of this whisky (did you notice it’s not spelled whiskey?) A little mint. Comments: time has taken its toll, but the honeyed arrivals were lovely. Glad I could try this very old baby, but I couldn’t tell you if it’s 100% Irish or not. SGP:321 - 70 points.

Happy St-Patrick’s! No, wait…

(With thanks to Jeroen)

Check the index of all Irish I've tasted so far

St. Patrick’s a few days late but done properly

St. Patrick’s a few days late
but done properly