
September 28, 2020

Two or three Irish (or more)

Perhaps more than elsewhere, in Ireland the regular drops are a bit boring (remember, always only my own opinion). But there are also more and more jewels, that’s for sure. Irish whisky is not only ‘a lighter Scotch’ anymore! Let’s see what we can find…

Clonakilty ‘Single Batch’ (43.6%, OB, blended Irish, +/-2019)

Clonakilty ‘Single Batch’ (43.6%, OB, blended Irish, +/-2019)
Isn’t the expression ‘single batch’ a tad tautological? It seems that this has been finished in virgin oak. This is a new ‘distillery’ that comes complete with a World Whiskies Award (naturally). I suppose this is sourced whisky as they only started distilling in 2018 - says their website where no stills are to be seen at time of writing. Colour: white wine. Nose: not too disagreeable but there’s this gristy and metallic side that’s not really appealing either. Raw grappa. Mouth: light apples and pears, some vanilla, barley syrup, marshmallows, plum spirit, sawdust. It’s okay. Finish: a little short and too much on muesli? Sugary aftertaste, with some sawdust. Comments: does the trick with the fake decimals in the ABV still work, from a marketing POV? A kind of okayish-drop-when-there’s-nothing -else nonetheless. Courage!
SGP:430 - 68 points.

Gelston’s 12 yo (40%, OB, Irish single malt, finished in sherry, 2019)

I believe this is West Cork juice. Colour: white wine. Nose: destroys the Clonakilty but it’s true that this is malt. Warm brioche, croissants, redcurrants, raspberries, and whiffs of green tea, gunpowder-style. Would go down well in a pub, with a pint on the side. Mouth: nice liquorice, funny herbs (sage, tarragon) and candyfloss, also sultanas and orange blossom water. An unexpected meaty side, with some kind of sweeter cured ham, hard to describe. Sweet cured ham, perhaps? Finish: rather short but nicely leafy. Herbal teas, peach and cherry leaves. Too much dry sawdust in the aftertaste, alas. Comments: we’re starting to talk here. Too bad there was this unpleasant oak in the aftertaste (shavings)…
SGP:541 - 79 points.

Bushmills ‘Sherry cask’ (40%, OB, Steamship Collection, Irish single malt, 2019)

This is to be found at Amazon’s, never good news in my book. And steamships instead of age statements, oh well… Colour: gold. Nose: light, not too unpleasant, with notes of dough, fresh cupcake, perhaps a touch of mint, English breakfast tea, cherry jam… Really, it’s extremely light, but fresh and pleasant. Like cold tea ;-). Mouth: really, it’s pleasant, sweet and malty, with some caramel and fudge, raisin rolls… In truth this is some liquid raisin roll. And I’m fond of raisin rolls. Finish: short but clean, not too leafy/leathery if a little too PX-y. Comments: the Gelston’s had a little more flesh but this is not bad at all. INn an ideal world, we would have an unsherried version of this little NAS. Which I think we have…
SGP:441 - 78 points.

Bushmills ‘Bourbon cask’ (40%, OB, Steamship Collection, Irish single malt, 2019)

Colour: white wine. Nose: dead on candyfloss and marshmallows, nail polish, and jelly babies. In the old days we would have said whiskey for kids, but this could get you jailed these days. No? Mouth: nice in the sense that it’s hinting at all those stupendous ‘Secret Irish Single Malts’ from 1987-1993 (like). Very simple and extremely fruity. Bubblegum and more marshmallows, but no mangos and maracuja yet. Finish: short but very fruity and bonbony. Comments: it’s not reaching the 80-mark in WF’s book of horror scores, but we aren’t that far at all. Very good juice that may need a little more attention instead of fancy names and retro labels. Who doesn’t do retro labels these days? Our friends the Kazaks?
SGP:630 - 79 points.

Good, since we’ve mentioned those older vintages of ‘Secret Irish Malts’…

Bushmills 28 yo 1992/2020 (46.7%, OB, Irish single malt, for LMDW, 360 bottles)
This is ex-sherry and ex-bourbon, finished in a cognac cask. You could think that doesn’t make much sense, but remember some old families in Cognac were of Irish origin. Such as the Hennessies! Colour: gold. Nose: totally in line with all those stunning independent ‘secret Irish’ around, just with too many raisins thrown in. But I’m exaggerating, it’s not that bad at all, the whole remains very fresh and ueber-fruity, with the expected mangos, pink bananas and mangos. Seriously, this is an awesome nose. Mouth: absolutely tops, powerful, first on all those tropical fruits that I’ve mentioned before, then on myriads of tiny herbal notes, some probably borrowed from the Cognac cask. Now the French oak did impart some unusual spicy notes, especially green pepper and cardamom, which would make this older Bushmills a little spicier than necessary, which might make it miss the 90-mark. The finish will tell… Finish: yeah, raisins and leaves plus green pepper in the aftertaste. Comments: absolutely excellent, but I’m sorry to say that some indies are even better, probably because they would rather stem from pure ex-bourbon wood. I know, nit-picking again, apologies.
SGP:651 - 88 points.

Last shot…

Redbreast 17 yo 2001 ‘All Sherry’ (59.5%, OB, for LMDW, Irish pure pot still, sherry butt, cask #26494, 636 bottles)
I remember I had tried some of these casks while at Midleton. Me and my pals were impressed. Colour: amber. Nose: sweet Boris, Donald and Wladimir, this is something. Lorryloads of fresh cakes and mentholy raisins, both fresh and dried figs, and just these feelings of moss and mushrooms that usually come with proper sherry butts. And quite bizarrely, I’m finding a little cognac too. Here we go… With water: I solemnly swear that this is reminiscent of cognac, and would happily hand over my collection of Whisky Bibles (complete from 2003 to 2005) to anybody proving me wrong. Mouth (neat): really rich, still pretty young, a little brutal, a little rustic, a little hot, quite meaty/salty, and as we sometimes say, hipflasky. I’m sure water will bring civilisation… With water: civilisation indeed, but the sherry was pretty loud. Not unlike Keith Moon on a few old The Who records. Now the end result remains pretty faultless, rich, malty, cake-y and raw. Finish: long, with salty touches. Comments: I think the lovely Bushmills won the fight. This Redbreast is pretty bestial if you ask me, not unlike some young high-strength cognacs. Irish cognac?
SGP:651 - 86 points.

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