Under an Irish whiskey spell
Irish Whiskies lined up for the tasting, post fab history lesson from Barry Crockett.
TWE Irish Single Pot Still Whiskey Tasting
Redbreast 12 year old: 40%
Aroma: I got notes of heavy wood, honey, grain, hazelnut and juicy prunes
Palate: Creamy apples, verging on apple pie but with an absence of spice. Soft but full in the mouth. Made me think of a warm spring evening.
Finish: Big sweet finish that hit the front of my tongue.
Redbreast 12 year old, Cask Strength: 57.7%
Aroma: Hints of banana and fired brandy with melon, with a splash of olive oil right at the end
Palate: Surprisingly different in the mouth – fiery and spicy, with notes of orange and brandy
Finish: Hits the palate with a burst and finishes on spice, but not terribly sharp given the cask strength tag.
Redbreast 15 year old: 46%
Aroma: Sultanas, baked fruit and especially sour white cranberries that made me think of Christmas (but not the Christmas pudding flavours)
Palate: I got a lot less out of this than the 12 year old. I found it fairly astringent with a flavour that dissipated too quickly for my liking. Notes of baked fruit came through but it was less bursting on the palate.
Finish: Biting spice on the back of the throat but very light on palate.
Green Spot: 40%:
Aroma: Intriguingly I got Japanese barley tea all the way through this on the nose. There were also hints of baking bread, baked fish, sea, wood and toasted nuts, but it was that rich barley tea that really burst.
Palate: It was as faint as a feather on the tongue. Hints of barley, apricot and light fruit.
Finish: I had very little finish but I expect I was slightly affected by the punchier Redbreasts tried before.
Powers 12 year old John’s Lane: 46%:
Aroma: Notes of dark chocolate, fudge and white sugar played through the dram for [...]
London By Night: An evening with SMWS
London by night, with a whisky in hand, would have made Sinatra swoon!
An Eastern Turn: A look at Japanese Whisky
A night trying Japanese whiskies leads Miss Whisky to both a headache & new love for eastern whisky.
Whisky Squad #31
In the UK – and abroad – Irish Whiskey can sometimes be passed over in favour of the output from its British neighbour. But, this shouldn’t put you off. It’s a different style, has an intriguing history and creates a lot of fantastic products.
At a recent tasting with the Whisky Squad, I had the opportunity to try five great varieties and learn about the country’s history from Tim Forbes, an Irishman (and now Londoner) who runs the Whisky Exchange’s blog.
In short, Tim told us that Irish Whiskey had – in the late 19th century – been highly profitable. But, during a period of 20-30 years, it saw itself decimated due to Prohibition in the US, a trade war with the UK and a huge increase in the output of blended Scotch whisky due to the Scottish decision to embrace the Coffey Still, which decreased the cost of production.
Throughout the 20th century, distilleries in Ireland were merged continuously until it was all made at only one distillery (Midleton). This remained up to the point Cooley came into the picture in 1987, although this company has since been bought up by Beam Inc., an American spirits company.
Despite this concentration of ownership, Irish Whiskey still provides a wide variety of taste.
So, what did I think of the five I tried? Here are my thoughts:
#1. Inishowen Peated:
This peated whiskey is made from a mix of malt and grain. On the nose, I got spearmint and chocolate, while the taste provided flavours of pancakes, coffee, rubber and Terry’s chocolate orange. It had a nice mouthfeel and was softly pleasant. Not my favourite of the night, but a good starter.
#2. Bushmills Black Bush:
I found this to have [...]
A Glenfiddich Gathering
A recent gathering with Glenfiddich made Miss Whisky proud to be a part of the whisky community.
Glenfiddich’s New Releases
Last week I tried a set of three whiskies from Glenfiddich at an event in London to showcase some of their new releases. I had only tried the more general, run-of-the-mill varieties before so it was a great privilege to have the chance to sip some special ones, especially the 1974 Vatted Vintage Release, of which only 50 bottles will be available in the UK.
As always, these are only my views on them and I’m sure you will read differing opinions elsewhere, but here are my thoughts based on how all three whiskies tasted on the day I tried them:
Glenfiddich Gran Reserva, Rum Cask Finish, 21-year-old:
This bottling has recently been re-housed in a new bit of rather eye-catching packaging so is being released as the same whisky but with a style makeover.
The whisky is matured 21 years in American oak before finishing in Caribbean rum casks.
On the nose I got hints of vanilla, baked sugar (like the smell you get when you fire a crème brûlée top) and banana.
Despite these sweet scents, it was still fairly crisp on the tongue and not overly tacky, like you sometimes get with toffee flavours. It was very light and had little aftertaste.
Adding a bit of water brought out the fruitiness more, making it blossom.
Glenfiddich Age of Discovery, Madeira Cask Finish, 19-year-old:
This Glenfiddich celebrates the Portuguese explorers of the 15th century and comes in a stunningly designed box with intricate maps showing the explorers’ journeys.
Master Distiller Brian Kinsman told us they were trying to find a way to honour people that step out in life and take risks, akin to the explorers of the past, and it’s a good way of tying together the Madeira casks from Portugal [...]
The Balvenie’s New Debut
The Balvenie's new release debuted at the Boisdale of Belgravia recently and will only be available to Warehouse 24 members.
Tweeddale Blend Batch 2
Back at the end of August, I had the opportunity to meet a rather charming and enthusiastic chap named Alasdair Day at the Pure Festival in London, which I wrote about here.
I was very intrigued to meet Alasdair because he has a rather lovely story about rediscovering his great grandfather’s exploits in whisky making from over 70 years ago.
As the story goes, from about 1895 Richard Day worked at a licensed grocers owned by J & A Davidson in Coldstream (near the Scottish/English borders) which made the Tweeddale Blend (as many grocers did at the time). He took it over and continued to blend the whisky up until the start of the Second World War, when production ceased.
However, this was not to be the finale after all. Alasdair inherited Richard’s “Cellar Book” which contained the accounts for the old store and the original recipe for the blend. So, rather than allow this chapter to close on the Tweeddale Blend, he decided instead to recreate it: seven decades after it disappeared. In 2009, he formed Stonedean Ltd which is the company that produces the spirit.
Recently, Alasdair very kindly sent me a sample of the Tweeddale Blend, Batch 2 – a 12-year-old, 46% non-chill filtered, half grain, half malt whisky. The single grain half is 15-years-old and originates from a sherry butt, while the malts come from eight different casks and range from 12 to 21 years of age.
As this was released in June, many of you may have given it a go. But if you have not had the chance yet, here are my thoughts on the latest addition to this great little company steeped in history.
On first nosing, I get hit with an overwhelming [...]
Glenglassaugh’s Phoenix
Glenglassaugh's first bottling is released this week to those lucky enough to have purchased one!