Category Archives: Whiskey

Quick Review: Auld Acquaintance Blended Whisky

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Auld Acquaintance Blended Whisky

Info: From Gleann Mór Spirits, 46.1% ABV.
Colour: Lightly ripening barley.
Nose: Barley, hints of smoke, sweeties, red apples, toffee and tobacco.
Palate: Lead by oils and cream, followed by light spices with smoky hints.
Finish: Spiced and lengthy, sweet and easy.
Thoughts: A fairly robust blend where the high percentage (at least 50% we’re told) of malts shines through to give it great flavour.
Available: Various places online including Amazon for around £35, very reasonable.

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Multi Review: The Ultimate American Whiskey Tweet Tasting

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The Ultimate American Whiskey Tweet Tasting

To help celebrate the 4th July, a well-known date in America – so I’ve been told, the good eggs at Maverick Drinks and The Whisky Wire sent me a curated selection pack of their best American whiskies for a bunch of us drunkards selection of bloggers to all taste at the same time on that-there-Twitter.

So without further ado, here’s my thoughts on the aforementioned 5 drams…

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Review: Redbreast Whisky’s #RedbreastDreamCask event

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redbreast whiskey

Redbreast Whisky’s #RedbreastDreamCask event

Back in May, as part of the celebrations for World Whisky Day I was one of the lucky folk to be invited along to Billy Leighton’s Redbreast Dream Cask event over on Facebook.

It was a 20-minute online live tasting with Redbreast Head Blender Billy Leighton, and Apprentice Blender Dave McCabe from warehouse A1 in the grounds of the Midleton Distillery. They talked us through an anonymous dram that we had been sent through the post. Queue lots of wandering what the dram was going to turn out to be before the event!

The video feed is still available on Facebook, so if you fancy watching it, please head to https://www.facebook.com/RedbreastSinglePotStill.

If you’re going to watch the video, then watch out spoilers below…

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Review: Tullamore D.E.W. 14yo

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tullamore dew 14 year oldTullamore D.E.W. 14yo – Four Cask Finish – 41.3% abv

Info: Triple distilled and finished in four kinds of casks: Old bourbon, Oloroso Sherry, Port and Madeira.
Colour: Rich and golden, with orange and pink tints.
Nose: Really sweet and scented, flavours escape easily to your nose and the wine finishes really come forward nicely. Like a bag of soft jelly sweets when you open them.
Palate: The palate feels reasonably thick, even at this abv. The wine notes are apparent quite quickly giving it a green grape quality alongside the barley and other fruits. There’s almost an effervescent quality.
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Review: Tullamore D.E.W. Cider Cask Finished

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cider-cask-2015Tullamore D.E.W Cider Cask Finished – 40% abv

Info: No age statement, but finished in ex-cider casks for 3 months. Triple distilled, triple blend Irish whiskey. Limited production made yearly between September and November.
Colour: Evening gold.
Nose: Rich, refined and malty with a real flinty metallic quality. After a short while it becomes quite aromatic and fragrant. If there are apples then they’re more in the background, quite a sour dry cider apple; don’t think sweet apple juice… they show their head after the whisky has had plenty of time to breath.
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Review: Hyde 10yo

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Hyde10yoBottleHyde ‘No. 1 President’s Cask’ 10 Year Old – 46% abv

Info: Hyde comes from Hibernia Distilleries and is a single malt Irish whiskey from West Cork. It’s made from 100% malted Irish barley and matured in first fill bourbon and then finished in Oloroso sherry casks. Non-chill filtered. 5000 bottles.
Colour: Summer gold.
Nose: A nice mix of things on the nose, great to keep you smelling. There’s almost slight peaty whiffs, malt, some mossy oak notes, slight overripe fruits, stewed autumn berries and hints of a metallic nature. There’s a creamy vanilla custard there too.
Palate: A thick oily mouthfeel which is fairly easy going on your palate, there’s a small pinch of spices, medium sweetness with those stewed berries leading the way and the cream there too.
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Review: Wild Buck Whiskey

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wild-buck-american-rye-whiskey-750mWild Buck Whiskey – 50% abv

Info: Wild Buck is an American rye whiskey that comes from the NJoy Spirits Distillery in Florida. It’s made in a copper pot still in small batches from 100% all natural home grown rye grain and aged in custom made new charred American Oak barrels.
Colour: Rich autumn gold, hints of rust.
Nose: Really thick oily legs with a sweet rye nose. There’s vanilla, oak, rye grain, some liquorice, a mineral thing and some cracked pepper notes right at the back.
Palate: Sweeter and smoother than I thought it would be at 50%abv, it’s very easy on your palate with a small pinch of spice to keep it interesting but mostly sticking with the sweeter creamy rye oils. The mineral nature remains in the background along with gentle vanilla oak notes from the small virgin casks and a handful of mushed up gooseberries.
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News & PR: Redbreast Unveils Its First All Sherry Matured Whiskey

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Irish Distillers Pernod Ricard has announced the launch of Redbreast Mano a Lámh, the first expression in the Redbreast range to be matured solely in ex-oloroso sherry butts. This special whiskey is the latest release from the Midleton Distillery as it aims to satisfy the increasing global demand for new and original Single Pot Still Irish whiskeys.

Redbreast-Mano-a-Lamh-BottleMano a Lámh, meaning ‘hand in hand’ in Spanish and Gaelic respectively, represents the relationship and passion between the Midleton Distillery and the collective of artisans in Spain, which has crafted the distillery’s sherry butts for more than 20 years.

Specially commissioned for the Midleton Distillery, oak is felled in the forests of Galicia, north-west Spain, and then crafted and seasoned by some of the country’s most prestigious family businesses. The Antonio Páez Lobato Bodega in the South crafts the oak into casks, which are then seasoned with Oloroso sherry for two years at the prestigious Páez Morilla Bodega in the nearby sherry capital of the world, Jerez.

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