What Whisky/Whiskey are we drinking this month?

DARK-KNIGHT

First teeling whiskey tonight

Rum cask small batch at 46%

Absolutely gorgeous

Beanstalk

Technophobe wrote: »

It's perfectly drinkable:)
I signed up for the CWS Ardbeg tasting at the same time as buying the Ardbeg 10, so am going to get the opportunity to taste them all..

Maybe I had too much peaty whiskys over the Christmas period and was too used to the taste..think I expected a smoother drink with a stronger smoky peaty flavour..Will leave it for a week or so or until tasting night and try again..
Thanks again for the recommendation

Really enjoying Ardbeg An OA though i would love to try the Uigideal

Cazale

Master of Malt and Amazon are no longer delivering whiskey to the North. My pour and sip monthly subscription has been suspended. If whisky exchange follows I may dump the missus!

Beanstalk

Noticed this recently alright! Wonder if its temporary while sorting things out or is it a permanent decision?

BonnieSituation

Cazale wrote: »

Master of Malt and Amazon are no longer delivering whiskey to the North. My pour and sip monthly subscription has been suspended. If whisky exchange follows I may dump the missus!

I cancelled my Whisky-Me sub (that goes to ParcelMotel) on Friday and then they dispatched it.

Emailed about a refund and they were straight on it. I might try and grab it again as a one off when they do the Cask. Keep me updated!

mik_da_man

Had a Cask Strength Weekend which comprised of the following:

1. Spade and Bushel 10 yr CS - 57.5%
2. Hyde 8yr CS 59%
3. Mizen Head 14yr CS 56%
4. Currach Founders CS 58.4%
5. The Irishman 2020 CS 55.2%
6. Writers Tears Mizunara CS 55%


An interesting line up, the S&B and Hyde were fine, nothing remarkable really.
The Mizen Head caught me off guard, I really enjoyed it, no need for any water there
Currach is an interesting one, very different, definitely had a salty/brine type of lingering flavour
Irishman 2020 was as expected, generally I feel that the CS versions don't offer much above their standard releases.
Writers Tears Mizunara - I've had this before and thought it was ok, but this second time I did enjoy it more, few drops of water really opened it up.

Cazale

Cazale wrote:

Master of Malt and Amazon are no longer delivering whiskey to the North. My pour and sip monthly subscription has been suspended. If whisky exchange follows I may dump the missus!

Disaster averted. Master of Malt and pour and sip have both restarted deliveries to the North.

Black Sheep

Can I ask, how do you handle your Master of Malt deliveries to Northern Ireland... Do you live there, have family there, or are you using some kind of mail minding service? If the latter, which one?

Cazale

Black Sheep wrote:

Can I ask, how do you handle your Master of Malt deliveries to Northern Ireland... Do you live there, have family there, or are you using some kind of mail minding service? If the latter, which one?

I'm in Kildare. The mother in law up North is my mail minder!

Black Sheep

Cazale wrote: »

I'm in Kildare. The mother in law up North is my mail minder!

Cheers. I've got no family in NI. A bunch in England and Scotland but now that's about as much use as a chocolate kettle, because even if they take possession of something for me we're still back to postage issues and an inability to visit :pac:

killbillvol2

Black Sheep wrote: »

Cheers. I've got no family in NI. A bunch in England and Scotland but now that's about as much use as a chocolate kettle, because even if they take possession of something for me we're still back to postage issues and an inability to visit :pac:

My brother in London is currently holding a substantial stash for me. I'll be taking a drive over to visit whenever this annoying germ goes away.

Cazale

Doing a bit of research on Irish peated whiskey. I always thought Connemara was the only peated whiskey until recently but I found details on a number of Cooley releases from a few different sources. Most were probably just variations on Connemara. I've seen a few of them on auction sites and the Celtic Whiskey bar in Killarney has a few of them to drink too. Did anyone ever try or come across any of them?

Clonmel 8 year old peated

Bottled by the 'Celtic Whisky Compagnie' in France. A double distilled peated malt from the Cooley distillery. Winner of Gold medal in the 2002 'Concours Mondial De Bruxelles'.

Craoi na Mona 10 year old single malt

Craoi na Mona is Irish for 'heart of peat'. This was produced by Cooley and bottled for the famous Berry Bros. & Rudd shop. It's quite similar to the standard NAS Connemara.

After maturing for 10 years in Ireland in American Oak casks, the Irish single malt is shipped over to Scotland where it spends a few short months in casks that had previously matured heavily peated Islay malt (Laphroaig).

First spirits 8 year old peated malt

A hard to find special, private bottling of peated single malt from Cooley Distillery.

Impressive Cask peated Irish Malt

Distilled at Cooley in 1999 and put into a bourbon cask for eight years, before being bottled at cask strength for the Far East market.

Inishowen Irish Whiskey

Hint of peat

Now Discontinued

Distilled, Matured, and Bottled by the Cooley Distillery

James MacArthur Old Masters 1992 Peated

A 14-year-old peated Cooley malt bottled at cask strength in 2006.

Magilligan Peated Single Malt Irish Whiskey

Distilled By the Cooley Distillery this is one of the very few Peated Single malt Whiskeys from Ireland.

Michael Collins 10 Year Single Malt Lightly Peated

From label - Handcrafted in small batches at the last remaining independent distillery in Ireland, this whiskey is inspired by the legend of Michael Collins, leader of Irish independence. Robust and complex, with a subtle peatiness, this single malt is double distilled for proper balance of purity and character, then matured in small bourbon seasoned casks for a minimum of 10 years. Wonderfully balanced, dry yet fruity, with a long, subtly sweet smoky finish, Michael Collins is both a luxurious pleasure and a testament to Ireland.

Slieve Na gCloc Single Peated Malt

A double Distilled Peated Single Malt from the Cooley Distillery named after the "Stoney" Mountain that overlooks the Cooley Distillery. A long discontinued Bottling that was mainly for the European Market.

Suir peated malt 1992 Limerick Distillery

Adelphi started bottling single cask Cooleys very early on. This single cask hails from the Louth distillery's fourth year of production. Nearly all Cooley's malts from this era spent their lives in a bourbon cask. Aromas of rubber and wet leather give way to some lovely Cooley light, sweet fruits.

There was of course a large number of different iterations of Connemara itself. Some of them listed below.

Connemara Cask Strength Peated Single Malt
Connemara Bog Oak finish
Connemara Sherry Finish Peated Single Malt
Connemara Turf Mór
Connemara 12 Year old Peated Single Malt
Connemara 22 Year Peated Single Malt
Connemara Pure Pot Still
Connemara Distillers Edition
Connemara Peated Single Malt
Connemara 13 year old single cask
Connemara 14 year old single cask
Connemara 15 year old single cask
Connemara 16 year old nectar
Connemara 18 year old single cask
Connemara 13 year old sherry cask
Connemara 17 year old sherry cask
Connemara 8 year old

Black Sheep

I definitely had the standard Michael Collins blend. In Solas on Wexford Street many years ago.. It could even have still been the Modern Green Bar back then (Why did they ever rebrand that bar? But I digress... Solas itself is now gone). But perhaps only the 10 year old was 'lightly peated'. Looking at some pictures online, I'm kind of nostalgic for those long-necked bottles used in the original Michael Collins blend. Nice looking.

I remember seeing the Inishowen, but I never tried it. The label is a bit 'oirish' but in a way oddly prescient of the way Sliabh Liag went for the label of their seaweed gin, which I still refuse to attempt to spell.

The Inbetween is mine

A bit of a long shot...I had a tasting of WhistlePig 12yo Rye recently, and it was fantastic...has anyone come across it in store?
Would like to get my hands on a bottle of possible

odyssey06

The Inbetween is mine wrote: »

A bit of a long shot...I had a tasting of WhistlePig 12yo Rye recently, and it was fantastic...has anyone come across it in store?
Would like to get my hands on a bottle of possible

CWS seem to have the 10 year old for €123?
https://www.celticwhiskeyshop.com/Whistle-Pig-Straight-Rye

BonnieSituation

Black Sheep wrote: »

I definitely had the standard Michael Collins blend. In Solas on Wexford Street many years ago.. It could even have still been the Modern Green Bar back then (Why did they ever rebrand that bar? But I digress... Solas itself is now gone). But perhaps only the 10 year old was 'lightly peated'. Looking at some pictures online, I'm kind of nostalgic for those long-necked bottles used in the original Michael Collins blend. Nice looking.

Change of ownership.

Used to be my local. God those were the days. Nothing like being being a local in the likes of there at 19yo!

Cazale

Black Sheep wrote:

I definitely had the standard Michael Collins blend. In Solas on Wexford Street many years ago.. It could even have still been the Modern Green Bar back then (Why did they ever rebrand that bar? But I digress... Solas itself is now gone). But perhaps only the 10 year old was 'lightly peated'. Looking at some pictures online, I'm kind of nostalgic for those long-necked bottles used in the original Michael Collins blend. Nice looking.

That bottle is something else alright. Probably would have gone the way of the powers bottles if it was still about. The 10 year old was the only one that was peated. Goes for about 100 euro at auction. The original blend came in miniatures too so I might try pick up a couple at a more reasonable price.

Black Sheep wrote:

I remember seeing the Inishowen, but I never tried it. The label is a bit 'oirish' but in a way oddly prescient of the way Sliabh Liag went for the label of their seaweed gin, which I still refuse to attempt to spell.

Inishowen was a revived brand originally owned by Watts Distillery from Derry which shut in the 1920s. Their other two brands were Favourite and Tyrconnell.

You can spell that gin if you drink enough of it!

Electric Nitwit

Gutted

O'Brien's had some MVR20 online last week. It sold out in minutes but I got my order in and was delighted. Got an email today cancelling the order saying it was an error and they never had stock

The Inbetween is mine

odyssey06 wrote: »

CWS seem to have the 10 year old for €123?
https://www.celticwhiskeyshop.com/Whistle-Pig-Straight-Rye

Thanks, I saw that ..the 10yo is very good... but the 12yo is just fantastic to my mind... probably about €200 I'd guess if it's available

Cazale

Signed up to the Irish Whiskey Society Springbank Distillery tasting. Have only ever tried Kilkerran before so looking forward to it.

Hazelburn 10 YO - Triple distilled, matured in bourbon casks (46% abv.)

Kilkerran 12 YO - Lightly peated and non-chill filtered, and has been matured in a combination of ex-bourbon casks (70%) and ex-sherry casks (30%) (46% abv.)

Springbank 12 YO Cask Strength - Matured in a combination of ex-bourbon casks ( 65%) and ex-sherry casks (35%) (57.1% abc.)

Springbank 17 YO Madeira - Aged in rum and bourbon casks for 14 years, before spending three years in Madeira casks, a total of 17 years, before being bottled in October 2020 (47.8% abv.)

Longrow 21 YO - Peated whisky matured in a combination of ex-bourbon casks (5%) and ex-sherry casks (95%) (46% abv.)

gordonl

Cazale wrote: »

Signed up to the Irish Whiskey Society Springbank Distillery tasting. Have only ever tried Kilkerran before so looking forward to it.

Hazelburn 10 YO - Triple distilled, matured in bourbon casks (46% abv.)

Kilkerran 12 YO - Lightly peated and non-chill filtered, and has been matured in a combination of ex-bourbon casks (70%) and ex-sherry casks (30%) (46% abv.)

Springbank 12 YO Cask Strength - Matured in a combination of ex-bourbon casks ( 65%) and ex-sherry casks (35%) (57.1% abc.)

Springbank 17 YO Madeira - Aged in rum and bourbon casks for 14 years, before spending three years in Madeira casks, a total of 17 years, before being bottled in October 2020 (47.8% abv.)

Longrow 21 YO - Peated whisky matured in a combination of ex-bourbon casks (5%) and ex-sherry casks (95%) (46% abv.)

Just finished the CWS springbank tasting, also given by Grant McPherson, who gave a massive info dump. And i still don't get distilled 2 and a half times!
I have an older bottle of the Springbank 12 YO CS and it is noticeably more sherried that the one tonight, but still a fantastic drop.
The springbank 15 YO was still the standout and fits my price/performance bracket.

dmc17

Laphroaig Quarter Cask in front of an open turf fire

Cazale

gordonl wrote:

Just finished the CWS springbank tasting, also given by Grant McPherson, who gave a massive info dump. And i still don't get distilled 2 and a half times! I have an older bottle of the Springbank 12 YO CS and it is noticeably more sherried that the one tonight, but still a fantastic drop. The springbank 15 YO was still the standout and fits my price/performance bracket.

I read that some of it is distilled three times whilst some is distilled twice so they call it 2.5 times. Springbank seems to be hard to get these days. The Kilkerran 8 Year Old Cask Strength is a particular favourite of mine but it's impossible to find.

Cazale

Had some method and madness french chestnut, redbreast 12 cask strength and Midleton Very Rare 2017 tonight. Three proper whiskeys.

Wailin

Just polished off the last of the balvemie 14 Caribbean cask. Lovely stuff but wouldn't bother chasing down a bottle again. Plenty of other nice whiskies out there to try instead!

Cazale

Wailin wrote:

Just polished off the last of the balvemie 14 Caribbean cask. Lovely stuff but wouldn't bother chasing down a bottle again. Plenty of other nice whiskies out there to try instead!

What was your favourite between the Balvenie and the Teeling Pineapple Rum?

Wailin

The Balvenie edged it for me, although it would have been interesting to try them side by side.

Leinster90

Which EU Amazon store now will people be using to buy whiskey shipped to Ireland? Is it correct to say that there will be no extra charges, other than what is paid to Amazon?

L1011

Leinster90 wrote: »

Is it correct to say that there will be no extra charges, other than what is paid to Amazon?

It isn't. It never was.

Excise duty is always due unless buying from Ireland (where it will already have been paid)

Leinster90

L1011 wrote: »

It isn't. It never was.

Excise duty is always due unless buying from Ireland (where it will already have been paid)

Thanks for pointing that out, but we all know it wasn't always enforced.

I’ll rephrase - from which Amazon store will it be cheapest to order whiskey to Ireland?

Ivefoundgod

Leinster90 wrote: »

Thanks for pointing that out, but we all know it wasn't always enforced.

I’ll rephrase - from which Amazon store will it be cheapest to order whiskey to Ireland?

Given Amazon UK never posted alcohol to Ireland how would you envision any other Amazon doing so? I understand most people used AddressPal/Parcel Motel to try get alcohol through but there is no equivalent service for amazon.fr .es or .de so its a pointless discussion.

Hogzy

Leinster90 wrote: »

Thanks for pointing that out, but we all know it wasn't always enforced.

I’ll rephrase - from which Amazon store will it be cheapest to order whiskey to Ireland?

None of them post alcohol to Ireland. The German store is probably the cheapest but you'd need someone in Germany to receive it and carry it over to you. Freight forwarding companies never accept alcohol.

Leinster90

Hogzy wrote: »

None of them post alcohol to Ireland. The German store is probably the cheapest but you'd need someone in Germany to receive it and carry it over to you. Freight forwarding companies never accept alcohol.

Thank you. And if there was someone in Germany who could receive it and post it to Ireland, would it be liable for 23% VAT only?

I believe that An Post do not allow alcohol to be posted from abroad, so recognise that a courier service may be required.

the beer revolu

Leinster90 wrote: »

Thank you. And if there was someone in Germany who could receive it and post it to Ireland, would it be liable for 23% VAT only?

I believe that An Post do not allow alcohol to be posted from abroad, so recognise that a courier service may be required.

No, liable for duty , too.

Technophobe

So I mentioned that I had stocked up due to a birthday, some pre COVID travel and some NY offers....Did a check there and did a list up; some are open,some are not but will be soon:)

List is long but has lots of standard Irish ones in there in various stages of being consumed...

Nikka Coffee Grain Japanese
Amrut Fusion Indian whiskey

Redbreast 12 yr old
Redbreast Lustau
Roe & Co
Method & Madness
Slane
Glendalough
Bushmills
Tullamore Dew
Jameson
Jameson Black Barrel
Jameson Stout Edition
Paddy
Powers


Talisker Single Malt
Arran Malt Port Cask Finish
Glenmorangie
Glenfiddich 15 Yr old
Glenfiddich 18 Yr Small Batch
Glenfiddich IPA Experiment
Ardbeg Single Malt 10 yo
Laphroaig QA Cask
Laphroaig 10 Yr Old
Laphroaig Four Oak
Glenlivet Triple Cask matured
Johnnie Walker Double Black

2 minis
Powers John Lane
Barry Crockett

Any feedback/experiences on some of the more unusual ones is welcome..

Cazale

Technophobe wrote:

So I mentioned that I had stocked up due to a birthday, some pre COVID travel and some NY offers....Did a check there and did a list up; some are open,some are not but will be soon

That's a nice collection of whiskey. Any favourites on it?

Cazale

Some Blue Spot tonight. Really enjoying it. I'll definitely get a bottle.

DARK-KNIGHT

any of you part of any whiskey clubs? you know for trying samples etc that you could recommend?

killbillvol2

Cazale wrote: »

Some Blue Spot tonight. Really enjoying it. I'll definitely get a bottle.

I had some before Christmas. Loved it, high praise from me who likes a bit of age in my whiskey!

Picked up a bottle yesterday, slightly over the odds, from a local bar. They won't be selling at full whack for a while so a mutually beneficial deal.

Cazale

DARK-KNIGHT wrote:

any of you part of any whiskey clubs? you know for trying samples etc that you could recommend?

I'm a member of the Irish Whiskey Society who do regular tastings. Obviously online at the moment.

Not a club but Three Drams do a monthly online tasting. It's a good way to try Irish whiskey and to get to hear the people behind it.

Cazale

Whiskey I tried tonight in order of enjoyment.

Blue Spot
Ardbeg Uigeadail
Glenfarclas 2011 SMWS (Cereal Killer)
Bunnahabhain Moine

Wailin

Blue spot better than the ardbeg....interesting!

Cazale

Wailin wrote:

Blue spot better than the ardbeg....interesting!

I gave it to the Blue Spot seeing as it's new! The Glenfarclas could have won it on the nose alone. Lovely citrus notes that I could have nosed all night. The taste wasn't a disappointment but didn't live up to the expectation.

Wailin

Trying out the bluespot as we speak!

newbie runner

Wailin wrote: »

Trying out the bluespot as we speak!

I'm probably the outlier here,but definitely preferred the yellow spot versus the blue spot. Thought the Blue spot was somewhat harsh/ alcohol dominant

Tried the whole range of Mitchells spot tasting on one night though, which in hindsight is probably too much.

newbie runner

Cazale wrote: »

Whiskey I tried tonight in order of enjoyment.

Blue Spot
Ardbeg Uigeadail
Glenfarclas 2011 SMWS (Cereal Killer)
Bunnahabhain Moine

What age statement on the Bunnahabhain?

BonnieSituation

With 15 days to go, I just want to say, I hate you all! Keep up the good work!

Doing college work on a Friday night/Saturday morning without a snifter is criminal.

Cazale

newbie runner wrote:

What age statement on the Bunnahabhain?

No age statement on it. It was originally an exclusive for Sweden but available everywhere now. It's obviously young whiskey. Sweet peat with a bit of spice. Not too complex. Enjoyable without being remarkable. I'd gladly drink it again but wouldn't seek it out.

Cazale

BonnieSituation wrote:

With 15 days to go, I just want to say, I hate you all! Keep up the good work!

After waking up with a headache from last nights shenanigans all I'll say is be careful what you wish for!

Cazale

newbie runner wrote:

I'm probably the outlier here,but definitely preferred the yellow spot versus the blue spot. Thought the Blue spot was somewhat harsh/ alcohol dominant

At 58.7% I think a few drops of water would have opened it lovely and brought those orchard fruit notes more to the fore. I only had a 50ml sample so drank it as it is.