What Whisky/Whiskey are we drinking this month?

Effects

Well I drank the samples fairly quick! They were small enough. But did have three samples of each cask constituent of Blue Spot.
I didn't need two full bottles of it, but I was asked how many I wanted when I ordered it, and just said two for some reason!
I think I'd expected to go through one bottle over Christmas but it just didn't work out that way, and drank other whiskey over the Christmas period.

odyssey06

ZV Yoda wrote: »

I can’t speak for anybody else, but I fancy a bottle because I’ve heard good things about it. Simple as that.
You have 2 unopened bottles and samples? Nice. Thanks for rubbing salt in the wounds

DrinksHero have sample for 10e if you are desperate to try it but with shipping will be v expensive unless you lob in a few other samples or bottle.

FileNotFound

Effects wrote: »

Well I drank the samples fairly quick! They were small enough. But did have three samples of each cask constituent of Blue Spot.
I didn't need two full bottles of it, but I was asked how many I wanted when I ordered it, and just said two for some reason!
I think I'd expected to go through one bottle over Christmas but it just didn't work out that way, and drank other whiskey over the Christmas period.

Would want to be special to justify the price over the green spot.

Is it me or is it just the new norm to add high prices to anything new.

In that range it's against the best of the method and madness series, more expensive by a good way on RB12.

Mellor

FileNotFound wrote: »

Would want to be special to justify the price over the green spot.

Is it me or is it just the new norm to add high prices to anything new.

In that range it's against the best of the method and madness series, more expensive by a good way on RB12.

It’s a cask strength. Greenspot, RB12 etc are not.
Cask strength is about a 50% more distillate, therefore a 50% premium. A better comparison would be RB12CS.

There’s definitely a bit of premium on it as a new product. But it’s not as simple as looking at the price.

Effects

FileNotFound wrote: »

Would want to be special to justify the price over the green spot.

As Mellor said, it's cask strength, so it's bottled at 58.7%.
Cask strength seems to be a trend, so they are definitely influenced by that.

Charge what people are willing to pay, as they say.

FileNotFound

Effects wrote: »

As Mellor said, it's cask strength, so it's bottled at 58.7%.
Cask strength seems to be a trend, so they are definitely influenced by that.

Charge what people are willing to pay, as they say.

I'd counter that with its only a 7 year old. (which people can counter with who cares about age its down to taste)

Although a higher price for cask makes sense.

Weepsie

Premium too because they might have done a limited run to see the reaction. Now they know they can probably produce it and charge that price going forward.

It's available in the airport apparently if you have some very mad reason to be going there lately

Effects

FileNotFound wrote: »

I'd counter that with its only a 7 year old. (which people can counter with who cares about age its down to taste)

Although a higher price for cask makes sense.

I'll counter that with 7 year old is the youngest. It's also got 20 year old whiskey in the mix!

But sure look at the prices a lot of the younger brands are getting away with charging for very young whiskey.

FileNotFound

Weepsie wrote: »

Premium too because they might have done a limited run to see the reaction. Now they know they can probably produce it and charge that price going forward.

It's available in the airport apparently if you have some very mad reason to be going there lately

I once booked a 5 euro Ryanair flight just to pick up stuff that was cheaper in the airport. (I was bored one day what can I say).

Went in through security bought my stuff and purposely missed flight. They just send you back out with your shopping.

For anyone desperate - could be worth trying when lockdown allows. Defo not a necessary journey.

Also flew to genava for a few hrs to try duty free once but the Swiss franc and prices made it redundant.

Ah to be young again.

L1011

FileNotFound wrote: »

Also flew to genava for a few hrs to try duty free once but the Swiss franc and prices made it redundant.

Basel-Mulhouse Airport has more French style prices but has both an arrival and an outbound duty free on the Swiss exit - you need a BSL coded ticket not an MLH one though.

Still very, very unlikely to be worth the time and flight costs!

2011abc

FileNotFound wrote: »

I once booked a 5 euro Ryanair flight just to pick up stuff that was cheaper in the airport. (I was bored one day what can I say).

Went in through security bought my stuff and purposely missed flight. They just send you back out with your shopping.

For anyone desperate - could be worth trying when lockdown allows. Defo not a necessary journey.

Also flew to genava for a few hrs to try duty free once but the Swiss franc and prices made it redundant.

Ah to be young again.

I think I speak for more than myself when I say you are the Hero of the Day !Id be worried theyd lock you up (for a fortnight ?!) if you 'missed your flight' today .And while selection is amazing in Dublin airport the prices are average at best

Slattsy

I've gone back to my roots and have bottles of the first two Scotches I ever tried; Laphroaig 10 and The Macallan 12. Glorious.

Technophobe

Had a few over weekend and really liked the Jameson Caskmates Stout edition for a simple no fuss tipple...

Someone mentioned Amrut a few pages back, so I dug out the Amrut Fusion I have and was nicer than I remembered it being previously...

Cazale

2011abc wrote:

I think I speak for more than myself when I say you are the Hero of the Day !Id be worried theyd lock you up (for a fortnight ?!) if you 'missed your flight' today .And while selection is amazing in Dublin airport the prices are average at best

Locked up for a fortnight with only duty free whiskey for company. Would be a struggle alright!

Cazale

The Irish Whiskey Society have another tasting on the 11 of February for 21 year old Irish Whiskey. Trying Redbreast 21, Bushmills 21, Kilbeggan 21 and Knappogue Castle 21 Years Old. Promises to be a good one.

Cazale

Celtic Whiskey have a Powers John's Lane deconstruction tasting for sale. Five samples listed below. One of my favourite pot stills so a no brainer!

Powers John's Lane 12 Year-Old

1st Fill bourbon component 14 Year (Cask Strength)

2nd Fill bourbon component 14 year (Cask Strength)

1st Fill Sherry component 18 year (Cask Strength)

Powers John's Lane (Cask strength).

The Inbetween is mine

Red Breast 15yo for this evenings enjoyment

FileNotFound

The Inbetween is mine wrote: »

Red Breast 15yo for this evenings enjoyment

I always find having a lead in (in this case having an RB12 before) helps me taste the profile better - or maybe its in my head.

Its a nice one - enjoy

Hogzy

Cazale wrote: »

Celtic Whiskey have a Powers John's Lane deconstruction tasting for sale. Five samples listed below. One of my favourite pot stills so a no brainer!

Powers John's Lane 12 Year-Old

1st Fill bourbon component 14 Year (Cask Strength)

2nd Fill bourbon component 14 year (Cask Strength)

1st Fill Sherry component 18 year (Cask Strength)

Powers John's Lane (Cask strength).

10% off too if youre a member of the Celtic Whiskey Club

ctlsleh

FileNotFound wrote: »

I always find having a lead in (in this case having an RB12 before) helps me taste the profile better - or maybe its in my head.

Its a nice one - enjoy

RB12 is hard to beat, hard a couple earlier, sooo easy to drink, moved on to a Ballykilcavan 1.2 and it’s really super albeit initially hotter than RB

Cazale

Bushmills 21 year old deconstruction tasting tonight. Looking forward to trying the Cask Strength version.

L1011

I assumed the 10 and 19 would be watered to 40%. The 10s aren't - ~58%.

I'll be rolling on the floor by the end of this.

L1011

I presume the 19s are cask also, hasn't said the % which'll be a bit down.

Cazale

L1011 wrote:

I'll be rolling on the floor by the end of this.

Yeah I think I'll be in trouble after this one!

L1011

Actual admission of the 1784 date! That's surprising.

Cazale

Great Bushmills tasting tonight. Five cask strength whiskeys in an hour is some going. All of the samples were straight from the cask with the char included as seen in the picture. The 21 year old cask strength is up there with the best I've tried.

killbillvol2

Cazale wrote: »

Great Bushmills tasting tonight. Five cask strength whiskeys in an hour is some going. All of the samples were straight from the cask with the char included as seen in the picture. The 21 year old cask strength is up there with the best I've tried.

Couldn't do this tonight so I'm looking forward to catching up at my leisure. Sounds great.

tyler71

Also was at the Bushmills Tasting and loved it. Never been big into Bushmills, but have done a few tastings this year and some of my favourites were sourced from Bushmills (Gelstons, Tipperary, Teeling(?)) so was looking for this fantastic citrus character that I loved from those drams. The tasting showed the differences between the bourbon/American whisky casks that had that citrus flavour and the sherry cask versions that were also fantastic, and the 21 cask strength was a combination of the two that was as someone said, more than the sum of the parts. Definitely going to be splashing out for the 21, but hoping that it won't be a disappointment compared to the cask strength version!

Cazale

Seamus Lowry mentioned that Bushmills have 400,000 casks and some of the oldest stock in Ireland. I asked how old a couple of times but it was never answered. Was chatting to a couple of lads privately in the chat though and they think a 45 year old release is on its way soon. 65 years old was mentioned as the oldest stock they have too.

tyler71

I saw that, would love to know that as well. Tasted the Teeling 28yr old and have a strong suspicion that it's Bushmills sourced - a fantastic dram. Pure guess from what I tasted but like an older version of the 19yr old bourbon cask. Think they have the potential to release some amazing whiskies and they now seem to have the inclination to actually do it, will be keen to see what happens next.

Cazale

tyler71 wrote:

I saw that, would love to know that as well. Tasted the Teeling 28yr old and have a strong suspicion that it's Bushmills sourced - a fantastic dram. Pure guess from what I tasted but like an older version of the 19yr old bourbon cask. Think they have the potential to release some amazing whiskies and they now seem to have the inclination to actually do it, will be keen to see what happens next.

The 24-29 year old Teeling is all Bushmills stock. Yeah I tried the 1995 and 2008 causeway collection and they were both stunning whiskeys.

BonnieSituation

Cazale wrote: »

Bushmills 21 year old deconstruction tasting tonight. Looking forward to trying the Cask Strength version.

After all that I couldn't do it tonight, so will save myself for some weekend soon and go through them.

Glad to hear it was a good un.

the beer revolu

I came back to the Aldi 26 YO Irish the other night.

It's a really lovely drop and worth the c.€50 it cost.
But you'd never in a million years guess it was actually 26 years old - it just doesn't have the depth or complexity that you'd expect. Bottled at 40% is a bit odd, too.

Still, nice to drink a couple of 26 year old drops on a Monday night!!:D

Black Sheep

Bottled at 40% on anything is a major, major turn-off for me now.

The Inbetween is mine

Portmagee 9yo

Hogzy

The Inbetween is mine wrote: »

Portmagee 9yo

The colour of that is very strange. It looks like white wine.

The Inbetween is mine

Hogzy wrote: »

The colour of that is very strange. It looks like white wine.

No added caramel I believe

Wailin

Hogzy wrote: »

The colour of that is very strange. It looks like white wine.

A youngish whiskey in it's natural colour, looks perfectly fine.

Hogzy

Maybe its my laptop screen! Its as if it has a pinkish hue to it.

The Inbetween is mine

Wailin wrote: »

A youngish whiskey in it's natural colour, looks perfectly fine.

It's a 9 year old whiskey...and it's very tasty...I'd pick it over greenspot every time

The Inbetween is mine

Hogzy wrote: »

Maybe its my laptop screen! Its as if it has a pinkish hue to it.

No, Def not pinkish...the white wine comment was close enough..a bit darker IRL...but not not much

Black Sheep

I've had some really pale / almost colourless whiskies. I had a Glen Grant from the distillery that wasn't even straw coloured, in some light it looked just like water. When the eye is tricked you'd wonder if it has an effect on your palate. I don't like the idea of colouring but I can understand that they put it in for a reason for the general market, I can imagine focus group reactions praising "rich" colouring or somesuch.

BonnieSituation

Black Sheep wrote: »

I've had some really pale / almost colourless whiskies. I had a Glen Grant from the distillery that wasn't even straw coloured, in some light it looked just like water. When the eye is tricked you'd wonder if it has an effect on your palate. I don't like the idea of colouring but I can understand that they put it in for a reason for the general market, I can imagine focus group reactions praising "rich" colouring or somesuch.

I did the Bristol Rum tasting and some of them were very pale.

The guy from BR explained that a lot of his customers demand a certain color, so they have to put colouring into the product.

I'm sure the same happens with whisk(e)y.

Personally it doesn't bother me either way, but I would like to know or have it more clearly labelled so that you know what you are getting and can make more informed decisions!

Technophobe

Because of someone's (can't remember who?) high praise for it, I have ordered a Tullamore Dew XO Caribbean Rum Cask and because I sometimes feel bad about a bottle travelling alone, I added a Longrow Single Malt..
Anyone any feedback on the Longrow?
Thks

Insect Overlord

This week:

Had a drop of Green Spot on Monday and was blown away by it. An unexpected moment, but a happy one.

Enjoyed a splash of Knappogue Castle 14 last night.

Started my Friday evening with Method & Madness single grain on the rocks. I usually find it too "woody" (pretty sure pencil shavings are mentioned in the tasting notes) but slightly chilled it's gorgeous.

Went for a 200 Fathoms boiler maker after that. Teeling aged in Galway Bay imperial stout casks, followed by a bottle of imperial stout aged in Teeling small batch casks. I should have saved the combo for a special occasion but feck it! Sometimes it's nice to just go all out and start the weekend with an extravagant treat.

FileNotFound

Insect Overlord wrote: »

This week:

Had a drop of Green Spot on Monday and was blown away by it. An unexpected moment, but a happy one.

Enjoyed a splash of Knappogue Castle 14 last night.

Started my Friday evening with Method & Madness single grain on the rocks. I usually find it too "woody" (pretty sure pencil shavings are mentioned in the tasting notes) but slightly chilled it's gorgeous.

Went for a 200 Fathoms boiler maker after that. Teeling aged in Galway Bay imperial stout casks, followed by a bottle of imperial stout aged in Teeling small batch casks. I should have saved the combo for a special occasion but feck it! Sometimes it's nice to just go all out and start the weekend with an extravagant treat.

Once you hit the green spot and RB 12 you question a lot of what you pay for in others.

My go too drinks. Though I am adding in the M&M range at the moment.

All the new ones are just so expensive and many very meh.

Also I have no doubt that 50% of the new stuff on shelves is really Bushmills thrown in a finishing cask for the absolute minimum amount of time and then bottled at robbery prices.

Tried the drumshanbo whiskey, preferred the cheaper one to be honest, nice after warmth. Nice to see a natural growth distillery that brings its own version.

odyssey06

Insect Overlord wrote: »

This week:
Had a drop of Green Spot on Monday and was blown away by it. An unexpected moment, but a happy one.
Enjoyed a splash of Knappogue Castle 14 last night.
Started my Friday evening with Method & Madness single grain on the rocks. I usually find it too "woody" (pretty sure pencil shavings are mentioned in the tasting notes) but slightly chilled it's gorgeous.
Went for a 200 Fathoms boiler maker after that. Teeling aged in Galway Bay imperial stout casks, followed by a bottle of imperial stout aged in Teeling small batch casks. I should have saved the combo for a special occasion but feck it! Sometimes it's nice to just go all out and start the weekend with an extravagant treat.

Keep an eye out for Green Spot chateau montelena or Knappogue 12 barolo on offer. If you like the above would be interesting to compare.

In the Knappogue miniature set the 14 was my favourite of the three.

BonnieSituation

odyssey06 wrote: »

Keep an eye out for Green Spot chateau montelena or Knappogue 12 barolo on offer. If you like the above would be interesting to compare.

In the Knappogue miniature set the 14 was my favourite of the three.

Yeah, myself and the FIL were the same with the K14.

L1011

Bottle of Yellow Spot doorstep dropped for my birthday

Will use this as an excuse to finish up the last bottle which is so old that Red and Blue hadn't been reintroduced!

odyssey06

So last night's tipple, the West Cork calvados cask finish was a bit of a let down - neither one thing nor the other.
The Whistler Calvados cask finish did a much better job of it.

Tonight it is the Drumshanbo Single Pot Still 46%. I've been to Drumshanbo and with no disrespect intended, this isn't the middle of nowhere, this is the halfway up on the hill of nowhere. Reading about their whiskey in American whiskey magazines and websites still surprises me!
Back to the whiskey. This is dessert in a glass. Creamy mouthfeel, gingery spice and fruit on the first sip becomes a sweet, silky finish of vanilla and custard. I don't quite understand how you can put together a whiskey that hits flavours of sweet, spice and fruit but there's a lot going on here. One to sip and contemplate after dinner.

A good review of it here:
https://whiskyayehome.wordpress.com/2020/01/21/review-no-13-drumshanbo-single-pot-still-irish-whiskey/