What Whisky/Whiskey are we drinking this month?

cnocbui

the beer revolu wrote: »

I don't believe this part of the story for a second.

Why would the distiller do this when they would have all the new make spirit in the world at their disposal if an unaged spirit is what they wanted?

Well you can not believe it all you want, but I have his 1 gallon copper whiskey measure sitting in another room and his gold cufflinks, not to mention some of his DNA. I suspect he knew someone who made some decent stuff. I suspect he traded for other goods as well.

I know a German orthopedic surgeon who has a holiday home on the west coast. He and friends back in Germany formed a drinking club and he would drive over towing a trailer and would go back with a large quantity of poitín - he talked in barrels. He can afford any booze on the planet. He gave me a taste of some at his house one time and I was amazed Nothing like the rough rotgut I had been expecting. Very palatable indeed.

Ivefoundgod

Whats the Slane Whiskey like? I know its not their own stuff yet but after stocking up on Green Spot and RB12 over christmas I wouldn't mind picking up something a little more expensive than the standard Jameson/Powers without breaking the bank. Had the West Cork 10 Year old before which was awful so if its anything like that i'll steer clear.

Just saw the Glendalough Double Blended is only €30 as well though so might try that either.

Cazale

Drinking a few glasses of Ledaig 10. It's a nice peated whisky.

Wailin

Just picked up the Glendalough 13 Mizunara from O' Briens. Missed it the last time when it was going for €80.

Good value it has to be said for one of the more unique Irish whiskies out there.

Cazale

Wailin wrote:

Just picked up the Glendalough 13 Mizunara from O' Briens. Missed it the last time when it was going for €80.

Enjoy!

killbillvol2

Wailin wrote: »

Just picked up the Glendalough 13 Mizunara from O' Briens. Missed it the last time when it was going for €80.

Good value it has to be said for one of the more unique Irish whiskies out there.

This is getting so much love on this thread I'm going to pick up a bottle tomorrow.

Wailin

killbillvol2 wrote: »

This is getting so much love on this thread I'm going to pick up a bottle tomorrow.

It's well deserved. It's lovely and very different to the redbreasts, green spots etc. I'd highly recommend it.

Mellor

the beer revolu wrote: »

Well, most Irish Whiskey heads have a very poor opinion of Bourbon yet the vast majority of the whiskey they drink have been aged somewhat in Bourbon cask

Is that kinda a bad comparison?
Yes Irish Whiskey is mostly aged in bourbon casks. But paradoxically bourbon is never aged in a bourbon cask.


I do agree with the notion behind it. You not need to like red wine to like a red wine barrel whiskey. They won't taste similar. Personally I'm a fan of sherry finishes. Never check if I like sherry itself.

gozunda

Going to Open a bottle of RB cask strength this weekend. Looking forward to a glass

Wailin

A drop or two of water really helps open it up....and softens the bite a little!

the beer revolu

cnocbui wrote: »

Well you can not believe it all you want, but I have his 1 gallon copper whiskey measure sitting in another room and his gold cufflinks, not to mention some of his DNA. I suspect he knew someone who made some decent stuff. I suspect he traded for other goods as well.

I know a German orthopedic surgeon who has a holiday home on the west coast. He and friends back in Germany formed a drinking club and he would drive over towing a trailer and would go back with a large quantity of poitín - he talked in barrels. He can afford any booze on the planet. He gave me a taste of some at his house one time and I was amazed Nothing like the rough rotgut I had been expecting. Very palatable indeed.

I wasn't suggesting that poití can't be of good quality. I've tasted some excellent examples.
What I was getting at is that your relative would have had all the poitín imaginable at his disposal in the distillery. (unaged whiskey is, essentially, poitín) I can think of no reason why a distiller would swap relatively high value, aged whiskey for relatively low value poitín when he could have just taken unaged spirit from the distillery.
It makes no sense.

cnocbui

the beer revolu wrote: »

I wasn't suggesting that poitan't be of good quality. I've tasted some excellent examples.
What I was getting at is that your relative would have had all the poitimaginable at his disposal in the distillery. (unaged whiskey is, essentially, poit I can think of no reason why a distiller would swap relatively high value, aged whiskey for relatively low value poitwhen he could have just taken unaged spirit from the distillery.
It makes no sense.

He must have had his reasons. The fact that poitín can vary in taste might suggest he knew of some that he preferred to what the distillery produced as an intermediate stage product. Maybe he wasn't allowed to take unaged whiskey, but whatever the reason, I believe the story to be absolutely factual. As I said, I believe he also traded his ration for other things and that the poitwas just one of them.

I was wondering whether the stills were sealed by excise and whether they had to oversee and record the taking of the monthly allotment and in doing a search found this:

In 1782, 1,940 illicit stills were detected, which begs the question: how many were actually in operation? King George IV was said only to drink Glenlivet whisky, made without benefit of licence, and Thomas Guthrie (1803-73) wrote in his autobiography of the situation that prevailed during the early years of the 19th century: ‘Everybody, with few exceptions, drank what was in reality illicit whisky – far superior to that made under the eye of the Excise – lords and lairds, members of Parliament and ministers of the gospel.’

https://scotchwhisky.com/magazine/features/15789/remembering-the-age-of-the-excisemen/

Maybe that sort of thing still pertained in the first half of the 20th century, which is the era when this would have taken place.

SteelyDanJalapeno

Has anyone tried this watershed Tipperary distilled single malt?

No age, but it's on sale in Aldi for 29.99, nice box too

https://www.celticwhiskeyshop.com/Tipperary-Watershed-Single-Malt

jh79

The Glendalough Mizunara wasn't in stock so got the Yellow Spot instead.

Gonna pair it with a Boundary Brewing Export Stout and a Boyne Brewhouse sherry / whiskey barrelled aged imperial stout.

Starting with Dot Brewing Back to Black Black IPA and a Buxton Imperial Black IPA.

Don't get out much these days might as well get the good stuff

EagererBeaver

When did this turn into a craft beer thread?

Cazale

There is going to be a new Irish whiskey festival from 24-30 August with events in Dublin, Cork, Kilkenny, Galway and Belfast. It's by the same people who did the Dublin Whiskey festival.

SteelyDanJalapeno

SteelyDanJalapeno wrote: »

Has anyone tried this watershed Tipperary distilled single malt?

No age, but it's on sale in Aldi for 29.99, nice box too

https://www.celticwhiskeyshop.com/Tipperary-Watershed-Single-Malt

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/farming/ballindoney-farm-team-brings-taste-of-tipperary-to-whiskey-786423.html

jh79

EagererBeaver wrote: »

When did this turn into a craft beer thread?

Whiskey gets a mention in the craft beer thread from time to time. Didn't see the harm. Tend to have my whiskey with beer.

Looking forward to the Yellow Spot later with Match of the Day.

Feck , have i made it a whiskey, craft beer and soccer thread now!

cnocbui

the beer revolu wrote: »

I wasn't suggesting that poitan't be of good quality. I've tasted some excellent examples.
What I was getting at is that your relative would have had all the poitimaginable at his disposal in the distillery. (unaged whiskey is, essentially, poit I can think of no reason why a distiller would swap relatively high value, aged whiskey for relatively low value poitwhen he could have just taken unaged spirit from the distillery.
It makes no sense.

I have been delving into a family memoir that references the time period in question and I now have a new theory. Apart from the Poitin being valued for itself, I wonder if the transactions perhaps involved a certain amount of dispensing charity in a face saving way. The poverty in and around the Jameson's distillery was profound, I'll quote a bit from the memoir:

Near Christmas time I would go with *** on a round of our 'regulars' with hampers of food and small presents, and while this may sound patronizing now, in those days before there was any form of Social Security, our modest gifts would have made a big difference to them. One of these visits which I remember vividly was to our old charwoman, Mrs. Keelif and her ailing husband who almost certainly had TB. They lived in one room with bare wooden floor, two orange-boxes for chairs, a large crate for a table, a bed of sorts with minimal bedclothes, neatly folded. Two hessian sacks were pinned over the single window as curtains, and in a small alcove was a gas-ring on the floor-their only means of cooking. Besides this there were two tin mugs, two tin plates, basic cutlery, a kettle and a saucepan minus its handle. That was everything they owned in the world and every spare penny would have been spent on medicine for the old man. [To a small child they seemed infinitely old, but quite possibly they were only in their forties].

This would have been around 1936. Having read the account of the excise men in Scotland, there was something else in the memoir that matches that account that makes me think perhaps there was an excise man at the distillery and that perhaps even the head distiller wouldn't have free and easy access to 'product':

JJ&S occupied four blocks with small public streets separating them. On one of these blocks was the 'Counting House', (lovely archaic term); the stable yard for the horses which pulled the delivery drays; a half-acre space with immensely high walls containing a concrete manureheap, and a laneway parallel to and outside this space onto which fronted the Bonded Warehouses, these were the cool, vault-roofed dungeons where the colourless new whiskey sat maturing in sherry casks, acquiring its pale golden colour from the wood. The heavy, iron-bound outer doors were secured by two huge brass padlocks; one belonging to the Customs & Excise Department, the other to the distillery. The walled space was gradually cleared of junk and the drays delivering whiskey to suburban areas would bring back toads of top-soil; there was limitless horse manure on the spot and from Guinness came loads of a lovely, clean beery-smelling waste known as 'spent hops'. These three ingredients combined to create a medium which no plant could resist and the garden thrived. One bought plant had come with a stake made of willow and over the years this 'stake' became a tree big enough to climb.
...
Tig ('Tig na Lackan') was a lovely place and we made many friends of farming families in the valley below who would happily barter fresh produce for some of ****'s whiskey ration, [which was a handsome 2 gallons monthly]. During the lean years of WW2 this was a real godsent - yet another 'perk' to add to the list. The village of Lackan you could easily miss if you sneezed, but besides the chapel there was a minute shop selling essentials and a flourishing smithy which afforded countless hours of entertainment, [and indeed, some instruction] to us children. The blacksmith was perfectly happy to let us operate the heavy bellows and leave him free to do his thing on the anvil; and of course in the winter, it was warm in there.

The valley mentioned became the Poulaphouca Resevoir. I think I miss remembered and the odd cask was a brandy cask as sherry casks were the proper ones. This is likely the very same measure used to measure the ration:

blind mans bluff

SteelyDanJalapeno wrote: »

Has anyone tried this watershed Tipperary distilled single malt?

No age, but it's on sale in Aldi for 29.99, nice box too

https://www.celticwhiskeyshop.com/Tipperary-Watershed-Single-Malt

For 30 quid you must take a punt. Its good, definitely enjoyable dram, bursting of red and white fruit, reminds of knappogue, the spirit is probly from the same origin?

But which Aldi has it for 30, I just checked my local and its still at 40......

blind mans bluff

......Anyway, the main reason I came on here was to see if anyone can answer a question and solve a dispute........

.............Middleton whiskey in general........ but the Spots in particular; they would all have colouring added, and all be chill filtered, yes?

I see a lot of, if not all, the Powers brand has non-chill filtered on the bottle, yet there seems to be no mention of colouring, so I assume it has been added; but the Spots don't seem to have any mention of colouring or filtration at all? And yet when I look at my newly acquired bottle of GS CLB, I can clearly see there is definite and very heavy particulation suspended in the liquid. Anyone shed some light?

Wailin

All have caramel colouring and yes, chill filtered.

Took this at a hotel recently and all three are practically identical in colour. Also, naturally coloured whiskey should not be this dark unless aged in sherry casks.

SteelyDanJalapeno

blind mans bluff wrote: »

For 30 quid you must take a punt. Its good, definitely enjoyable dram, bursting of red and white fruit, reminds of knappogue, the spirit is probly from the same origin?

But which Aldi has it for 30, I just checked my local and its still at 40......

Thanks, sounds good I'll pick one up for the collection tomorrow.
Spotted it in Aldi elysian cork city

Cazale

SteelyDanJalapeno wrote:

Has anyone tried this watershed Tipperary distilled single malt?

I've three Aldis near me and none of them seemed to have shifted many of them. They had a red bottle at whiskey live which I tried and I think it was nice but it was towards the end of the night so it's a bit hazy.

SteelyDanJalapeno

Cazale wrote: »

I've three Aldis near me and none of them seemed to have shifted many of them. They had a red bottle at whiskey live which I tried and I think it was nice but it was towards the end of the night so it's a bit hazy.

I actually haven't seen it in my local aldi before, so maybe they're reshuffling stock around to shift it, can't go too wrong with 30 euro single malt thou

blind mans bluff

SteelyDanJalapeno wrote: »

I actually haven't seen it in my local aldi before, so maybe they're reshuffling stock around to shift it, can't go too wrong with 30 euro single malt thou

Yeah for sure.....bottled at 47% as well, Small batch? ........I have no 4/18, bottle 307 of 4200..... just had a sniff of it there and 30 is really a great price for this. I am not sure about filtration, though the colour is surely all its own.... ....but again, nothing about colour or filtration mentioned on the bottle or box.



No shortage in Cork anyway.........

blind mans bluff

Thanks for the reply Wailin, re:the colour of Spots.

So colour aside, I find it interesting that the GS I have here, chateau barton, appears to be non-filtered, to the eye at least.
....And on the tongue, it also seems to be very oily indeed....... ummmm??

Perhaps they didn't bother as its at 46? Similar to the Johns Lane there...... which does carry the no filtration statement!

Wailin

The red spot may not be chill filtered as its 46% too. Chill filtration isn't a big deal imo. But i do struggle to understand why colouring is added to certain whiskies like lagavulin 16, redbreast 12 etc when they are bottled in dark glass where the content colour isn't really visible.

Fair enough, it's to keep a standard colour consistancy between batches. But why bother if you can't even see the liquid!

pleasant Co.

Wailin wrote: »

Fair enough, it's to keep a standard colour consistancy between batches. But why bother if you can't even see the liquid!

Unless you're blind or drinking with a blindfold on perception will affect taste, hell even where you're drinking / eating can alter ones perception of taste. So if that darker, richer colour looks more appealing in the glass your brain will trick you into liking it more than it's paler original, so that's why they bother, the research has told them that this is an inexpensive way to make their product more appealing.

Cazale

Has anyone ever tried Inish Turk Beg single malt before? I'm wondering if the high price is more to do with the romantic story of it than the quality of the whiskey. Going for about €600 a bottle or €30 a glass in the pub.

Cazale

I'm heading to Galway for a couple of nights next week and I'm going to head in to Sonny Molloys. Has anyone tried their 16 year old Red Breast? It's 28.50 a glass which is 4 euro dearer than the 21 year old. I don't mind paying dear for whiskey but again I'm wondering will I be paying a big premium for just a slightly older RB15?

Wailin

pleasant Co. wrote: »

Unless you're blind or drinking with a blindfold on perception will affect taste, hell even where you're drinking / eating can alter ones perception of taste. So if that darker, richer colour looks more appealing in the glass your brain will trick you into liking it more than it's paler original, so that's why they bother, the research has told them that this is an inexpensive way to make their product more appealing.

Well that's the biggest load of nonsense I've read in a long time.

pleasant Co.

Wailin wrote: »

Well that's the biggest load of nonsense I've read in a long time.

Deadly, enjoy your research.

Working class heroes

Wailin wrote: »

Well that's the biggest load of nonsense I've read in a long time.

It most certainly is not.

cnocbui

Vision affects the perception of taste - this is supported by research.

Manipulating people's senses with environmental triggers can have a significant effect on the taste of whisky. An experiment, published in BioMed Central's open access journal Flavour, reveals that participants' ratings of the smell, taste and flavour of a whisky changed by ten to twenty percent depending on the environment they were drinking it in. These results have implications on the environments where people consume food and drink.

D.D. Williamson, which supplies colors for the food and beverage industry, recently conducted an informal taste test with two dozen students. It revealed that color affects taste perception.

According to the study, the students, aged 16 to 18, were presented with carbonated drinks in three different hues (clear, brown and pink) and asked to describe how each tasted. They were not told that all three beverage samples were actually the same flavor, lemon-lime, in three different colors. The study said the results demonstrated yet again that color affects taste perception and an overwhelming majority responded (inaccur­ately) that the beverages had different flavors.

https://www.perfumerflavorist.com/flavor/research/Study-Reveals-Color-Affects-Taste-Perception--200479401.html

Wailin

cnocbui wrote: »

Vision affects the perception of taste - this is supported by research.



https://www.perfumerflavorist.com/flavor/research/Study-Reveals-Color-Affects-Taste-Perception--200479401.html

So do you get more enjoyment from drinking a darker coloured whiskey than a lighter coloured one?

L1011

Wailin wrote: »

So do you get more enjoyment from drinking a darker coloured whiskey than a lighter coloured one?

Sufficient people do that the majority of makers do it. And there's a damn good chance you actually do too. Its not the easiest test to do to an acceptable double blind standard at home though.

Wailin

But there's also a lot of whiskey lovers who are actually put off when they now it's not naturally coloured and has E150 added. It swings both ways.

EagererBeaver

pleasant Co. wrote: »

Unless you're blind or drinking with a blindfold on perception will affect taste, hell even where you're drinking / eating can alter ones perception of taste. So if that darker, richer colour looks more appealing in the glass your brain will trick you into liking it more than it's paler original, so that's why they bother, the research has told them that this is an inexpensive way to make their product more appealing.

People generally tend to pour decent whiskey into a transparent glass rather then drinking it blind from the bottle

Cazale

Wailin wrote:

But there's also a lot of whiskey lovers who are actually put off when they now it's not naturally coloured and has E150 added. It swings both ways.

Yeah I know it doesn't make a difference to the makeup or taste of the whiskey but for me I'd rather have the natural colour. I want my whiskey to be rugged. Throwing in caramel seems like cheating to me.

L1011

Wailin wrote: »

But there's also a lot of whiskey lovers who are actually put off when they now it's not naturally coloured and has E150 added. It swings both ways.

That's still perception based. People who care about E150d are vastly in the minority to the rest of the population.

Wailin

L1011 wrote: »

People who care about E150d are vastly in the minority to the rest of the population.

To the rest of the population who think a whiskey will taste better because it has a richer colour? I seriously doubt that to be honest!

odyssey06

To strike middle ground wouldnt it be better if it was labelled as an additive so consumers would know what they are buying? Think in Germany it has to be declared.

L1011

Wailin wrote: »

To the rest of the population who think a whiskey will taste better because it has a richer colour? I seriously doubt that to be honest!

You have been shown to have an inaccurate perception of the mass market already on this thread.

The vast majority of the whisky buying public wouldn't have the slightest idea of what E150d/caramel/farbstoff on a label even means and simply do not care.

Enthusiasts make up a very small % of the market.

Working class heroes

Wailin wrote: »

To the rest of the population who think a whiskey will taste better because it has a richer colour? I seriously doubt that to be honest!

You are wrong, again.

sceach16

Mod please help.


Why do ye not set up a thread called squabbling about things that very few others care about?

blind mans bluff

Yeah, I was hoping to talk about something else altogether......... sorry

To me, I think most people are susceptible to colour/taste associations. It has to do with human history..... and cooking, what is assumed tasty food and the maillard effect....... ummm buttered toasted scones!!

But most whiskey tasters would be aware of this, and how it is used to sell whiskey, and therefore appreciate a natural colour when they have the chance to encounter it........ and adversely scorn a false product. And rightly so I think...... why not, when choice is available.

Someone was writing recently of the Tipperary watershed.... it looks like water in the glass, albeit with a whisp of pinky gold. To be appreciated if you have an eye for colour........... or to be sold off cheaply on the shelf of a bargain basement supermarket, beside the likes of Clarkes bourbon and the best whiskey in the world, the fabled Highland Gold. Does colour matter??

Mellor

Wailin wrote: »

To the rest of the population who think a whiskey will taste better because it has a richer colour? I seriously doubt that to be honest!

I think your more missing the point. Nobody believes a beign colour improves the flavour. But sub-consciously, appearance affects perception. People with often think red jelly sweets taste like strawberry and orange like orange. Even though both are sugar.
Discoloured, or grey food is off putting. Even if flavour isn't changed. There are dozens of studies that prove the phenomenon.
On the other hand, if you become aware of it, the effect could be diminished.

Wailin

Out of curiosity, what Irish whiskeys do not have colouring added? The only one I am certain of is RB21 and I think RB15 might not either.

While Scotch whisky use colouring in high percentages also, it is definitely less so than Irish from my experience, eg anything from Ardbeg, Glendronach, Glengoyne etc

gamblor101

For the German market all additives need to be declared including colouring in whiskey. From looking at one site the only midelton whiskies with no colour added are Barry Crockett, Very Rare, Jameson 18 Bow St. and RB Cask Strength. Most, if not all, Teeling stuff doesn't have colour added.

Wailin wrote: »

Out of curiosity, what Irish whiskeys do not have colouring added? The only one I am certain of is RB21 and I think RB15 might not either.

While Scotch whisky use colouring in high percentages also, it is definitely less so than Irish from my experience, eg anything from Ardbeg, Glendronach, Glengoyne etc