Irish Whiskey

Jameson 12 Year Old

Jameson Special Reserve 12 Year Old Irish Whiskey
40% ABV
$40 to $50
Widely Available

What the Distillery Says:
Jameson 12 Year Old Special Reserve, with its full-bodied flavour, is like a friendly handshake welcoming you into the world of aged whiskeys. With its pot still whiskeys infused with sherry casks, it’s the best known and most popular of the aged Jameson whiskeys. Exuding great character, its complex yet superbly mellow flavours of toasted wood, spice and sherry and its exquisite taste are a celebration of the enduring heritage of great Jameson whiskeys which began in 1780.

NOSE – Warm, spicy, assertively complex.
TASTE – Sherry richness, nutty flavour, mild woody undertones.
FINISH – Rich and lasting.

What Richard Says:
Nose: Light like fresh grass with fruity notes and a bit of char.
Palate: Creamy and malty with honey and cereal grains coming through. You definitely pick up the sherry casks. The more time you spend with this the sweeter and creamier it gets.
Finish: More oak and wood than on the nose or the palate. A little spice at the tail end of the finish.
Comments: If you like Jameson then kick it up a notch and give this a try. If Jameson is a little too bland for you, still give it a try. There’s a lot more flavor here that may just appeal to you.
Rating: Stands Out

Jameson 12 Year Old Read More »

March Review Schedule

March is the month of St. Patrick’s Day so we’re doing Irish whiskey as our theme this month. We will kick it off with Jameson 12 Year Old Special Reserve tomorrow and finish the month out with Jameson Gold, Jameson 18 Year, and Redbreast 15 Year. I’ve also got reviews samples from Collingwood Canadian Whisky, Dalmore, Templeton, Isle of Jura, Balblair and others so it should be a busy month. Stay tuned!

Richard

March Review Schedule Read More »

Drinking in Charleston

One of the best things about Atlanta is how easy it is to get to great vacation destinations from here. Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is arguable the busiest in the country and you can fly to almost anywhere from here. Another attraction is the central location in the south. I took advantage of this last weekend and drove over to Charleston, South Carolina with my wife and friends, Sam and Sandra.

My wife’s mother is from Charleston and our friends have been there many times, however it was my first visit. Charleston is a wonderful old southern town. It’s beautiful. The people are friendly. There are plenty of great things to see, do, and eat. We did all of those and packed as much fun into a three day weekend as we could. But what about drinking?

For a beer lover there’s plenty to enjoy. Irish pubs populate a number of streets in Charleston with good selections. The locally made Palmetto Amber is a nice one if you want to go local. Whiskey can be a bit more fickle. There are a lot of 4J bars around the city but there is hope. We found a few bastions of whiskey in the arid sea of beer and cocktails!

First, there are those with small but well chosen selections. These tended to be in the bars of restaurants. High Cotton on East Bay Street and Pearlz Oyster Bar jumped first to mind. Both have great food (High Cotton was hands down the best meal I had in Charleston) and they have a small but well selected whiskey menu.

Second, there is the multitude of Irish pubs all over Charleston. Most are big on beer, light on whiskey. When you go into Tommy Condon’s over on Church St. it looks much the same. However, the secret is to ask what they’ve got behind the bar. Tommy Condon’s has a very respectable selection of Irish whiskey but you can’t see it. It includes favorites from Powers, Paddy’s, Jameson, and even Redbreast. Just ask your server or bartender.

Lastly, if you want to seriously get your drink on there are only two places I found. There is Club Havana on Meeting St. and Husk on Queen St. Husk has a fantastic selection of bourbon, rye, and American whiskey but you will pay for it. They have far and away the highest markup on their liquor. You’ve been warned. For everything else there’s Club Havana. They have a very nice selection of scotch, bourbon, and rums at not astronomical prices. They sit above a Tinder Box and you can bring up the cigars you buy downstairs and smoke up in the bar and lounge. Colleen at the bar was a great bartender and if you want to adventure out beyond the whiskey, give their rum flight a try. It’s a really cool place I wish we had in Atlanta.

That’s my Charleston report. I had a great time and if you go you probably will too.

Drink wisely my friends,

Richard

Drinking in Charleston Read More »

Connemara Turf Mor

Connemara Turf Mor Peated Single Malt Irish Whiskey
58.2% ABV/116.4 Proof
50+ Euros
Currently available in the UK, Germany, Benelux, and Ireland

What the Distillery Says:

Turf Mor is the latest and 2nd edition to the Small Batch Collection series of Connemara. The first was the highly successful Connemara Sherry Finish, of which sales are now deplete and the product is retired. By bottling it at cask strength with no chill filtration we get a truly phenolic taste experience while still managing to retain Connemara’s distinctive smooth taste. Turf Mor is the Peatiest expression of Connemara with over 50 ppm phenol level. It is a limited edition bottling with less than 20,000 bottle available.

What Richard Says:
Nose: Peat and smoked meat. It reminds me of my buddy Sam’s smoked beef brisket. (I’ll have to ask him what wood he uses) There is also a good bit of fresh apple and a hint of freshly grated ginger.
Palate: Very smokey on the palate but in a different way. It’s more actual wood smoke rather than peaty like an Islay. I’m thinking that is because it’s less briny. Surprisely dry with hints of sweetness.
Finish: Sip it slow and the heat mellows to a smooth warmth that sticks with you. It leave that wood smoke lingering behind.
Comments: I really liked this much more than prior experiences with Connemara. I think it’s a mildly complex dram that offers a different take on smokey whiskey. A very nice warm you up dram on a cold night.
Rating: Stands Out

What Matt Says:
Nose: First hit with a caramel sweetness, then overpowered by peat that swirls around more floral notes (rose petals) and notes of green grain and grasses.
Palate: Peat and tall grasses that coat the mouth.  It seems trite, but it’s very “Irishy” with a boat load of peat.
Finish: Peat and a little bitter with touches of oak around the edges.
Comments: I’ve never been as enthralled with Cooley as the rest of the whiskey writers.  I think everyone is just excited to have another player in the game.  I can sympathize.  I’m a huge supporter of independents and micros as a concept even if I’m not thrilled by the product.  Cooley brought us the first peated Irish whiskey in quite some time and now they are going after the super peat market with Turf Mor.  In some ways this is a success.  I tried it next to the standard Connemara Peated and I have to say that its miles ahead.  Even at cask strength, it is very drinkable.  The nose is intoxicating.  With water, there is a caramel roundness that helps to tame the peat and other vegetation.  However, I find a rawness to this whiskey that I often find from Cooley.  It says to me, “let me sleep a little longer.  A few more years in oak and I’ll be less cranky.”  I’m going to rate this a “Stands Out,” but with a caveat.  It’s not my style.  Turf Mor stands out because there is little to compare it to in it’s category.  How does it rate against the peat monsters from Scotland?  It depends on if you are talking about one of the complex and amazing ones or one of the one trick ponies.  Ultimately, it is distinctly Irish and cannot be directly compared to a Scottish whiskey.
Rating: Stands Out

Overall Rating: Stands Out

We’d also like to thank Rachel Quinn at Cooley and Megan Hurtuk with Gemini for providing us with samples for review.

Connemara Turf Mor Read More »

Barriers for New Whiskey Drinkers Part 1 (Richard)

As you might imagine, I think about whiskey quite a lot. Matt and I write a blog on the stuff that we try to update with new content as regularly as we can. But that’s more of a product of our obsession rather than a driver. The idea behind Whisk(e)y Apostle was to help get the word out. “Proselytizing the way of malt.” When we started formulating the idea for the site a couple of years ago there really wasn’t too much out there on the subject. Most distilleries didn’t exactly have the greatest websites and in terms of blogs and related websites there was really only John Hansell, Sam over at Dr. Whisky, the ruminations of various Malt Maniacs, and one or two others.

Oh how times have changed. Every distillery seems to be revamping their websites multiple times a year and it seems like everyone and their brother is talking about whiskey. This isn’t a bad thing at all. The more we talk about it, the more people learn about it. The more they learn, the more they buy and ultimately the more stuff comes out on the market.

So with that in mind I decided to take a step back and think about what is still inhibiting people from drinking whiskey…aside from those poor misguided souls who still think that they just don’t like it. Here’s my top four.

Price
Whiskey isn’t exactly cheap once you move off the bottom two shelves and let’s face it, there’s a lot down there that might make you never want to try whiskey again. Bourbon and Irish are still relatively affordable up against the increasing prices of Scotch but their prices are soaring too. However, you can still value good values in all these categories if you know what to look for. Scotch has some great blends like Black Bottle and value single malts like Glenfiddich and Glenlivet shouldn’t be sneezed at. You can even move down the connoisseur route if you’re selective. Macallan may get all the love but Edrington’s Highland Park Distillery puts out great single malt at noticeably lower prices than Macallan in the same age ranges. Bourbon and Irish are rife with old labels at good prices offering solid value. Weller, Old Grand Dad, and Evan Williams are just some of the Bourbon names to look out for. Powers, Paddy’s, and a number of other Irish tipples are worth a shot. Also, Rye is still an under marketed value gem (but don’t tell anyone). Don’t let the prices scare you. Buy smarted, not harder.

It should also be noted that you might also look at price per drink. If you spend $20 on a bottle of wine you my only get four or five glasses out of it. That’s $4 or $5 per drink. If you assume a standard pour of around 30 ml or so then that gets you 25 drinks for the price of a $45 bottle of Scotch. That’s less than $2 a drink. I’m assuming you’re drinking the glass of wine and the glass of Scotch at about the same pace and not slamming back shooter like a frat boy. It’s just something else to think about.

Variety
It really is a great time to buy whiskey. There are so many choices that it seems like you could spend your whole life trying to taste them all. However, that same variety that makes me giddy when I walk in the liquor store may seem daunting to the uninitiated. Bourbon, Rye, Irish, Single Malt, Blends, Blended Malts, Japanese, Indian, Australian, American Craft, Welsh, English, Swedish….you see where I’m going with this. Don’t be afraid. Take it slow. It’s no different than beer or wine. Try a few at a local drinking establishment and then try others similar to what you liked. It’s as simple as that.

Tradition
Do you know how you’re supposed to drink whiskey? Neat? With a splash of water? On the rocks? With cola? Out of a tulip shaped glass? Out of a tumbler? The real answer is to drink it however the hell you want. Why would you let someone else tell you what to do with something you bought? You don’t have to drink every glass of single malt scotch neat out of a tulip shaped nosing glass while wearing a kilt in front of a roaring fire used to cook haggis. You can. You might try it sometime because you might like it but that doesn’t mean you have too. Don’t worry so much about what you’re supposed to do and spend more time doing what you enjoy.

Advice
This one is tricky. How do you talk about advice as a barrier for new drinkers without giving advice? You really can’t but I feel that I have to. If you ask questions about whiskey to bloggers, writers, aficionados, bartenders, shop owners, etc. you will get plenty of opinions. You just need to remember that at the bottom of the glass that’s all they are, opinions. It is all relayed with good intentions but the only way you will know what you like is to get out there and try stuff. Then you can decide for yourself. If over time you find the recommendations of one blogger or writer similar to what you like then you can give that person more weight than others but that’s up to you. We do reviews on Whisk(e)y Apostle because we enjoy doing them and some people might find them helpful. Personally, I think our event postings and editorial posts are a more important part of what Matt and I do. After all, we may think Redbreast walks on water but if you can’t stand Irish whiskey then you’re not going to agree. You have to make up your own mind.

That’s all I’ve got so say on the subject…for now (have blog, will pontificate). Matt’s take on the topic should be along soon.

Drink wisely my friends,

Richard

Barriers for New Whiskey Drinkers Part 1 (Richard) Read More »

Accept Cookie

By using this site, you agree to our updated Privacy Policy. Privacy Policy