Irish Whiskey Review: Redbreast 12 Year

While Ireland produces single malts and blends much like Scotland, its unique whiskey is pure pot still. It is made from a mixture of malted and unmalted barley that, as the name suggests, is distilled in a pot still, usually three times like most Irish whiskeys. With one exception, all of these are currently being produced by the Middleton distillery in Cork. It is claimed that the unmalted barley gives the final product a spicier and more full-bodied character, but I never found out until I decided to take the plunge right before the price of this whiskey went up locally.

This whiskey was aged in a mix of ex-bourbon and ex-sherry casks, then bottled at 40%, with coloring and chill filtration.

Redbreast 12 Year

Nose: toasted grain, caramel, muddled fruit/sherry overtones, vanilla, light oak, a touch of something floral. After adding a few drops of water a lot of the complexity disappears, replaced by smooth grain with a savory edge.

Taste: grain and oak sweetness up front, light tannins with vague fruit/sherry/orange peel in the background come in around the middle, with a slight bump of oak, creamy vanilla malt, and baking spices near the back. After dilution it becomes a bit softer and the fruit is largely pushed towards the back.

Finish: caramel, light oak tannins, sherry residue, creamy malt

This is... fine. The grainier notes from the unmalted barley in the mix take a little while to get used to, but after that it's just OK. I kept waiting for some epiphany, since so many people, including many with palates that I know and respect, rave about this whiskey. But it never clicked with me. There are any number of scotch blends that would be as good or better for far less money, so I can't imagine this finding space in my liquor cabinet again.

Whisky Review: A.D. Rattray Cooley 16 Year 1995/2012

For many years Cooley was the LDI/MGP of Ireland, semi-anonymously cranking out spirit for brands without distilleries as well as its own. That changed in 2012 when it was bought by Jim Beam, who massively scaled back contract sales to keep more of the production for their in-house brands. Some casks did find their way into the hands of independent bottlers, though they are becoming increasingly uncommon.

This whisky was distilled on November 24th 1995, filled into a bourbon cask (size not specified), then bottled on March 19th 2012 in an outturn of 193 bottles at 56.7% without coloring or chill filtration.

A.D. Rattray Cooley 16 Year 1995/2012 Cask #555

Nose: rich malt and bourbon cask notes, herbal/floral notes around the edges. After adding a few drops of water it becomes softer and more malty, but otherwise unchanged.

Taste: thick malt and cask strength sweetness throughout, orange and lemon peel with hints of berries in the middle, mild oak into the finish. After dilution the sweetness becomes much stronger with less assertive oak until the back, and it becomes simpler overall.

Finish: cask-driven, moderate oak with a little bitterness, sweet malt, grapefruit peel

While there are things to enjoy about this whisky at full strength, I find it too hot and cask-driven to find much subtly. The thick mouthfeel is a big plus, but there isn't a lot of evolution and the finish more or less recapitulates the flavors. Might hit the spot if you're a Glenlivet Nadurra fan, but that one never hit the mark for me either.

Diluted to 50%

Nose: balanced malt and oak, dusty vanilla, fresh apple, background floral notes

Taste: thick cask and malt sweetness with background vanilla throughout, tangy oak tannins with some fresh apple and pear notes near the back

Finish: a little heat, spicy oak, background apple/pear, citrus peel, clean malt, a little dry hay

This is a simple, straightforward set of aromas and flavors. While enjoyable, it doesn't have a lot of complexity and I wouldn't have found the whisky very compelling if it had been bottled at this strength. Not bad, just nothing that I couldn't find from any number of bourbon cask Speysiders.

Diluted to 45%

Nose: fairly light - pleasantly malty, floral honey, dusty vanilla, a little green - but not new make-y, background oak, unripe apples/pears, lime peel, a touch of solvent

Taste: malt sweetness up front, green apples and pears with lemon and lime peel in the middle, fadeout through drier grain and light floral notes with minimal oak at the back

Finish: unrolls through sweet malt, faded violets/lavender, fresh herbs, citrus peel, vanilla, cardboard oak in the background

Dang, that was a lot more than I was expecting. Unlike at full strength this is a fairly subtle whisky at this dilution with most of the action happening in the finish. Also surprising is the comparative lack of oak, considering that its heavy presence at full strength. Almost makes me wish this had been bottled at 46% because I think I would have enjoyed it more that way.

Whiskey for St. Patrick's Day: Bushmill's Black Bush

I've mentioned this Irish whiskey before, but didn't have sufficient experience with whisk(e)y to really appreciate what it has to offer. Black Bush is the first step up from Bushmills' basic white label whiskey. The distillery states that it's composed primarily of malt whiskey that has been aged in oloroso sherry casks and supplemented with grain whiskey aged in ex-bourbon barrels. There's no information about the exact split, but my feeling is that it's probably 60-80% malt whiskey with the balance made up with grain whiskey. While there's no age statement on the bottle, it's my guess and that of other bloggers that this is probably 8-10 years old.

Bushmill's Black Bush


Nose: malty, with bourbon-y grain character, vanilla and a hint of sherry fruitiness

Taste: exceedingly smooth, with the sweetness coming mid-palate followed by bittersweet chocolate and sherry influence

Finish: bittersweet chocolate, malt and bourbon

Given where it's positioned, this is a pretty good whiskey. It usually runs ~$30, which is quite reasonable given its age and malt whiskey content. I'd actually suggest this as a good choice for a bourbon drinker who wants to get a sense for what malt whisk(e)y has to offer, as it combines some of the best features of both malt and grain whiskies. It's not going to blow away a seasoned single malt drinker, but I don't think that's what Bushmills was striving for. My only quibble is that I wish they bottled it at a slightly higher proof. With the triple distillation that they tout all over the place and the reasonable amount of time that the whiskey has spent in barrels, all of the rough edges should already be smoothed off. With a bump in ABV this would be a standout. But with that said, it's designed to be a step up from their basic whiskey, so Bushmills probably doesn't want to make it too challenging. For that I might have to try their 1608 anniversary edition whiskey, which is bottled at a much healthier 46%.

Reach Across the Sea
1 oz Irish whiskey
1 oz Scotch whisky
0.5 oz lemon juice
0.5 oz ginger liqueur
0.25 oz honey syrup

Combine all ingredients, shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

The smell is very malty, with a hint of ginger and the sherry cask influence of the Black Bush. The sip leads off a bit of sourness from the lemon juice and honeyed sweetness, which quickly transitions to lots of maltiness from the whiskies. This fades into sherried fruitiness, then the slightly sharp vegetal tang of the ginger liqueur. It all finishes with just a hint of chocolate from the combination of the whiskies and the liqueur.

This drink was based off of the Lake George from The PDT Cocktail Book, with the original's Drambuie swapped out for The King's Ginger Liqueur. It isn't the most complex cocktail ever, but it uses the ingredients to good effect. The Irish and Scotch whiskies play nice together and sync up well with the ginger liqueur, which also contains a measure of whisky. A nice drink to sip on St. Patrick's Day. I hope everyone is having a good evening and stays safe.