Connemara Turf Mór

Morf · 30-01-2013 12:43am #1

I bought a bottle for my father for his birthday a while back and he's drinking it at the moment but I can't help but feel that the bottle could be mis-labelled as it isn't really peaty at all.

My father likes it and has enjoyed about 3/4 of the bottle so far but I can't help but feel it isn't what I paid for at the same time (which was reasonably expensive as whiskey goes).

Is mis-labelling common? Any thoughts?

Lovely Bloke · 30-01-2013 8:42am

Turf Mór is as peaty as the peaty Islays, from what I've tasted of it.

I love me some Laphroaig and Ardbeg, and spoke to a barman in L Mulligan Grocer's one night about trying something different - he brought me down the Turf Mór, and yeah, it was up there with them, I was impressed.

Do you yourself like the Islay whiskys, and have a base comparison?

It's strange to see you say "not that peaty".

FlicFlak · 30-01-2013 11:36am

m just after finishing a bottle of this. It is seriously peaty! I still prefer the Islay whiskies, better flavour over all but you couldnt say Turf Mor isnt peaty!!!!!!

Brockagh · 30-01-2013 2:42pm

FlicFlak wrote: »

m just after finishing a bottle of this. It is seriously peaty! I still prefer the Islay whiskies, better flavour over all but you couldnt say Turf Mor isnt peaty!!!!!!

The south coast Islays would be much older whiskey. The Lagavulin Distiller's Edition, Ardbeg 10 and Laphroaig 10. Turf Mor would be younger. Laphroaig does do the quarter cask, but Turf Mor stands up pretty well for its age.

They make bad whisky as well as good whisky on Islay.

FlicFlak · 30-01-2013 2:51pm

Brockagh wrote: »

The south coast Islays would be much older whiskey. The Lagavulin Distiller's Edition, Ardbeg 10 and Laphroaig 10. Turf Mor would be younger. Laphroaig does do the quarter cask, but Turf Mor stands up pretty well for its age.

They make bad whisky as well as good whisky on Islay.

Yeah i think Turf Mor is only aged the minimum 3 years, still good though.
Personally, i dont think theres bad whisky, just good whisky and better whisky!!

Lucena · 30-01-2013 2:56pm

FlicFlak wrote: »

Yeah i think Turf Mor is only aged the minimum 3 years, still good though.
Personally, i dont think theres bad whisky, just good whisky and better whisky!!

Even Tesco whisky?

FlicFlak · 30-01-2013 3:05pm

Tesco actually do a lovely 8 year old blended scotch. Anyway, tesco dont actually make any of the whisky, they're from decent distillaries who contract to Tesco, same as Aldi or Lidl whisky.

adrian522 · 30-01-2013 3:37pm

Try Tesco Value whiskey and then tell me there's no such thing as bad Whiskey!!

Anyway, I'm not a huge fan of Turf Mor, think it's well overpriced for what it is, if it was €30 a bottle as it was originally intended it would be ok but at the current prices there are much better offerings out there.

FlicFlak · 30-01-2013 4:07pm

adrian522 wrote: »

Try Tesco Value whiskey and then tell me there's no such thing as bad Whiskey!!

Anyway, I'm not a huge fan of Turf Mor, think it's well overpriced for what it is, if it was €30 a bottle as it was originally intended it would be ok but at the current prices there are much better offerings out there.

Ha!!! Ive never actually had that!!
Think ill avoid it....
It is overpriced for what it is, but the basic one is 30 quid which is still a few quid too dear, but still nice.

Morf · 31-01-2013 12:21am

It's my father drinking it, not me.

He assures me that even though he quite likes it that it isn't particularly peaty at all.

I've smelled it and it doesn't seem to be particularly strong-smelling either.

I know it's probably too late to do anything about it now but I'm just wondering if mis-labelings do happen and is it common?

jackbhoy · 31-01-2013 8:03am

adrian522 wrote: »

Try Tesco Value whiskey and then tell me there's no such thing as bad Whiskey!!

My gf got this as a p1ss take christmas present for me! Jebus I'd drink Toilet Duck rather than have a second nip of that stuff, awful!

jackbhoy · 31-01-2013 8:09am

Morf wrote: »

It's my father drinking it, not me.

He assures me that even though he quite likes it that it isn't particularly peaty at all.

I've smelled it and it doesn't seem to be particularly strong-smelling either.

I know it's probably too late to do anything about it now but I'm just wondering if mis-labelings do happen and is it common?

I just cracked a bottle to check this (purely for research purposes) and it has masses of peat on the nose. As a fan of smokey/peaty Islays I would say it's one of the peatier whiskies I've tasted in a long while.

Maybe drop them a mail and ask the question?

schemingbohemia · 31-01-2013 11:55am

I think alleging mis-labelling is potentially libellous.

I've had this and thought it was massively peaty, I'm not a huge whiskey drinker, I have a bottle of smokehead too and I thought Turf Mór was more peaty/smokey than that.

the beer revolu · 31-01-2013 12:49pm

Either

1. There is something wrong with that particular bottle of whiskey.
or
2. There is something wrong with both you and your father.
or
3. The whiskey was consumed by somebody and the contents replaced with another whiskey.

Morf · 31-01-2013 9:45pm

schemingbohemia wrote: »

I think alleging mis-labelling is potentially libellous.

I've had this and thought it was massively peaty, I'm not a huge whiskey drinker, I have a bottle of smokehead too and I thought Turf Mór was more peaty/smokey than that.

I'm not saying that it was deliberately mis-labelled. Mistakes do happen.

I sniffed it on opening it. It's not the massively peaty whiskey I was expecting. My father isn't really pushed. He's enjoying it anyway. I'm more curious as I was the one who spent ~€65 for him and it doesn't seem to be as advertised.

Morf · 31-01-2013 9:49pm

the beer revolu wrote: »

Either

1. There is something wrong with that particular bottle of whiskey.
or
2. There is something wrong with both you and your father.
or
3. The whiskey was consumed by somebody and the contents replaced with another whiskey.

1. Most likely. Although I'm told that it is a nice whiskey for what it is. Just not what was expected.

2. I bought him a Laphroaig 1/4 Cask and it doesn't smell nearly as peaty as that. It's possible though.

3. The seal was intact when I opened it (bought from the Celtic Whiskey Shop) and I noticed that it wasn't particularly peaty then.

Morf · 31-01-2013 9:49pm

jackbhoy wrote: »

Maybe drop them a mail and ask the question?

I might just do this to see what they say.

schemingbohemia · 01-02-2013 11:26am

Morf wrote: »

I'm not saying that it was deliberately mis-labelled. Mistakes do happen.

I sniffed it on opening it. It's not the massively peaty whiskey I was expecting. My father isn't really pushed. He's enjoying it anyway. I'm more curious as I was the one who spent ~€65 for him and it doesn't seem to be as advertised.

Sorry do you think it was an accident that they came up with the name and put it on 10,000 labels and constructed a marketing and advertising campaign based on that?:eek:

BeerNut · 01-02-2013 11:34am

Wouldn't the colour be a good indicator? I can't think of any whiskey paler than Turf Mór. Got a picture, Morf?

Morf · 02-02-2013 1:35am

Morf · 02-02-2013 1:37am

schemingbohemia wrote: »

Sorry do you think it was an accident that they came up with the name and put it on 10,000 labels and constructed a marketing and advertising campaign based on that?:eek:

Or Cooley Whiskey might have bottled one of their other varieties of Connemara whiskey instead of Turf Mór and put the Turf Mór labelling on this particular bottle. That would be the less provocative thing to assume.

Brockagh · 02-02-2013 11:43am

BeerNut wrote: »

Wouldn't the colour be a good indicator? I can't think of any whiskey paler than Turf Mór. Got a picture, Morf?

Some Laphroaigs and Ardbegs are very pale. The bourbon matures ones.

Turf Mor should be around three times peatier than the regular Connemara, as, I've read, it has about 60 ppm phenols, as opposed to 20 in the regular version.

Ardbeg is in the low 50s, and Laphroaig and Lagavulin lower.

Bruichladdich's Octomore is something like 150ppm...

I think this is the ppm of the malt before it's distilled, so different distilling methods can bring more or less peat through, I'm sure.

BeerNut · 03-02-2013 2:28pm

Well that looks like Turf Mór to me.

IrishWhiskeyCha · 11-02-2013 10:17am

A mystery, sounds more like a single cask version?????

The Turf Mór came in a Tin with a picture of a peat fire on it. It was also bottled at cask strength. Not sure but it would have been in the high 50's abv wise.

I know this might sound stupid but is the label a Turf Mór label. By any chance was a wrong bottle put into the canister. It could happen if people were browsing whiskey and taking them out of canisters, comparing and put the bottles back in the wrong canisters.

Turf Mór

Cask Strength Version

Single Cask Version

Does if feel like Cask strength whiskey when ye drink it? Should be a much bigger alcohol kick off it as opposed to a regular 40% bottling.

If it is still cask strength you were not do monetary wise but just did not get the peat monster you had hoped for. A pity really but at least he is still enjoying it which at the end of the day is the main point.

Morf · 11-02-2013 5:58pm

IrishWhiskeyCha wrote: »

A mystery, sounds more like a single cask version?????

The Turf Mór came in a Tin with a picture of a peat fire on it. It was also bottled at cask strength. Not sure but it would have been in the high 50's abv wise.

I know this might sound stupid but is the label a Turf Mór label. By any chance was a wrong bottle put into the canister. It could happen if people were browsing whiskey and taking them out of canisters, comparing and put the bottles back in the wrong canisters.

Turf Mór

Cask Strength Version

Single Cask Version

Does if feel like Cask strength whiskey when ye drink it? Should be a much bigger alcohol kick off it as opposed to a regular 40% bottling.

If it is still cask strength you were not do monetary wise but just did not get the peat monster you had hoped for. A pity really but at least he is still enjoying it which at the end of the day is the main point.

Thank you for the reply.

It's has the Turf Mór labels on the bottle.

I'm not a whiskey drinker so I can only go on what my father says. I've asked him if it seemed like a cask-strength whiskey and he wasn't sure. He did say it certainly wasn't exceptionally peaty as advertised but he was enjoying it a lot regardless.

The bottle is almost finished now and I didn't get any reply when I emailed Connemara. It'll remain a mystery I reckon.

gandalf · 12-02-2013 11:50am

They seem to be very active on their facebook page answering queries there. Maybe you could either fire your query up on there or direct them to this thread.

http://www.facebook.com/CONNEMARAPEATEDSINGLEMALTIRISHWHISKEY?fref=ts

Morf · 12-02-2013 11:54pm

gandalf wrote: »

They seem to be very active on their facebook page answering queries there. Maybe you could either fire your query up on there or direct them to this thread.

http://www.facebook.com/CONNEMARAPEATEDSINGLEMALTIRISHWHISKEY?fref=ts

I think I'm just going to leave it at this stage. Thanks for the suggestion though.

dregin · 19-11-2014 3:00pm

Is Turf Mór still available? No sign of it on http://www.celticwhiskeyshop.com or drinkstore.ie

Didn't think this simple question warranted a new thread, but please feel free to split it off if it does.

Thanks!

L1011 · 19-11-2014 9:06pm

dregin wrote: »

Is Turf Mór still available? No sign of it on http://www.celticwhiskeyshop.com or drinkstore.ie

Didn't think this simple question warranted a new thread, but please feel free to split it off if it does.

Thanks!

Still available: http://shop.finewines.ie/connemara-turf-mor-peated/5099357091064pd.html

Don't know if its still being made, but its unlikely that if they were still updating the Facebook page for it in 2013 pre-takeover by Suntory that they were only running down the stock.

Connemara Turf Mór

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