What Whisky/Whiskey are we drinking this month?

2011abc

My Whiskey Christmas ( And Spirits Measures)

Had gone on the wagon for 4-6 weeks around November mostly due to cost of whiskey 'habit ' .First bottle I bought in a while was a Roe Curators Series for around €54 in OBriens .Nice but not as nice as I recall at the distillery bar when it featured amongst a days 'sampling' which featured the Teeling Single Malt tour .I thought it might have stolen Teelings Single Malt's crown in my personal 'best €50 bottle' category .Not so sure now will prob need another Teeling SM to decide!

Had a few more 'routine' bottles then like Slane /Roe /Bush and Jameson Crested X all reasonably priced .Picked up a Tipperary Single Malt in Aldi for €25 reduced from 45 and it's the best you can buy in Ireland at the lower price but probably not worth the higher in my opinion ( mind you the last quarter of the bottle is mellowing very nicely this week - sometimes the best portion before the inevitable 'weak' -due to evaporation?- dregs ?)

I've taken to blending the Bush/Crested X ( not as sherry sickly sweet as last years?) and Tipp and was enjoying that .

Anyway while away in U.K. for a few days I was browsing all the supermarkets but bought nought .Mind you I had a Glenfiddich 'double' in a Wetherspoons .Now a single (25ml over there compared with our far more civil 35ml) was £3 something but a double was only £4.20!!!Anyway it was nice but nothing that special (The 15s tend to be far better with a nice sherry sweet 'tang'- and the 18 is special -but maybe not BETTER...)

But for sure Irish Whiskey is well ahead of Scotch for value and usually taste .

So I was passing through Newcastle airport duty free this morning with low expectations ( Dublin is all selection and no value, apart from maybe the €60 Powers Johns Lane) Tyrconnell Single Malt which I love (and stocked up on at £26 on the boat last year )was £21 !!!!! I was going to buy three but got two and a LITRE Sexton for £35 .I reckon I've saved over €50 on 'irish' prices and am a happy bunny .

Tyrconnell isn't hitting the spot just this afternoon but the Sexton is as good as I remember at Whiskey Live two years ago .Best of the 'affordable' Bush sherry bombs ( Black Bush on steroids ?! I'm a sherry bomb man .The litre octagonal bottle is hard to pour without significant spillage , or maybe I've been 'sampling' a bit much but normally a finger or two catches the escaping drips - not with big Sexton bottle :-(

Happy Whiskey New Year !

Oh I had the pot still minis four pack before Christmas too at a better price courtesy of a Dunnes voucher .Greenspot and Redbreast are still 'Meh' to me ( sorry!) ,Johns Lane not as good as I remembered but Oh Man the Barry Crockett !!!!Angels tears !!!

2011abc

interlocked wrote: »

Sorry for only replying now, no I've not tried the Smoke head, it's been in my Amazon basket for ages along with Big Peat, I think. I'd really like to try an Octomore, probably a mission the next time I'm in Edinburgh. Hard to beat the Lagavulin 16 when all is said and done though.

Connemara is only £20 in U.K. airport duty fees right now .But I hated its medicinal taste at distillery tasting .NOT a smoke or peat lover BUT took the Bruichladdich charity tasting in Dublin this year organised by Celtic Whiskey Store and of course the 'fancy'( and three figured priced!) peat bombs were VERY nice .Classic Laddie...Octomore ...Black Arts......Mmmmmm

Still prefer sherrybombs like Teeling Brabazon 1 though .

2011abc

Ok so lads, Jim Murray's Whiskey Bible ???Ive got a few editions of this and the chap probably knows more about whiskey than all of us put together .He seems to be great at picking out superior bottlings of individual whiskeys.But this year he gives Greenspot and even basic Jameson overall awards in the 'Irish' category .Surely with the wealth of whiskies out there something else would have won .Jamie would be last of the Irish whiskey 'apostles' Bush/ Powers / Paddy/ Jamie in my opinion . What do ye reckon?

Dtp1979

I’ve had Nikka recommend to me. I’m a big fan of red Breast and Ardbeg. Which type of nikka is the most popular ?

EagererBeaver

Dtp1979 wrote: »

I’ve had Nikka recommend to me. I’m a big fan of red Breast and Ardbeg. Which type of nikka is the most popular ?

There's a world of difference between redbreast and Ardbeg so try any of the Nikkas and you'll not go far wrong.

From the Barrel always a good place to start.

RasTa

After a few bottles of bourbon, I enjoyed that writers tears last night. Much better for roughly same price point.

irish_goat

Had a Midelton 2018 last night to ring in the New Year. Lovely stuff. £14.60 a glass, bar owner was telling me that the rep gives out that she doesn't charge enough for it.

Rew

Dtp1979 wrote: »

I’ve had Nikka recommend to me. I’m a big fan of red Breast and Ardbeg. Which type of nikka is the most popular ?

I really love the Coffey Malt

Mellor

Master of Malt fixed this error by sending me a Nikka Coffey Grain and told me to keep the Macallan.
2 free bottle, hard to beat that

2011abc

Mellor wrote: »

Master of Malt fixed this error by sending me a Nikka Coffey Grain and told me to keep the Macallan.
2 free bottle, hard to beat that

Are you in ' 26 counties'? If so how do you arrange delivery? Cost?Ta

Gloomtastic!

Remember that the importation of alcohol into the 26 counties requires a licence.

The Gloomster

Mellor

2011abc wrote: »

Are you in ' 26 counties'? If so how do you arrange delivery? Cost?Ta

Home in Dublin for Christmas. But the misses is from the north. So has it sent to her mam’s and picked them up over new year.



Visited the Roe and Co distillery today. Last tour of the day and nobody else had booked on. So we ended up with a private tour. Probably meant a better experience than typical. But thought it was a very good experience overall.
Approaching the whole thing from a different angle than others.

The standard whiskey was fine. But the curated series limited edition was excellent. Well worth the €50 tag.

In other aspects, the design, interior, and branding were all on point. But that’s the professional appreciation creeping in for me.

VW 1

Got given passes for it over Xmas myself, looking forward to visiting.

EagererBeaver

EagererBeaver wrote: »

Yamazaki 12
Toki
Laphroaig Select

Have the next ten days off so will try to put a hefty aul dent in them.

Yamazaki is really good, very complex, quite a kick on it.

Tiki is really good for the price of it, lovely whiskey

The Laphroaig ain't great. Bang of chemicals, TCP off it. Much prefer the 10.

chrislad

I got a Middleton Very Rare for Christmas. Just about forced myself to open it for New Years, and it was lovely.

I finished a Jameson Black Barrel over the festive period, and was given a Bowmore 10 year (which was a nice peaty one), and I picked up a Fercullen 14 when I was in Powerscourt over the weekend.

I'm fairly new to this - Can anyone recommend something that would go well with the follow pattern

Liked: Red Breast 12, Teeling Single Grain, Teeling Small Batch, Jameson Black Barrel, Jameson Coopers Croze

Fine, I suppose: Bowmore 10 year

Nope, not nice: Auchentoshan 12 year, Cardhu Gold Reserve (GoT one)

EagererBeaver

Green Spot always a go to if you liked the redbreast.

Surprised you didn't like the Auchentoshan with that list. It's very "Irish" for a scotch single malt.

odyssey06

chrislad wrote: »

Liked: Red Breast 12, Teeling Single Grain, Teeling Small Batch, Jameson Black Barrel, Jameson Coopers Croze

If you like the above I think next ones on your radar should be:
- Jameson Crested or Caskmates Stout
- Kilbeggan Small Batch Rye
- Writers Tears Copper Pot

Based on that list it'd also be worth checking out the below, to give you an idea of the different whiskies available:
- Powers
- The Irishman Single Malt
- From Bushmills: Black Bush or 10 year old single malt
- Glenfiddich 12 year old or Glenlivet 12 year old (for non-peated Scotch)

Look out for the Midleton Pot Still miniature set in airport, Dunnes, Supervalu and offies: It has Red Breast, Green Sport, Powers John Lane & Midleton Barry Crockett Legacy (full bottle retails for €200).

There's also miniature sets for Cooley \ Kilbeggan & Knappogue Castle knocking around.

Quackster

odyssey06 wrote: »

If you like the above I think next ones on your radar should be:
- Jameson Crested or Caskmates Stout
- Kilbeggan Small Batch Rye
- Writers Tears Copper Pot

Based on that list it'd also be worth checking out the below, to give you an idea of the different whiskies available:
- Powers
- The Irishman Single Malt
- From Bushmills: Black Bush or 10 year old single malt
- Glenfiddich 12 year old or Glenlivet 12 year old (for non-peated Scotch)

Look out for the Midleton Pot Still miniature set in airport, Dunnes, Supervalu and offies: It has Red Breast, Green Sport, Powers John Lane & Midleton Barry Crockett Legacy (full bottle retails for €200).

There's also miniature sets for Cooley \ Kilbeggan & Knappogue Castle knocking around.

That Midleton set is currently €26 in Dunnes; cracking value, especially if you have a shop & save voucher.

intellectual dosser

sceach16 wrote: »

First, never bid and drink whiskey at the same time. Second, work out cost of your bid...bid plus 10% +vat on that plus delivery. Compare that against retail or your estimate of value/ previous prices etc.
Then the standard rules...fix a max and stick to it. Remember a bargain is a bargain only if U want it. You are unlikely to get outstanding value but there are always 1 or 2 that go relatively cheap. Are they the ones U want ?
.......

Rows Grower wrote: »

Commission, delivery/ insurance can all add up.

Sometimes minimum weight means you're better off buying 3 or 6 or more instead of just one bottle. It's a great buzz and you can get some great bargains too. Set your limit for each bottle you are going to bid for and don't go over it, if you win you win and if you don't you don't. There'll be another auction soon enough.
......

Wanted to say thanks and tie off on my online auction query.

I had a go and won something on irishwhiskeyauctions over Christmas (I'll keep stum on the details), and had a pretty good experience. I had read all off the Ts&Cs before doing anything so I had factored in all fees and there weren't any nasty surprises.

The bidding was relatively straight forward so its not to say I wouldn't see the red mist in a bidding war if I were to go again. I'd always tread carefully.

Thanks for the responses.

chrislad

Just won two tickets for a tour of the ROE distillery. Any good?

EagererBeaver

chrislad wrote: »

Just won two tickets for a tour of the ROE distillery. Any good?

See a review on up the page there.

Effects

chrislad wrote: »

Any good?

Yeah.

EugeC90

chrislad wrote: »

Just won two tickets for a tour of the ROE distillery. Any good?

I did the tour before Christmas and thought it was very good.

They were not shy about handing out drinks in the bar afterwards either, I got to try all 3 expressions and still left with my free drinks voucher.

I picked up a bottle of Curators series on the way out, I would have went for the Cask strength which I thought was really good but it wasn't available to buy in the shop when I was there.

beardybrewer

Picked up the Teeling Trinity Pack this week at Dunnes for €17. First time trying 2 of them and I'm blown away.

Teeling Whiskey Single Grain
Nose: Spice and fruit notes mingle with an underlying sweet nose.
Taste: Strong spice developing into lush red berries with drying tannin effect at the end.
Finish: Dry finish dominated by wood and spice.

Teeling Whiskey Small Batch
Nose: An inviting nose with vanilla, spice and sweet notes of Rum.
Taste: Velvety smooth with unique marriage of dry fruit/raisin sweetness, cereal and wood.
Finish: Sweet spice finish complimented by woody undertones.

Teeling Whiskey Single Malt
Nose: Vibrant with notes of melon, figs, toffee and lemon.
Taste: A balance mix of dry fruits, citrus, vanilla, spice and cloves.
Finish: Long with sweetness in harmony with dry tannins from the wood.

Perhaps I'm a bit susceptible but I found my impressions matching exactly their description. All really interesting and nicely done. Feckin' hell, this just popped to the top of my list for Irish.

What does a bottle typically retail for?

odyssey06

Teeling small batch is the cheapest, rrp 38e but currently 35e in OBriens.

Wailin

Had the same experience with the Teeling trinity pack, was blown away. Quality stuff. My favourite of the three was the small batch by a whiske(y)r.

Cazale

Launching very soon. It's going to be 53.5% so cask strength. Anyone hear of prices? Can't imagine it'll be cheap at that age and strength. You'll have to start saving Wailin!

Redbreast is prepping for the upcoming release of Redbreast 27 Year Old Irish Whiskey. RedbreastÃ႒¢â‚¬â„¢s latest release is aged for 27 years and enriched by rub port casks creating a succulent medley of ripe dark fruit, blood orange, and walnuts with summer berries, soft vanilla, and smoldering oak.

Apollinaris

Cazale wrote: »

Launching very soon. It's going to be 53.5% so cask strength. Anyone hear of prices? Can't imagine it'll be cheap at that age and strength. You'll have to start saving Wailin!

Redbreast is prepping for the upcoming release of Redbreast 27 Year Old Irish Whiskey. RedbreastÃ႒¢â‚¬â„¢s latest release is aged for 27 years and enriched by rub port casks creating a succulent medley of ripe dark fruit, blood orange, and walnuts with summer berries, soft vanilla, and smoldering oak.

Another massively overpriced Redbreast release. Yay.

Wailin

Looks to be a yearly release too going by the batch number B1/20.

sceach16

Wailin wrote: »

Looks to be a yearly release too going by the batch number B1/20.

Redbreast do a "regular" 12 yo cask strength every year since 2011 which was B1/11. First change was in 2019 when there were two - B1/19 and B2/19. Different blends (and packaging) but same price c90.


These are not single casks but are cask strength. This new one looks very different. from various whiskey facebook pages this am , it appears the new bottle is not coming for a while and it may be that the pics are of a mock up.


Time will tell