What Whisky/Whiskey are we drinking this month?

Cazale

sceach16 wrote:

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.

There was a tasting of this in Galway before Christmas and the talk at that was a Feb/March release.

Rew

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!

There was a US site saying $399

The Nal

Wailin wrote: »

A tasty little selection waiting for me under the tree this morning. I think the lustau will go well with the day that's in it.

Have a good one folks!

Picked up a bottle of Lustau yesterday. Really tasty stuff.

SlipperyPeople

anyone heard/tried anything by this crowd? https://www.athru.com/


seems very pricey at 150 a bottle

Rows Grower

SlipperyPeople wrote: »

anyone heard/tried anything by this crowd? https://www.athru.com/


seems very pricey at 150 a bottle

Never heard of them but their logo looks like they couldn’t make up their mind between a cockerel and a fox.

EagererBeaver

Rows Grower wrote: »

Never heard of them but their logo looks like they couldn’t make up their mind between a cockerel and a fox.

Dunno what foxes roam round your way but looks like a wolf to me.

Hogzy

SlipperyPeople wrote: »

anyone heard/tried anything by this crowd? https://www.athru.com/


seems very pricey at 150 a bottle

Another distillery peddling overpriced whiskey! Wonder has it any connection to Drumshambo.

EagererBeaver

Hogzy wrote: »

Another distillery peddling overpriced whiskey! Wonder has it any connection to Drumshambo.

Why do you day it's overpriced?

odyssey06

If it's 14 year old whiskey, then it wasn't produced at Lough Gill Distillery, though maybe some maturation took place there.
Possibly Cooley originally?

For comparison, 14 year old Fercullen (brand name for Powerscourt offering) originally from Cooley is €92.

Rew

Not to mention its double the money if you want to buy the 3 bottle collectors set

Hogzy

EagererBeaver wrote: »

Why do you day it's overpriced?

Did a bit of research there and it appears to have been bulk bought at 12 years and then matured in Sligo for 2 more years. €150 is far more than most whiskeys at that age bracket. Redbreast 15 retails at 100, The Irishman 17 year is €130. Dunvilles PX Cask 12 Year Old is 100. Most of Burke's 15 year old from the GND are around €130.

The reason these whiskeys are so overpriced is to provide a return for the investors who invested in the distillery from the get go.

Rows Grower

EagererBeaver wrote: »

Dunno what foxes roam round your way but looks like a wolf to me.

I've seen a few wolves in my day but none that resemble that logo.

The whole marketing spiel has an amateurish air about it to my eye.

EagererBeaver

Hogzy wrote: »

Did a bit of research there and it appears to have been bulk bought at 12 years and then matured in Sligo for 2 more years. €150 is far more than most whiskeys at that age bracket. Redbreast 15 retails at 100, The Irishman 17 year is €130. Dunvilles PX Cask 12 Year Old is 100. Most of Burke's 15 year old from the GND are around €130.

The reason these whiskeys are so overpriced is to provide a return for the investors who invested in the distillery from the get go.

But price is a function of supply and demand. If it sells out, then it's not overpriced.

I know nothing about the distillery or the whiskey whatsoever, but you can't just say "here's another whiskey of a similar age that's cheaper". Sure, older whiskeys tend to be more expensive but the idea that two whiskeys shouldn't be too far apart price wise purely because they're the same age is nonsense. There are a world of differentiating factors.

Hogzy

EagererBeaver wrote: »

But price is a function of supply and demand. If it sells out, then it's not overpriced.

I know nothing about the distillery or the whiskey whatsoever, but you can't just say "here's another whiskey of a similar age that's cheaper". Sure, older whiskeys tend to be more expensive but the idea that two whiskeys shouldn't be too far apart price wise purely because they're the same age is nonsense. There are a world of differentiating factors.

I do know about the whiskey though, because I researched it as I said in my post above. Its just a standard single malt from either Bushmills or Cooley that has been bought in bulk and then aged like the whiskeys I referred to above. So yeah, as far as I can see its a rip off.

Im yet to taste it however but given its just been released id imagine the majority of the market has not tried it either.

Drumshambo's inaugural release whiskey (which is limited to one bottle per person on Celtic Whiskey store and O Briens) is still available for sale pretty much everywhere since being release in November 2019. The one bottle per person BS is just to create hype. Its an example of another rip off 3 year pot still.

I stand by my opinion that some of these new release whiskeys (not all) are overpriced.

Geuze

Hogzy wrote: »

Did a bit of research there and it appears to have been bulk bought at 12 years and then matured in Sligo for 2 more years. €150 is far more than most whiskeys at that age bracket. Redbreast 15 retails at 100, The Irishman 17 year is €130. Dunvilles PX Cask 12 Year Old is 100. Most of Burke's 15 year old from the GND are around €130.

The reason these whiskeys are so overpriced is to provide a return for the investors who invested in the distillery from the get go.

Yes, I was at a presentation given by the guy who bought Hazelwood house, David Raethorn, and he described Athru as "super premium".

https://www.independent.ie/regionals/sligochampion/news/davids-vision-for-hazelwood-house-30957544.html

https://cantorfitzgerald.ie/lough-gill-distillery/

Geuze

Where do you see Athrú trading in the whiskey sector?

We are working with Billy Walker, one of Scotland’s greatest distillers. He is responsible for the resurgence of the Benriach, Glendronach and Glenglossaugh distilleries in Scotland and was voted Global Distiller of the Year in 2015. For the past number of years we have been maturing whiskey in Sligo, some purchased from Cooley and some from Pat Rigney in Drumshanbo. Our first whiskey is a 14-year-old single malt with a Pedro Ximinez and Oloroso sherry finish and will be a limited release of 6,000 bottles which will retail for around €150. As such it will be a super-premium whiskey. A number of these expressions (all unique), and carrying the Billy Walker name, will be released over the coming years, as we begin to mature our own whiskey.

Hotblack Desiato

They have some cheek, it's not their spirit, they aged it for only a fraction of its existence and then call it "super-premium" because they've slapped a massive price tag on it.

Chancers.

Mellor

Rows Grower wrote: »

I've seen a few wolves in my day but none that resemble that logo.

It's definetly a wolf (as features on the bottles). It's looking up howling.
But I can also see where you got rooster. The mane looks like feathers, and the howl looks like a head that's "cocked" a bit.

EagererBeaver wrote: »

I know nothing about the distillery or the whiskey whatsoever, but you can't just say "here's another whiskey of a similar age that's cheaper". Sure, older whiskeys tend to be more expensive but the idea that two whiskeys shouldn't be too far apart price wise purely because they're the same age is nonsense. There are a world of differentiating factors.

Of course there are a multitude of factors.
But I think the point was that the distillery opened last year. They are selling a 14 year old. Which means they bought it in bulk from one of two distillers. As do most start up distilleries.
As in, its not just the same age, it's likely the same whiskey.

L1011

I worked for a company he used to own and their idea of Super Premium service was spectacularly.... not super or premium!

Choc Chip

Geuze wrote: »

Where do you see Athrú trading in the whiskey sector?

We are working with Billy Walker, one of Scotland’s greatest distillers. He is responsible for the resurgence of the Benriach, Glendronach and Glenglossaugh distilleries in Scotland and was voted Global Distiller of the Year in 2015. For the past number of years we have been maturing whiskey in Sligo, some purchased from Cooley and some from Pat Rigney in Drumshanbo. Our first whiskey is a 14-year-old single malt with a Pedro Ximinez and Oloroso sherry finish and will be a limited release of 6,000 bottles which will retail for around €150. As such it will be a super-premium whiskey. A number of these expressions (all unique), and carrying the Billy Walker name, will be released over the coming years, as we begin to mature our own whiskey.

I just wish they'd spelt Glenglassaugh right. The typo is wrecking my head.

Rew

Hogzy wrote: »

Drumshambo's inaugural release whiskey (which is limited to one bottle per person on Celtic Whiskey store and O Briens) is still available for sale pretty much everywhere since being release in November 2019. The one bottle per person BS is just to create hype. Its an example of another rip off 3 year pot still.

Drumshambo's is 5 years old isn't it? I note that Celtic are still showing a picture of a bottle that doesn't exist (numbered 1-1000).

irish_goat

Rew wrote: »

Drumshambo's is 5 years old isn't it? I note that Celtic are still showing a picture of a bottle that doesn't exist (numbered 1-1000).

The oldest cask was 4 years old when bottled, there could be younger whiskey in the blend too though.

Mellor

irish_goat wrote: »

The oldest cask was 4 years old when bottled, there could be younger whiskey in the blend too though.

Given the number of bottles released. There was probably 28-30 cases involved.

Hogzy

Mellor wrote: »

Of course there are a multitude of factors.
But I think the point was that the distillery opened last year. They are selling a 14 year old. Which means they bought it in bulk from one of two distillers. As do most start up distilleries.
As in, its not just the same age, it's likely the same whiskey.

This is exactly what im getting at. All these Distilleries opening up are buying old Cooley and Bushmills stock that was aged for 8-12-14-21 years etc (lets call it the "base product") and then the new distillery will buy X amount of casks of base product and finish the aging process in a PX cask or a burgundy cask or whatever cask they choose in order to put their unique stamp on it. Whats frustrating is that the base product is virtually all the same for most new whiskeys being released on the market. I just feel a lot of these new whiskeys are just overpriced for what they are. They are all essentially a variation of two different whiskeys only becoming 'unique' in the last 2 or 3 years of maturation.

I really am looking forward to the Irish whiskey market in 10-15 years time but dear jaysus how much will we be paying for a 12 year old Dingle Single Malt or a Drumshambo 14 year then? Thousands it would seem based on the pricing methodology the distilleries are using at present :pac:

Then compare the above to redbreast selling their 12 year SPS for €60.

Hotblack Desiato

Hogzy wrote: »

This is exactly what im getting at. All these Distilleries opening up are buying old Cooley and Bushmills stock that was aged for 8-12-14-21 years etc (lets call it the "base product") and then the new distillery will buy X amount of casks of base product and finish the aging process in a PX cask or a burgundy cask or whatever cask they choose in order to put their unique stamp on it. Whats frustrating is that the base product is virtually all the same for most new whiskeys being released on the market. I just feel a lot of these new whiskeys are just overpriced for what they are. They are all essentially a variation of two different whiskeys only becoming 'unique' in the last 2 or 3 years of maturation.

I really think that this sort of carry-on and the exhorbitant pricing attached to it for what in reality is unremarkable product is going to do a great deal of damage to the Irish whiskey industry in the longer run.

Passing off a 14 year old product as your own when you bought it in at 12 (for a fraction of the price) is a joke really.

SM35

Ok - new to this forum - just been given a bottle Midleton 2008 Very Rare.
The most reputable I have ever had is a Redbreast 12 y.o.

Is the Midleton better, or is it just hype - can't believe the retail price (550/btle in town)

Hogzy

SM35 wrote: »

Ok - new to this forum - just been given a bottle Midleton 2008 Very Rare.
The most reputable I have ever had is a Redbreast 12 y.o.

Is the Midleton better, or is it just hype - can't believe the retail price (550/btle in town)

Dont drink that. Its more valuable than it is delicious. Unless you want to hold on to it for another few years id sell it and buy something like Redbreast 21 and pocket the rest of the cash.

SM35

I am more into wine TBH - although have enjoyed some interesting scotch whisky over the years as I lived there and had an uncle in the business. Would gladly swop the bottle of Midleton Very Rare for a couple half bottles of Ch Yquem!!
BTW - will the Midleton Very Rare improve over time in the bottle?

Hogzy

SM35 wrote: »

I am more into wine TBH - although have enjoyed some interesting scotch whisky over the years as I lived there and had an uncle in the business. Would gladly swop the bottle of Midleton Very Rare for a couple half bottles of Ch Yquem!!
BTW - will the Midleton Very Rare improve over time in the bottle?

No whiskey doesnt age in the bottle, only the cask. The Midleton 2008 will increase in value over time though. If youre not in to your whiskey I would recommend offloading it to be honest. There are various facebook groups where you could sell it in order to avoid the fees on some of the more well known whiskey auction sites.

Rew

SM35 wrote: »

Ok - new to this forum - just been given a bottle Midleton 2008 Very Rare.
The most reputable I have ever had is a Redbreast 12 y.o.

Is the Midleton better, or is it just hype - can't believe the retail price (550/btle in town)

Not as valuable as the 2009 but still worth a few bob

https://irishwhiskeyvaluations.com/2019/06/05/midleton-madness-june-2019-update/

https://irishwhiskeyauctions.ie/ultimate-auction/midleton-very-rare-2008-23/