What Whisky/Whiskey are we drinking this month?

Technophobe

BonnieSituation wrote: »

Nice.

Having a black barrel as it happens with some James Acaster.

Round out the evening with a Bowmore I think.

Have a bottle of Black Barrel unopened as yet and never tried it..Black Bush would be my go to equivalent of it I think

BonnieSituation

Technophobe wrote: »

Have a bottle of Black Barrel unopened as yet and never tried it..Black Bush would be my go to equivalent of it I think

I was gifted a bottle last week. So I also have an unopened bottle as well.

Black Bush is exactly the equivalent. But, it'll be a while til I have a bottle given the current volume of JBB.

You should give it a wee blast tbh.

Ivefoundgod

BonnieSituation wrote: »

Everyone except Drumshanbo. /s

Genuinely though, imagine what they're gonna have out with how good the initial batches have been.

My only concern is pricing, where have dingle left to go considering its nearly €100 for their stuff as is. A 10/12 year old would have to be €200 to keep their current pricing model sensible. At least Drumshanbo is €60ish so they've got some room there but the others I think will run out of road fairly quickly. Who's going to spend €200ish on Dingle/Waterford etc. when Red Spot, MVR, RB CS etc. can be had for cheaper? OK us eejits in here might but for the non-whiskey drinker those other brand names are much more attractive I'd have thought.

the beer revolu

Ivefoundgod wrote: »

My only concern is pricing, where have dingle left to go considering its nearly €100 for their stuff as is. A 10/12 year old would have to be €200 to keep their current pricing model sensible. At least Drumshanbo is €60ish so they've got some room there but the others I think will run out of road fairly quickly. Who's going to spend €200ish on Dingle/Waterford etc. when Red Spot, MVR, RB CS etc. can be had for cheaper? OK us eejits in here might but for the non-whiskey drinker those other brand names are much more attractive I'd have thought.

Right now, it's a very strange market with new distilleries coming on stream all the time. This is an extremely big deal, given the history of Irish whiskey production. Volumes are pretty low and prices are all over the place driven by excitement, curiosity and collectors.
As more distilleries open and existing ones increase their output and the novelty of new distilleries wears off, I think prices will settle down.

I also think that we will continue to see premium offerings without age statements and I think the market will get used to that and will not be so quick to equate age so directly with quality and value.

There will always be cheap whiskies on the market and Ireland has a history of producing good quality, inexpensive whiskey - hopefully this will continue.

I'm confident that the will continue to be a market for expensive, boutique Irish whiskey but they will have to deliver on quality and not be able to rely on just being a new Irish distillery.

Like anything else, the market will find its level and people will vote with their wallets.

Just my tuppence worth

FileNotFound

Ivefoundgod wrote: »

My only concern is pricing, where have dingle left to go considering its nearly €100 for their stuff as is. A 10/12 year old would have to be €200 to keep their current pricing model sensible. At least Drumshanbo is €60ish so they've got some room there but the others I think will run out of road fairly quickly. Who's going to spend €200ish on Dingle/Waterford etc. when Red Spot, MVR, RB CS etc. can be had for cheaper? OK us eejits in here might but for the non-whiskey drinker those other brand names are much more attractive I'd have thought.

And in fairness to dumshanbo, they make it from scratch and have a decent history of gin and vodka already. Given the success of gunpowder and this being first releases the price is pretty ok.

So many others startup/finishing are charging more than i am willing to part with for a trial bottle - when i can get a good safe one for so much less.

Would love to try lots of the new irish stuff, hope the prices do drop when volume etc increases like another posted pointed out.

Ivefoundgod

FileNotFound wrote: »

And in fairness to dumshanbo, they make it from scratch and have a decent history of gin and vodka already. Given the success of gunpowder and this being first releases the price is pretty ok.

So many others startup/finishing are charging more than i am willing to part with for a trial bottle - when i can get a good safe one for so much less.

Would love to try lots of the new irish stuff, hope the prices do drop when volume etc increases like another posted pointed out.

Yeah I'm not that long into whiskey so a relative novice compared to some here but if my choice is between say a bottle of Dingle or something like Laphraoig/Laguvalin or any of the bigger Irish brands then I'll always go with the more established distillery. I bought the Drumshanbo inaugural release because I love their gin and it was decent value IMO. Dingle and others in that price range are just too expensive for me to take a chance on.

Having said that, Tiny Tipple are local to me and seem to have a great selection so I plan on trying a lot of whiskey through them over the next few months. If I like one of the newer Irish brands I'll pick up a bottle then maybe but when I'm buying bottles I've never tasted I'll defer to the bigger name with good reviews.

Listrydude

A bottle of Dingle Single Malt batch 5 is €70 from their own site and I've seen it even cheaper in Supervalu, so not a huge leap from the Drumshambo in my eyes. Well worth it. Will be interesting to see what they have coming out next month

Cazale

Listrydude wrote:

A bottle of Dingle Single Malt batch 5 is €70 from their own site and I've seen it even cheaper in Supervalu, so not a huge leap from the Drumshambo in my eyes. Well worth it. Will be interesting to see what they have coming out next month

Their plan under Graham Coull is to have a core release available long term rather than just annual batch releases. If I was a betting man I'd say that's what it is.

Listrydude

Cazale wrote: »

Their plan under Graham Coull is to have a core release available long term rather than just annual batch releases. If I was a betting man I'd say that's what it is.

very true! My own thought/guess is perhaps a new Single Malt - batch 6.

Cazale

Irish Whiskey Society

Whiskey Tasting with Pearse Lyons Disitllery

29 Apr 2021

7:30 PM - 9:00 PM

Member – €25.00

1.Pearse Lyons 5yr Cask Strength - The 5 Year Old Single Malt was limited to only 1000 bottles and is no longer available, it was matured in refill bourbon cask and bottled at Cask Strength. 59.3% ABV

2. Ha’Penny 4 cask - is a blend of four different cask types and two styles of whiskey: Port Pipe finished malt, First-fill Bourbon barrel malt, Sherry Butt grain, Double-charred barrel grain. 43% ABV

3. Pearse Lyons 7yr - Distiller’s Choice. A blend of Irish grain and malt whiskeys: predominantly aged in bourbon barrels with a small amount of Sherry barrel. 42% ABV

4. Pearse Lyons 12yr - Founder’s Choice. Single malt Whiskey matured in ex bourbon Barrels. 43% ABV

5. Pearse Lyons Marriage of malt: Marriage of 6YR Pearse Lyons Distilled malt matured in bourbon barrels and finished in PX cask, 13 YR malt matured in bourbon barrels and 15YR malt matured in bourbon barrels and finished in PX Cask. A very limited edition only available from the Distillery. 44% ABV

6. Surprise Cask Strength Sample.

Booking opens on Friday 16th of April at 7.00pm.

Cazale

Laphroaig have just released a Laphroaig 10 Year Old with a Sherry Cask Finish. They have used the regular 10 year old spirit aged in ex bourbon casks and then finished it ex-oloroso sherry casks. The Laphroaig 10 is £40 in whisky exchange and this new Sherry Cask Finish is £60 so your paying a premium for it. Similar price to the peat and sherry monster that is the Ardbeg Uigeadail although at 40% compared to 54.2% Ardbeg. One definitely for the list to try.

odyssey06

The Bushmills Caribbean cask finish hasn't made it into O'Briens Clontarf yet but is on the way...

odyssey06

Finshing the Balvenie tasting set with the 17 year old Balvenie Doublewood.
Wow... intense flavour hit of orange zest & oak. Big step up from the 12 year old and 14 year old Caribbean finish.

Fantastic whiskey, can't see me parting with €160 for a bottle but should a duty free opportunity present itself, one to keep on the radar.

https://www.celticwhiskeyshop.com/Balvenie-17-Year-Old-Doublewood

Cazale

odyssey06 wrote: »

Finshing the Balvenie tasting set with the 17 year old Balvenie Doublewood.

Picked that Balvenie sample set up a few years ago in Sainsburys for £15 which was a bargain considering it includes the 17 year old. Must get round to trying them.

1901Rory

Drinking a Bushmills 10 and Laphroaig 10 this evening. A world apart yet only 52km between the distilleries.

irish_goat

1901Rory wrote: »

Drinking a Bushmills 10 and Laphroaig 10 this evening. A world apart yet only 52km between the distilleries.

Funny, never heard it put like that before.

Cazale

irish_goat wrote:

Funny, never heard it put like that before.

Was just about to say the same.

Cazale

Powerscourt distillery are offering a free tour with a tasting when they reopen if you subscribe to their newsletter. No direct link to it but if you go their website below the offer should appear.

https://powerscourtdistillery.com

dobman88

I was round at a mates for dinner tonight and he asked if I'd like a taste of anything from his collection and I'm sure it's common knowledge on here but the Kilbeggan and Black Bush were top notch. Neither of which I'd had previously. I'll definitely be buying a bottle of each for the regular rotation.

cadaliac

West Cork blended.
Black cask.
7/10
lovely
Lovely nose, will buy

Cazale

All the Dundalgan/West Cork bottles in Lidl are down to €19.99 until the 13th of May. I'm not a huge fan of their releases but at that price some might fancy a punt on them.

2011abc

I would avoid the sherry one(just weird) but the IPA one is ok ,grand at the price .

Cazale

Some Whistler Mosaic Marsala Finish Single Grain tonight. This is 5 year old single grain sourced from Midleton. Boann finished it in Sicilian Marsala casks for a further 1.5 years.

Creamy vanilla, citrus peel, hazelnut chocolate, honey and apricots.

This is a nice sipping whiskey. As its single grain it has a light feel to it so would be a nice summer evening drink.

Black Sheep

Dingle batch 4 single pot still

Preferred it to the single malt batch 5.

That concludes my foray into the newer Irish distilleries. Grand, but not really my thing.

I have the urge for a bottle of Talisker or Lagavulin soon.

Cazale

Continuing the Marsala theme tonight with some Spade & Bushel 14 Year Single Malt Marsala Finish from Connacht Whiskey. This was aged for 12 years in Bourbon Casks and finished in Marsala Casks for a further two years. Hard to find details on the source of the spirit but I suspect it's Cooley stock. 45% abv.

On the nose I got pepper, ginger, citrus, vanilla and butterscotch.

On the palette dark chocolate, winter spices, citrus peel, oily.

Really enjoyed this one. An above average single malt with a nice balance and complexity from the Marsala casks. At €69 for a 14 year old single malt it is good value in this current market.

spiritcrusher

Cazale wrote: »

I hate recommending whiskey to anyone as it's a personal preference. The thing I'd say with kilkerran 8 is that it's cask strength with peat. Both these factors divide people as they can be extreme flavours to those not used to them. Kilkerran has been described as dirty, rough and rustic which is heaven to me but might be jarring if you are new to it.

Just to go back to this - I bought it in the end and cracked it open over the weekend. It's lovely stuff to be fair. Very different to anything I've tried before but really strong and tasty. I've no notion of tasting notes, but what I will say is I found it to have a really savoury and earthy middle taste to it and then a very pleasant long lasting, kinda fruity finish (probably the sherry casks). Defnitely get the "dirty" flavour (what I'd call earthy!) but I didn't mind that at all. Glad I bought it so that I've something nice to mix things up from the Irish stuff.

Speaking of Irish, I managed to let the guy in the shop talk me into a bottle of Roe and Co 13 year old cask strength 2020 also (cos I was a bit concerned I wouldn't like the Kilkerran and wanted to make sure I'd something nice for the weekend ). So far another delicious smooth, spicey and sweet Irish.
My mouth was very happy this weekend. Wallet not so much.
I blame that Redbreast I bought back in January for starting this...

OwlParliament

Got a bottle of Sexton single malt at the weekend.
2 observations:
1. Sherry/sweet.
2. Great value at €38.

Cazale

Master of Malt have a sample of Teeling 30 Year Old - Vintage Reserve Collection on sale today for £39.95. A great price considering the age and the cost of a full bottle.

https://www.masterofmalt.com/whiskies/teeling/teeling-30-year-old-vintage-reserve-collection-whiskey/

Cazale

spiritcrusher wrote:

Just to go back to this - I bought it in the end and cracked it open over the weekend. It's lovely stuff to be fair. Very different to anything I've tried before but really strong and tasty. I've no notion of tasting notes, but what I will say is I found it to have a really savoury and earthy middle taste to it and then a very pleasant long lasting, kinda fruity finish (probably the sherry casks). Defnitely get the "dirty" flavour (what I'd call earthy!) but I didn't mind that at all. Glad I bought it so that I've something nice to mix things up from the Irish stuff.

Great to hear you enjoyed it. Sometimes you just have to make a leap of faith. It's a slippery slope now you have started.

Weepsie

OwlParliament wrote: »

Got a bottle of Sexton sYouingle malt at the weekend.
2 observations:
1. Sherry/sweet.
2. Great value at €38.

You'll love to hear then it's even better value at 33 in Tesco for the next few weeks