What Whisky/Whiskey are we drinking this month?

Few bottles of Puca in Leixlip Aldi tonight .Wasn’t blown away meself last time they had it .

Cazale wrote: »

I've posted on here before about Ballykeefe but I'm still in shock at these prices. Nothing about the bottles or branding screams premium.

Ballykeefe First Release Cask Strength Whiskey - €450

Ballykeefe is a family-owned Single Estate Whiskey Distillery in Kilkenny, built in 2016. The Whiskey is triple distilled from barley sown, grown and harvested on the family farm. The Ging family come from a long tradition of farming. The first release of seven individually bottled casks of Single Pot Still includes 500 cask strength bottles, presented in an exclusive collaboration with Kilkenny Crystal with two hand cut unique crystal tumblers to accompany each bottle, which they have been hand engraved to mark this historic first release. Only 350 of these special celebration bottles have been released for sale.

https://www.celticwhiskeyshop.com/Ballykeefe-First-Release-Cask-Strength

Ballykeefe First Release Single Pot Still Whiskey - €195

The first release of seven individually bottled casks of Single Pot Still includes 986 bottles at 46% ABV. Only 700 of these special celebration bottles have been released for sale.

https://www.celticwhiskeyshop.com/Ballykeefe-First-Release-Single-Pot-Still-Whiskey

I think the distillery looked at Thomondgate, saw the current market value of that, and priced it accordingly. Its a MENTAL price!

I see Bushmills 10 is down to 30 at Tesco. Worth a try at that price ?

fmul9798 wrote: »

I see Bushmills 10 is down to 30 at Tesco. Worth a try at that price ?

If you like the honeyed sweetness of say Jameson Crested you will appreciate it, a lot of sherry influence. Very smooth.

picachu wrote: »

I wouldnt buy it again. I prefer black bush more than Bush 10.

Roe & Co is the best value there i think @ 25

Roe & Co is piss. I might have given my opinion on this already :pac:

I think this is their own distillate, however I could be wrong.

Ivefoundgod wrote: »

I think I commented on Ballykeefe already, its their own stuff allright but they seem completely out of touch with what they are producing. Their gin is IMO thoroughly average at best, I'd go so far as to say that Gordons is nicer. Their pricing is crazy and their marketing and packaging is absolutely abysmal. To charge €450 for that "package" is frankly criminal. It looks like something a home brewer would hand you except lower quality.

I've a relative working in an independent off license in Kilkenny who stock it and he reckoned they've sold 3 or 4 of them max.

I can't see it selling in the domestic market at all in any great numbers and think they will struggle to keep customers in any case. There was a lot of goodwill in Kilkenny and the South East when they released their gin but that has slowly disappeared when people tasted it. For the price there's several better options.

It’s easy to see why a distillery would (mistakenly) price their first release at that amount. The Waterford Pilgrimage is selling consistently for almost 1k on auction sites. Dingle 1st batch Cask the same.

Connacht have a first release available for €150 which I think is underpriced, but it’s all unproven, untested young spirit.

What’s not easy to see is why they didn’t engage the services of a good designer, or even a competent designer. Whoever has done their work has not captured the modern fresh and new element of the distillery alongside the tradition and history that they are trying to sell.

When you think of it, for 500 you could buy two bottles of MVR, drink one and you know the second will increase some bit in value. That would only cost €360 so plenty of change to buy a nice pair of tumblers.

The other side of this, if you were cynically minded is that this distillery might not last if their gin is average at best and the whiskey doesn’t create any demand. Is a bottle of first make from a defunct distillery worth a lot more?

Ivefoundgod wrote: »

I've a relative working in an independent off license in Kilkenny who stock it and he reckoned they've sold 3 or 4 of them max.

If its the WineCentre he works in then I know two of those people who bought a bottle. They bought them hoping they would go up in value :rolleyes: Its their first "collectors" bottle as they called it. God help them :pac:

Ivefoundgod wrote: »

The graphic design of both their marketing materials (particularly product photography) and the packaging itself screams of "my nephew knows computers, he can do us up something" to me when you look at this image; https://ballykeefedistillery.ie/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/NEW-Ballykeefe-Whiskey-Double-Box-Cropped-2048x1838.jpg I can't imagine any competent designer putting something like that out there.

I do wonder how viable their business is in the long run to be honest. I've never seen their stuff anywhere other than locally. Its never been in O' Briens or any of the supermarkets and they don't seem to sell anywhere other than their own online store and 1 or 2 local offies. The whiskey I see on Celtic Whiskey Shop allright but the gin is showing out of stock there.

I'd love to know what the plan is, they're hardly going to release a "standard" bottle for anything less than €100 based off this first release price but I couldn't see them selling much volume at that price point.

I wonder how much support (if any) and help they have received from the local enterprise boards and other Government authorities. The branding is poor to say the least.

That said the best of luck to them, it’s an expensive business that you sink lots and lots of money into before any return comes your way

lawrencesummers wrote: »

I wonder how much support (if any) and help they have received from the local enterprise boards and other Government authorities. The branding is poor to say the least.

That said the best of luck to them, it’s an expensive business that you sink lots and lots of money into before any return comes your way

I'd imagine they got some support allright but they would have needed a fair bit of investment to get to where they are. I've heard the distillery is basically on the farm in a glorified shed, they do tours there pre-covid I think.

I hope my criticism didn't come across too harsh, I do wish them well particularly given their local enough to me. I would actually love to talk to them and give some constructive feedback on their stuff. A re-design of their packaging would go a long way, the gin bottle needs an overhaul to compete with the likes of Dingle or Drumshanbo, locally here in Carlow there is silver spear which is nicely presented at the same price point.

That said they do need to improve the gin IMO, its just not nice

Hogzy wrote:

If its the WineCentre he works in then I know two of those people who bought a bottle. They bought them hoping they would go up in value Its their first "collectors" bottle as they called it. God help them

I used to stay in Kilkenny about six times a year for nights out pre covid. I'd have craft beers in Brewery Corner and then end up in the Dylan bar for whiskey. I would browse the Wine Centre the next morning extremely hungover. Depending on how much I spent the night before I would pick up some fancy beers and whiskey before I went home. Three great spots and hopefully I'll be wandering around there soon again.

Cazale wrote: »

New addition to the Bushmills Causeway Collection. The 10 Year Old Cognac Cask release has been matured in both Oloroso and ex-Bourbon barrels for 7.5 years before being finished in ex-Cognac casks for 2.5 years.

100 euro. 5280 bottles available.

Was this not the exclusive German release...must not have had much up take there,so they've decided to ship it back home to us guzzlers.
The Muscatel was a 12 yr old at 56.4%,and this 10 year old is at 46%.same price...just saying!

For a whiskey tasting would you start with Rb12 or RB21. I have Rb15 as well as a Barry Crockett to be included.