A Scotch Drinker seeks Irish Advice...

[WilliesWineblog]

As a long time Scotch drinker and a noob to this forum, I have decided to embrace my heritage and to that end I'd like to solicit suggestions on where to start my Irish Odyssey. My current stable of whisk(e)ys is listed on my blog here:

http://willieswineblog.blogspot.com/200 ... audit.html

My experience with Irish Whiskys is limited to Black Bush & RedBreast in pubs (yum), the occasional expensive nip of Midleton (double yum) and the ubiquitous Powers, Jameson, Paddy etc which don't thrill me.

I'm looking to buy a couple of reasonbably priced Irish bottles for around €40 as a start, is this reasonable?

Willie

[JohnM]

The real traditional whiskeys are pot still based, or just pot still. The pot still ones are Redbreast and Green Spot. You've had the Redbreast already.

Personally, I think pot still blends very well. If you try the step up from the no age statemt whiskey you've tried (Jameson and Powers), I think there's a pretty big step up in quality, although I really like the standard Powers. Jameson 12 and Powers 12 are excellent. The Tullamores are better when aged a little longer too. The Heritage and the 12 aren't bad.

If you like more of a Scottish-style malt, then there's the Cooley stuff. The Tyrconnell range is very good when you go beyond the standard one and is unpeated. Very moderately peated is the Locke's 8 year old. I think this is very good, but I'm not sure everyone agrees. More heavily peated is the Connemara range. Unfortunately, they're quite exensive. The Cask Strength Connemara is very good and worth trying.

For Bushmills malt, in this price range you can have the Bushmills 10, Black Bush and White Bush. I would prefer the Brogans to these. It's a Bushmills malt. And Knappogue Castle 1995 is a Bushmills too. A little out of the €40 price range, though.

The Tyrconnell finishes and the limited edition Connemaras are outside the €40 price range, unfortunately.



At this price and below, you have:

Connemara
Connemara Cask Strength
Locke's 8 year old
Tyrconnell
Jameson 12
Powers 12
Black Bush
White Bush

[WilliesWineblog]

Thanks for the tips -
I've had the Green Spot too - twas lovely - bought my father in law a bottle and helped him drink it.

From the list below - I reckon I'll try a Connemara and maybe a Tyrconnell. Wheres the best place to get them? Celtic Whiskey shop?

As a strange aside, speaking of the Cooley Distillery, I once played rugby against John Teeling, who was no spring chicken at the time...It was UCD freshers D's (the worst team ever to play for the college) against a game Clontarf J-god knows what side.

btw - the reason for the €40 limit is that I don't want to blow the wad on an expensive whiskey which I may not care for, if there is something you would recommend which cant miss but is pricier, I'd consider it.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Hey Willie are you in Dublin? ... Bow Bar Fleet street tomorrow night 7pm we are having a Connemara tasting? OPen to all so might be an opportunity to try before you buy.

10Euro for members 15Euro for non members. Every one welcome but on a first come first serve basis as places are limited. Usually good fun but tomorrow night we'll have the pleasure of Noel Sweeney Cooley master distiller.

We'll get to taste the entire Connemara range ... Regular, Cask Strength & 12yo plus the new Sherry Cask version.

We're a friendly bunch so feel free to come along.

[TheWhiskeyBro]

The following shows you the range of whiskies under €50 (most of which are under €40)

Powers 12, Jameson 12, Irishman 70, Crested 10, Jameson Distillery Reserve, Tullamore Dew 10Y, 12Y & Heritage (all PPS blends from Midleton)
Redbreast 12 & Greenspot (PPS from Midleton)

Lockes 8YO, Inishowen (peated blends from Cooley)
Magilligan 8YO, Connemara Range, (peated single malts from Cooley)
Greenore 6YO & 8YO (single grain from Cooley)
Tyrconnell, Magilligan, Merrys (single malts from Cooley)

Bushmills 10, Bushmills Distillery Reserve, Knappogue 95 & Brogans 10Y Legacy (single malts from Bushmills)
Blackbush (grain & single malt blend from Bushmills)

The CWS has Connemara & Tullamore Dew 10Y on special at the moment.
Keep an eye out for these, try one in a pub, buy a miniature, share with friends to see what you like before buying.

Remember it is an enjoyable journey to be savoured and enjoyed at your own pace, you'd be amazed how many of these you would get to try in a year if you keep your eyes open.

[jcskinner]

If you're a scotch drinker into smokey Islays or Talisker, then I'd kick off with the Connemara, which keeps getting better (beating a lot of fine scotches in competition), has just been rebranded and the range expanded to include a new Sherry finish.
Otherwise, no harm in starting with Irish single malts - Bushmills' range runs from a grassy 10 year old up to a truly sumptuous and multi-faceted 21 yo. Tullamore has just launched a 10 yo single malt for the first time in its history. I haven't tried it yet so can't comment.
From there, it's a small step to the Irishman 70, which is a unique blend of single malt and pure pot still. There's a pricey cask strength version too, but I find the standard 70 is very intriguing.
PPS runs only to Redbreast or Green Spot. The older variants of both are prohibitively pricey, but the standard issues are great anyway. I'd definitely try to seek out a Green Spot on your travels - for me Ireland's best kept whiskey secret.
As others have suggested, some of the PPS blends coming out of Midleton are worth looking at too. Not so much the top end Jamesons, which I object to since they won't give age statements or tell us what they're sticking in their blends.
But definitely, the Powers 12 yo and Tullamore heritage are worth a try and are relatively inexpensive.

[WilliesWineblog]

Thanks for all the advice gents. I will revert when I've tried a couple of the suggestions.

I would love to attend the Connemara tasting but this weekend I have family committments - maybe next time.

Willie