Connemara 17 - cask 112

[JohnM]

Best Connemara I've ever tried. Actually, the best whisky I've had in a long long time.

[Luke Gough]

Seconded!

A great bottling, but don't add too much water!

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Strong recommendations indeed ... ?

Expand guys ... no need to be exact but what are the general characteristics.

Is it very peaty, fruity, powerful or delicate etc ... cheers in advance

[JohnM]

Sherry and peat on the nose, as you'd expect, but it's pretty perfect. Sherry, vanilla, peat smoke and prunes on the palate... maybe some toffee. Sometihng metallic in the finish. Very good.

I'm not very good at tasting notes, so that's the best I can do...

[cathach]

Where is this bottling from at all? Is it the CWS sherry cask?

[JohnM]

That's the one.

It's also beautifully "soft".

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Sherry and peat on the nose, as you'd expect, but it's pretty perfect. Sherry, vanilla, peat smoke and prunes on the palate... maybe some toffee. Sometihng metallic in the finish. Very good.

I'm not very good at tasting notes, so that's the best I can do...

Those notes sound excellent to me John, as does the whiskey Not sure if I'll be splashing out 100notes for te privilege though

[JohnM]

I'll send you a sample.

[Luke Gough]

With Cooley's stock reaching the 18-Year mark can a "regular" 18-Year-Old vatting of Connemara, Lockes or Tyrconnell be far off?

It would give IDL and Bushmills a good incentive to improve their game. (N.B. I said 'improve' not 'up').

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

With Cooley's stock reaching the 18-Year mark can a "regular" 18-Year-Old vatting of Connemara, Lockes or Tyrconnell be far off?

It would give IDL and Bushmills a good incentive to improve their game. (N.B. I said 'improve' not 'up').

Even if Cooley do a regular 18yo they will really need to revisit their pricing structure. As it is getting a bit carried away too like IDL's.

The Connemara 12yo is ludicrously priced so I cannot see a decent price for an 18yo. To be quite honest I'm also really getting hacked off by the common place €100 price tag on all these single casks and don't think I'll be buying them much anymore as a matter of principle. Why buy a 18yo Tyconnell, Connemara or Jameson for that matter if I can get the likes of Laphroaig 18yo for around 70Euro...

[jcskinner]

Gotta agree, Adrian.
I've sampled the CWS PPS, and it's lovely. But at that price, it's also ridiculous. And I'm fully aware that this is due to the distiller rather than the retailer.
Ditto with the 17 yo Tyrconnell and Connemara. Both smashing whiskeys, both crazily overpriced.
And that's overpriced in comparison to the Scotch market, which most commentators agree is itself crazily overpriced.
My resolution for this year is to stick to reasonably priced drams I know and trust, like Green Spot and Black Bush, and rely on the IWS to introduce me to new whiskeys.
Hopefully the Irish distillers will realise that the interest in their whiskeys is not waning from enthusiasts, but people's ability and desire to pay such skyhigh prices is ebbing away in the current economic climate.

[JohnM]

With Cooley's stock reaching the 18-Year mark can a "regular" 18-Year-Old vatting of Connemara, Lockes or Tyrconnell be far off?

It would give IDL and Bushmills a good incentive to improve their game. (N.B. I said 'improve' not 'up').

Luke

I think the success of the regular Connamaras means that they don't have a huge amount of older stock — they used it all up to meet demand. I'm not entirely sure about this, of course.