What are you having yourself?

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Let us know what you are or have been drinking lately. Feel freee to let you imagination run lose. Pontification galore is allowed here not just boring and rigid tasting nore

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Karuizawa 1971 64.1%

This is just a massive whiskey ... totally love it but not for the faint hearted.


How to describe this .... ????

Wood sherry and a kick in the teeth

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

A LOVELY nose that is totally a bourbon but maybe not as charachterful as some I have tried ....just sweetness in a glass, big vinalla and wood no light dryness in the finish at all that I have got in others.

Wonderful full rich bourbon but very smooth probably the most smooth bourbon I've had yet.

Very enjoyable and a real sunny afternoon after the barbie drink.

For me bourbon is really suited to ice but only in the sun lazing after a barbie

[BrianH]

I'm not really sure if this is the right place in the forum to put this, but I can't see anywhere else suitable.

I've just been out and had a Bowmore 18 yo, a Connemara Cask Strength, a Suntory Yamazaki 12 yo and an Auchentoshan 10 yo (barmans choice). I then came home and watched a movie, and decided not to spend the rest of the night drinking expensive whiski(e)s. So I took out the bottle of Powers 12 yo. I've never really tasted the difference between a really classy whiskey and a fairly ordinary one, and I'm not saying Powers 12 is that ordinary, but Jesus, the diffierence was stunning.

I'd love to know does anyone actually agree with me, or am I just being a snob!!

P.S. As most people should know by now, I'm not one for nose, palette, etc. so, I adored the Connemara, loved the Bowmore and Auchentoshan was fabulous. Hope thats enough!!

[JohnM]

Personally, I'd probably prefer the Powers 12 to all those single malts, except for the Bowmore 18. But I love Powers.

[TheWhiskeyBro]

Got a present of my first bottle of Japanese whisky, the Yamazaki 18 Year Old, lightly peated but it immediately evoked memories of the Jameson 18 with its rum and raisin notes, looking forward to trying it under test conditions at this weeks Japanese tasting in the Fitzwilliam Hotel.

[jcskinner]

Aberlour A'Bunadh.
Finally cracked it open tonight.
I can't say it stands up to the heights of last night, when I was lucky enough to try a 16 yo Bowmore Port finish thanks to Michael Slevin.
But by God, it's a great wee dram altogether. Non-chill filtered, cask strength just under 60 and kicks like a (sherried) mule at that.
Drop in some water and it opens up nicely with plenty of caramel and toffee notes giving way to some faint smoke, cognac top notes, milk chocolate and a little rubberiness.
I understand each batch has its own slightly unique qualities. This one is batch 21.
30 euro in C de Gaulle airport last month! What a bargain.
I'm a little concerned about the colour, though. It's got a very dark colour, even watered, that makes me suspect the presence of caramel additives. Bit poor form for something that bills itself as an artisanal product, if that is the case.

[JohnM]

I don't think there's caramel added, Jim. Maybe they use a lot of first-fill sherry casks.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

I don't think there's caramel added, Jim. Maybe they use a lot of first-fill sherry casks.

I think your right there ... In Germany they have strict laws and if a colouring has been added to a whisk(e)y it has to be listed separately as an ingredient. There fore out German brothers can at a glance know if there is caramel (colouring) added just by looking at the bottle. I will try and get a confirmation to this but have a feeling this was discussed before on other forum.


Just on a side note for some of the newbies .... in relation to Caramel as it can be confusing when used in relation to the colour and the flavour.

Caramel colour and Caramel flavouring in a whiskey can be two separate and independent discriptors.

A whiskey can be coloured with Caramel and yet you may not get a caramel taste from it.

However Caramel and toffee as taste descriptions can be quite common in various different whiskey (with or without the presence of the colour)

Further the amount of colouring used in whiskies is tiny and said to be in the 00.0*%

Most bog standard whiskeys would have this colour added to ensure the uniform colour of the product. Whether this is right or wrong is down to the individual person to decide.

[truecrippler]

I'm just about 30 mins. to an hour away from doing my first Tasting with my mini Cooleys. Standard Connemara and the 12 Year old.

I'm looking forward to tasting them. As a novice Whisky lover, has anyone got any tips for me?
It will be also the first time I'll be using my Whisky glass .

Cheers.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

All I'll say is if they seem a bit too much don't let it put you off ... just give yourself some time.

However, If you love it your in big trouble as you'll want to get into Islay Whisky and you'll be off on a right exodus then

Have fun and enjoy.


Tonight had Powers 12yo & Greenspot then moved on to a Bladnoch 16yo Sherry Cask strength and to finish Woodford reserve over ice in the back garden with a nice cigar.

[jcskinner]

Bit of pre-election number crunching ran late tonight, largely due to the idea of accompanying tallies and polls counting with a Knappogue 95, Green Spot and another wee touch of Abunadh.

[John]

Making my way through a Woodford Reserve at the moment. Nice dram.

[truecrippler]

I got my dad a bottle of Redbreast 12 for fathers day. I've had a few with him, it's really nice and he's pleased also.

A very enjoyable dram.

[cathach]

Redbreast 12yo, oils the cognitive faculties very nicely I must say.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Laphroaigh Cairdeas 12yo ...

Now sold out

An initial peat reak that subsides to a multifaceted nose with plenty of charachter that my limited nose can't pin down. Nut meg, clove, stewed pear, earth and loads more

Taste is a lovely balance of Bitter and sweet, chocolate, cherry, marmalade, thick chewy smoke & a mouth wash of iodine .

But as I say so much more than I can explain. Any Laph fanatic can't fail to adore this.

A winner for me and so much more to offer than the usual standard offerings.

[Michael Foggarty]

turpintine for me

[martin]

Just had a dram of Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve 15y - 53.5% vol. A beauty of a bourbon. Excellent, long finish. Needs a touch of water (not much).

Can only recommed it if you like bourbon. Would like to get my hands on a 21y old one.

[jcskinner]

Last of the Abunadh - really cannot recommend this little cask strength sherry bomb highly enough at the price. Plenty of toffee goodness, good blast of spice and all underwritten with the tiniest hint of peat and the heat of 59.2 abv.
Finished off a Knappogue 95 too - brilliant summer dram, light, grassy and with that warm Bushmills sweetness.
I've recently opened up the Irishman 70, that odd mix of Midleton single malt and pps, and find that the pps character is very noticeable.
But if the strange tang coming off this blend is actually Midleton single malt and not any grain character, then I have to say I'd be a wee bit concerned about the single malt down in Cork. Does this stuff go into anything else, do people know? I presume some goes into some of the IDL blends.
Mostly, summer drinking has been young Antrim poitin, into which berries have been macerated Polish style for months, topped up with ice and tonic. Recipe here - http://skinflicks.blogspot.com/2009/06/ ... -moon.html.
Yum.

[JohnM]

It's used in Paddy and used to be used in Hewitts.

I think they admit that their stills are not suitable for single malt prodution.

Is it the Midleton single malt used in the Irishman?

[jcskinner]

It is. I got my knuckles rapped by the Irishman people about this actually, because some gremlin in production inserted a couple of errors into the paper's story on their recent Irish Coffee world record venture.
The story suggested that the Irishman used Bushmills single malt in their blend. I don't know how that crept into the article, but it did, and the Irishman boys were quick to clarify the matter with me.
So I can confidently state that they use all Midleton whiskeys for the Irishman 70.

[JohnM]

I've tasted the Erin Go Bragh single malt. It's not terrible, in my opinion, but it's not something you'd be eager to return to. Very average, I'd say.

I must have a taste of the Irishman again. Have not had much of it at all, but thought the cask strength was interesting.

[DavidH]

Interesting. The Celtic Whiskey Shop always identifies it as Bushmills malt.

Guys, have you tried The Irishman Single Malt? Same malt, you reckon?

[jcskinner]

I tried their single malt back to back against the 70. Very different drams indeed, as you might expect when running a single malt Bush up against a Midleton PPS/single malt blend.

[jcskinner]

I have to say I like their single malt quite a bit, but perhaps that's predictable. I don't think the 70 hangs together quite as well - the pps character is great but it seems to war with the malt base a little bit? Certainly an interesting dram. Nothing else of its kind is out there. Haven't tried the cask strength. It looked a little pricey to me, but I've heard only good things from those who have tried it.