Irishman Rare Cask Strength 2008 56%.

[John]

Hi all,

I first tasted the 2008 bottling at a Society tasting last year and thought is was a fantastic drink . Anyway, I just finished off a bottle of it recently and while looking for its' replacement I made the realisation that the original batch is becomming a bit difficult to find. Not surprising I suppose considering that there were only 1,400 bottles produced. The CWS had only one bottle left (which I'm sure is gone now) but the Wine Centre in Kilkenny still has a few on the shelves. If you want to pick one up you can give Liam Murray a call on 056 7722907.

The 2010 Cask Strength batch was released last month at 53%. Approx. 2,800 bottles; not sure what the Irish allocation is though.

Cheers,
John.

[jcskinner]

Twas yummy alright, but I'm trying to be firm with myself about my new personal guideline of not overpaying for whiskeys, no matter how nice they are.
While the Irishman does a great wee range of whiskeys, and most of them are very reasonable, this lad sticks out like a sore thumb on price. It shouldn't be much more than half of what they're charging.
So while I'll be delighted to keep on enjoying their single malt, their 70 blend and the truly excellent Writers Tears, I'm also going to continue giving this one a miss, I'm afraid. At least while they retain that price point.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

It was a lovely whiskey all right but the fact that it may become a regular release I refuse to pay the outlandish Irish price for what is essentially a non age stated whiskey and possibly a blend. Anybody know the price of this one? As nice as the first bottle was this is not worth 125Euro and should be priced closer to half that. The celtic tiger has bolted and the world wide recession is also a factor and companies need to realise people will not pay through the nose for whiskey any more no matter how good it is. Further proof that it is over priced is that it is still available after 2 years even if it is limited at this stage.

To see how it should be done they should look to their Scottish cousins.
Laphroaig released a limited Feil Ile 12yo bottling in 2009 for the annual feil ile festival. A batch of 3600 cask strength bottles priced at the princely sum of £50 release world wide through their website with attendees to the actual festival getting priority. All sold out in a few weeks. You can be sure they are making money on those too so why do the Irish companies insist on trying to fleece the Irish whiskey buying public.

I think I'll have to start a campaign for realistically priced whiskey

[John]

It could be seen as a bit pricey, but then again, if you consider that they practically have the Irish cask strength whiskey market to themselves it is small wonder that it is priced in that fashion. I'm not sure it could be priced at less than the cost of e.g. a Tyrconnell 10yo single malt? Also, is the cask strength release not also a single malt, I was told that it was

On the Laphroaig Feis Ile release, don't they release an edition for each festival? Also I'm sure I've seen some prices for previous festival releases and I believe that they have become very pricy? This is especially surprising when you consider that the Laphroaig limited release amounts to 3,600 bottles vs. the 1,400 of the 1st ed Irishman CS.


J.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

My major problem is the Irish prices which are out rageous in comparison to European prices and this is taking into acount various local tax and duty.

I have seen The Irishman Rare for €76 in holland in comparison to €125 here

The dutch have 19% sales tax so we can say similar to here but don't have duty.

So even though the duty on a bottle of Irishman rare is about €15 extra here we are still being charged about €30-35 more for the priviledge. Scandelous but I'm not bitter , I'll just refuse to ever pay that amount again

My attitude is that there is plenty of good whiskey out there for a lot less so I'll not suffer

[SixCats!]

Hi all,

I recently purchased a bottle of "The Irishman Original Clan" (aka 70). Is this a decent one ? The State of New Hampshire State Liquor Store (USA) has them priced at $28.00 (no tax in NH) for a 750ml. I just had to buy
"The Irishman" Whiskey as it is suppose to be somewhat difficult to come by here in the US. I decided to take a chance since the Web reviews were very positive! Problem is, arrrrrr, I am sooooo tempted to open this bottle, however, I am trying my best to keep this bottle until Fall. Money is tight and I don't know when I'll be passing back through NH. I guess for the time being, I'll just keep on drinking the Black Bush ($34.00) I have opened
(which I am VERY much enjoying).

Regards,
SixCats!

[TheWhiskeyBro]

Hiya Sixcats,

The Irishman 70 is a well regarded, I think it was introduced in 2007, it is a blend of 70% Single malt & 30% PPS.
it is thought to be 7-12 years old and it is believed both the Malt & PPS are from Midleton.

Don't forget it is ok to have a number of bottles open at the same time, they will keep, good for comparing and contrasting..

enjoy

[SixCats!]

Hello ...keyBro,

Ummmm, how odd. I responded to your response yesterday and it somehow it didn't take, how odd.
At any rate, thank you Bro for your thoughts on "The Irishman Original Clan" I'm glad to learn it is considered good stock! I should plan a special trip to NH and purchase (at least) one more bottle soon. At $28.00 a 750ml,
"The Irishman" is priced between POWERS and BLACK BUSH. I believe perhaps two (of six) New England States even carry "The Irishman" so, it's kind of rare here in my neck of the woods. Oooh yes, I surly must open at least one more (additional) bottle of Irish Whiskey (for research purposes don't you know).

Regards,
SixCats!

[SixCats!]

Hi all,

...keyBro! Bro, I had to do it. I just opened my bottle of "The Irishman Original Clan" (aka 70) yea, the same one I was SUPPOSE to have kept stored away until Fall. Yea...right. At any rate, WHOA! "The Irishman" is one AWESOME tasting Irish Whiskey! NH pricing is $28.00 a 750 ml. "The Irishman" is not available in Maine, so, I plan to make a special trip to NH (about two hours round trip) and purchase a couple more bottles of "The Irishman". "The Irishman" is $15.00 LESS per bottle than my current favorite REDBREAST. Given it's price, "The Irishman" could become a new favorite Irish Whiskey! I find "The Irishman" smooth, flavorful and no burn. I also think "The Irishman" is waaay too easy to drink too much. I find it a bit less sweet/Sherry than Redbreast. Yes indeed, "The Irishman", you will be mine!

Regards,
SixCats!

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

I would love to be able to buy a bottle of "The Irishman Original Clan" just to fill a theoretical gap on my shelf

But it is stupid to have the same whiskey on your shelf but with just a different name

Explain please I hear you say.

"The Irishman Original Clan" was originally released as "The Irishman Superior" here in Ireland and now is called "The Irishman 70" so all the same whiskey but just different names.

I think it is afine whiskey also and sounds like great value at $28 on your side.

So open away

This is the delima though ... do you hoard for a rainy day or do you open now ... I actually found I drank more when I had only a few bottles opened as I always wanted to be able to open something new but the justification was always to finish one first. However this soon went out the window and I caved in and opened bottles left right and centre ... so over a few years I built up my open selection and for the past 3 years I've on average 70-90 bottles open. This may seem like lunacy but I have the happy luxury of being able to pick and choose what takes my fancy at the week-end. I am totally at ease with the fact I have a better selection in my own home than most of the whiskey bars in my nearest town of Galway. However that amount may seem extreme and a some what lesser amount may suit others but I am a firm believer that a larger selection would actually cut down on your intake in a way. i.e. instead of having 3 large ones of x maybe you'll have 4 smaller measures w,x,y & z.

Something to consider but luckily I have a very accepting wife

[SixCats!]

Hi IWC,

Wow! That's one IMPRESSIVE collection you have going! I don't think I will ever collect as many as yourself.
I do however see myself (someday) owning upwards of perhaps thirty or so Irish and Scotch Whiskies. Regarding the amount of drinking...I dunno. I figure I drink a total of....perhaps 7 to 8 ounces a week. Is that too much ?
I try to skip at least ONE day a week (if not two). Week nights that I do drink, I try my best to keep it down to
ONE ounce. Saturday, Sunday (and Holidays) I drink a "double" (two ounces). However, I can see that on certain days (and depending on the Whiskey) I could DOUBLE my DOUBLE (with a couple of hours in between). I dunno however how my Head would react the next morning. I don't think it's so much the Whiskey as it is the Whiskey interacting with Meds I take. This is (in part) the reason why I do my best to keep the drink amounts reasonable. My wife is not happy period that I now choose to enjoy a simple one ounce dram sipped over an hour (or so) in the evenings. Arrrrrrr, woman! At any rate, all I know is, I have GOT to buy some more of that wonderful
"The Irishman" especially given it's $28.00 price. Oooh, thanks for clearing up the name confusion thing.
Oooh IWC, btw, I still think you NEED to own a bottle labled "The Irishman Original Clan" for your collection.
Ya never know, it just might be a "wee little bit" different. lol

Regards,
SixCats!

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

As they say in this game you can never have too much whiskey

Was a bit of an American night last night ... I had 2 large Old Fitzgearld 12yo's and a large Woodford reserve.

I reckon I had 6oz and a couple cold ones ... if you can't treat yourself every now and then what can you do.

[JohnM]

The 2010 version of this is now out. Supposedly a vatting of their three best casks.

[DavidH]

The 2010 version of this is now out. Supposedly a vatting of their three best casks.

Were you at the CWS Irishman night? If I recall correctly, Bernard Walsh said the Cask Strength was a once-off and would be followed by different special releases. Is that anyone else's recollection?

That said, the Cask Strength is a damn good whiskey and it would be a pity to discontinue it.

[JohnM]

I don't think I was at that, David. Maybe they just found some good casks and decided to do it again. Hopefully it will be less expensive this time. It's under 100 euro in the Whisky Exchange.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

It's going to continue as long as they can keep selling it.

I saw it in Dublin airport travel retail €116 so still a very over priced whiskey.

[John]

Slightly off topic here so feel free to move, but just in relation to Adrian's note about the Duty Free prices - I'm begining to think that they are taking the Duty off and then raising their prices! The 'deals' don't seem to be really there anymore. Anyone else notice this?
J.

[jcskinner]

I've not been tempted by the prices any time I've been through Dublin airport in the past year or so, which is quite a few times, and I always look.
By contrast, there are some good deals to be had in other airports. London Heathrow especially, but Charles de Gaulle springs to mind too. No doubt there are other airports with even better deals.
On topic, I can only agree with IWC. I love the Irishman's range but there's simply no chance of me shelling out north of 100 euro for a whiskey that is, in effect, a vatted cask strength Bush.
Perhaps they've looked at the prices of single cash Bushmills for price point, but I'm on record as saying that they too are well inflated.
Manys a single cask Bush has failed to sell out at such prices, even years after bottling, as a quick google around some European retailers will attest.

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

Slightly off topic here so feel free to move, but just in relation to Adrian's note about the Duty Free prices - I'm begining to think that they are taking the Duty off and then raising their prices! The 'deals' don't seem to be really there anymore. Anyone else notice this?
J.

Not really duty free any more but travel retail (But Duty free is still available)

Basically you can buy all you can carry goin from EU country to EU country but the prices are regular enough. They also have Duty free prices which are actually sometimes better than they should be in comparison to the travel retail prices so yes you are right the prices are not very honest. As JC attests the prices are not great any more and you can get better on the high street (as they say in the UK). Also the prices in other EU countries are much better.

I have no idea how they work the prices but they can be quite nuts at times. i.e. Duty Free being much cheaper than the actual cost less the proper duty ... or even more strange when was traveling through stansted a couple years ago Jameson Gold was cheaper at travel retail prices than duty free prices

So I have no Idea how they work it