Irish Manor Irish Whiskey

[TheWhiskeyBro]

Wow here is one that seems to have completely slipped under the radar, or never got off the ground, blog post is March 2009, and it appears to be yet another Cooley for the US market based on the author's description of the taste profile.

Irish Manor 'Legendary' Irish Whiskey,

Produced in Ireland by Irish Manor Ltd (makers of a cream liqueur)
Bailieborough,
Co. Cavan

for Cambridge Imports, Philadelphia, PA

http://misterbooze.blogspot.com/2009/03 ... manor.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hibernum/3 ... 2/sizes/o/ (picture)


Any thoughts

[DavidH]

Based on the "triple-distilled" on the label, Cooley is ruled out (if we can rely on such labels, which we probably can't). I've never thought a Cooley blend tasted like a Cooley malt either.

But then the other distillers are not known for supplying private labels.

A real mystery!

[TheWhiskeyBro]

Good point, I missed that. I guess if we can find out who supplies whiskey to Bailieborough, Co. Cavan we might have the answer...

[DavidH]

According to the State of Vermont Department of Liquor Control, Irish Manor Cream Liqueur is:

Irish cream liqueur imported from Ireland. Made with fresh dairy cream from local farmers and Irish whiskey produced in the former Bushmills distillery.

Yeah, "former". I missed their takeover by Irish Manor.

[TheWhiskeyBro]

Thanks for that David, now that's an interesting one, not too many private brands coming out of Bushmills

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

That's one ugly label ... I think maybe we were all subconsiously avoiding this one

[shanel23]

Agree - it's an awful looking label

[Ace]

Hello from a newbie. I have been lurking for a while but find it refreshing that I actually have some knowledge to impart, as I bought a bottle of Irish Manor several months ago.

I live in Philadelphia, where the importer of Irish Manor is based. Ironically enough, I found the bottle in Delaware (an adjoining state) because our strict liquor laws mandate all wine and spirits be sold through state-owned stores. The selection of Irish whiskey in Pennsylvania state owned stores is horrendous. Thus, most of us lucky enough live near another state usually resort to crossing the border to satisfy our needs.

I'm afraid my relative inexperience won't permit me to impart much knowledge as to the nose, taste or finish of Irish Manor. I am just getting into spirits so my tasting notes usually consist of banalities such as "Nose: alcohol. Taste: alcohol. Finish: umm ... alcohol?"

What I can say is that Irish Manor tastes nothing like my favorites in the realm of Irish whiskey (Powers Gold Label, Jameson 12yr and Redbreast 12yr). I couldn't detect anything in the nose except maybe a hint of smoke. Further, I found the taste slightly harsh but then again as a newbie I find most everything distilled to be that way. The finish reminds me of a Bushmills White Bush with the hint of smoke evident from the nose. Beyond that, I don't think my meager skills can discern anything useful.

For locals interested in trying it, I found my bottle at Total Wine in Claymont, DE (near the intersection of Interstate 95 and Naamans Road). Interestingly enough I do not recall seeing Irish Manor on the shelf during my most recent visit around three weeks ago. I paid around $20-22 US for a 750ml bottle. If anything, I see the latter as an indication of the target market (i.e. the "value" end of the spectrum). For my money, I'd rather spend the $22 on a bottle of Powers Gold Label any day.

Hope you have found this post slightly informative.

Ace
"Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast."

[IrishWhiskeyChaser]

"Your nickename was never Ace! Maybe Ace - Hole" - Lister (Q canned laughter)

I'm a smegin' fan too


Welcome Ace ... nice to have you on board.

Thanks for the info ... it's great to hear first hand reports on these bottlings. So it does exist

Dont worry about tasting notes ... sometimes notes like "great", "I love it" or "I'm not really gone on this" are enough

By the way ... good luck with your whiskey journey

[Ace]

Thanks for the warm welcome. I've always loved Red Dwarf and the Ace Rimmer episodes are my hands-down favorites. I figured "Lister of Smeg" would not be a good idea for a username.

I'm due to make another sortie to Total Wine in about two weeks so I will report back if I see Irish Manor still on the shelves. The availability of Irish whiskey is poor in my area but that store in particular has done a good job of expanding its selection in the last 12 months.

[Vince Brennan]

Well, I have a few words to put in here.

Once, many years ago, while I was still a babe in swaddlings, I was in Rota, Spain. Being of little money and great thirst, I looked for something from my own, dear country and saw a Scotch, purporting to be "Glen Something-or-another" and so ordered same. It was quite inexpensive and I thought I'd hit the mother-lode, until the aroma hit me.

Turns out this stuff had been distilled (for want of a more corrosively apt word) in Central Spain [Scotch from Spain!!! The Bind Moggles!!!] and the grain stock they used HAD to have been old ground-up tyres from the Soviet Bloc. The smoothest thing about the whiskey was the outside of the bottle. Unfortunately, that was also the softest thing about it's taste.

It was like drinking the essence of infuriated Skunk. The best thing one could say about it was that it had a fair amount of alcohol and so, after a few moments, one's olfactory and gustatorial senses were so deadened that it was possible to ignore the smell and flavour in favour of the inebriative qualities of the.... ahh.... drink. There was one other advantage... no-one either crowded your seat or stole your drink.

Now, I don't want to say that Irish Manor is that bad... but, if I was under oath, I'd bloody well have to, so why wait? Actually, I think they took the steel belts out of the tyres before distilling, so the 'rusty' flavour is missing. (That may be a disadvantage?)

Possibly one of the nastiest concoctions ever to pass itself off as an "Irish Triple Distilled (they bloody well HAD to distill it three times, just to get rid of the chunks!) Whisky since that other Wonder Of The Irish Whisky Universe, "Clontarf".

Some superlatives come to mind: "Embarassing"... "Unfortunate"... "Undrinkable"...

If this was made in the "former Bushmills distillery", they REALLY need to get the dead rats out of the great pots before making up another batch, innit?

Dis-(censored)-gusting.

[shanel23]

so you didn't like it then Vince ?

[Good Whiskey Hunting]

There's a forum here for tasting notes,i'd recommend you repost that excellent description.
welcome to the forum.Looking forward to further observations.

[Ace]

Wow, good to see this thread back from the dead. The store I mentioned in 2010 no longer carries Irish Manor on the shelves. I guess they would agree with Vince's recommendation.

As for me, I haven't touched my bottle of Irish Manor since I wrote the original review above.

[varizoltan]

According to the State of Vermont Department of Liquor Control, Irish Manor Cream Liqueur is:

Irish cream liqueur imported from Ireland. Made with fresh dairy cream from local farmers and Irish whiskey produced in the former Bushmills distillery.

Yeah, "former". I missed their takeover by Irish Manor.

...and you also missed that, they set up the Coffey still, to make up this special blend...

[Demspey]

First tine post. I just bought a bottle of Irish Manor. I had very low expections going in. The liquer store here always has a very small slection of Irish Whiskey. They only had one bottle of Jameson and few bottles of Old Bushmills. I am a Black Bush fan but I rarely find it. I have come to enjoy John Sullivan and Michael Collins, which are two of my favorite whiskeys and Irish heroes. So I find myself in the "Scotch" asile with limited options. So I took a chance.

Well Irish Manor is technically drinkable. I chilled it with ice in a martini shaker. This knocked off the funk. I use to make a drink with Irish Whiskey that my family has dubbed a MICtini, a Paddy martini, or an Irishman's martini. Use sweet vermouth instead of dry. Garnish with lemon or olives. I am thinking I might use the rest of bottle for a drink like this. I am ussally anti mixed drinks, espically when it comes to any whiskey, however, I make an exception for left over sub-par whiskey.

I will say that listening to the Dubliners while drinking this whiskey also help distracts your sense from what you are putting into your body. I will say my expections were met and surpassed but I thought that it was going to be as bad as cheep Burbon or cheep Tenn. Whiskey.

[Lester]

Hi, I'm new here and don't know anything about Irish whiskey but I like what I've tried and I'm going to spend three weeks in Ireland where I hope to try a lot more varieties than I can get here in the Virginia ABC store. The ABC store has Bushmills, Jamesons, Tulemore, Killbeggan, and Irish Manor. As I type this, I'm drinking Irish Manor, which here comes in a full liter bottle which was on sale for 18 bucks, and before I read some of the above posts I thought it was great! So I'm hoping folks can tell me what to try when I can get more than what's available here.

[Fionnán]

Hey Lester,

welcome to the forum and an even bigger welcome to Irish Whiskey! So, if you're coming to Ireland for a whole three weeks you'll have plenty of time to explore and, if you happen to be in Dublin on the last thursday of any month, you'll be able to attend a society meeting if you like where i'm sure any number of people would be thrilled to talk and drink with you for as long as it takes to complete your education. In the meantime, i suggest you stop by the Celtic Whiskey Shop on Dawson street in Dublin. They've got an excellent selection of Irish whiskeys and the staff are all very helpful and, most importantly, they're all drinks enthusiasts themselves. If you're looking for that one stand-out bottle of brilliant whiskey that you wont find back home in the states, the classic choice is Greenspot. It's a single pot still whiskey with a bit of a cult following but its nearly impossible to find outside of Ireland due to licensing issues. There's talk that these might eventually change but, at least for now, its still pretty much an Ireland-only bottle and any lover of Irish whiskey will tell you how incredible the stuff is, especially considering that it goes for around 45 euros.

all the best,

Fionnan