This is an independant vatting or private bottling of Irish single malt whiskey most likely from the bushmills distillery and of pure pot still whiskey most likely from the midleton (Jameson) distillery. The Walsh whiskey company who make or vat this whiskey are also responsible for something called the Irishman whiskey which I believe is similar similar stuff but has more single malt in the mix than pot still whiskey whereas this bottle has more pot still than single malt. The Walsh whiskey company have recently opened their own distillery on the grounds of an old Irish manor house/ estate called Royal Oak in Carlow where they will be producing three different types of whiskey from 2 different types of stills. It's all very exciting this Irish whiskey Boom. I hope the Irish government amends the punitive taxes to help the industry.
Price: Quite reasonable, probably the cheapest pot still whiskey available although it's no longer classifiable as Irish pot still whiskey under the recently revised regulations. They now have to call it Irish copper pot still whiskey - it's all a little strange the different classifications of whiskey - it's one of those "you had to be there to understand" situations or basically a historic hangover. From Memory I got this for 65$AU. It's an enjoyable style of whiskey with a point of difference and represents good value for money - 5/6Packaging / Label: This has a tall narrow bottle which is distinctive, it comes in sensible cardboard packaging. It's bottled at 40% ABV and aged in ex bourbon barrels, and is a vatting of two different styles of Irish whiskey which I suspect they are contractually not allowed to talk about. Chill filtration? Caramel Addition? Age Statement? - 4/6
Availability: I did buy this down the road from my house, it's available from good liquor stores. I have also had this in a few bars before. It's more likely to feature in the more upmarket places and also in whiskey bars. I haven't seen this in duty free other than in Ireland. I'd expect that this will be getting a much wider distribution in the next few years on the strength of deals involved in setting up the new distillery - 4/6
Marketing: The name of this whiskey is quite good as it brings to attention the vast depth of Irish literary work. There's even poetry on the bottle. They're selling the romance of Ireland in a genuine way by highlighting literature which is great - people should read more! The website is not bad however it seems that the focus is very much on the new distillery. There's good info available on the new distillery including a well put together video. There's a bit of info on the history of Irish whiskey. It would be better if they had videos based on their products however I suspect that these will appear in time as they start to make their own produce at their lovely, shiney new distillery.
Check out the link for the website below, also there's a link to a video from the producers on Youtube about the product itself, why isn't this on the website? Or if it is why wasn't it evident? The Youtube video tells me that this whiskey is aged for Ten years and is non chill filtered - why doesn't the label say this? Also the brand ambassador in the video tells me that the color comes from the ageing process? He doesn't say that Caramel isn't added but the color does look pretty natural in the glass - 5/6
Check out the link for the website below, also there's a link to a video from the producers on Youtube about the product itself, why isn't this on the website? Or if it is why wasn't it evident? The Youtube video tells me that this whiskey is aged for Ten years and is non chill filtered - why doesn't the label say this? Also the brand ambassador in the video tells me that the color comes from the ageing process? He doesn't say that Caramel isn't added but the color does look pretty natural in the glass - 5/6
http://walshwhiskey.com/
https://youtu.be/UsT1BLsrJ9Q
Appearance: light amber gold, legs forming irregularly on the glass, looks like whiskey to me: 6/6
Nose: Apples, cereal/ grains, sweetness - honey/ fruity - lemon drops, slight hint of caramel and straw which makes me think of fields on a warm summers day (not fields which have had slurry applied - nice fields!). This nose is familiar and makes me think of other Irish whiskeys from Middleton such as Jameson and Powers - 16/20
Taste on entry: lightly spicy on the tip of the tongue I pick up pepper and cloves, and sweet lemons: 15/20
Mouthfeel/body: There's a nice texture to this stuff it feels good!: 9/10
Finish: Dry medium to long, some caramel/ vanilla, wood spice - anise, cloves, more citrus - lemons and I'm also getting leather!: 16/20
I think this whiskey improves with a little time both having been opened in the bottle and also with a little time in the glass before drinking. I also noticed that a drop of water really brings out the lemons on the nose and palate. Good Stuff!
Total score 80/100
Cheers!
Kev.
