Whiskey Wednesday: Irish in May - Two Cooley Blends

Just to show that I don't only review Irish Whiskies on St. Patrick's Day, I'm going to spend a couple of weeks doing some Irish in May.

This week, it's two blended whiskies from the independent Cooley distillery: Michael Collins (which is independently bottled using Cooley whiskey) and Kilbeggan. These are the lowest end bottles from these lines; higher up in the price range the Kilbeggan line has a 15 year old and the Collins line has a single malt. Both of the blends we are tasting today weigh in at the basic 40% alcohol. The Collins goes for $20, the Kilbeggan for $16.


Michael Collins

Malt on the nose with pineapple and other fruit. A nice flavor, a fair amount of malt with some butterscotch. A very nice whiskey.


Kilbeggan

Fascinating scents: pine, anise, Absinthe, spicy. Interestingly, those flavors aren't very present on the palate, which is more straightforward, presenting mostly with malt but for some spice and pine in the background. In some ways, this is a very Scotch tasting whiskey.


Conclusions

The Collins is the lighter of these two; the Kilbeggan would probably be more pleasing to Scotch drinkers and is the one I'd likely reach for. Overall, both of these were very impressive and enjoyable whiskies. I will definitely have to spend more time with the Cooley brands. I guess it pays to drink Irish more than once per year.

Next Wednesday: We Continue the Irish with Bushmills