Like Redbreast, Powers John's Lane is a single pot still Irish whiskey made at the Midleton Distillery.Powers John's Lane, 12 years old, 46% abv ($70)
The nose is light and fruity. The fruit fades on the palate which is malty and just slightly sweet. The finish is reminiscent of Samoas, the Girl Scout cookies with coconut and caramel.
This is a decent whiskey with some nice malty character but not one that I can see paying $70 for when Midleton's other single pot stills, Redbreast and Green Spot are cheaper.
Thanks to Josh from The Whiskey Jug for the sample.
But is cheaper necessarily better? I suppose if it is cheaper and tastes better it is!
ReplyDeleteI don't have exact prices on hand but in my area at least the prices are roughly $60 for regular Redbreast and $70 (or more lately) for cask strength Redbreast. Green Spot, a much younger and different tasting whiskey, is at least $55 and quickly bumping up on $60 as well. The Powers John's Lane can still be found locally for $65 or so and I like it as well or better than regular Redbreast with a bit more proof. Of course the cask strength Redbreast is pretty darn good as well even if it cost more than the other two. The real outlier here is the Yellow Spot, yet another 12yo Midleton pot still whiskey like Redbreast and PJL that has a bit different profile presumably as a result of the Malaga wine cask finishing. Those wine casks must be awfully expensive! I do like it but at around $100 it is a bit harder to justify. I wish it were a bit closer to the others in cost.
But what the heck, I like variety so I have eventually ended up with them all! In fact I splurged a bit for St. Paddy's and lately have been enjoying their newest older sibling, the rather spendy Midleton Dair Ghaelach. Very different with more maturity, a honey like mouth feel and sweetness and nice balance of fruit and spice in the long finish. Lovely whiskey but unfortunately not sure it is worth the four or five fold increase in price and certainly not one I will buy regularly at that price point.