Finest Irish Single Malt

Is this the finest Irish single malt? Well, it says so on the label, so I assume it must be, because you wouldn't lie about something like that.

Finest Irish Single Malt is a 22 year old malt bottled by The Whisky Exchange. As we noted yesterday, there are only two possible sources for older Irish single malt: Bushmills and Cooley, and Cooley sold a lot more of its whiskey.

Finest Irish Single Malt, 22 years old, 58.1% abv ($233)

The nose begins bright and fruity. Midway through, there are some fuel notes. The palate is malty with fruit candy, fresh mint and then some light peat notes that last into the finish.

Well, given that I detected some peat in this, that makes it almost certainly a Cooley malt (EDIT: though see David S's comment below about some lightly peated Bushmills that The Whisky Agency has been bottling). I thought it was quite good, the peat/fuel type flavors providing a nice contrast to the fruity flavors. I'd say this is my favorite of this week's Irish Whiskeys.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Teeling Single Malt & Single Grain Irish Whiskeys

Stephen Teeling from the Teeling Whiskey Company was in town a few weeks ago tasting folks on his line of Irish Whiskeys. I reviewed his Teeling Small Batch blend last year and, it's become one of my go-to Irish blends for tastings. Since then, the company has introduced a single grain whiskey and, most recently, a single malt. While Teeling now has a Dublin distillery which ran its first spirit in March of this year (and they are working on a second distillery for grain), the Teeling whiskeys being sold come from Cooley, the distillery founded by Stephen's father Jack which was purchased by Beam in 2011.

Teeling Single Grain, 5 years old, bottled October, 2014, 46% abv ($50)

The Teeling grain whiskey uses a mash of around 95% corn and 5% malted barley and is aged in California Cabernet casks. It has very light cereal notes on the nose followed by sweet cereal on the palate. Mid-palate turns to wood spice notes, and it finishes with dry hay notes.  I'm not a huge fan of grain whiskeys of this type, but this one was quite pleasant and comparable to the better Scotch and Irish grain whiskeys I've had.

Teeling Single Malt, 46% abv ($55)

The new single malt carries no age statement and includes barrels treated with various finishes. The nose has light grain notes, sweet white wine and grapes.  In contrast to the rather sweet nose, the palate is quite dry with some spice leading into a spicy finish. There was a nice contrast between the sweetness of the nose and the dry palate on this one. Interestingly, it lacked much in the way of traditional malty notes. If anything, the Teeling Small Batch blend tastes more like a single malt than this one does, and while the Small Batch might be more approachable, the single malt is a bit more complex.

Teeling is doing some good work in the world of Irish Whiskey, and they aim to continue. Currently, they have a number of older, age stated single malts (21, 26 and 30 years old) available in Europe. They are looking at bringing some of those to the US next year and possibly some single cask bottlings as well. I know I'll be interested to try whatever they release.

Teeling Small Batch Irish Whiskey

Teeling is a new Irish Whiskey company started by Jack Teeling, formerly of the Cooley Distillery.  Like many new American companies, they are bottling sourced whiskey (from Cooley according to Shanken) while they plan their own distillery in Dublin. Just released in the US, the Teeling Small Batch Whiskey is a no age statement blended Irish Whiskey finished for six months Flor de Caña rum casks.

Teeling Small Batch Irish Whiskey, [bottled Jan. 2014] 46% abv ($40)

The nose is light and grassy.  The palate starts malty then turns sweet with a touch of fruit before fading into a pleasant finish, both sweet and grainy.  This is a very light whiskey (or "delicate," as the marketing department might say). It doesn't have a lot of complexity, but it's very drinkable.  I could certainly see reaching for it in the hot months to come when the LA heat makes me want something a bit lighter.

Whiskey from a Winery: Concannon Irish Whiskey

 Here's an oddity for you, an Irish Whiskey distilled by Cooley and bottled by a California winery.  The Concannon Vineyard is an old winery, founded by Irish Americans, in Livermore, California.

This is a four year old Cooley blend made from malted barley and corn (it's nice that they provide some mashbill information, which is unusual for an Irish Whiskey producer).  It's aged for four years in bourbon barrels and then finished for an additional four months in their petite sirah casks.  Just in time for St. Patrick's Day, the folks at Concannon sent me a sample.

Concannon Irish Whiskey, 40% ($20)

The nose has a nice, clean maltiness to it.  The palate is heavy on the vanilla with malt in the background.  The finish is pure vanilla, turning to cream soda notes and lasts forever.

This is a sweet, very drinkable, Irish blend.  It's not overly complex, but for a $20 blend, it hits all the right notes.

The Three Most Overrated Distilleries

Earlier this week, I took a stab at what I think are the three most underrated distilleries. Today, we look at the most overrated distilleries. I'm aware that I am committing a number of heresies with this list, so feel free to tar and feather me in the comments, and keep in mind, I'm not saying that the whiskey from these distilleries is bad, just that they don't quite live up to the hype.


Cooley. Whiskey geeks love independence and innovation, but sometimes those factors seem to take precedence over quality. Cooley, up until they sold to Beam earlier this year, was a darling of the whiskey geeks for its independent spirit (pun intended). They make not only traditional Irish blended whiskey, but also single malt, single grain and peated single malt whiskey. But for all their innovation, I can't say I've been overly impressed with many Cooley whiskeys. Just because you can add peat, doesn't mean you should, and Connemara may be the best example of that. Cooley's other whiskeys aren't bad, but they just don't seem to merit the attention Cooley gets.

Ardbeg. Ardbeg has made some legendary whiskies in its time, but what has it done for us lately? The standard line as it's been for a few years: Ardbeg 10, Uigeadail and Corryvreckan are good whiskies, particularly Uigeadail, but certainly not of the quality or sophistication of some of their earlier stars. This is understandable as they were closed for a period and, like much of the industry, are clearly dealing with a shortage of older whisky. What we do get, though, is several annual releases of non-age statement whiskies that seldom measure up to their standard offerings, and a relentless parade of choppers, rockets and other gimmicks. Nevertheless, peatheads still seem to fawn over every rollercoaster, alligator or whisky in space. It seems that Ardbeg's best days are behind it (or, hopefully, in front of it).

Stitzel-Weller. Like Ardbeg, Stitzel-Weller has made some amazing whiskey, but the hype of this closed Kentucky distillery has gotten way out of hand. I've had some fantastic old Stitzel-Wellers, but I've also had some mediocre ones, both recent and dusty. Between every bottle of pre-1992 Old Fitzgerald fetching at least in the mid-three figures on ebay and the regular hysteria around each Pappy release, the hype for this distillery is much more than it deserves.

Runners Up: Macallan, Dalmore and Bruichladdich.

Add your suggestions (or angry tirades) in the comments.

Buy it Now: Trader Joe's Single Malt Irish Whiskey

While we're on the subject of Trader Joe's, you may recall that I was a big fan of their house label Trader Joe's Single Malt Irish Whiskey, a great Irish malt at a great TJ's price of $20. Well, if you have an interest and you're holding out, you may want to pull the trigger. That whiskey was made for Trader Joe's by the Cooley distillery, and as many of you undoubtedly know, Cooley was recently purchased by Jim Beam. One of the first things Beam did upon purchasing Cooley was to announce that they would reduce sales to independent bottlers. Now, if Trader Joe's has a contract going forward, Cooley would likely still have to honor it, but if the Trader Joe's bottling was a limited release or a short term contract they thought they could renew, we might not be seeing more of it.

In other TJ's news, it looks like their next house label whiskey will be a bourbon made by Buffalo Trace.

Trader Joe's Single Malt Irish Whiskey

I'm always on the lookout for a new Trader Joe's product, be it whiskey or cheese, since they tend to have quality products at good prices, even if I haven't liked their private label selection of single malt Scotch.

Tipped off by one of my faithful commenters, on a recent TJ's trip, I picked up a new TJ's product, an Irish single malt made by the Cooley Distillery. At $20 it's certainly a bargain compared to other Irish single malts on the market, though it is only four years old.

The Cooley distillery makes a variety of styles of whiskey, including blends, grain whiskeys and single malts. They make single malts under the Tyrconnell label and peated single malts under the Connemara label.


Trader Joe's Single Malt Irish Whiskey, 4 years old, 40% abv ($19.99)

The nose on this is fruity and malty with some sherry (though the label says this is aged in bourbon casks) and a bit of peat as well. The palate starts off with dried fruit, sherry and malt, quickly yielding to peat smoke which gradually dominates along with some salty notes that are typical of peated whiskeys. The finish has fruit on the nose but peat on the tongue.

I have to say that given my experience with Trader Joe's private label whiskeys, I wasn't expecting much, but this is a surprisingly good whiskey. It is nicely balanced with distinctive notes of fruit, malt and peat which make it wonderfully drinkable (and I don't care what the label says, there is definitely some sherry in there). I'm guessing this is a vatting of the malts that go into Tyrconnell and Connemara. In fact, I think I like it better than the standard issue of either of those malts.

TJ's deserves some kudos for going for a non-traditional flavor profile for their store label Irish Whiskey. I'm guessing they will hear some complaints from people who aren't used to this range of flavor in their Jameson.

For $20, this is a no-brainer. If you live in the vicinity of a Trader Joe's, go get some.

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

Whiskey Wednesday: Irish Time - Connemara

In an ideal world, I wouldn't wait until St. Patrick's Day to write about Irish Whiskey, because anytime is the right time for a good Irish, and most Irish Whiskey consumed on St. Patty's Day is drowned in coffee and cream anyway. But come on, if you're a serious whiskey drinker and it's St. Patrick's Day, you're not going to be pouring yourself a Scotch.

This St. Patrick's Day, I'm excited to try something from the newest and only independent distillery in Ireland: Cooley. Cooley was established in 1987 at a time when the only other Irish Whiskey distilleries (Midleton and Bushmills) were under common ownership, and since that time, it has proved a force for innovation in Irish Whiskey.

Among Cooley's most popular products is Connemara, a peated, single malt whiskey. Yes, you heard me correctly, a peated, single malt Irish Whiskey. You see, Ireland is swimming in peat, but unlike in Scotland, there was no surviving tradition of using peat to make Irish Whiskey. Connemara has set about to change all of that. They currently have three versions of their peated whiskey: one without an age statement ($40), a 12 year old ($85-$90) and a cask strength($55-$60). I tried the no age statement Connemara, which also was the least expensive of the three.

Tasting

Connemara, Peated Single Malt Irish Whiskey, 40% alcohol.

Well, not surprisingly, Connemara tastes very much like a peated, single malt Scotch. Distinctively peaty, though not a monster; it's along the lines of a Caol Ila or less in terms of peating.

As I drink it though, I can't help but think that there is something missing. This is often true of peated whiskies from newer ventures, including McCarthy's Oregon Single Malt and Bruichladdich PC5. These distillers seem to think that, in terms of flavor, peat alone will carry the day, but the peat needs some character, even in heavily peated malts. I'm thinking of the sweetness of some Ardbegs, the intense smoke of Lagavulin or the medicinal qualities of Laphroaig. These whiskies are not just intensely peated, they have a more profound, more developed flavor; sometimes that flavor even intensifies the smokiness, but there is always more than just smoke.

With the Connemara, I kept sniffing and sipping and liking the initial burst of flavor, smoky but smooth, but then missing something, that extra burst of flavor or character that would provide the perfect balance and make this whiskey complete.

I think they are close to having a great whiskey here, but I'd like to see the good people of Cooley continue working it. Still, it makes a fine St. Patrick's Day drink, just don't pour it in your coffee.