Irish Whiskey Week: Redbreast All Sherry

I had planned to avoid the cliched St. Patrick's Day week Irish Whiskey reviews and instead review the best green dye to use for beer, but since I happened to attend an Irish Whiskey tasting with some interesting new bottles, I thought I'd swallow my pride and Irish it up this week.

We start the week with a single cask, Oloroso sherry aged Redbreast single pot still Irish Whiskey bottled exclusively for The Whiskey Exchange. It was distilled in 1999 and has no age statement, but The Whisky Exchange says it is "around 15 years" old. There are 576 bottles of this stuff.

Redbreast All Sherry Single Cask, 59.9% abv ($255)

This is sweet sherry from nose to finish. In fact, it's more sherry than whiskey. The lighter notes of a single pot still just don't stand up to the sherry the way a single malt does. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but whereas the sherry aging on a Glenfarclas or Glendronach presents a synthesis of spirit and wine, this tastes more like amped up sherry. It's somewhat reminiscent of the Navazos Palazzi sherry finished brandy and Spanish grain whiskey with their high power sherry notes.

All of that being said, this is enjoyable stuff, and if you're a fan of sherry (as opposed to sherried malts), you will undoubtedly love it, and it's probably worth your time.  If you're looking for the flavor of single pot still whiskey however, you may want to stick with the more traditional Redbreast expressions.

An Older Irish: Redbreast 21

For years, Redbreast 12 year old was the only whiskey in the Redbreast line of pure pot still Irish Whiskeys from the MIdleton Distillery.  In recent years, though, they have been expanding the line, first with a 15 year old, then a cask strength version of the 12 year old and now, a 21 year old. 


Redbreast 21, 46% abv  ($180)

The nose is very light with grassy notes.  The palate is grassy and malty with a slight sweetness.  The finish is malty with some sweet wine and light  fruit juice notes.

I tried this side by side with the only other Redbreast expression I had on hand, the 12 year casks strength. Compared to the 12 year old cask strength, the 21 year old had some added complexity, mostly showing on the late palate and finish.  There was the touch of sweetness and a bit more depth to the maltiness which enhances it.

That being said, I've never been a huge fan of the Redbreast line.  While this is a good whiskey and probably the best of the Redbreast expressions, I wouldn't call it a great whiskey.

Spoiler Alert: Fall Whiskeys Revealed

Fall is the big whiskey season when all the special release whiskeys come out, but because of the TTB label approval process, we get a preview of them in spring and summer.  Here are some of what awaits us this fall (other than Zachory Boone):

• Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch.  Last years Four Roses Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon was one of the best bourbons of the year.  This year's will be composed of 18 year old OBSV, 13 year old OBSK and 13 year old OESK, the same recipes in last year's edition but at different ages.
• Woodford Reserve Master's Collection.  It looks like this year's Woodford Master's Collection will be a repeat of the Woodford Rye Whiskey experiment of two years ago, except with barley malt.  There will be a single malt whiskey aged in used barrels in the Scotch style and a straight malt with corn as a secondary grain aged in new charred oak in the American style.
• Masterson's.  35 Maple, the bottler of Masterson's Rye will be importing a 12 year old straight wheat whiskey and a ten year old straight barley whiskey from Canada.
• Redbreast 21.  A 21 year old version of Redbreast Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey.

Stay tuned for more new releases as I find them.

Finally Getting my Irish on: Redbreast Cask Strength

Well, now that St. Patrick's Day is firmly behind us, I guess I can safely enjoy some Irish Whiskey; Redbreast is the most highly regarded Irish Whiskey among whiskey folks. A pure pot still whiskey from the Midleton Distillery (makers of Jameson), Redbreast was only available in a 12 year old expression for years. Then came a 15 year old and now, the newest in the line, a cask strength version of the 12 year old. The Redbreast Cask Strength was one of the most talked about releases of last year and won all kinds of plaudits, though it is only just now arriving in the U.S.

I must admit that I have never been on the Redbreast bandwagon. It's not objectionable in any way, and I like it just fine, but I've never found anything particularly exciting about Redbreast. Its flavors tend to be fairly bland and I always find it to have too much in the way of pure alcohol notes. Sometimes cask strength can really improve a whiskey that's boring at low proof by bringing out and clarifying flavors (I find this to be the case for a lot of Lowland Scotches) but sometimes the higher strength only exacerbates problems. Let's see how it goes with Redbreast.


Redbreast Cask Strength, 12 years old, 57.7% abv ($65) [Batch B1/11]

The nose is really...Irish. It opens with that sort of muted grain that's familiar from all those Midleton whiskeys. If you keep sniffing, you start to get maltier notes and even some brine. On the palate, it opens with similar grainy notes which yield to a really floral profile, like a meadow full of wildflowers, and those notes follow into the finish. There are also some bitter notes and some pure alcohol notes. Water brings out a bit of acid.

Well, if you are one of those folks who loves Redbreast, you will love this more, but the overall flavor profile is about the same as the regular Redbreast. For my part, I think that like regular Redbreast, the cask strength version is perfectly good but in no way great. Of course, I know I'm in the distinct minority on this (as with just about everything it seems) but I just don't find this whiskey that substantial in terms of flavor, and in the end, it doesn't seem to add much to regular Redbreast other than more alcohol.

Whiskey Wednesday: In the Red -- Redbreast

Redbreast is that most Irish of whiskies: pure pot still and triple distilled at Midleton, the home of Jameson. Aged 12 years, it's part of the new wave of Irish whiskies which do all they can to belie the reputation of Irish whiskies as lacking in serious flavor and worthy of being dumped in coffee.

The aroma of Redbreast is floral and perfumey...it is definitely Irish and isn't trying to hide its character. The taste is distinctively malty, but with some lightness to it. You could mistake if for a Scotch, either a very good blend or a smooth Lowlander, if tasting it blind.

This is the first time I've ventured outside the big names of Irish Whiskey, and it's very promising. I will continue to delve into the emerald isle...and maybe I'll even do it during one of the other eleven months of the year.

Redbreast is available at most good liquor stores for around $40. They make a 15 year old which is supposed to be fabulous but which is not available in the US for now.