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!

Egan's Irish Single Malt

Egan's is a new Irish Whiskey in the U.S. It's a sourced, ten year old single malt. There are only two possible sources of Irish single malt from ten years ago: Bushmill's and Cooley, and Cooley sold a lot more of their whiskey to other bottlers.

Egan's Single Malt, 10 year old, 47% abv ($50)

The nose has grapes and sherry notes. The palate is fruity sweet in a grape soda sort of way with some malt notes at the back. Fruit continues into the finish.

This is a decent, fruity Irish malt. If you're a fan of sweeter, fruity malts, it's worth trying.

Thanks to Josh from The Whiskey Jug for the sample (and see his review of Egan's as well).

Powers John's Lane

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.

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.

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.

March Madness: Knappogue Castle and Kin

It's March, which means one thing in most of the whiskey world:  Irish Whiskey.  Yes, you're allowed to drink Irish all year 'round, but let's face it, March is the one time in the year when non-whiskey people wake up and pay attention to it.

I've always been a fan of Knappogue Castle's Irish single malts, but haven't sampled any of their whiskey since they switched from vintage years to age statements, so I was quite pleased when Castle Brands sent me samples of their entire lineup.

Castle Brands is an independent bottler which also owns the Jefferson's line of bourbons.  Their Irish line includes Clontarf, a blend, as well as the Knappogue Castle single malts.  While they have not disclosed where these whiskeys are distilled, given that the Knappogue Castles are all triple distilled single malts, they are likely from Bushmills.  The only thing they say about Clontarf is that it comes from Dublin, which means it could be a Midleton product (while Midleton Distillery is in Cork, they have a presence in Dublin as well).


Clontarf 1014, 4 years old, 40% abv ($20)

Not part of the Knappogue line, Clontarf is Castle's budget brand.  Clontarf is a blended whiskey aged in bourbon casks.  It is 10% single malt and 90% grain whiskey (both pot and column distilled).

The nose is light with honey and malt, a very typical blended Irish Whiskey nose.  The palate is malty, a tad soapy, then later in the palate develops a nice mustiness and some briny coastal notes that dominate the finish.  I really wasn't expecting much from this, but it's a very nice Irish blend with some complexity, and for $20, a real deal.


Knappogue Castle 12 year old, 40% abv ($42)

This is a single malt aged in bourbon casks. It is "lightly chill filtered" at a higher than usual tempreature and has no coloring added.

The nose is malty and fruity.  Palate is soapy with a bit of pepper.  The finish is mostly peppery with some malt on the nose.  This is not at all bad but a bit on the bland side.  


Knappogue Castle Twin Wood 14 year old, 46% abv ($60)

The 14 year old single malt was distilled in 1998 and bottled in 2012. It includes malt aged in both bourbon and Oloroso sherry casks. The 14 year old is not chill filtered and had no added color.

The nose on this one has some malt but is dominated by chemical notes.  The palate is again a bit soapy with some floral notes.  The finish is floral and perfumy.  Despite the "twin wood" designation, there is very little sherry character on this whiskey.

I wasn't a big fan of this one.  It just didn't come together that well.  


Knappogue Castle Twin Wood 16 year old, 40% abv ($100)

This single malt was distilled in 1995 and bottled in 2012.  It spent 14 years in bourbon casks and 21 months in sherry casks. It is "lightly chill filtered" without added color.

The nose on this one is very nice with fruity malt.  The palate is malty and straight forward with some of that nice pepper going out and into the finish, which also has some salty notes.  Again, there is very little sherry character here.  This is decent enough but not particularly exciting.

Celtic Honey, 30% abv ($22)

Everyone has a flavored whiskey these days, and apparently, Castle Brands is no different. Just for the heck of it, I thought I'd give their Celtic Honey a try.  The nose has marshmallows in honey.  The palate is pure honey.  I mean, it's like drinking a watery honey.  I keep wanting there to be some spice, but I don't get any.  The finish is a bit bitter, like artificial sweetener.  Obviously, this isn't my thing, but I didn't feel this one was particularly good even for a flavored whiskey. 


Overall, I wasn't particularly impressed by the new Knappogue Castle lineup, particularly given that they have put out some really great whiskeys in the past.  The 16 year old was my favorite over the 12, though not by much, and $100 is a bit steep for it.

For a good Irish Whiskey at a very good price, I would recommend the Clontarf.  It's a straightforward blend, but it has some more complex notes, and it's a real bargain.

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.

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.

Single Pot Still Hits the Spot: Green and Yellow Spot Irish Whiskey

Green Spot is a well loved single pot still (formerly known as "pure pot still") Irish Whiskey made by the Midleton Distillery for the Mitchell & Son spirit shop. For years, it and Redbreast were the only single pot still whiskeys available, but unlike Redbreast, Green Spot was only available in Ireland. In its effort to expand its single pot still offerings, Midleton has refurbished and expanded Green Spot and brought back an older offering, Yellow Spot, a 12 year old single pot still, made up of whiskeys aged in a variety of casks, including malaga dessert wine casks from Spain. (While I know that Yellow Spot is an old brand, I couldn't shake the thought that it connotes either a part of the snow that you wouldn't want to eat or something you should call your physician about.)

I've long been a fan of Green Spot, but haven't had it in a while, so I was excited to try it again and compare to the new Yellow Spot. The Spots are not yet available in the US.


Green Spot Irish Whiskey, 40% abv ($55)

I love the Green Spot nose. It's just pure and malty with fresh grass and hay; it's like everything you want Irish Whiskey to be. The palate follows up nicely with those pure malt notes, a bit of sweetness and a slight fruitiness in the late palate. The finish is mostly malty. I've always preferred Green Spot to almost any other Irish, even the acclaimed Redbreast. It just shows so much lovely malt, nicely balanced with some sweetness; straightforward, perhaps, but very well done.


Yellow Spot Irish Whiskey, 12yo, 46% abv ($98)

Surprisingly, the Yellow Spot nose is much lighter than the Green Spot; it has a grainy, almost bourbon like quality to it. The palate is also very grainy with a very alcoholic type flavor. Tasting blind, I think I would guess that it was a single grain whiskey. The initial grainy note then leads to some bitterness and some soapiness, and a bit of sourness which could be the wine influence. Some floral notes emerge in the finish, followed by bitterness. This one is a bit all over the place. The flavors don't come together well, and there are a number of off notes and clashing flavors. It's as if it can't decide if it wants to be grainy or sweet, so it settled on bitter.

For me this comparison was no contest. The pure simplicity of Green Spot easily wins out against the muddled flavor profile of Yellow Spot.



See the LA Whiskey Society reviews of Green Spot and Yellow Spot.

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.

A Week of Drinks Kicks Off with Jameson Black Barrel

I've been spending a lot of time on whiskey minutiae, controversy, legal issues and such so I thought I would take a week and just drink. This week will be all reviews from a variety of whiskeys. We'll start in Ireland

Here's another newish Irish offering. This new Jameson expression was released last year; it is a 12 year old blended whiskey. Why they call it "black barrel" I can't tell you, but per the Jameson website, it has a higher percentage of single pot still whiskey and is composed of whiskey aged in bourbon and sherry casks. Jameson whiskeys are made at the Midleton Distillery.

Jameson Black Barrel, 12 years old, 40% abv ($38)

The nose on this is very nice, rich and malty with some fruit in the background; it's very crisp and clean. I likely would have guessed a single malt based on the nose alone. The palate reveals its blended heritage with some spicy grain notes that play along well with the maltiness, though there is a diluted quality to it. The finish is just a whisper of sweet, fruity malt on the tongue.

This is a well done whiskey and leagues above the standard Jameson. I like the flavors, but this is one where I really wish they had upped the abv. In a whiskey with delicate flavors like this, a high abv can make the difference between something good and something outstanding. In its diluted state, it hints at the great whiskey it could be but just doesn't get all the way there.

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.

Ireland vs. Canada - And the winner is...

Ireland, by a mile. On Monday I proposed a whiskey apocalypse scenario in which you could only drink Irish or Canadian whiskey for the rest of your whiskey drinkin' days. I received answers on the blog and on Twitter, and Ireland was the clear winner with Canada receiving only a few measly votes (Note to Davin de Kergommeaux, you should have voted).

I used Canada and Ireland because, of the major whiskey producing nations, they are the underdogs. They both produce some good stuff but standouts are few and far between and few whiskey aficionados would put either nations' whiskeys at the top of their list. The oversized margin for Ireland may mean that they are closer to the hearts of whiskey lovers, but it may also reflect the fact that in the US, where most of my readership hails from, we don't get much in the way of good Canadian Whisky.

For my part, though, I cast my vote for Canada, and here's why.

Ireland's advantage is diversity. If you chose Ireland, you would have your pick of single malts (both peated and unpeated), blends, pure pot still and even single grain whiskey. What they have in variety, though, they lack in quality. Some of these whiskeys are good, but I'd say I have yet to be blown away by any Irish whiskey; Green Spot is probably my favorite. If I picked Ireland, I worry that I'd spend my days drinking Connemara and wishing it was Lagavulin.

Canada has less diversity. They have one single malt, which I really disliked, and a lot of blends, but recently, we have been seeing Canadian straight ryes that are quite good. Rye Whiskeys like WhistlePig and Masterson's are bold and flavorful, akin to American straight ryes. Now maybe this is cheating a bit because these are American style whiskeys bottled for American companies, but hey, it's my game and these are Canadian Whiskies so I say they count. I guess it comes down to the fact that I'd rather drink a small variety of very good whiskey than a wide variety of mediocre whiskey.

That was fun, I'll come up with some more reader polls for the future; maybe I'll even use the Blogger polling function to make it official. (Wales v. Sweden anyone?)

Reader Poll: Canada vs. Ireland

Okay, here's a game for everyone to play. Let's suppose that, for some reason, all major whiskey production in Kentucky, Scotland and Japan (as well as smaller whiskey producing areas) was wiped out due to...grain shortages, political upheavel, national prohibition, whatever.

In this post-apocalyptic whiskey world, the only countries still producing whiskey are Ireland and Canada. Because of...supply line difficulties, rationing, whatever, you must choose one of those two countries to be the source of all of the whiskey that will be able to drink for the rest of your life.

Assume for the purposes of the game that you will have access to any whiskey produced by that country (that you can afford), even if it's not now available to you, so if you live in the US and pick Ireland, for instance, you can have Green Spot. However, while currently available whiskeys will stay in production, no new products will be forthcoming.

So, Canada or Ireland, which will you choose?

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.

2011: The Year in Whiskey

Last year, I complained that it was a pretty ho hum year in the world of whiskey. Well, I'm happy to report that this year was anything but. So let's review 2011: The Year in Whiskey.

Buffalo Trace. Buffalo Trace was on fire this year. Their Single Oak Project is perhaps the most ambitious project ever undertaken by a distillery. On top of that, they released a new label, E.H. Taylor, with two expressions. As if that wasn't enough, they reinvigorated the A. Smith Bowman distillery with a new line of bourbons and ryes. Pretty amazing output from one distillery, though, with the exception of the Bowmans, much of BT's new whiskey this year was more innovative than tasty. Still, the level of output from Buffalo Trace this year was beyond impressive.

Rye Revolution. The rye expansion continues. There were new ryes everywhere in 2011. Bulleit and Willett brought out LDI ryes, Woodford introduced not one but two as part of their Master's Collection, and Beam announced it would come out with a Knob Creek Rye as well, though it may not be here until 2012. Add to that the Canadian straight ryes listed below, and it goes to show that the rye renaissance is far from over.

Finished American Whiskey. Long a staple of Scotch, wine finishing received some attention from American whiskey this year. The year started with the popular, port finished Angel's Envy and ended with a Cognac finished bourbon from the Parker's Heritage Collection. Given these high profile releases, I'd say we will see more finishing experiments in the future.

Pure Pot Still Power. When there is news from the sleepy world of Irish Whiskey, it usually comes from Cooley, but this year the Midleton Distillery woke us all up with three new pure pot still whiskeys: Midleton, Powers and a cask strength version of Redbreast. It's great to see Midleton playing to the whisky lovers and not just finding new ways to market Jameson.

New Canadians. Canada was also hopping with a 30 year old Alberta Premium, and while we won't get it here, there were a number of American bottlings of Canadian straight rye. Following the lead of last year's WhistlePig, we saw similar ten year old ryes coming from McLain & Kyne (Jefferson's) and the Sebastiani wine group (Masterson's- review coming in the new year). It seems that we're finally getting some good Canadians in the US, though more in the American, straight rye style.

Scotch. The world of blended/vatted Scotch got lots of coverage this year with the highly publicized release of Shackleton's whisky. Meanwhile on Islay, Bruichladdich gave us their first 10 year old from the new ownership, and Kilchoman released an all-Islay whisky which was probably their best to date.

Many of us in California (or within shipping distance) spent our spare time counting our money to figure out how many bottles of K&L's amazing new line of exclusive barrel Scotch we could afford. In one year, K&L gave us a whopping 17 privately bottled single barrels, including two single grains and four offerings from closed distilleries.

More Japanese. Lovers of Japanese single malts have literally been waiting years to get more Japanese Whisky in the US. This year we got the good news that whiskies from Nikka and Suntory's Hakushu distilleries are finally heading for our shores.

I could go on and on. Heck, even those stodgy stalwarts Johnnie Walker and Jack Daniel's came out with new expressions. Let's hope these trends continue and look forward to an exciting 2012!

Whiskey Wednesday: I'd Like to thank the Maltcademy

I'm pretty skeptical of whiskey awards, and I've spent a fair amount of time mocking them, including those put out by Malt Advocate. This year, though, John Hansell just got done announcing the awards on his blog, and I have to say, I was impressed with the awards, both the choice of winners and the thought that went into them. From a whiskey fan's perspective, Malt Advocate's awards ring true. Here's my quick take on the whole list:

Best Buy Whiskey: Tie -Evan Williams and Very Old Barton BIB

I heartily agree that Very Old Barton's six year old 100 proof bottled in bond, which goes for around $13 is one of the best buys in whiskey. Unfortunately, it's only available in the central US, something that Buffalo Trace, which recently bought the Tom Moore distillery that makes Barton, will hopefully change. As to Evan Williams, it's a reasonable enough choice, but not one I've ever been to excited about. For something in the under $15 range, I'd probably opt for Pikesville Rye(also by Heaven Hill, which makes Evan Williams).


Artisan Whisky of the Year: Kilchoman (Summer 2010 Release)

Many are familiar with my skepticism about artisan whiskey, but if you had to pick one, Kilchoman is not a bad choice. The newest Islay distillery is clearly in it for the long haul. While their whisky tastes young, it has some solid qualities. It's definitely one to watch.


American Whiskey of the Year: Buffalo Trace Antique Collection

Okay, I thought this one was a bit of a cop out. First of all, it's naming five whiskeys as whiskey of the year. While the Buffalo Trace Antique Collection is always great, they just don't change that much from year to year. They are certainly always among the best American whiskeys of the year (at least some of them), so that's legit, but I was more interested this year in the Parker's Heritage Collection ten year old wheated Bourbon. Was the Parker's better than this year's BTAC? Well, it was certainly better than some of them, and competitive with the others.


Canadian Whiskey of the Year: Forty Creek Confederation Oak

This is another one I have a quibble with. I have no problem with the whisky itself. By all accounts, it's supposed to be excellent, but I don't know. I haven't tried it because it's not available. In fact, while I've heard rumors about its availability, I have not seen a confirmed sighting of this whisky anywhere in the US. This presents a problem as one of the requirements for winning a Malt Advocate award is that the whisky be available in the United States. So does Forty Creek Confederation Oak qualify? It's possible that they had a very limited release, but as I said, I haven't seen one anywhere, on-line or otherwise. Have you?


Irish Whiskey of the Year: Redbreast 12

This one is interesting in that Redbreast 12, a pure pot still whiskey from the Midleton Distillery, has been available in the US, and often acknowledged as one of the best Irish Whiskeys, for years. This year, though, Midleton released a new pure pot still, Redbreast 15 year old, which had previously had a very limited non-US release only. Giving the award to the old 12 year old could actually be seen as a sort of slap in the face to the new, older version, which was released with much fanfare after years of consumer demand for it.


Scotch Blend of the Year: Compass Box Flaming Heart

This is one I heartily agree with. This stuff is wonderful, a good, solid choice.


Single Malt Scotch of the Year: Glenfarclas 40

I haven't tried this one yet, but it's a classy choice. I'm a Glenfarclas fan, so as soon as I can get a deal on it, I'll grab one. Don't get me wrong, for a 40 year old distillery bottling the going price of $460 is a great deal, but it's still $460.


World Whisky of the Year: Amrut Fusion

This was sort of a no-brainer. There just aren't that many world whiskeys on the market in the US, and Amrut made a big splash this year with their initial release to the US market. Personally, my favorite was the cask strength, unpeated single malt, but most reviewers preferred the Fusion, a blend of their peated and unpeated malts.


Pioneer of the Year: David Perkins and High West

On this one, they really hit out of the park. I've long been a fan of David Perkins and his great rye whiskey. He deserves the pioneer title for a number of reasons. He is one of the only people blending straight American whiskeys from different distilleries the way blenders do it in Scotland. He not only blends ryes but, in his Bourye, he blended rye and Bourbon. He was one of the first to source the great ryes being made at the Lawrenceburg distillery in Indiana and really feature them. And in his spare time, he makes fun stuff like an amazing peach vodka and a barrel aged Manhattan. There was some grousing in the comment section on John Hansell's website that Perkins doesn't distill his own whiskey, but in fact he is now distilling, and while he has only released some new make so far, he isn't rushing the ageing process by using wood chips, small barrels or other ageing parlor tricks. I'll look forward to tasting his whiskey once it's been in the barrel for a bit. This one was a great pick.


Industry Leader of the Year: Glencairn Crystal

What can I say, I own a dozen of these, including my fancy monogrammed ones. They are the thing to drink whiskey with.


Distillery of the Year: Heaven Hill.

This is sort of a funny one. I'm a big fan of Heaven Hill and they have shown some great innovation and put out consistently great whiskey, including the aforementioned Parker's Heritage Collection. There are years when they would have deserved this title, but I'm not sure this year would be the year. Still, it's clear from reading John's commentary that while this is the Distillery of the Year award, this is really more of a lifetime achievement award. Sort of like when the Academy gives the Oscar to an actor or director for a lesser role because they realize they have wrongfully ignored them in the category for a long time, like when Denzel Washington won Best Actor for Training Day instead of Malcolm X or when Scorsese finally got the Oscar for The Departed after they ignored all of his really great movies. On that note, Heaven Hill clearly is worthy, so I'm not complaining.


Nice job to John Hansell and the Malt Advocate staff. Now all they need is an awards show.