Irish whiskey | What Does John Know?

February 5th, 2010

Malt Advocate Whisky Awards “Irish Whiskey of the Year”: Jameson Rarest Vintage Reserve (2009 release)

John Hansell

Irish Whiskey of the Year

Jameson Rarest Vintage Reserve (2009 release), 46%, $250

The Midleton Distillery, where Jameson is made, has proven that it can make wonderful whiskeys of great diversity. Jameson Gold, Jameson 18 year old, Redbreast 12 year old, and Power’s 12 year old are just a few of them.

Late in 2007, the distillery introduced Jameson Rarest Vintage Reserve (which didn’t get into circulation in the U.S. until 2008). The combination of aging some whiskey in port casks, including some older whiskeys (over 20 years old), and bottling—without chill-filtering—at 46% ABV has helped make Jameson Rarest Vintage Reserve rich, deep, and complex.

A 2009 vintage was released toward the end of the 2009 calendar year. (The 2008 vintage was never brought into the U.S.) How does it stack up to the 2007 release, our award winner last year? I like the 2009 vintage even better! If anything, it’s richer and lusher than the 2007 vintage.

It’s rich, silky, and oily in texture. You’ll discover extremely well-integrated flavors loaded with fruits, ripe berries, caramelized banana, nougat, date nut bread, glazed tangerine, and maple syrup, peppered with warming cinnamon, vanilla icing, and nutmeg. A firm, dry, resinous finish balances the sweetness. I love the pot still character and the lushness that some of the port-wood aging has imparted. This is another classic Jameson Rarest Vintage Reserve.

Tomorrow’s Malt Advocate Whisky Award annoucement: Scotch Whisky Blend of the Year.

Category: Awards, Irish whiskey, Malt Advocate Mag, Reviews, competitions Tags: Jameson 28 Comments

January 13th, 2010

New: Knappogue Castle 1994 Vintage Irish Whiskey

John Hansell

There’s a new Knappogue Castle Irish Whiskey hitting the shelves. This one is a 1994 vintage and it’s limited to 1,000 individually numbered, hand-signed bottles (by President Mark Andrews). Price: $100.

Interestingly, the back label says the whiskey is triple-distilled. Knappogue Castle bottles have historically come from either Cooley or Bushmills. If it is indeed triple-distilled, it would mean the latter, as Cooley whiskeys are double-distilled.

I was just doing some more digging. A 15 year old was released in the fall of 2008, and that one was from Cooley, as it consisted of whiskeys from the “Cooley” era (1990-1992 vintage releases). You can see my review of it here. That one cost $100 too.

This new one, being a 1994 vintage, would put it smack in the middle of the Bushmills era (1993-1995 vintage releases), confirming the back label’s assertion that it is triple-distilled. You can see my “secret decoder ring” post on Knappogue Castle whiskey here. Apparently, they held some of the Bushmills whiskey back for additional aging, just like they did with the Cooley whiskeys for the 15 year old bottling.

I will be getting a review sample. I’ll let you know my thoughts.

Category: Irish whiskey, New Releases Tags: Knappogue Castle 16 Comments

December 1st, 2009

Irish whiskey news on Jameson, Redbreast, Powers and Paddy

John Hansell

I have brief updates and clarifications on all four brands, particularly as they pertain to the U.S.

Jameson Rarest Vintage Reserve

There have been three releases now of the Jameson Rarest Vintage Reserve (2007, 2008, and 2009). The 2009 is now getting into circulation. What are the differences between the three? Well, I haven’t (yet) had the privilege to taste all three vintages side-by-side, but I did get the scoop on the differences between the vintages from the U.S. Senior Brand Manager for Jameson. Here’s what she had to say:

The first 3 editions of JRVR (‘07,’08,’09) were based on Port cask inclusion and are essentially the same. However, they are not all from one vatting. Each year, the product is bottled from a new vatting. Therefore, in some cases, some barrels included may vary slightly from the previous year.

The initial bottling in 2007 was a vatting taken from three individual parcels of casks.

The 2008 offering came from the same three parcels, therefore the final product was similar in style but effectively matured one year longer.

The 2009 offering used casks from two of the original parcels plus some casks which were one year younger than the original.

It is the case that each year’s vintage will be slightly different although based on a consistent JRVR style.

So, I think her concluding sentence is the most important one.

Powers

Power’s 12 year old–a whiskey which I have been enjoying now for nearly a decade–is FINALLY coming to the United States in February. I love the pot still character of Powers, and the 12 year old expression is quite stunning.

Paddy

A very small amount of Paddy will be imported to the United States to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day for 2010.

Redbreast

Some more cool news. Redbreast 15 year old, which was only released once (and in very limited quantities) in Europe, will be imported to the United States in the fall of 2010!

Category: Irish whiskey, New Releases Tags: Jameson, Paddy, Powers, Redbreast 14 Comments

November 17th, 2009

Whisky. The Wall Street Journal. This Friday!

John Hansell

You would think I have enough to keep me busy with Malt Advocate, WhiskyFest, WDJK, Twitter, etc. Well, I do occasionally take on some freelance assignment.

As you know, I recently participated in the History Channel show on “Whiskey”, which just ran again this past Saturday. Well, this Friday (November 20th) I have a 2,000 word whiskey section going in The Wall Street Journal.

The special whiskey section covers some of the fundamentals (how whiskey is made, what distinguishes one country’s whiskey from the next, appreciating whiskey, etc.). I also address many new trends in whiskey (designer whiskies, artisanal distilling, extreme peating, no age statements, etc).

We even reached out to master mixologist Gary Regan and he added a great cocktail piece to the section, which includes a few really nice cocktail recipes.

Pick up a copy if you can this Friday.

Category: Bourbon, Canadian whisky, European whiskies, Irish whiskey, Media, Rye whiskey, Scotch whisky, Tennessee whiskey 5 Comments

November 13th, 2009

“Whiskey” show on the History Channel: Tomorrow!

John Hansell

For those of you who still have not seen this very informative show, it is running again tomorrow, Saturday, November 14th, at 7 pm on the History Channel’s “Modern Marvels” series.

There are some great distillery tours and interviews, along with some interesting historical discussions about whiskey. And yes, I am peppered throughout the show as the “independent expert”.

Be sure to watch it (or DVR it) if you haven’t seen it yet. I pasted the summary paragraph on the show from the History Channel’s website below.

Modern Marvels “Whiskey” :
Known to Irish monks as “water of life”, visit some of the world’s finest distilleries to see how each country brews this thousand-year old spirit. Jack Daniels tells the secret of charcoal filtering, Jim Beam shows its premium bourbons and the art of blending is revealed at Canadian Club Whiskey. Cross the Atlantic to get the real deal at Jameson’s Distillery in Midleton, Ireland and in Scotland discover what gives Glenlivet its character. Meet some of the people who are lucky enough to sample whiskey for a living. Cheers!

Category: Bourbon, Canadian whisky, Distillery Tours, Irish whiskey, Media, Microdistilleries, Scotch whisky, Tennessee whiskey Tags: The History Channel 8 Comments

November 1st, 2009

Review: Tullamore Dew Single Malt 10 yr. Old

John Hansell

I first wrote about this new debut here back in August. Only 400 case for the U.S. in 2009. My formal review follows.

Tullamore Dew, 10 year old, 40%, $40
Tullamore Dew’s first single malt offering. A nice effort, too. Very much a different profile when compared to the rest of the Tullamore Dew line. Aged in bourbon, sherry, madiera and port casks. Vanilla-tinged malt, powdered sugar, light toffee, toasted marshmallow, with lush—yet contained—fruit (fruitcake, golden raisin, apricot in syrup). A firm, dry oak finish keeps all the sweetness and fruit in check.

Advanced Malt Advocate magazine rating: 87

Category: Irish whiskey, New Releases, Reviews Tags: Tullamore Dew 11 Comments

October 23rd, 2009

New Release: Kilbeggan Distillery Spirit

John Hansell

Just got this in and am heading for the airport but wanted to post this up before I left.

The Spirit of Kilbeggan
The limited release of Spirit from the refurbished pot stills in the Old Kilbeggan Distillery

Cooley Distillery, Ireland’s only independent whiskey distillery, has released a limited bottling of the new Spirit distilled by the 19th century refurbished still in operation in the Old Kilbeggan Distillery in County Westmeath.

The Old Kilbeggan Distillery is the oldest distillery in the world and to mark its 250th anniversary, a pot still from the 19th century was refurbished and distilling recommenced on the 19th of March 2007. This is the oldest pot still in use in the world and will revive a traditional age old style of distillation not seen in Ireland for many years. Earlier this year a second pot still, handcrafted by Forsyth’s Copper Smiths of Scotland to match the original still, was commissioned. The full distillation process is now on show to the public in the Old Kilbeggan Distillery.

There is significant consumer interest in the distillery and in the nature of the new Spirit produced by the ancient pot still. To satisfy this interest and whet the appetite for the launch of mature whiskey in mid 2010, Cooley has released this limited bottling of aged Spirit distilled in Kilbeggan. Cooley has bottled 3,000 small six centilitre bottles of Spirit, each matured for one month as well as another limited bottling of 1,000 packs of three by six centilitre bottles containing Spirit aged for one month, one year and two years, which will enable consumers to sample the maturing Spirit.

Jack Teeling, Sales & Marketing Director for Cooley Distillery commented, “For over 50 years the pot stills in Kilbeggan were cold until distilling recommenced in 2007. Since then there has been keen interest and intrigue in what style of whiskey the ancient pot still will produce. This limited release of the Spirit of Kilbeggan offers consumers a chance to anticipate the outcome.”

This limited edition bottling is exclusively available through the Visitor Centre Whiskey Shop in Kilbeggan and the Celtic Whiskey Shop on Dawson Street, Dublin 2 (www.celticwhiskeyshop.com).