Jameson Review

I have a good buddy who is Irish. I don't mean once a year St Paddy's Irish, I mean he was actually born in Belfast. Given his heritage and accent, when we are out it's rather common for someone to get the bright idea we should all drink a round of car bombs. For the uninitiated, a car bomb is an obnoxious drink that starts as half a pint of Guinness in which you drop a shot glass of 50/50 Jameson and Bailey's Irish Cream. The idea being you have to slam the whole thing before the Bailey's starts to curdle. The irony here is it's a completely American concept - if you went to Ireland and asked for one you'd probably get kicked considering the culturally insensitive name. But alas, that's Americans for you so I am intimately familiar with Jameson and yet entirely unfamiliar with it outside of that format.

Irish Whiskey; No Age Statement; 40% ABV

Nose: Pretty flat, some light sweet flavors, raw ethanol alcohol / paint thinner or some other kind of industrial cleaner. There is a little bit of citrus fruit down in there somewhere.

Taste: Again pretty flat and bland. Some malty cereal flavors come through and some more citrus / red fruit. The finish is the best part as there is a touch of honey sweetness and the malty grain flavors get a touch more rich - kind of like honey nut cheerios. There is minimal heat as expected for 80 proof. 

Thoughts: I wasn't expecting much and it didn't overdeliver. For my money, Redbreast is the only Irish Whiskey that's ever worth a second buy. 

Rating: D+

Note that price is not considered when assigning a rating.

Redbreast Cask Strength Review

Not a lot of introduction needed here as this is the cask strength version of the 12 year product that I previously reviewed. The regular product really impressed me with a depth of flavor despite the relatively low 80 proof so it stands to reason that this version should be great. From what I have read, this is a triple distilled malt whiskey that is aged in former Oloroso sherry casks.

Aged 12 years; 57.4% ABV; $75

Nose: Cereal grains, honey, raisins, and a pretty hefty dose of ethanol which should be expected given the proof. 

Taste: Tastes pretty much like the nose. Very intense and rich honey coated raisin bran cereal. There's a hefty dose of oak sweetness as well so the traditional wood sweets are in there too. While the nose breaths a little hot, the palate is very drinkable even at the high proof. The oakiness is a little drying and slightly astringent in the finish if I reach for criticism. 

Thoughts: I absolutely love this stuff. I'll be the first to admit I am a bit of a proof whore which makes this right up my alley. It's not just the proof that does the talking here though - it's the creamy texture, deeply rich grain notes, and sherry cask influence that make this a flavor bomb. If you don't like sweet, rich whiskeys then this isn't for you but it ticks all of the right boxes for me. 

Rating: B+

Note that price is not considered when assigning a rating. 

Redbreast 12 Single Pot Still Review

This is a review I did as part of the community reviews on the worldwhisky subreddit. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Redbreast but don’t have a lot of experience with their products or other Irish Whiskeys for that matter. I have had the Redbreast cask strength though which I loved so I expected the non cask strength version to be pretty good as well. From what I recall, this is a triple distilled malt whiskey that is aged in former Oloroso sherry casks.

 
Aged 12 years; 40% ABV; $55

Nose: Light, sweet, and fruity. It noses a bit dainty which is likely due to the lowish ABV. After some time airing out the fruity notes back off a bit and it ends up something like honey and jam covered toast.

Taste: The taste is surprisingly rich given the aforementioned low ABV. There’s lots going on here, especially on the sweet side with fruity notes being the most dominate. Upfront it starts with a blast of honey and some lighter fruits like apples/pears which transition to darker fruits like prunes and raisins towards the finish. There are some other darker notes in the finish as well like dark chocolate and roasted coffee beans as well as a little light spice.

Thoughts: Great nose, great taste, nice finish. Very easy to drink. I’m very impressed at the amount of flavor this delivers despite what I consider a low proof. My only complaints are that it lacks a lot of wood depth and is slightly unbalanced towards fruity sweet flavors but overall it is a really good whiskey. The sherry casks have imparted a lot of sweet fruity notes so if you don’t like those this one may not be for you.

Rating: B

Value: As always, I don’t factor cost into my ratings but I would have no problem paying retail for this bottle.

Thanks to /u/mfpark for the samples.