The current version of the standard Green Spot does nothing for me, but the Yellow and Red are pretty decent, at an indecent price. Gold Spot sold for less than Yellow, Blue, and Red, while also possessing an elevated ABV, which is potentially good news, but note the past tense of "sold" from the beginning of this sentence. Because the whiskey is "limited" and everyone is trying to wring every desperate penny out of every whisk(e)y bottle, most of the American retailers on WineSearcher have doubled or tripled the SRP on Gold Spot.
I don't know, y'all. Down the hatch!
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| pic pilfered from a hacker of drinks |
Brand: Spot
Spot Color: Gold
Style: Single Pot Still
Country: Ireland
Distillery: Midleton
Owner: Pernod Ricard
Age: at least 9 years
Maturation: a mix of bourbon, port, sherry, and Bordeaux casks
Bottling year: 2022
Alcohol by Volume: 51.4%
Chillfiltered? No
Colored? Probably
(from a bottle split)
NEAT
As anticipated (see the above list of casks), there's a lot of nose traffic. In one lane there's saline, chalk, kirsch, wet grass, and something vaguely smoky. Next lane over: unripe banana and hints of perfume and steel wool. Then, of all things, hot cotton candy waits in the turning lane. Less crowding in the palate. Pineapple, lime, and cardamom arrive first. Then some dingy fun pot still youth, wrapped up in burlap. And then there's the hot cotton candy again. It's in the finish as well, along with oak spice and sweet citrus.
DILUTED to 46%abv, or ¾ tsp of water per 30mL whiskey
Desserts everywhere! Banana pudding, Rolos candies, and circus peanuts in the nose's foreground. Saline and toasted oak in the background. Toasted oak encircles butterscotch, sweet apples, and pineapples in the palate, with hints of burlap and bitter oak. The circus peanuts return in the finish, hovering over orange peels and burlap.
WORDS WORDS WORDS
I'm not sure all the parts come together in this one, though thankfully all those seasoned casks couldn't kill off the pot still spirit. The whiskey is too sugary and oaky when diluted, but it works at full strength because the fruits provide a foothold. As odd as the cotton candy notes may sound, they were kinda fun; much better than the circus peanuts. It really is a dessert drink, one I'd choose over the Green and Blue Spots, but certainly not at its price point.
Availability - US, UK, and (maybe) Ireland
Pricing - all over the place: $130-$300
Rating - 83 (neat)
