Teeling 24 year old Vintage Reserve Irish Single Malt (bottled 2016)

Compared to the rest of whiskydom, I've never been too excited about Cooley distillery's output, nor do I find Bourdeaux's Sauternes to be a particularly thrilling match for whisky. But (SPOILER ALERT) this whiskey screwed all of that right up. I was informed that I had to try this, I tried it, and I am glad I did.

Distillery: Cooley

Bottler: Teeling

Series: Vintage Reserve
Country: Ireland
Style: Single Malt Whiskey
Age: at least 24 years (though no vintage for the Vintage Reserve?)

Bottling date: August 2016
Maturation: Bourbon casks and Sauternes casks

Outturn: 5,000 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 46%
(thank you to Secret Agent Man for sharing!)

NOTES

Mangoes and peaches and mangoes and peaches and mangoes and peaches on the nose. Cherry lollipops, grapefruit and yuzu fill in the midground. A balance of industry, farm, mint and cucumber hold the background.

Here comes the palate's list. Lychee, loquat, mango, roses and honey. Something sturdy, earthy and herbal keeps it from getting much too pretty. After 30ish minutes, the mango and flowers subside and are replaced by Cara Cara oranges.

Sweet mangoes meet tart yuzu and lime in the finish. That slight earthy notes gives it some balance, even when the Cara Caras roll in.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

You may note the paucity of verbiage in this review, compared to that of Monday's Springbank. I tried the two whiskies side-by-side, gradually getting lost in this Teeling, while becoming more critical of the Springbank. The Springbank was indeed good. This Teeling is awesome. The palate and finish are merely great, while the nose remains stunning for well over an hour in the glass.

There is a through line between this and TWE's 26yo Green Spot, the fruit, the flowers, the hint of something darker, the casks that I didn't think would work. Though both of these lovely Irish whiskies are out of my price range, I do appreciate their existence.

Availability - It's still around?!
Pricing - all over the place, from $400 to $1000
Rating - 91

NOT Single Malt Report: Concannon Blended Irish Whiskey

This report is kind of a bummer for me write.  I really wanted to support this stuff.  It's inexpensive, $20.  It has a good story -- the Concannon family moved to the US from Ireland and as immigrants in 1865 established a vineyard that still runs today.  And it is finished in their own petite sirah barrels.  I love me some petite sirah (petite syrah, petit syrah, petit sirah, et cetera), so I was hoping this might turn into something interesting.  So purchased it blindly.

The first few glasses from the bottle weren't bad.  In fact I liked them better than Cooley's Trader Joe's single malt.  I couldn't find the wine notes in the whiskey, but something (the corn?) was definitely keeping the issues I usually have with Cooley in check.  Then, by the time the fill level dropped to near mid-bottle (two months later) something started going wrong inside the bottle.  Once I got to the last third, it was bitter and unpalatable.

The shift was likely due to two factors.  This whiskey doesn't take to oxygen that well in a Glencairn glass, so the oxidation inside the bottle definitely did it no favors.  I also kept the bottle out in our dining room.  That's where I often put our house whiskies, the Tier 3s.  The dining room is the warmest spot in the condo, so the bottle spent some time in 80-85 degree heat on some days.

In any case, the last third of the bottle went down the sink.  But before things went too terribly in the bottle, I archived a sample to review.  So this report comes from somewhere around the bottle's halfway mark.

Company: Concannon
Distillery: Cooley (owned by Beam Inc.)
Country: Ireland
Style: Blended whiskey (malt and corn)
Maturation: four years in "small" ex-bourbon barrels, four months in petite sirah casks; and though it's an American company, the maturation took place in Ireland
Alcohol by Volume: 40%

NEAT
Since the color is a light gold, I'm thinking/hoping the colorant is kept to a minimum.  Anise and rubber are the primary notes on the nose.  Secondary notes include blackberry jam, nail polish remover, toasted grains, and caramel.  After some air, the whiskey starts to take on some very different characteristics like coconut lotion, plastic bottle, and horseradish.  The palate is very Cooley, but grainier, rougher, and hotter.  Notes of cardboard cereal box, burnt plastic, and generic vanilla arrive first.  It's very thin and watery.  Give the whiskey ten minutes in the in the glass and the dull thud of bland spirit takes center stage.  The finish is mostly heat.  There's a burnt thing going on, cardboard, fresh red grapes, and mild bitterness.

WITH WATER
The nose gets less synthetic once water's added.  The toasted grains and anise are still there.  But so is the nail polish remover, in the background.  A generic citrus note develops as well.  Lots of vanilla in the palate.  It's malty too.  But then something really wrong enters the picture and it makes me want to stop drinking.  I'm thinking it's the big bland spirit issue.  The finish is brief, spirity, and bitter.

I didn't finish my 1 ounce sample.  The whiskey was just going downhill too quickly for me to continue.

It's better neat.  The nose, though odd, isn't terrible.  The palate and finish indeed register as a cheap mild blend.  But I seriously do not recommend adding water.  With too many earthly elements reacting with the whiskey, it turns bad.

And keep in mind, I separated this sample before the whiskey got even worse in the bottle.  BUT, I'm giving the whiskey an extra half-star (or 5 or 6 points) in the rating because I know it had better days earlier in its life.  But I tell you this, if you open your Concannon Irish Whiskey bottle and like the stuff, you'd better not waste too much time getting to the bottom of the bottle.  If you open the bottle and don't like it from the start, I'm pretty sure it isn't going to get any better.

For a pair of more positive reviews see here and here.

Availability - many US specialty liquor retailers

Pricing - $15 to $25

Rating - 69  (ranging from 75 to 63 during the life of the bottle)

Single Malt Report: Connemara Turf Mor

Today's Cooley malt is the peatiest of their peated brand, Connemara Turf Mor.  Here's the Turf Mor (Gaelic for Big Peat) description per the Liquid Irish blog:

...a few years ago Cooley had trouble sourcing its usual amount of 20ppm peated malt from Scotland (malt made in Ireland is not peated). To keep the stills going, they bought a higher 58ppm malt and mixed it with the unpeated variety to moderate the intensity. 

As an experiment, however, they distilled some of the highly-peated malt on its own and that is what has appeared today as Connemara Turf Mór.

Liquid Irish's source of this information appears to be Brian Quinn, the Kilbeggan Distillery (also owned by Beam) manager, so I'll go with that tale.

As mentioned yesterday, my palate does not take to Cooley's malt at all.  So the thought of strong peating and wine finishes on their malt actually does give me some hope going in, hoping that "the Cooley thing" is covered up by other elements.  I found the regular Connemara Cask Strength to be very hot, woody, smoky, and well, that's it.  I was hoping this Small Batch edition of Connemara would bring about a better, more interesting experience.

Brand: Connemara (peated single malt)
Distillery: Cooley (owned by Beam Inc.)
Country: Ireland
Style: Single Malt Whiskey
Age: around 3 years (2010 edition)
Maturation: probably ex-bourbon casks; its URL says "sherry finish", though I haven't read any mention of this otherwise
Alcohol by Volume: 58.2%
PPM: 58

I bought my 30mL sample from whiskysamples, a reliable European sample shop which is currently undergoing a website transition.

NEAT
The color is amber.  The nose's strongest scent is that of new sneakers.  It permeates everything else.  Alongside there are rye-like spices, cinnamon rock candy, damp moss, black licorice, fresh apricots, and unripened peaches.  And lots of hot ethyl.  On the palate, I find a note that's like burnt hay meets brown sugar syrup.  The sneakers and moss show up here, along with something green (like live grains and grass), and "the Cooley thing" (aka vanilla-coated stale sugary breakfast cereal dunked in white vinegar).  It finishes sweetly.  Lots of vanilla beans as well as the Cooley thing.  The peat becomes very Lagavulin-ish with time.  The smoke isn't as heavy as I'd expected but it lasts the longest.

WITH WATER
"Black licorice farts and a lot of them" (as per my notes) on the nose and "floral perfume trying to cover it up".  Balsamic vinegar reduction, a little turpentine, sugar cookies, and clementines.  Oh, and dog hair.  The palate flattens and blands out.  Bitter peat, generic vanilla, and a slight tang.  But then it finishes very sweetly.  There's a little malt mixing with peat ashes.  Then a weird vinegar tang that gets sourer after time.

My final note from this tasting: "WTF is going on with this whiskey?"

With water, the nose gets very odd and inconsistent, burping up clashing odors every few seconds.  The hydrated palate goes nowhere, but then the finish picks back up in its oddities.  The neat nose is a weirdo too, but easier to take and occasionally matches the palate.  It's quite hot while neat, but with the water it's just strange.  This could be a symptom of its youth.

There are definitely many characteristics pouring forth from this whiskey, and I can imagine it seemed kinda fun when the Cooley folks nosed the cask.  But the total package is totally off kilter.  I don't know why they were in such a rush to release a barely legal whiskey.  A few more years in a good cask wouldn't have hurt.  This could have been fun as an 8 year old, so I hope they held onto a few casks of the big peatin'.

Serge thinks it's "a curiosity" worth 79 points and Fuji of LAWS wasn't crazy about the stuff; meanwhile John Hansell thinks it vibrant and distinctive, Coopered Tot likes it a bit, and Murray loved it (natch).  I do think it's more interesting than the regular Cask Strength, but have my doubts that it makes for a better drinking experience.  It makes me think that Connemara has many miles to go before it can compete with its Beam brethren, Laphroaig and Ardmore.

Availability - Canada and Europe

Pricing - $90 to $120 (minus VAT, plus shipping)

Rating - 74

Single Malt Report: Tyrconnell 10 year old Madeira Finish (a re-taste)

I used to feel a little guilty regarding my feelings about Cooley Distillery's malt whiskey.  For almost twenty-five years, Cooley was the lone representative of independently distilled Irish Whiskey.  In addition to their own brands (Connemara, Tyrconnell, and Kilbeggan) they supplied stock to at least a dozen different (even smaller) indie bottlers in Ireland.  On top of that, they even released some single casks to the Scottish independent bottlers, like AD Rattray, Cadenhead, and Adelphi.  It was Cooley alone against the mechanized whiskey factory that is Midleton.

But I REALLY (*eyebrows lifting dramatically on "REALLY"*) do not like Cooley's malt whiskey.  There's a specific thing going on with it that really turns off my palate.  In my tasting notes I usually refer to it as "the Cooley thing" or "the Cooley character".  It has taken me a year and a half to figure out how to describe it.  It's sort of like vanilla-coated stale sugary breakfast cereal dunked in white vinegar.  That's the closest I can get to capturing it.  And it is specific to their malt; it's not in their Greenore single grain.

My guilt was lifted last year when Beam Inc. bought Cooley from the Teeling family.  Now it is just another conglomerate-owned Irish distillery.  As soon as the ink dried on the sale, Beam decided to let all of their contracts with third party bottlers expire.  That means no more whiskey gets supplied to the much smaller companies.  As a supporter of small businesses, I should be joining with the rest of the mourners and declare that this is a damned shame.  But I REALLY do not like Cooley's malt, so it's difficult for me to get worked up about this in actuality.

I have tried twelve different Cooley-distilled whiskies in all sorts of formats: at pubs, official tastings, purchased samples, traded samples, and via my own bottles.  I'd like to think I've given their whiskies plenty of opportunities and have even been a little generous in my ratings.  But, unless I find something of theirs that's especially delicious and devoid of "the Cooley thing", I'm done.

Before tasting this week's lineup, I'd had positive thoughts about the Knappouge Castle 12 year old (with some bottle bottom oxidation), a Greenore Single Grain single cask, and the Tyrconnell 10 year old Madeira Finish.  The last of those originally received a booming four stars when I tried it 21 months ago.  With a wealth(?) of Cooleys consumed since then, I was ready to give it another try.  On the surface, it comes with two big negatives: 1.) Cooley malt; 2.) a sweet wine finish.  But maybe it's just crazy enough to work.

Brand: Tyrconnell (unpeated single malt)
Distillery: Cooley (owned by Beam Inc.)
Country: Ireland
Style: Single Malt Whiskey
Age: minimum 10 years
Maturation: ex-bourbon barrels, then former Madeira wine casks
Alcohol by Volume: 46%

I received a generous sample of this whisky from Florin who was impressed with it at first but then less so later.  Another round of thank yous to him for the whiskey!  I had been considering buying a whole bottle for myself.  Did he save me from whiskey tragedy?

NEAT
The color is a very orange-tinted gold.  It's possible this is its natural color, gaining hues from the wine cask.  The nose begins with strawberry preserves, warm nectarines, orange marmalade, and peach schnapps. Warmed dessert wine and sugar cane show up next.  In the far background rumbles the Cooley malt.  The perfumed palate holds flower kiss candy, blackberry and boysenberry jam, and lychee.  Vanilla and milk chocolate notes develop with some time.  It's a combo of sweet and tart along with a buzz of heat.  The blackberry and boysenberry jams stick around for the extensive finish.  Orange Tang and Pixie Stix cover the tongue.  The milk chocolate registers with more subtlety.  An odd fruit tone shows up sometimes; maybe bitter or underripe fruit?

WITH WATER
Stinky cheese jumps into the nose first.  Then some milder cheeses, along with the aforementioned fruit preserves.  After that eases off, it's much similar to the neat nose, but mellower.  Maybe some orange rind and tart lemons.  The jams kick back in on the palate, followed by vague citrus and vanilla pudding notes.  It's very creamy with that Cooley thing keeping its distance.  Intense sugary sweetness on the finish.

---

This still holds its charms as a dessert drink.  But is it whiskey?  Technically, yes, but the malt only makes brief cameos.  Due to my feelings about the malt's quality, I wasn't terribly disappointed it remained evasive.  On the other hand, it is intensely sweet like a flavored whiskey rather than a finished one.  Thus in a blind tasting, one might guess it's a liqueur.

While it doesn't feel, smell, or taste like whiskey (to me), I do still like it, especially the jam and fruit notes.  I just don't love it the way I used to, nor at the level John Hansell does.  So, yes, Florin saved me some whisk(e)y coin.

I would recommend this whiskey to someone who isn't big on single malts but does have a sweet tooth, as the sugar is very aggressive.  Some of us just can't take the sweeties as much as we used to.

Availability - Many specialty retailers worldwide

Pricing - $75 to $100 (really unfortunate)

Rating - 81

NOT Single Malt Report: Greenore 10 year old (cask #87, Belgium release) Irish Single Grain Whiskey

Let's keep the Irish whiskey flowing.

From whiskysamples, I was able to get my mittens on a 30mL dram of this enjoyable curio: Greenore 10 year old Irish single grain whiskey.  It's a single cask (#87) cask strength (52.9% ABV) whiskey released in Belgium two years ago.

Distilled at Cooley Distillery, Greenore is currently the only Irish single grain whiskey on the market.  The mash bill is almost entirely corn with a tiny bit of malted barley thrown in for the enzymes needed for sugar conversion before the Coffey still distillation begins.  They age Greenore in first-fill bourbon barrels, which not only makes sense in theory, but also in practice since its soft sweet character would be demolished by wine casks.

The Greenore brand is named after a long silenced (possibly before Alfred Barnard toured the area in the 1880s) Irish distillery of that same name.  Cooley regularly releases an 8 year and 18 year old Greenore, though the 18 is limited to 4000 bottles per batch.  There used to be a 15 year old limited release that had been well received, and it appears as if the 18 has now replaced it.  There's a 6 year old Greenore in Sweden and a 19 year cask strengther released only at duty free in Dublin Airport (about 300 bottles worth).  Milroy's of Soho put out a 16 year old single cask (#12441) a few years back as well.  And then there's this one:

Brand: Greenore
Style: Single Grain Whiskey
Distillery: Cooley (owned by Beam Inc.)
Country: Ireland
Age: 10 years (Sept 2000 - March 2011)
Mashbill: Mostly corn (maize) with a little malted barley
Maturation: first fill ex-bourbon barrel
Cask: 87
Alcohol by Volume: 52.9%
Limited Release: Belgium

As you can see from the above pic of the sample (not the bottle pic), the color is a very light amber.  The nose is soft as cotton.  Takes a few moments before it awakens.  First, there's pound cake, then caramel sauce.  Bubble Tape bubblegum and a little bit of barrel char comes next.  There is a weird boiled cabbage / brussels sprouts note that forms after a half hour, but it stays in the background.  Throughout though, current-day Frosted Flakes stays in the fore.  There's, of course, a lot of corn in the palate, in corn syrup and popcorn form.  Then there's Cool Whip on vanilla ice cream and confectioner's sugar.  The higher ABV which didn't show in the nose, stays reserved on the tongue but does seem to pick up strength with time.  And though the palate really isn't as insanely sweet as these notes all read, it does get more sugary with oxidation.  The Bubble Tape note comes back in the finish, as does the vanilla ice cream though this time it is topped with Rolos candies.

Wow, reading over these notes on the morning after the tasting, I'm suddenly realizing how many big brand names I've cited as sensory references.  Bubble Tape, Frosted Flakes, Cool Whip, and Rolos.  Clearly this whiskey is a sweetie, but the characteristics were very specific.  I guess one could also note that those four common sweets are all loaded with corn syrup......*lightbulb*......and Greenore is corn whiskey.

It's not as sweet as American corn whiskey.  And it's much quieter and subtler than straight bourbon.  Plus the cask strength ABV is hushed.  It's a very easy drinker, not much going on with it at first, though with some time it does brighten up.  If any of y'all have tried the regular Greenores please let me know what you think of them!

Availability - Belgium only, though samples are available here
Pricing - $60-$70 (without shipping)
Rating - 81

Single Malt Report: Trader Joe's Irish Single Malt

When we lived in Maryland, I was disappointed to discover that their Trader Joe's (TJ's) grocers were not allowed to sell alcohol.  It was difficult to describe to Marylanders how agreeable TJ's booze pricing can be.  And I am not talking about Two Buck Chuck.  That doesn't count.

Now I'm back in Cali.  And TJ's now has a well-chosen selection of whiskies -- Dalwhinnie 15, Balvenie Doublewood, Glenfiddich 12 & 15, Macallan 10 Fine Oak, Laphroaig 10, etc.  They also have their own label of Scotch whisky, though the quality of those have been mixed at best.

This year, much to my (and many others') surprise, a Trader Joe's Irish Single Malt suddenly appeared on the shelves.  Somehow TJ's had successfully contracted with Cooley Distillery to bottle some of their 4-year-old juice under the store's label.  At a price of $19.99.

New whisky at that price is difficult to pass up.  In LA, $19.99 is less than two glasses of mid-shelf booze at a bar.  For a whole bottle of something new, an IRISH single malt no less...

It's half full!

Label: Trader Joes

Distillery: Cooley
Type: Single Malt
Region: Ireland (Louth)

Age: minimum 4 years

Maturation: "single use bourbon oak casks"

Alcohol by Volume: 40%

It was a bold move by TJ's to go with an Irish single malt, something not very familiar with the average drinker in The States.  And I use the word "was" because now that Beam Inc has taken over Cooley and announced that most of their independent contracts will not be renewed, we may not see this whiskey for much longer.

It's also a bold choice because the nose and palate of this whiskey is quite different than the usual Irish blend or Scotch single malt.  It's sorta its own soup.

Sku and the guys at L.A.W.S. gave this decent reviews.  And I'm going to agree with Sku, though the bottle says this is only matured in bourbon casks, there is undoubtedly sherry stuff in here.

At first sips, this one was a puzzler.  I couldn't get my mind around it.  But with some oxygen and time, it has improved and I've had better luck cracking the malt.

NEAT
Color - light amber
Nose - sandy and/or dusty, teeny bit of smoke, smoky butter?, old notebook paper, winey tannins, hints of a sweet sherry and dried fruit
Palate - lots of cocoa, cloves, sweet malt, oak tannins, very drying
Finish - still very drying, mildly flat, cocoa

WITH WATER (near 33%ABV)
Nose - gets sugarier, some coconut oak stuff, starts to sniff more like a good blend
Palate - less cocoa but more vanilla, a little smoke, very oily and silky texture, still quite drying
Finish - goes weird here, a brief bitter vegetal vanilla puff

Though I don't recommend adding a few drips of water, this whiskey actually makes for a pretty good highball as the club soda brings out the palate's sweetness.

To be honest, I haven't been the biggest fan of Cooley's Irish single malts.  I do like the Knappogue Castle 12yr and the Tyrconnell finishes, but their Connemara bottlings and indie spinoffs have underwhelmed me.  This one sits somewhere in the middle.

On one hand: I won't go back for a second bottle of this TJ's malt.  It makes me yearn for Irish single pot stills.

On the other hand:  Some people are enjoying it quite a bit.  If you like the Cooley malts, then this may be your jam.  And at the price, it's a rarity and not much of a risk.

Availability - Trader Joe's
Pricing - $19.99
Rating - 75

NOT Single Malt Report: Slane Castle Irish Blended Whiskey

Sometimes one's senses don't cooperate during a tasting.  Sometimes one gets a bad sample.  Sometimes the whisk(e)y was stored improperly or has been sitting at the bottom of a mostly empty bottle for years.

These variables often result in a less than optimal set of tasting notes.  There have been times that I've tasted something and went "What?"  Then I compare my notes to those of others who have tried the same drink......and it's as if we've tasted completely different whiskies.

Though the tasting experience is subjective, if I try a dram of Glen Garbage and discover notes of rotten milk and mercury while everyone else finds characteristics of dried fruits, chocolate, and mint, it's fair to say that I've experienced some level of a whiskey fail.

I feel like I'm mostly alone in my judgement of Hakushu 12yr.  I really wanted to love it, almost bought a bottle of it blind.  All the tasting notes I'd read online sounded quite nice.  But instead of nosing and tasting hints of citrus, lemongrass, licorice, vanilla, pepper, and flowers, what did I find?  Salty-beefy-cheesy farts.  And per my notes: "a watered-down Laphroaig 10 meets Glenfiddich 12 infused with a kitchen gas leak."

So there was a fail in there somewhere.  Maybe it was the sample.  Maybe it was me......or rather my senses -- I did not smell like salty-beefy-cheesy farts, I think.

I'm humbly posting two reports this week that I believe were examples of whisk(e)y fails.  Today, it's Irish, tomorrow it's Scottish.

Distillery: Cooley
Brand: Slane Castle
Type: Irish Blended Whiskey (single malt + grain)
Current Owner: Beam Inc.
Age: at least 4 years
Maturation: first fill ex-bourbon casks
Alcohol by Volume: 40%

Slane Castle is one of the several indie bottlings produced at Cooley Distillery.  With the recent Beam Inc. takeover, all or most of these indies will stop production as the new owners want to keep as much juice as possible for their major brands (Kilbeggan, Tyrconnell, and Connemara).  At the moment, Slane Castle is still for sale all over the US and their website is still active.

Drinkhacker liked it quite a bit.  John Hansell of Whisky Advocate wrote a pair of very positive reviews for this whiskey. He noted that it was full of "honeyed vanilla, soothing caramel, lively summer fruits, golden raisin, subtle date, and butter cookie" and that it was very drinkable.

Sounds yummy, right?  Especially for this blogger who loves him some Irish whiskey.

So I was able to get my hands on a pour of it while in San Diego this year.  Here's what I found:

NEAT:
Color -- Medium gold
Nose -- Clean oak, minerals, grain-HEAVY, ethyl, light manure, stale, (wife says it smells like tar fumes)
Palate -- plastic toys, both sugary sweet and vegetal, edamame, grassy
Finish -- Saccharine sweet

WITH WATER:
Nose -- Wet cardboard, fleshy, dirty underpants
Palate -- hay, paper, cream, light oak, cheap wine, weak
Finish -- hay & manure, zoo-ey, old moldy basement, Please will it ever stop?

Where are those butter cookies?  Lively summer fruits?

I'm a firm believer that a plastic toy or manure note can actually work well in a whisk(e)y or wine.  But whatever was going on here was just funk when integrated with my nostrils and tastebuds.  Looking at other reviewers' notes, it seems like we'd tried different booze.  They spoke of pleasurable drinking experiences and I (who have had more Irish whiskey than I can ever quantify) found the worst Irish porta-potty distillate I've yet tried.

Was it just me?  I don't know.  I'd had a Powers 12yr an hour earlier and that tasted fine.  Could the Slane bottle have been sitting open on the shelf since the whiskey arrived on US shores in July '09?  Possibly.

Either way, something went awry.

Availability - Some liquor specialists
Pricing - $25-$35
Rating - 65 (low rating may or may not be due to old stale bottling)

NOT Single Malt Report: Kilbeggan Blended Irish Whiskey

Distillery: Cooley (and soon, Kilbeggan Distillery)
Brand: Kilbeggan
Type: Irish Blended Whiskey
Current Owner: Beam Inc.
Age: at least 3 years
Maturation: ex-bourbon barrels
Alcohol by Volume: 40%

Here's an Irish Whiskey that I didn't sample on my three visits to Éire.  It's a whiskey full of stories with relatively happy endings.

In 1757, the McManus family opened the legal Old Kilbeggan Distillery in the Irish town of......Kilbeggan!  John McManus, the first distillery manager, joined a group that rebelled against the British and then was promptly executed.  The Codd family buys the distillery in 1794 and expands it, doubling the capacity.  Success followed for over forty years until a large (drinking) abstinence movement and an economic downturn almost puts Kilbeggan out of business.  The Locke family took over in 1843 and ran the distillery for over 100 years through booms and busts.  US Prohibition, economic depression, and the Irish Revolution shook up the company, but it survived even through the second World War.  A crash in the Irish Whiskey industry finally brought the distillery to a close in 1957, its 200th anniversary.

For the next thirty years, local folks help keep the silent distillery and its equipment clean.  In 1988, the independent Cooley Distillery company purchased the Kilbeggan brand.  Then in 2007, on its 250th anniversary, Old Kilbeggan Distillery began distillation again, using a 19th century pot still.  Cooley plans to have the distillery produce pot still and single malts in the near future.

For now the Killbeggan blends are made at Cooley, using single malt and grains.  For over 20 years, Cooley was the leading (and often only) independent distillery in Ireland.  Several months ago, Beam Inc. purchased Cooley, ending their independence but expanding their potential product reach.

For those disappointed by the sale to the fourth largest beverage company in the world, consider that the two Scotch distilleries owned by Beam -- Laphroaig and Ardmore -- have put out tremendous product during Beam's ownership.  See, I'm not totally anti-capitalist.

---

Last month I had a Saturday night to myself, so I took a walk down to our local decent Irish pub, Gallaghers, to watch two baseball games and two basketball games simultaneously while trying out Irish blends.  I was successful in that endeavour.  One of those blends was Kilbeggan.  The bartender actually opened up a brand new bottle for me so I got the top of the juice.

NEAT:
Color -- basic whiskey gold
Nose -- paint + varnish + notebook paper but in a good way; give it some time and simple fruity sweetness slips in
Palate -- coarser than Powers, breakfast cereal (Frosties!, or Frosted Flakes for the Yanks), toffee, and granulated sugar
Finish -- moderate, lots of grain whiskey with sugar

WITH WATER:
Nose -- moderated into near silence
Palate -- gets considerably more sugary sweet
Finish -- gets considerably more sugary sweet

So, she don't swim so well.  But neatly, Kilbeggan will appeal to those who'd like those elements in the Nose notes.  I don't mind it, but wouldn't pay much for it.

pre-2010 bottle

On a final note, the super Oliver Klimek (of dramming.com and the Malt Maniacs) had a great post on an abrupt shift in the Kilbeggan character.  In 2009, he tried it and loved it.  In 2010, he bought a bottle, noticed its changed label and really noticed the changed whiskey.  Seems as if Cooley has had to up the grain whiskey content in the blend in order to spread the malt out further, all to meet the rising demand for Kilbeggan.  Oliver recommends that folks seek out the old pre-2010 bottles with the other label (see pic on the right) for a superior blended whiskey.  I look forward to trying that one someday soon.

Okay, so maybe the whiskey itself doesn't sound like it had the happiest of endings, but its end hasn't yet arrived.  But for now, the current bottling...

Availability - Many liquor stores
Pricing - Decent at $18-$22
Rating - 75

NOT Single Malt Report: Michael Collins Irish Blended Whiskey

"THE BIG FELLOW"

Distillery: Cooley
Brand: Michael Collins
Type: Irish Blended Whiskey
Current Owner: Beam Inc.
Age: 4 to 12 years
Maturation: bourbon-seasoned American Oak
Alcohol by Volume: 40%

This actually the old bottle, but it's tall and lean;
plus it matches my mini bottle

Named after one of the leading figures in Ireland's successful struggle for independence and the first chairman of their provisional government until his assassination in 1922 (How about that for a run-on fragment; large as the man himself), Michael Collins Irish Blended Whiskey has a make-up similar to a Scotch blend.

The vast majority of Irish blends contain a portion of triple-distilled pot still whiskey (from a mash of malted and unmalted barley) and grain whiskey.  Like a Scotch blend, Michael Collins is a mix of double-distilled single malt and grain whiskey.

The Cooley distillery specializes in single malts as opposed to the single pot still whiskey coming from the Midleton distillery.  They make a number of very different single malts (two reported on here and here), from the Connemara peated brands to the unpeated finished Tyrconnell whiskies to a Michael Collins 10 year old to a number of small independent bottlings.

So this blend is structurally different that Powers, Jamesons, Paddy, and Tullamore Dew.  Is it better or worse or similar...?

NEAT:
Color -- Light brass
Nose -- Bananas, paste, flatulence (not petrol gas and not sulphur but really farty, unmistakable), burnt caramelized brown sugar, ethyl, notebook paper, and wood grain
Palate -- Pears, whipped cream, burnt toast, vanilla, very sweet
Finish -- Vanilla and fruit sweets, but also brief and salty

WITH WATER:
Nose -- Ethyl and notebook paper are all that remain
Palate -- Lots of vanilla, sweetened whole milk or perhaps vanilla yogurt?, toffee
Finish -- Short, but noticeable toffee and vanilla

The nose is a bit difficult, but the palate is nice.  Very easy drinking.  I just don't recommend putting your nose too far into the glass.  This is something I'm finding with most of the young inexpensive Irish blends. Their flavor is considerably more delightful than their scent, no matter how they're constructed.

So if you're not getting all hoity-toity with your booze and just want something that works well when it hits your lips, Michael Collins isn't a bad choice.  It holds water decently, and might (might) stand up to a highball or mixing due to its sweetness.

Availability - Most liquor stores
Pricing - Decent at $24-$30
Rating - 75

Single Malt Report: Connemara Cask Strength Irish Single Malt

Distillery: Cooley
Brand: Connemara
Type: Single Malt
Region: Ireland (Louth)

Age: unknown, likely younger than 12 years

Maturation: American oak, ex-bourbon

Alcohol by Volume: 57.9%

Our first stop on this Whisk(e)y World Tour is in County Louth, Ireland, at the Cooley Distillery.  Cooley Distillery PLC (a relatively young company at 25 years) was the last of the major independent Irish whiskey producers before their sale to Beam Inc last year.  They have a number of great brands:

Kilbeggan - blended whiskies as well as one limited release single malt; now beginning distillation at its own old distillery that had been closed for 50 years.
Tyrconnell - non-peated single malts; In February I reviewed a delicious Madeira-finished juicy malt of theirs.  The Tyrconnell had been one of Ireland's best selling whiskey brands in The States before Prohibition crushed it.  Cooley bought the brand and resurrected it back in the late '90s.
Greenore - single grain whiskey; actually made entirely from corn and aged in ex-bourbon barrels.
Connemara - peated single malts.  As is done in many Scottish distilleries, they dry the malted barley via peat fires, give it a double distillation, then mature the spirit in ex-bourbon American oak barrels.  They don't chillfilter, nor do they colour their product artificially.

Within the world whiskey community, the purchase of the company by big Beam Inc. was met with mixed emotions.  All of Ireland's major whisky producers are now owned by corporations.  Pernod owns Midleton which makes Jamesons, Powers, Redbreast, Paddy, and Green Spot.  Diageo owns Bushmills.  William Grant & Sons owns Tullamore Dew.  Cooley was the last of the independents to sell to a major, which led to many heavy hearts.  But the good news is, with Beam's marketing and distribution power, Cooley will be able to get more whiskey to more people at (hopefully) a lower price to all.

But how about the whiskey?  I'm a big Tyrconnell fan.  I hope to try some Kilbeggan before 2012 is out.  Greenore is a mostly a curio for me since my palate hasn't found a corn whiskey it approves of, yet.  And (via a Master of Malt 30mL dram) this Cask Strength is the first Connemara I've tried.

NEAT:

The lack of added caramel colouring is immediately apparent, as the malt takes on a Pinot Grigio hue.  All similarities to white wine end right there.  This is an insanely hot whisky, flexing its almost 58% ABV braun in all categories.  The nose reflects a different type of peat than the Islays -- sort of cleaner and woodier.  But the band-aids are there, as well as an Atlantic Ocean note.  Underneath that is a little brown sugar, bourbon, white peppercorns, and something a little meaty.  It has a thick texture, which I quickly lost track of once the heat set in.  As I mentioned before, this palate brings intense heat.  It's a white sugar dish full of cinders and burnt paper.  The malty cinnamon finish remains for ages.

I hadn't had a face-numbing experience like this in some time, despite sampling quite a few cask powered whiskies.  I gave the whisky (and my face) time to rest, added enough water to bring the ABV down to about 35%...

W/ WATER:

The nose became a big bushel of hay.  Wood smoke, sweet cream, and bourbon settled underneath.  The texture became creamier.  The peat was most prevalent here on the palate, which held a nice light sweetness, but still had an aggressive cindery kick.  The mouth-drying finish mellowed and held much of the peat and hay.

I recommend this to single malt lovers with a strong palate constitution and a love of cinders, hay, and peat in the glass.

Though I've become a major peat-head who's averse to fancy finishes, I actually prefer the Madeira Cask Tyrconnell to this one.  But something good awaits within this malt.  I'd like to try the regular 12yr 40% ABV Connemara to see if it reveals its flavors more readily.

Availability - Most Liquor Specialists

Pricing - Decent at $55-$60

Rating - 76

Single Malt Report: Vegas 2012 edition (Part 1 of 4)

I'm curled up in bed with a 101.4 degree fever.  Sorry, more cowbell is not the prescription needed.  Instead, I need some consistent sleep and at least a week to dry out.

In the meantime, I'm going to do a bunch of mini-reports on the whiskies sampled at The Whisky Attic.  I posted about this experience last week, but would like to expand a little about the individual spirits.

But first...

I put away about a third of a bottle of Redbreast 12 over three nights.  It's still a damned delicious whiskey, one of the greats.  Everyone in the crew put it away without a single Whiskey Face.  In fact, everyone had it neat and went back for seconds and thirds (and maybe more).  There may even wind up being a bottle or two purchased as a result of the experience.

My brother scored a free drink ticket at the Sports Book and awesomely handed it over to me.  The voucher said that it would only cover well drinks, but the GREAT bartender used Glenfiddich 12 when I politely inquired about it.  If I knew he'd be so swell, I wouldn't have asked for a highball.  But in fact, the club soda really brought out all of the sweets with the 'Fiddich.  So I recommend that to those willing to bruise their booze with soda water.

Wolfgang Puck's Postrio at The Venetian has an exemplary whisky selection.  It's all about quality not quantity in their case.  They had Bunnahabhain, Scapa(!), Tobermory, Caol Ila, and a couple independents in addition to the very good usual suspects.  I went with the Bunny 12 and happily discovered that I finally found the subtle peat note.  It was a lean and peaceful peat, contributing to a great whisky.  I've included an update at the bottom of my original post about Bunny 12.

Now, back to The Whisky Attic drink list:

Dalmore Gran Reserva
Tyrconnell 10yr Irish Single Malt, Madeira Finish
Big Bottom Bourbon
Balvenie 14yr Carribean Cask
Rowan's Creek Bourbon
Willett Straight Rye
Ledaig 15yr
Amrut Cask Strength Indian Single Malt
Laphroaig 10yr Cask Strength
Ardbeg Corryvrecken
Ballylarkin Irish Whiskey Liqueur
Tomintoul 27yr

I'm going to split this up into groups of three in order to make this easier to digest.  These will be a little smaller than the usual reports.

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THE DALMORE GRAN RESERVA

Distillery: The Dalmore
Brand: Gran Reserva (previously known as The Cigar Malt)

Age: 10 to 15 years

Maturation: Oloroso sherry butts and Bourbon barrels
Finish: Sherry butts

Region: Northern Highlands

Alcohol by Volume: 40%

Gorgeous bottle.  Stellar website too.  The Dalmore products are known for their luxurious design.  Their Master Blender (technically the Master for all of the White & Mackay products) is the boisterous Richard Patterson, who has dubbed himself "The Nose" for both physical and job-related reasons.  He has a great online presence and is everywhere at all times, probably the most sociable of all Master Blenders.

The Dalmore whiskies are also very much known for being very darkly colored and very very sherried.  They're also all 40% ABV which is as tamed as a whisky can legally be.  I lust after their King Alexander III whisky, which is a combination of Port, Sherry, Bourbon, Marsala, Madeira, and French red wine finishes.

Their famous flavor characteristic is orange (marmalade, juice, peel, etc.) but I didn't pick up any of that when I'd tried Dalmore 12 some time ago.  That was a little frustrating.

So now here's the Gran Reserva: matured in 40% bourbon barrels and 60% Oloroso sherry butts, then married together for six months in sherry butts.  With the help of Adam Carmer's method could I find the Dalmore character....?

Gran Reserva
Nose: Yay!!!  Success.  Fresh oranges.  Pulp and peel.  A little bit of caramel.
Palate:  The fresh oranges dominate again.  Some milky chocolate hides behind.  Silky texture.
Finish:  Brief.  Mostly vanilla.

It's very graceful.  And by that I mean pleasant rather than boring and subdued.  It's also not as exciting as most of the other whiskies I'd tasted at The Attic, and the finish is quite short.  I can't imagine that raising the alcohol to 43 or 46 percent would be that bad of a thing.

Pricing - Acceptable at $70-$75
Rating - 79

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THE TYRCONNELL 10 YEAR MADEIRA FINISH (Irish Single Malt)

Distillery: Cooley
Brand: Tyrconnell

Age: minimum 10 years

Finish: Madeira casks

Region: Ireland (Louth)

Alcohol by Volume: 46%

Yep, not a blend, not a single pot still, but a genuine Irish single malt.  Other than Bushmills, Cooley is producing the only Irish single malts at the moment.  They were also the last of the independent Irish distilleries, until they were purchased by Beam a few months ago.

Tyrconnell was very popular here in The States until Prohibition crushed their brand.  Thankfully it was resurrected by Cooley, who have released four different bottlings.

Whisk(e)y trivia:  The label has an illustration of a racehorse named "The Tyrconnell" once owned by the distillery.  In 1876, they entered it in The National Produce Stakes Irish Classic and, at 100 to 1 odds, it won.

Now to its eponymous whiskey...

The Tyrconnell 10 year, Madeira Finish
Nose: floral but not perfumy, instead its an entire field of blooming flowers; fruit juices (cranberry and grape)
Palate: Fresh ripe fruit and lots of it, stone fruits and berries, all with a solid malt center that keeps it from being overly sweet
Finish: Medium, the fruits remain, and the flowers return

As I've only hinted with all the Redbreast mentions on this blog, I am an enormous Irish whiskey fan.  It has a lightness that doesn't abandon verve and explosive flavor.  And this single malt did not disappoint.  It's probably the juiciest whisk(e)y that I've ever tried, yet it wasn't candied or sweet.  Even the great Serge Valentin called it yummy.  Agreed.

Pricing - Acceptable at $70-$80 (though if Beam could lower it $20......pretty please?)
Rating - 92 (adjusted down to 81 in a later review)

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BIG BOTTOM STRAIGHT BOURBON

The international tour continues.  From the Northern Highlands, to County Louth, to Bourbon County, Kentucky.  This one had Adam, along with the Frog's bartender and I humming the tune to Spinal Tap's "Big Bottom".

Bottler: Big Bottom Whiskey (multiple distilleries)

Age: minimum 3 years

Maturation: New white oak

Region: Bourbon County, Kentucky (spirit); Oregon (company)

Alcohol by Volume: 45.5%

Big Bottom's bottles indeed have big bottoms.  And the flavor is big and bottomless.  They take new make (or white dog) from different distilleries, then they do the wood finishing themselves to create the final product.  This one is 36% rye while a combination of unmalted barley and corn likely makes up the rest.

As mentioned in previous posts, I'm still a little new to the bourbon palate, but it's gradually working its way in.  American whiskey is something that I would love to love.  And big bottoms are worth singing about.

Big Bottom American Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Nose: some nice spiciness (maybe from the rye?), okay "spiciness" is kind of a generic term, how about "zing!" and "whoosh!", followed by more corn sweets than vanilla
Palate: the "zing" is peppery, hot cinnamon and nutmeg, and lots and lots and lots of corn sweets, Frosted Flakes perhaps
Finish: Massive finish, outlasted many of the single malts

Not a bad one.  I love the pricing (see below).  Would be great in an old-fashioned, the spice mixing with the bitters.  I would definitely order this neatly in a bar to give it a second run.  Very different than Blanton's, so my bourbon world is quietly expanding...

Pricing - Good at $28 (same price at five different locations)
Rating - 74

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Part 2 to follow soon...