Powers Signature Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey (bottled 2013)

Powers Gold Label was the first whisk(e)y I ever adored, and I always had a bottle on hand until Pernod Ricard rebooted the Powers line in 2013. Gold Label, a blend, received a new label and bottle shape, its ABV went up 3.2 points and its price jumped 67%. The 12 year old Special Reserve blend was pulled from the market and was replaced by two pot still Powerses, the 12yo John's Lane and the NAS Signature. As I wrote in my review of the newer Gold Label, this rebranding did not acheive the intended result. After two years, Powers' volume sales in the US dropped 33%, while the other six top Irish whiskey brands' volume rose by 28%.

I don't entirely understand what happened next. In 2015, Signature was removed from the market, and Three Swallows took its place. Both were single pot stills, both had no age statement and the price remained about the same. But the ABV was dropped from 46% to 40%. Yes, the pot still was now more watered down than the blend. Meanwhile the "three swallows" emblem and/or phrase had existed on Powers blends' labels in the past, which introduced some potential confusion. Also, Signature's and Three Swallows's packaging was identical, except for swapping out blue for green. Needless to say, I will not be purchasing a bottle of Three Swallows.

But I did buy Signature when a US retailer started slinging it for close-out prices. I'd previously had Signature at pubs, and found it reasonably good enough (and similar enough) to make the blend irrelevant. Now it's time for a proper review.

Brand: Powers (no more apostrophe?)
Style: Single Pot Still
Distillery: Midleton
Region: Cork, Ireland
Age: ???
Maturation: bourbon barrels + Oloroso sherry casks
Bottle code: L317131149 14:55
Alcohol by Volume: 46%
Chillfiltered? No
Added colorant? Probably

NOTES
Vanilla shortbread and clementines lead the nose, followed by brown sugar and almond extract. Subtler notes of tropical fruit, pickle brine and plaster linger throughout. Yes, its palate is like the current blend, but richer and sweeter with less of an industrial hardness. But at the same time it's simpler. Brown sugar, sea salt and lemon notes lift it up, and it gradually develops a Campari-like bite. The finish goes lighter on the bitter, bigger on the pepper. It's sweet, think vanilla ice cream and lemon sorbet.

WORDS WORDS WORDS
As noted above, Signature is sweeter than the blend, but also less complex. It's less difficult, more friendly. It does have a good thick mouthfeel, thanks to less dilution and no chill-filtration. Yet, I opened this bottle four months ago and it's still more than half full. It sits next to the Knappogue Castle 12 year old single barrel and I reach for the KC first, almost every time. I can't find any enthusiasm for it, aside from the occasional hot whiskey. Perhaps its disappearance wasn't a terrible loss.

Availability - still available at dozens of American retailers
Pricing - $40-$60
Rating - 83

The Problem with Power's Gold Label Irish Whiskey

John Power & Sons and I

I've viewed Power's Gold Label through a pair of particularly rose-tinted spectacles for thirteen years.  Built into Power's are a lot of sentimental connections and sense memories as it has always reminded me of an intense part of my life and a number of lovely experiences surrounding that time.  Three and a half years ago (my god has it been that long?), I posted a review of the version of Power's I knew best.  It is the whisk(e)y I've purchased the most often in this life.

But as of mid-2013, the Gold Label I knew was no longer.  A new Gold Label with a new label, bottle shape, and higher ABV replaced it.  Usually irked by new versions of good things, I actually found myself looking forward to this change.  Then I saw its new price.  The alcohol content went up 3.2 points -- from 40% to 43.2% -- which is an increase of 8%.  The price (in California) had jumped from $17.99 to $29.99, an increase of 67%.

The fall of Power's

That was enough of a hike to make even me, one of this whiskey's champions, take pause.  I didn't buy it for almost two years.  I didn't see any reason why I should pay $30 for my $18 whiskey.  Meanwhile on the business side, the $18 whisk(e)y market and the $30 whisk(e)y market are two different things, and I wasn't confident of the wisdom of Pernod's decision to move Power's to another market.  Nor did I see or hear any PR push to inspire people to pay 67% more for it nor to get the new demographic to buy it at all.  And it appears as if the market has spoken...

Volume sales dropped 5% in 2013 when the new version was introduced mid-year in the US.  Though that doesn't seem like much, consider that the other six leading Irish whiskey brands increased their volume sales 18% that year.  Then in 2014, the first full year this new edition was on the shelves, the volume sales of Power's dropped another 30%.  Adding it all up, since this new Power's was released the brand's volume sales have sunk 33% in the US, while the other six leading Irish whiskey brands' volume sales have risen by 28%.  That's probably not good.

I assume that Pernod Ricard was attempting to ride the coattails of the legitimate Irish whisky boom (volume sales up nearly 50% in 2014 compared to 2011), by releasing what they thought was a premium blend, something that was a step up from Jameson's.  Quality-wise, Power's has always been better than Jameson's, perhaps due to its focus on pot still whiskey versus Jameson's focus on grain whiskey.  In the end, it's the dollars that matter to Pernod, of course.  And though I don't have the official $ numbers, if I use winesearcher's average prices (rather than my anecdotal ones) with the Impact Databank table for 2012 through 2014, the value drop is 13%.  Yes, the price increase padded the blow, but didn't stop it.  Meanwhile, the rest of the brands have ascended.

But does it taste good?

So......about that whole quality thing.  How about a review?  It was one of my Summer Whiskies and all that.

Distillery: Midleton
Brand: Powers
Current Owner: Pernod-Ricard
Type: Irish Blended Whiskey
Age: likely minimum 3 years
Bottle code: L42861517313:18
Alcohol by Volume: 43.2%
Chillfiltered? No
Colored? Probably

The color is the same well-engineered bright gold of its predecessor.  The nose begins with orange blossoms, vanilla bean, and paint.  Then honeydew, cantaloupe, and pears.  Aerosol can propellant and brown sugar.  The palate is loaded with milk caramels.  Then creamsicles and toffee pudding.  Flan.  More caramel than vanilla.  A small cracked pepper note here and there.  Despite all of those dessert notes, it's not as sweet as the Elmer T. Lee I reviewed yesterday.  Salted caramel gelato on the finish.  Vanilla pudding up front and a tart citrus note in the back.  A spicy tingle and a good length.

The good news.  It's still Power's!  They didn't ruin it.  Those were my first thoughts upon my first sip of my first glass from this bottle.  While the nose can be a bit rough at times (as it used to be), the palate is very good (as it used to be).  I think there may be a little more fruit in the nose and the finish might be a little longer than before.

The bad news.  It's still Power's.  It doesn't deliver anything new, despite the extra ABV points and the lack of chillfiltration, despite the new design, despite the much higher price.  And to be honest, that was disappointing.  (Yes, I would have been more disappointed if they'd turned out a completely different lesser product, burying the old Power's forever.)  And while I usually try to savor a whiskey for what it is despite the price, I think the disappointment snuck in and tainted my enjoyment of Power's a little bit.  I started wondering if I was smelling the chemical notes stronger in this version.  Were the caramel notes beginning to overwhelm the rest of the package?  Or have I changed as a whiskey fan over the past two years?

Ultimately, this remains the best non-ultra-premium blend coming from Midleton and probably the best non-ultra-premium Irish whiskey blend overall (though I haven't tried any of Teeling's new things).  So, yes, it probably should be more expensive than Jameson, Paddy's, Bushmills White, 2 Gingers, and Tullamore Dew.  And yes, it's much tastier neat than any bottom (and many middle) shelf Scotch blends.  The thing is though, at $18 Power's was an incredible deal, a bottle I'd always have on hand.  At $30, it's just one of many options.

Availability - Specialty liquor retailers
Pricing - $27-$36 for the new label, the old one can sometimes be found at its old price
Rating - 83

Summer Whiskey Report: Power's John's Lane 12 year old Single Pot Still

You're saying to yourself, "Didn't he just report on a sample of this stuff four months ago?"

And I say, "Thanks for reading my blog!"  Hypothetically, if I had posted about it, I would have ended said presupposed report saying I would study it further.  Now I have.

This was my other summer whiskey, in whole bottle form:

Another great gift from my in-laws, Andrew and Leslie!

Brand: Power's
Style: Single Pot Still
Distillery: Midleton
Age: at least 12 years (up to 14 years)
Maturation: mostly first* fill ex-bourbon barrels, along with some oloroso sherry butts (*though another official site says second fill)
Country: Ireland
Alcohol by Volume: 46%
Chillfiltered? No
Colored? Likely

Since we may have been here before with this whisky, I'm going to skip with the history lesson (which can be found on the post I may have done in May).

Right up front I'm going to say, this does not make for the best hot weather whiskey.  It's not light, it's not bright and fruity.  Going through this bottle only proves my original estimation that this whiskey is brooder, not a perky party girl.

As with yesterday's whisky, having a whole bottle allowed me to do more than a single study.  And lining it up next to the lightweight Glen Ord helped highlight its characteristics.

NEAT

The color is a dark yellow gold.  The nose leads with a combo of rubber cement, toffee, and fudge.  A whole lot of that.  Digging deeper, one may find whole wheat bread crust, pipe tobacco, barrel char, something figgy, vanilla, talcum powder, red berries in caramel sauce, and chewing gum.  I found little sign of the sherry butts, but there is still quite an alcohol tingle to it.  The palate is malty and sweet, having a bit of the toffee & fudge character from the nose.  There's also black coffee, oats, hot cereal, butter, brine, and chlorine.  Something green and grassy lingers underneath and there's a sharpness that feels a bit younger than the whiskey's age.  The extensive finish carries with it a citric sting.  There's more of the hot cereal character, topped with butter, caramel, and bananas.

WITH WATER

Those nose has gotten more expressive -- bigger, fruitier, gummier.  Orange bubble gum in fact.  Bright spices, cardamom in molasses.  There's nougat with the fudge now, and also something lightly perfumy.  Meanwhile the palate has gotten milder, but it's still very malty.  A little sweeter and easier.  Very reminiscent of my favorite Power's blend, minus the rougher spots.  It finishes mild and malty as well.  Some tartness and bitterness have snuck in.  It's also lightly herbal, perhaps juniper?

Sometimes we think a whisky is difficult to decipher because we assess it to be dense and cryptic.  And sometimes it's really because the whisky is just closed up tight.  Though in my previous estimation I'd said water didn't help the John's Lane 12 year, I am going to contradict myself.  That wall I'd previously kept hitting with the whiskey was largely because the nose can be very closed up when sniffed neatly.  It resulted in me knocking this sucker down a half star at the start of this tasting.  But then I tried it with a little water and the nose perked right up.  After the hydration the palate loosened up just a bit but mostly turned itself into the classic Power's blend (but better).  That may not appeal to you like it appeals to me.

This is still some tense stuff, it's not the most casual of drinks.  I'd take it over most single malts, but I still prefer all the Redbreasts over it.  The Redbreasts, even at cask strength are much more expressive.  If you do spring for Power's John's Lane 12 year, I recommend giving it 15 or more minutes in the glass, and a little water after you've tried it neat.

Pricewise, $65 is sort of pushing things.  That's higher than the cask strength version of Redbreast 12, and about the same price as Redbreast 15 year old (bottled at 46% ABV and unchillfiltered).  If it's actually a limited bottling then perhaps the price would make sense, but I haven't read anything about a short supply.  At $80 forget it, especially when you can still get two bottles of RB12 for that price via some retailers.

There is a younger NAS version of the Powers pot still ("Signature Release") that hit The States this month (also 46% ABV), it retails for $40-$50.  If I do get my hands on it, I'll try to limit it to one report......per year.

Availability - Specialty liquor retailers
Pricing - $65-$80
Rating - 90 (right on the edge, and please consider my usual Irish bias)

NOT Single Malt Report: Power's John's Lane 12 year old Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey

First off, a moment of admiration for the coolest sample bottle label ever created:

Proper respect to Eric Sanford.  Thanks to him, I can present an of-the-moment whiskey post!

A prelude:
I love Power's Gold Label blended whiskey.
I like Power's 12 year old blended whiskey.
I love single pot still Irish whiskey.
Power's John's Lane 12 year old single pot still Irish whiskey has found its way to the United States.

John's Lane has been available in Ireland and Scotland for almost two years now.  In fact I was in Heathrow in the Spring of 2011 when the PR push began for it.  Too bad I didn't know what the heck was going on at the time.  The rep at World of Whiskies trying to tell me about it and I was all, "Yeah, but I like Powers and it's $20 at home, why would I pay $60 for this stuff?"  (Just now I sighed aloud.)  Even though he didn't sell me on it, the whiskey has since sold itself and rung up many rave reviews.

Let's back up for two sentences of history:  After a bunch of Irish distillers banded together in 1966 to form, well, Irish Distillers, they moved their production into a single large distillery, Midleton (in 1974).  Midleton Distillery, in Cork, has since grown and grown and grown in a facility with a production capacity FIVE TIMES the size of Diageo's new Roseisle Distillery.

As the whisky-makers in Midleton strive to keep as many of their old whisky brands alive they create separate whiskies by establishing different cuts in the spirit, different maturation processes, different combinations of grains, and a bunch of other elements that they are much too happy to keep confidential.  One of those brands, John Power's and Sons, was always very popular in Ireland when it was being produced at its original home on John's Lane in Dublin.  Under Midleton's watch it has continued to be one of the best (if not THE best) sellers in its home country.

Beyond the big selling blends, Irish Distillers continued to produce pot-still-only (aka Pure Pot Still and Single Pot Still) whiskey in smaller quantities for the folks at home.  But they could only keep that secret in Ireland for so long, especially when that secret goes by the names of Redbreast and Green Spot.  After an international release, the critical and sales success of Redbreast 12 year old enabled additional varieties of Redbreast as well as expansion into other single pot still brands.

And this brand is the one I have been waiting for:

Label: Power's
Style: Single Pot Still
Distillery: Midleton
Age: at least 12 years (up to 14 years)
Maturation: mostly first* fill ex-bourbon barrels, along with some oloroso sherry butts (*though another official site says second fill)
Country: Ireland
Alcohol by Volume: 46%
Chillfiltered? No
Colored? Likely

In order to get some perspective on the John's Lane whiskey, I sampled it alongside some Redbreast 12yr Cask Strength Batch 1 reduced to 46%.  I've also noticed there are two schools of thought on John's Lane.  One is that it is light bodied.  The other says it is robust.  My opinion sits with the latter.

The color is a dark gold, partially due to some sherry butts, partially due to some caramel e150a.

There's a bold density in the nose that proves to be a challenge to decipher.  Like a tall thick dark brown wall made of brown sugar and semisweet chocolate.  Beneath that are some overripe white fruits and maybe some figs or dates.  A new leather jacket, fresh apricots, and hay.  Scattered baked fruit floating in a caramel fudge lake.  That's the best I can do after spending an hour with two ounces.

With a nice thick texture, the palate is either more basic than the nose or I haven't figured it out yet.  I get baked bananas, dark brown sugar, and a tangy sweetness.  Plus there's an industrial note that one can find in body temperature Power's Gold Label.

The whiskey plants its roots deep, leaving an extensive finish behind.  Spiced baked fruits, caramel sauce, dried grasses and grains.  Maybe a little of that brown sugar too.

Water doesn't help it much.  Whatever mystique and density it had evaporates.  The wall topples and Power's Gold Label is what's left standing, as it gets grainier and blendy.

Like Redbreast 12yr CS (at its full strength), John's Lane is more of a brooder than a casual beverage.  It must be insane at cask strength.  Though, as I noticed when adding water, the Midleton folks have found a good ABV point here at 46%.  I'm firmly of the opinion that this is dense stuff, especially since the reduced Redbreast CS was so light in comparison.  At the same time, I agree with Ralfy's assessment that this is a modern heavily-produced whiskey rather than a lean mean old school whiskey.  But "modern" isn't necessarily a bad thing here since the Irish Distillers have built something sturdy with many levels.

I will study further, with a bottle of my own.

Availability - Starting to arrive in the US now...
Pricing - $65-$75 in US and UK (w/shipping)
Rating - 90 (with an Irish bias)

The Irish Are Coming

With many thanks to Sku of Recent Eats, I am now addicted to checking for TTB's (Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau) newest registered COLAs (Certificates of Label Approval).  Here's the site: https://www.ttbonline.gov/colasonline/publicSearchColasBasic.do.

It's all public info, so there are no secrets.  But what can be found on the site are approvals for labels of new liquor products before those bottles ever hit the shelves.  Seriously.  Have at it.

Here are some recent discoveries of the Irish sort:
1.) Redbreast 21 year old.  Yup.  Sku found it and tweeted it.  I exclaimed, "WOO HOO!"  May I naively hope they keep it under $100?
2.) Tullamore Dew Cask Strength.  56% ABV.  Looks like it starts out in bourbon casks, then spends its last 2 years in sherry casks.  What most interesting is that it appears to be a blend.....
3.) Power's John's Lane Single Pot Still.  This one made me squeal.  Like a pig Like a Belieber Like a grown-ass man.  Whiskycast scooped the news first on Mark's April 28th episode.  Interestingly, though John Ryan from Irish Distillers said that this SPS will have no age statement, there was COLA registered last September for the 12 year old version.  Perhaps the demand was anticipated to be too large to for the actual amount of 12yr available?  Either way, I'm pretty geeked about this one.
4.) Power's Gold Label.  As per the same Whiskycast episode, the whole Power's range is getting refreshed.  My favorite go-to whiskey is getting a new label, and (via a COLA from last month) it's getting bumped from 40% to 43.2% ABV.  I will drink it.

If this post seems just like a bunch of Irish whiskey industry cheerleading......well......I'm cheering for the whiskey.  I have a soft spot in my liver for Irish whiskey.  Thus more variety and new experiences are good things.  And maybe I'll be able to bring some of you over to my side someday...

NOT Single Malt Report: Powers 12yr Special Reserve Irish Blended Whiskey

I've taken to Irish blends much better than Scotch blends.  I enjoy a handful of $20 Irish whiskeys and l-o-v-e a sixth.  Meanwhile, there isn't one $20 Scotch blend about which I can say the same.

Objectively:  Perhaps the pot still whiskey merges with the grain better.  The additional distillation pass might help curb the cheap grains' more difficult aspects.  Or maybe there's a higher pot-still-to-grain ratio in whiskey than malt-to-grain in whisky.

Subjectively:  I drank (shot?) poor Scotch in college.  A few years later I sipped whiskey with Irish folks in small pubs on cold rainy nights.  Better memories are attached to one than the other.  And also Powers is delicious.

With all of that in mind, this week's blends will be both Irish and a little harder to come by than last week's scotch.  Next week we'll go back to Scotland, then back to Ireland for the following week for some normal $20 bottlings.

Today we go back to the Powers line.

Distillery: Midleton
Brand: Powers
Type: Irish Blended Whiskey
Current Owner: Pernod-Ricard
Age: 12 to 24 years
Maturation: ex-bourbon American Oak
Alcohol by Volume: 40%

I gave a bit of Powers (and personal) history in my effusive Powers Gold Label report.  Currently, all of their whiskey (both grain and pot still) gets distilled at the massive Midleton Distillery in Cork.  The young grain and pot still whiskies go into the Gold Label blend.  The whiskies over 12 years of age go into the 12yr Special Reserve -- first released in the '90s -- I'm reporting on today.  A special selection of pot still only whiskies, aged 12 through 14 years, go into their John Lane's Pot Still bottling.  The Special Reserve is available here in The States while the Single Pot Still is not.

I've flirted with purchasing the Special Reserve whenever I see it in a liquor store, but never committed to it.  Then on April 12th, I had the pleasure of ordering it up neatly at Dublin Square Irish Pub in San Diego.  It was $12 a glass which is a bit steep (and Redbreast was significantly cheaper for some reason) but I went with it anyway since it's rarely found at bars and could possibly save me the expense of buying an entire bottle blindly.

So how did it go?

NEAT:
Color -- Light gold (lighter than the pic above)
Nose -- Bananas + brown sugar + sweet cream + vanilla = banana split!
Palate -- Pot Still much stronger than the grain so there's some heft and spiced heat, vanilla, not dissimilar to their Gold Label but a little saltier and a little smoother
Finish -- Moderate length, some caramel, salt, then a little bitterness

WITH WATER:
Nose -- Water brings out more brown sugar, then fresh air and molasses
Palate -- Smooth and soft, delicious, think creamy maple syrup
Finish -- Improved, more maple syrup

Powers knows how to make some whiskey.  While the 12yr might have a more complex nose, I actually like the cheaper and younger Gold Label better.  They are similar palate-wise, but the 12yr is softer and quieter.  It's more focused with fewer surprises.

Those adjectives (softer, quieter, focused) would mean all good things to some palates.  If that's true for you then I recommend the 12yr.  I find more character (and characteristics) in the Gold Label's mouth.  I've spent considerably more time with Gold Label than any other Irish whiskey.  It's a touch crazier and rougher than the 12yr, so if that's the way you play, I recommend their Gold Label.

The 12yr takes to water better than Gold, but I don't recommend hitting it with a bunch of ice because it's already so hushed.  Probably wouldn't be half bad in a hot whiskey.

Again, this whole grading thing can be goofy, so this may not be final.  And perhaps I will buy a bottle some day and rethink it...

Availability - Many liquor specialists
Pricing - Great at $29-$32
Rating - 83

NOT Single Malt Report: Powers Gold Label Irish Whiskey

The Personal Classics, Part 2:  Powers Irish Whiskey

Distillery: Midleton
Brand: Powers
Type: Irish Blended Whiskey
Current Owner: Pernod-Ricard
Age: likely minimum 3 years
Alcohol by Volume: 40%

I took to Irish Whiskey first.  I originally drank Scotch blends because they were considerably better than cheap gin, rum, tequila, and vodka.  But I loved the Irish first.  So I always have a soft spot in my heart (probably quite literally) for lovelies like Powers.

It started during the Ireland/Scotland trip of 2002 that I spoke of yesterday.  Two-thirds of the excursion was in Ireland, most of which was in the Irish countryside.  That was before the massive financial boom doubled the prices of everything there.  The Euro was still young and only 96 cents!  So, though the pours were small, sometimes you could get a whiskey at the pub for under 3 dollars!  And I tried every one I spotted -- Jamesons, Tullamore Dew, Paddy's, Michael Collins -- each splendid in its own way.  But Powers was love at first sight.

Ireland is beautiful, even when it rains.  Even when it is near freezing and soaked with the smell of wet sheep.  I would walk through the rain, over fenced and non-fenced land all day.  At night I'd go to the pub and order a hot whiskey.  (Recipe here!)  Roving musicians would settle in with fiddles and flutes and drums and cigarettes and stout.  They'd play and play and play for hours.  Between the music and the whiskey and the Guinness and the people's faces, the universe would warm and embrace everyone at once.  Time itself would settle in for a drink, and we'd all be held in the sway of the evening miraculous.

One can't recreate it here in The States, but the memory fastens itself to the soul.  It's always there to access, to get lost in for a moment or two.

Did I mention that Powers also tastes good?  It has a high pot still element and a low grain whiskey level.  I can't prove that other than that's what my nose and tastebuds tell me.  And Powers likes to advertise its "Distinctive Pot Still Character".

But I'm getting ahead of myself.  A little Powers history:

James Power first started making whiskey on John's Lane in Dublin in 1791.  The company, later known as John Power & Sons, became so successful that they had to massively expand their distillery and add their own bottling plant (a first for an Irish distiller).  They used a gold label to distinguish it from the white-labelled independently-bottled versions of their whiskies.  Eventually they had to expand further and moved out to Midleton, Cork where they would have enough (cheaper) land to build a massive whiskey complex with an output almost twice the size of the largest malt distillery in Scotland.  In the 1990s they released a 12 year blend.  And last year they released a Single Pot Still bottling that I covet more than any other whiskey.

But here we're talking about the original Gold Label blend.  And here are some notes:

NEAT:

The color is a lovely full gold, probably due to some caramel colouring but it's perfect to behold.  The nose is a little grainy, but very light and fizzy, with some bourbon cask vanilla.  The pot still character shows up in the palate; vanilla bean, brown sugar, mulled wine, custard, and a teeny bit of anise. It has a very pleasant medium brown sugar and molasses finish.  Splendid.

WITH WATER (about 35% ABV)

Adding the water sweetens the nose, brings out a little sherry, and a spritely molasses note.  The palate gets creamier, full of cookie dough and vanilla extract with a light bready yeast note.  The finish is still nice and moderate with more vanilla than brown sugar.

But this one really needs to be appreciated straight up or via a good hot whiskey recipe.  No ice.  No soda water.

Grading this throws the whole objective approach out of whack.  It is by no means a complex, sophisticated, brooding whiskey.  It is happily straightforward.  It has been my favorite go-to for almost ten years for a good reason.  It is simply delicious.

Pricing - Excellent at $16-$20
Rating - 88

IMPORTANT RECIPE: Hot Whiskey

It is Day Ten of what has turned out to be some double-respiratory-infection hotness.  I'm finally feeling better, but Kristen is beginning to fall under the weather.

So now is the best time to impart the recipe for one of the great medicines!  Think of it as the Irish Chicken Soup.  A remedy for all your ills.*

[*This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, but is very delicious.]

I discovered Hot Whiskey on a cold rainy October night in Doolin, Ireland back in 2003.  Nothing warms the cockles of one's cockles like a proper hot whiskey.  It tastes better than tea, feels great on a cold evening, and temporarily soothes an aching throat.  For some time, I've been trying to reverse engineer the most accurate recipe on my own.  This is it.

Note: It is of the utmost importance that Powers Whiskey ($15-$20!) be used.  It's what the locals use.  Its flavors combine best with the ingredients.  And it's a mighty fine Irish blend at that.  Using Jamesons or Tullamore Dew or Paddy's or Michael Collins or any fancy whiskies will not taste the same.  Believe me, I've tried.

---

HOT WHISKEY

Ingredients for two serving sizes:

Mug (approx 8oz.)
__Boiled Water (at least 2 mugs worth just to be safe)
__1/4 of a lemon (peel and all, seeds removed) - 1 slice
__4 whole cloves
__1 tsp brown (or demerara) sugar
__3 tbl (1.5oz) Powers Gold Label Irish Whiskey

OR

Glass (approx 12-16oz.)
__Boiled Water (at least 2 glasses worth just to be safe)
__1/2 of a lemon (peel and all, seeds removed) - 2 slices
__8 whole cloves (4 for each lemon slice)
__1 heaping tsp of brown (or demerara) sugar
__5 tbl (2.5oz) Powers Gold Label Irish Whiskey

Instructions:

1. First, boil that water.
2. Second, pour a little of the hot water into the mug/glass and swirl it around.  Don't burn yourself!  Spill it out.  Now you have a properly heated receptacle.
3. Put the brown sugar in the mug/glass, then add the whiskey on top.  Give it a little stir so that the sugar dissolves a bit.
4. Stick the cloves into the lemon slice(s).  Try to poke them into the white part (the pith!).  If that doesn't work, press them into the pulp.
5. Carefully (to avoid losing whiskey) slide the lemon slice(s) into the mug/glass with the whiskey and sugar.
6. Pour the insanely hot water into the mug/glass until filled.
7. Give it a couple of stirs to make sure the sugar has fully dissolved.  Wait a moment or three to let the flavors combine, and also to avoid scalding your face.
8. Savour slowly.

That's "Savour" with a U.  Y'all.

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Here's a link to another good and similar Hot Whiskey recipe.
Here's Powers' recipe for Hot Whiskey.

Mugs hold the heat longer and approximate the size of the serving you'd get in a pub.  Glasses show off the lovely colour and make it easier to see if the sugar has dissolved.  So if you have a Irish Coffee Glass (8oz), that makes for the best drinkware here.

On a responsible note: If you are sick, please do not consume more than 3 ounces of whiskey.  Overconsumption of alcohol can lower one's zinc levels, in turn risking further sickness.

If you're not sick, who am I to tell you how to run your life?  There are 25 ounces of whiskey in that bottle!

Sláinte mhaith!