As we speed away from Burn’s
night and head towards St Patrick’s Day, it’s time to start cracking open some
Irish whiskey.
Once long forgotten, the rise of
Irish whiskey has seen a plethora of new distilleries opening up, with plenty
more in the pipeline. In our recent visits to Ireland to see either
brand-spanking new facilities or those out in the market drumming up support,
one thing has made itself very clear: Ireland will become more serious about
Pot Still than any other style of whiskey.
Scotland is a fairly simple place
when it comes to whisky-making. You’ve got your single malts, with only one distillery
fully triple distilling (nb: Springbank
occasionally utilising their three still to triple distil, and Mortlach using
bamboozing marketing terminology to say they distilled more than twice).
Then you’ve got your grain
whisky, mainly matured in bourbon casks. Add them together and you’ve got your
third type, blends. Simple, hey?!
Over in Ireland, it isn’t quite
so simple. With a much smaller pool of distilleries, the fame of Irish whiskey
grew up around their main ideal of triple distillation. But there is so much
more to Irish whiskey than the third still, for across this tiny network of
distilleries they make single malt twice distilled (peated and unpeated),
single malt thrice distilled, grain whisky, pot still whiskey (from a malted
and unmalted barley mix), and of course blends... but blends not just of grain
and malt whiskeys, but blends of all of these. Jameson Black Barrel even takes
some whiskey from a pot still and runs it through the column still before
maturation... I mean, what kind of voodoo is that?!
Currently the fastest growing
category of dark spirit in the world, Irish whiskey is on a roll (driven by the
popularity of Jameson in markets such as the USA) and with each new release
from across the countries different distilleries, clarity is beginning to fall
on the various production styles and flavour profiles.
One of the most sought-after
releases, and a real favourite of ours here at Caskstrength HQ, is Redbreast. A
wonderfully well matured whiskey, we have always been a fan of the 12 Year Old.
When the 15 Years Old appeared, fleetingly, at the start of the last decade, we
got very excited indeed (in fact I seem to remember nearly an entire bottle
being consumed at one of the Toucan pubs in London with a group of writers and
employees of some of London’s finest whisky shops) and even more so when it
came back as part of the permanent range.
With the addition of a Cask
Strength 12 Year Old and then the fantastic 21 Year Old, the range seemed to be
taking shape with a real personality and DNA of its own. And now the folk at
Irish Distillers, producers of Redbreast, have just launched a limited edition
version. A No Age Statement, although in answering questions on their social
media outlets had it pegged at carrying an age statement of 13 years old, if it
were to have one) the whiskey has been solely matured in ex-Oloroso sherry
butts. This one sounds right up my street.
When I heard that this whiskey
was available, but only 2000 bottles were being released, I headed over to the
Redbreast website to buy a bottle. And the verdict?
Redbreast – Mano a Lamh – Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey – All Sherry
Limited Edition – 2000 bottles only – 46% abv – 65 euro here
Nose: Marzipan and Battenburg Cake rise from the glass with a
surprisingly large amount of vanilla for an ‘all-oloroso’ offering. This has
some spirituous notes but this is one of those occasions where this is a positive as it provides a platform for the lovely, sweet flavours to play.
Light and airy but with hidden depth.
Palate: This is a smooth whiskey with a sweet back palate, some frozen
red berries and hot vanilla sauce on top. It is terribly easy to drink, as you
would expect from a Redbreast, but a block of ice really takes this up a level
to a longer, more sipping whiskey. The flavours from the nose deliver on the
palate too.
Finish: Sweetened vanilla custard, almonds and some milk chocolate praline.
Overall: Well, there we have it folk... the rise of Single Pot
Still Irish Whiskey doesn’t seem fleeting, or limited to core expressions. It
seems to be strong, and rising.
