Tastes

The nose is full of apple and honeyed, sticky fruits. Just a bit of brine mingling with baking spices (especially clove) lurked underneath the syrupy sweetness. Sherry cask finish is very evident here. The initial taste was extremely sweet, full of apple and honeyed raisins and dates. Just when I was thinking it was too sweet, the brine came back to keep it from going too far. The subsequent tastes featured the brine, which tamped down most of the honey to allow the mellow, dark notes to shine. A nice, peppery wood with the hard edges of those notes rounded off is the star now, with the baking spices being supported by what’s left of the honeyed, dark fruits. A spiced rum cake is presented on the finish, with the return of the syrupy sweet notes, and settles in for a long finish that fades into a nice, crisp apple.

My nose says this is rum. Nothing but rum. All sugar cane and sweet banana and just a bit of molasses. There is a rather out of place cherry note that sets in strongly following the traditional rum notes, but doesn't stay too long before a buttery biscuit that finally points to the Irish base of the whiskey shows up pretty strongly. The palate is initially all sugar cane sweetness. Then things get into uncharted territory, with an interesting smoked prosciutto fighting through the sweetness. Brown sugar, banana, and oak follows, with the biscuit coming back at the end. The biscuit fades with the smoked, salty meat and somehow rather seamlessly turns into a bold green banana note that sits down and stays awhile. **I'm actually not sure what to do with this one. I like that it's rum without being full on sugar, and I happen to prefer underripe bananas, so I do like this quite a bit. On the other hand, I will also readily admit that this is a little weird. If nothing else, I'll keep coming back to it to try to make sense of it.**

Vanilla cream with hints of oak, apples, and cereals mixed in. There is a tease of raspberry underneath. The longer it sat, the more the berries showed up, bringing along green banana, and the vanilla cream transitioned to just the neutral tartness of a plain yogurt with the berries, cereal, and banana being the main attractions. On the palate, I could only think of this as a rustic, simple breakfast consisting of several courses. It started with sugar frosted berries, primarily raspberries and blueberries, with mint leaves mingled in. The underripe banana then gets cut into slices on top of the cereals and light cream as toast with orange marmalade gets placed on the table. At the end, a bowl of sugared porridge gets placed down and dusted with oak and baking spices. The whole thing, despite the sweetness, tastes wholesome, clean, and fresh, leaving me thinking of enjoying that breakfast on a warm sunny day with nothing more to look forward to than taking a nap under a shady tree after eating my fill. I enjoyed this quite a bit more than the Redbreast Lustau or 12yr and is likely to become my Irish of choice.

Toffee, prunes, figs, dates, and dark, jammy fruits are right up front. The nose is quite dry despite the intensity of the fruit. There is some nice oak hinting at some barrel notes to be discovered underneath all of the sweetness. The palate is significantly brighter than expected, with the dark fruit bringing along some sweet apple and intense spices. The fruit and the spice turns almost leather and tobacco as it lingers, but it always stays just on the side of the fruit. There is a bit of shortbread cookie underneath everything giving some foundation, with the buttery sweetness blending smoothly with the oak still lurking in the background. Subsequent sips found a flaky biscuit right up front before the fruits charged in. The finish is medium with the oak gaining more prominence. Breathing in sharply after swallowing fills your mouth with a beautiful cinnamon and clove apple sugar that is perfectly balanced by the wood. The finish is ultimately an aged, dry oak that has been used as a cutting board for dark fruits over the long years. **After only the initial taste, I think I prefer this to the Redbreast 12yr (also reviewed) as it has quite a lot more to discover. I'd be willing to say that this is an Irish for bourbon drinkers, while the Redbreast is an Irish for Highland Scotch drinkers.**

Orange marmalade and biscuit with red apple jelly on the nose. There is a funky yeasty note underneath, perhaps even a slightly fermented apple concentrate, that faded as it sat. More honey came to the front the longer it sat. The initial sip was loaded with spiced orange marmalade and apple puree. It actually caught me so off guard I said "wow" out loud and lost track of any other notes on the first sip. Coming back to it, I found the slightly salty, buttered biscuit try to push through after the initial spiced orange. Some melon followed closely behind, with the bright cantaloupe note chasing away the cereal and the salt, but that quickly was replaced by more baking spices. There is a slight nuttiness on the finish, which is mostly slightly salty apple as the spices die down. The body is very rich and oily, giving a nice coating across your whole palate. **Note: I was actually a little underwhelmed on my first taste of this a couple of days before this review. A couple of hours before I had a pretty heavy, spicy, fatty meal whereas at this sitting I had a much more neutral palate. After this tasting I understand why this is a benchmark Irish whiskey. The initial bust of that spiced orange and apple alone is worth it.**

Barley, smoked, peppered apple, and creamy mint milk chocolate greets you initially on the nose. Honeyed barley shows up at the end of the nose with a slight bandaid note. After a taste there is noticeable maraschino cherry on the nose as well. The palate is sweet grain, honeyed smoke, and brine with bright fruit soaking in it. White peppered apple tamps down the cherry from the brine and fresh picked mint leaf blooms out with an earthy tinge before the honeyed barley and apple closes out the session. This is a great Islay for Speyside drinkers and I found that it fills an interesting niche in the collection, although it was also slightly more forgettable (but pleasant) when tried alongside the Uigeadail.

The nose is fully of sticky, sweet sherry, peat smoke with caramel, toffee, and coffee. There is a bit of roasted honeycrisp apple underneath. After it sat out a bit, the nose became full of Werther's originals, and then the caramel turned milky sweet, reminiscent of tres leches. The palate is thick and oily with sweet peat smoke and plenty of barrel notes, particularly oak, alongside the caramel from the nose which comes through in a darker, burned sugar kind of way. Toasted barley and brine beats back the sweetness for a moment. Bandaid shows up before the sweet peat smoke comes back, bringing a faint tobacco and oak along. The longer you sit with it, the more it steers back to a leathery, apple honey taste. A couple of drops of water rounds all of the edges off. This dram is dark and brooding with just enough brightness to keep from being too much. I tried this side by side with the An Oa and found this to be the more challenging, complex drink that rewards careful sipping while the An Oa is an easier drinking, brighter expression that tastes like an Islay for Speyside drinkers.

Bandaid, smoke, subtle orange marmalade, and iodine on the nose. After it sat for a bit it developed a fair amount of honey. The palate is smoked grain and slightly chewy. The heat drops out quickly and a very nuanced combination sets in: smoked, salted pork with honey and vanilla behind. Some muted bright notes tease their presence but never fully develop. Overall, this is very drinkable and much more pretty than the Ardbeg 10, although it lacks some of the character of the Ardbeg. A couple drops of water made it a little more boring, bringing out way more smoke and brine and obscuring everything else.