Green Spot Chateau Montelena Single Pot Still

After finishing up my reviews for the Knappogue Castle Wine Cask series, I feel like now is a good time to tackle this one. I'm a big fan of the basic Green Spot. The additional time spent in what I'm led to believe are high-quality Zinfandel wine casks should add some interesting dimensions. Nose: Big butterscotch and shortbread cookie, reminiscent of the orignal GS. Strawberry, raspberry, red apple, pear, and apricot. Banana and coconut and orange citrus. Cranberry, grape, raisin. Vanilla, toffee, honey, and cream. Toasted marshamllow. Fruity, sweet, but light aroma. Big oak as well. The briefest whiff of metallic grain. White chocolate as the description on the tube suggests. Barely noticeable and does nothing to detract. Good way to start. Palate: Another fruit bowl. Red apple, pear, apricot, grape and plum, strawberry, raspberry, cranberry, and raisin. Orange, banana, and coconut. Caramel, toffee, honey, butterscotch, and shortbread cookie. More toasted marshmallow. Some more jammy sweetness. Cereal and malt. Oaky once again. Very, very closely reflects the nose. Finish: Cranberry, raspberry, raisin red fruit notes carry over. Dry red fruit, signifying the powerful wine cask influence. The oak is present as well, not to mention a cinnamon tingle and some nutmeg and clove. The bump from 40% to 46% greatly bolsters what makes for a moderate-length finish. A fine Irish whiskey. Yet another example of why Irish whiskey is criminally devalued in the current whiskey culture, which heavily favors Scotch and bourbon. You'd be a fool to overlook the category when you can find bottles like this. This one can contend with any of the KC wine cask releases in terms of what's in the glass. Considering that this one costs an extra 50% and bears no age statement, it's an inferior value. Quality drop nonetheless. You can still find these, and I'd highly recommend it as a great representative of what the Emerald Isle is capable of producing.