McConnell's Irish Whisky 5 Year

No nose burn smooth on the pallet.

Nose: Vanilla langue du chat with a little orange essence. A retiring, musky cereal note. Palate: Semi-sweet watery cereal arrival. Nearly devoid of flavour apart from a suggestion of citrus and a memory of salt. The texture is soft but weak. Finish: There is no finish. This is the most anaemic whisky I've tasted for a good while. I thought the "Pure Scot" from Bladnoch that I tasted not long ago was bad, but this ... There is virtually nothing on the nose. A shy grainy vanilla presence and a sweet, vaguely musky overtone, and that's it. The palate is equally deserted. There is a bland cereal arrival, but no discernable development at all. Then suddenly it just stops dead in its tracks and is gone. The only significant aftertaste I get is the sweetness of grain spirit. I'm dumbfounded that this claims to be 5 years old - I've tasted new-make that has WAY more flavour. This is like neutral column-distilled spirit that has been matured in steel drums with a couple of old oak-staves thrown in for flavour. This bottle was just opened and I'm only on the second dram from the neck, so I'll give it a day or so and score it then, in case by some chance it evolves. -------------------------------- UPDATED WITH RATING After 48 hours this has changed its profile a little, but in both good and bad ways. To begin with it was bland but inoffensive as there was hardly anything to give offense. As it has oxidised, however, it has gained distinct notes on both nose and palate. Lightly buttery, creamy cereal, vanilla - a standard generic Irish blend profile. The problem is that along with the improvement there is a hard, bitter almost sour note in the finish. This is noticed even when it is mixed with Coke. I'm giving it the same rating I gave The Dubliner as it's very much in that ballpark, and like The Dubliner it is also overpriced. "Inferior" : 69/100 (1.75 stars)