Redbreast 12 Year Cask Strength

Hands down my favourite Irish Whiskey of all time. Loved the standard Redbreast 12 y.o when I tried it in Dublin about a year ago. Nose: Exceptionally sweet aroma of sultanas, dates, fig and pear. Slightly sherry-esque. Vanilla notes with slight spice appreciable. Palate: There it is: that trademark Redbreast oiliness I remember, except the richness and body intensified in a Cask Strength level. The fruitiness shines here - stewed pear, tinned peach and event hints of butterscotch cookie. Finish: the oaky malt of the barrell kicks in here... with the sweet prolongee caramel lingering with hints of sweet pear. A heartwarmingly long finish, a dram to truly savour.

A case of more is less. Prefer the standard 12 over this. The nose is ethanol and tea biscuits, plus a strange little cantaloupe like note. Palate is hot, but pretty smooth, with a hint of vanilla and sherry. The finish is long with subtle vanilla and sherry notes popping up.

B2/19 Nose - vanilla, custard, pie, i get a hint of grape fruit but such a sweet profile over all. Maybe some toasted oak as well. Taste - There's a lot of oak in here. It then moves to a sweet fruity and caramel dessert and then white grape fruit and oak on the finish, long, bitter, lingering but more like an IPA bitter, not an oak astringent or off putting one. Wow - this is nothing of the over the top sweet but nicely toasted oak balanced bottle I had last. I'm less excited with this one. I love the lingering and really cool finish. But I'm so jarred expecting the reach sweet red breast 12 I came to love in CS. Perhaps with the new packaging they felt it was time for a change and with the new NAS coming...well blah. Anyway this is a cool whisky but it's just nothing like what I have had on past batches. For me this is a 2.0. The older bottles I've had would be 3.0+'s

N: Vanilla custard P: Creamy buttery bread like flavor that ramps into apricot F: Tongue pops with some mild oak. Lingers for a nice while you can definitely tell the wine barrel is there.