Redbreast 15 Year

Beautiful whiskey! Effortlessly sauve, rich, oily and balanced, perfect amount of sweetness and spice, there’s short bread, vanilla, dried fruits and sherry notes. Finish is medium length with subtle sweetness and spice.

Neat. 50ml bottle. Found a three pack sample (only $15 in Ohio) that contained the 12 year, Lustau, and 15 year. While I have had the 12 Cask Strength, I have never had any of these. What a fun flight to explore on a Friday. Woah. The nose on this gains more than I expected due to those extra three years. Figs and plums really come center stage. The sweetness is dialed back to the point I am not getting the shortbread even. It’s faint at best. Instead it is coffee cake. Lots of leather. Hint of milk chocolate. The age grabbed me at first, but it does become muted as I acclimate to it - which is odd. Nice oily mouthfeel. Plums up front on the tongue. Still going coffee cake over short bread cookie. Grilled pineapple coming through on the finish similar to the twelve. Really jammy on the finish. Hint of chocolate on the finish as well. The oak is really coming through on subsequent sips but still fully transitions to fruits in the finish. Hmm. Surprised by this one. The nose made me think this would step up a level but overall it is on par with their 12. It hits a different profile but that profile isn’t more enjoyable, just different. Enjoyable but nothing made me fall in love.

The Redbreast brand is one of Ireland's stalwarts. So far I've had the 12 and the 12 CS; both were winners. On to the 15, which surprisingly flies under the radar. Let's see what it's all about. Nose: Creamy vanilla custard and shortbread cookie. Honey, toffee, and malt. Coconut, banana, and zesty orange. Lemon and lime add more citrus. Almond and chestnut. Green apple and pear. Green, grassy, and floral notes. Oak and a touch of cinnamon and baking spice to let you know it's 46% ABV. Palate: Plum and raisin. Green apple, pear, banana, and orange. Shortbread cookie, caramel, vanilla custard, toffee, flax seed, graham cracker. Cola. Almond and chestnut. oak, cinnamon, black pepper, and some more baking spices. Finish: Plum and raisin. Dried cranberry. Almond and chestnut. Toffee, vanilla, and caramel. Black pepper, cinnamon, baking spice, and oak. Moderate lengnth--about what you'd want from a 46% ABV whiskey. One thing I've learned over the years is to be patient with a whiskey--especially an older one. This one started off decent, but there was nothing particularly impressive about it based on my first couple pours. Now that I'm halfway through the bottle, oxidation has made this a completely different animal. Redbreast continues to deliver. Ironically, this drinks like Green Spot on steroids. It really doesn't remind me a whole lot of either RB12 incarnate. All of these brands hail from the same distillery, but I usually find consistency between each individual brand. This instinctually reminded me of a higher proof Green Spot, and looking back at past reviews confirms that. Whatever the case, this is a fantastic whiskey. It's a worth a go for not only every fan of Irish whiskey, but any fan of whiskey period.