Redbreast 15 Year

It starts off like a bourbon with caramel and toffee before morphing into that classic Redbreast shortbread cookie taste. Peppery spice and oak finish it off and linger for a good long while with a lemony tang in there as well.

Shortbread/butter biscuit, dried fruits, dates, green, herbal, nutty, complex.

What a dissapointment. I really liked the 12yo and i just had the amazing 21yo but this is a ghost compared to those two. I am not a great fan of fruity whiskies and this is an irish that resembles a speysider. 46%abv. On the nose there is this dim chocolate note mixed with fruits. Is like chocolate mixed with sider. Green apples and that is it. On the palate: apples and chocolate. It feels like an oily sider. Not good. Aftertaste is watery. Hate when that happens. A hint of clove. Had to add a couple drops of water to see if it gets better. It improved the whiskey a lot. Caramel and tobacco appeared on the nose. On the palate some typical grain whiskey vanilla showed up. Clove got a little better on the aftertaste. Overall, i dont want to be harsh but this one has a good reputation and it didn't live up to it for me. Sorry but this is a 52 over 100 in my score system.

It's not fair to compare the 12 to this, but the higher 46% ABV is immediately picked up by the nose: lemon cookies awash in a wave of alcohol. The palate is oily and mouth-coating with butter cookies, and notes of nut butter underneath it all. (Thanks to JCStylz for the dead-on tasting notes.) Characters of red, and citrus, fruits also accentuate the palate, before the wood spice makes it's appearance. A subsequent nosing highlights the butter cookie note. With the finish closing in, I start smacking my lips and that's when the slight oak bitterness is detected. That eventually mellows into a lightly sweet aftertaste. Enough! Time for another sip! This is definitely a step up from the 12, introducing a deeper flavor profile. Is it worth the $30 USD hike in price? It depends on what your drinking mood is about. If you want something of good quality and simple - a movie glass - the Redbreast 12 checks off those boxes. However, if you want to enjoy a dram with a degree of complexity, without having to work too hard, the Redbreast 15 is the right choice. (I am eager to see how it develops with air, as the bottle goes down.) Of the half-dozen Irish whiskies I've tried thus far, this one takes the cake. My Rating Glossary: Two Stars: "I'd rather be drinking lite beer." Two 1/2 Stars: "Posh rubbish." Three Stars: "I love whisk(e)y. This is average love." Three 1/2 Stars: "May buy again." Four Stars: "I've got to get you into my life." Four 1/2 Stars: "Better than drugs." Five Stars: "Life is good. Whisky makes it better."