The Dublin Liberties Murder Lane 13 Year

Nose is quite pungent but not necessarily a good thing; while it is complex and features caramel apple, melon, vanilla, honey, and a floral note (heather?), it also brings burnt rubber/keratin, and a little too much ethanol for the proof. Not the best start. Things greatly improve on the palate with vanilla cream, honeydew melon, apricot, pear, clover honey, coconut, and milk chocolate. Flavors are on the airy side, but are nicely integrated with no one flavor dominating. Drinks a little hotter than the low proof would indicate. Finish sadly brings some of the burnt tire from the nose along with pepper, almond, apricot, smoke, tobacco, moss, and a bitter/sour oak. At least it’s on the shorter side of medium. Mouthfeel is light bodied which serves the profile well but also fairly grainy which could be better. This whiskey is kind of a bummer as I really wanted to like this more than I did. While the palate is a delight there were off notes in the nose and finish that were hard to ignore. At the $109 I paid, this a resounding NO on value/rebuy prospects, There are plenty of superior Irish whiskies to be had at this price or less in the Redbreast line and for just $10 more I could get the nearly flawless Yellow Spot. So disappointing that I immediately scratched the 16yr expression from the same distillery off my wishlist.

A very nice first sip. It has little to no heat and bite. The flavor is very much a single malt Irish whiskey, but not really what a 13 year aged whiskey should have. A straight forward single malt with the slightest hint of peat, even though the gentleman in a suit a the bar said it didn’t have any. By comparison, I had a €14 pour of Teeling 15 year single grain at the distillery that was twice the flavor of this €25 pour. Recommended for those wanting a single malt whiskey, particularly Irish whiskey, with a hint of peat from a different maker than the usual. If you want a single malt of well aged variety, I’d venture to any number of other Irish whiskies or even scotches that fit the bill and are way cheaper, less than the €160 per bottle at the distillery. The Teeling 15 year single grain was only €110 by comparison.

Floral and tasty. Great for easy drinking