I really wanted this to be a home-run. 8 year age stated, cask strength, bourbon barrel, NCF, and single grain? There are so few cask strength irish whiskies on the market that when I saw this was available in Ireland I snatched it up. Nose: Pleasant, almost docile, with faint sweetness and graham crackers drifting up. From the nose alone, one really wouldn't guess this to be 59%. Palate: The palate is probably the best part of this dram. Really oily and amazing mouth feel, with gentle grassy and floral, with a clear bourbon barrel influence shining through in vanilla and butterscotch flavors. Similarly to the nose, from the palate alone you would not guess this to be 59%, although the legs give it away. The minimal alcohol burn for the proof is a testament to the age. Finish: The raw alcohol rises up, with almost no oak, sweet, or potstill spice to cover it. The finish is unfortunately the most disappointing part of this dram - it doesn't have enough ooomf to get it over the hump, even at cask strength and NCF. The pure ethanol taste, not even that much of a burn, but just a really strong 'vodka/neutral alcohol' flavors comes through. This makes me think there's probably a good bit of grain alcohol and not as much malt compared to other Irish drams. From a sheer novelty standpoint, a cask strength, age stated Irish, I would buy this again, even though it isn't great value for money. I love Irish whiskey, and this is a very pleasant, although not outstanding, dram.