skillerified
Red Spot 15 Year Single Pot Still
Single Pot Still — Ireland
Reviewed
March 24, 2021 (edited April 5, 2022)
N: Plum, pear, raisin, gumdrops, cherry candy, cherry cough syrup, overripe banana, toasted coconut, almond extract, sugar cookies. Little bit of petrichor in it - thought I caught it in the Yellow Spot last night, but wasn't sure. I'm certain it's in the Red. Tiny and fleeting hits of mint and ethanol. Nosing across the edges of the glass (Glencairn) reveals a really nice sour stone fruit.
P: Hot, sweet, oily, and heavy, and yet nothing out of place. Sweet and sour red fruit, little bit of anise and/or black licorice, cinnamon candy, banana playing at the edges of your tongue, little bit of a bitter white tea, cracked pepper, something vegetal - not quite bell pepper, but getting there. Sweet bread drizzled with caramel and vanilla sauce. Thin layer of chocolate which sometimes hits as powdered, sometimes as milk, sometimes dark. Finish is long and layered - hot cinnamon, banana, peach, pear, little bit of lingering dark chocolate, espresso... There's significant bitterness in the finish - in the chocolate and the espresso especially. Pot still spice is there, but generally sits in the background - very unlike the Yellow, Green, or really most Irish single pot still whiskies. And there's still red fruit hanging through to the end - bits of cherry, strawberry, grape, plum, raisin - some of it fresh, some of it dried. Seriously though, this dram just keeps coming.
Every pour, sometimes every sip, there's something new here. This is an incredible whiskey. That said, it's not super easy to drink: the bitterness is going to turn some people off. There is an ethanol presence that doesn't bother me at all, but some may dislike it at the price point. The herbal and vegetal notes will turn some people off. For me, I think all of that is crazy interesting and super enjoyable, both to drink and to think about how it happened. But I still don't think I'd want this every day. Green Spot holds that place for me - could drink that every day. That said, this is noticeably better and more complicated. I think it justifies its price increase. Don't pay an upcharge or a secondary market price, but normal retail (about $120) is fair for this.
125.0
USD
per
Bottle
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@Soba45 exactly what in was/am thinking. So, that shiny penny syndrome fades, and I can get the Blue Spot at msrp sooner than later.
@Scott_E It's 7 years old so hopefully they should have a decent supply given they laid it down at the start of the boom years and probably have been continually revamping forecasts since then or at worst they'll be able to do so in our lifetime :-)
@PBMichiganWolverine Nice. Looking forward to the review.
@Scott_E i did buy 10cl sample for $20 from an acquaintance—-will try it this weekend. That’s probably slightly higher than a fair price—-works out to $140 if it were a full bottle
@skillerified @PBMichiganWolverine I have a local who was selling for $157. Almost pulled the trigger. Then, in my head, was my wife telling me I “have too much already and do you need to spend that much?” I guess I am hoping and holding out for demand to decrease and inventory to rise. Or the golden ticket to a store who I find sell at msrp.
Yeah, I've seen $400-600 online. I'm hoping it lands in big box stores eventually. Should be $110-150 there. I'll keep hoping anyway.
@skillerified @Scott_E unfortunately that blue spot is crazy expensive...about $200 on the low end
I'm anxiously waiting for the Blue to hit shelves here. It seems to be slowly creeping across the country from east to west. Would love to try a cask strength version of Red too. My guess is the added water cuts into the richer fruit and bread flavors more than the harsher, bitter flavors.
This was my preference, excluding the Blue Spot, which I have not yet had. That being said, all the Spots are good. You can’t go wrong with any of them.