For a whiskey lover, every whiskey you taste has a story, a reason you decided to pick up this bottle and not another. Could be you heard or read about it. Could be just the name of the brand and what it evokes: Writer's Tears. What are you drinking? I'm drinking Writer's Tears... I love Irish whiskey. AND I struggle with Irish whiskey. The flavor profiles tend to be more delicate and subtle than its brethren. Less distinctive than scotch. Less bold than bourbon. Less spicy than rye. But for many drinkers, Irish whiskey proves the gateway in the same way that many lovers of literature start off with Stephen King. And here we are, full circle, as to why Writer's Tears is so evocative for me, why I like to drink it: Lover of whiskey; Lover of books. In my early 20s, going to bars for the first time, I never knew what to order until a more experienced friend suggested Irish whiskey. And what I could afford back then (thus, what I ordered) were the standard blends: Jameson and Tullamore Dew. They were sweet, not particularly complicated. Like standard Irish blends, they tasted of apples and oats, hints of vanilla (but so many whiskeys have hints of vanilla it's like saying "birds fly"; it's the rare ones that don't). Still, the sweetness was cut by the fact I was drinking whiskey, a strong drink, a masculine drink! And because of that, for a time, Irish whiskey became MY DRINK! Two decades later, having seen Writer's Tears on the shelf, I got curious: entry-level but higher-end? $10 more than Jameson and Tully. Was it worth it? I picked this up a few months ago when a sale and coupon combination brought this down to $32.99, because I wasn't paying $39.99 for an entry-level whiskey when Knappogue Castle Single Malt 12 Year is only $3 more, are you feeling me? And now I've decided to crack the bottle open to see if even $33 is worth because, let's stop kidding ourselves, price matters (there's a reason Breaking Bourbon factors "value" into their overall score). My initial reaction? Good. Above average. It smells Irish, tastes Irish. It's got the whole apples, oats, and vanilla I've come to expect from your standard Irish bottlings, but there's a cinnamon/clove thing going on in the finish that makes it transcend your regular Irish blend. But is it that much better than the others? $10 better than the others? I keep a bottle of Tully around for mixed drinks that call for Irish, so I decided to taste them side-by-side. And...? The Tully has a weaker, but somehow slightly more astringent aroma. Writer's Tears has a more predominant vanilla note to go along with the fruit and cereal grains that characterize Irish whiskey. The palate follows course: while the Tully is perfectly fine as an entry-level to throw an ice cube in and drink at the bar in your 20s, it was never enjoyable straight. Writer's Tears, while not complex, can stand up to sipping better (though I'm detecting something metallic and coppery in the middle that I'm not fond of), so "better" doesn't necessarily mean that's the way it should be consumed. Overall, the Writer's Tears is superior, but for $10 more? No. For as much as I like the name Writer's Tears, for as much as I like that spice on the back end, $40 is too much for an entry-level whiskey when you could pick up Jameson Black Barrel or Knappogue 12 for the same price. The community rating here is almost 3.7, which strikes me as high. I'm going 2.75, which, to me, is still a good rating. After all, what are you going to say when you encounter something phenomenal if you've spent your life calling everything of solid quality amazing? This is quality, but it's 2.75 quality. Nothing more. Nothing less. Slightly above average, but still a standard blend.