Whiskey_Hound
Kilbeggan Small Batch Rye
Other Whiskey — Ireland
Reviewed
July 26, 2022 (edited August 7, 2022)
After a few years of serious whiskey exploration, it can feel as though you’ve run out of unique experiences. This is highly untrue, but it can feel this way, nevertheless.
Enter this, an Irish rye. It’s a first, and to my knowledge, the first rye I’ve had from outside North America. It seems to have a mash of rye, malted barley, and unmalted barley, which is also a first. Let’s see if the quality matches the uniqueness.
Nose: Plush sweetness. Apple, pear, peach, and apricot. Dried apricot and black licorice as well. Pineapple and coconut. Almond. Toffee, vanilla, and a faint hint of shortbread cookie. Vanilla frosting and marshmallow. Floral notes. Oak.
Palate: Dried apricot and golden raisin. Granny Smith apple and pear. Pineapple and a big coconut note. Vanilla, toffee, malt, and caramel. Almond, walnut, macadamia, and cashew. Oak.
Finish: This remains plush through the finish. Apricot (dried and regular) and golden raisin. Apple and pear. Lime. Shortbread cookie, vanilla, toffee, and caramel. Almond, walnut, and cashew. Cinnamon, black pepper, clove, nutmeg, and oak. Moderate-long finish, leaning toward the latter.
This is exceptional, especially compared to what I expected. An Irish rye has an experimental sound to it—and I believe this was the first of its kind. Cooley knocked it knocked out the park on their first try, and has set the bar ridiculously high for all those to follow.
This was on sale at $27–down from $32 which is generally where I see it priced. Either way, this is a remarkable value. I score the nose, palate, and finish equally high. And the VFM adds on even greater boost.
What a great idea. What a great mash. What a great value. What’s more to be said. 4.25/5–well done, Cooley.
27.0
USD
per
Bottle
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@cascode the Backwoods one here in the US is from Single Cask Nation, which generally picks good barrels for bottling.
@PBMichiganWolverine Yes I’ve seen that one (Belgrove) but not tried it.
@PBMichiganWolverine No, not so far - they’re a recently established distillery in Victoria and have not had great exposure yet. Look forward to your thoughts on it.
@Whiskey_Hound oh—- the Finnish one is called Kyro rye. It’s here in the US, about $60. I’ve not tried it yet, but supposedly quite good.
@cascode @Whiskey_Hound Belgrove hasn’t made it here. I think I might have a bottle from That Boutiquey Whiskey Company— they came out with a rum of smaller Aussie distilleries sometime last year.
@Whiskey_Hound I haven’t tried the Oxford or the Finnish one, but the Amrut rye was really good. It’s made with North Indian rye, and aged in south India, so that heat will make it a very Garrison or Balcones like experience, except with rye.
@cascode I just got a bottle of Backwoods distilling ( Aussie also, I think). Have you tried anything from them?
Get on the Archie Rose Malted Rye. And for something similarly interesting, Whipper Snapper Wheat Whiskey. Australian royalty.
@Whiskey_Hound Archie Rose for sure, Belgrove very unlikely.
@cascode Noted. Any shot this has reached the US yet?
@PBMichiganWolverine Amrut it is, considering what’s available. They have a really solid core range, so I feel pretty comfortable seeking it out, though I haven’t seen it anywhere yet
Don’t overlook Archie Rose Hybrid Rye and Belgrove Peated Rye, both from Australia.
@Whiskey_Hound yeah, so Amrut ( Indian) makes a really good rye, hefty but young. So does England (Oxford rye), which I think uses all local grain. And then there’s Scandinavian. I want to say Finnish. Amrut is available here in US, but Oxford and the Finnish one are UK
@Scott_E Definitely do! It’s got decent distribution in Jersey. Worst case I’ll grab another bottle so I can send you a sample. Easily worth a buy though. Can’t remember if I wrote this in the review and can’t see what I wrote while I’m typing this, but it’s the closest I’ve had profile-wise to Angel’s Envy rye at 1/3 price
@PBMichiganWolverine Can you elaborate on that? I haven’t heard of a single one of those and after trying this one, I’m very interested in what those countries have to offer.
Highly intrigued. I haven’t seen this near me but will grab one once I find it.
@Whiskey_Hound that is amazing value! Seems more and more countries going the rye route ( UK, Nordic, India).