skillerified
Keeper's Heart Irish + Bourbon
Other Whiskey — Multiple Countries
Reviewed
March 11, 2023 (edited October 10, 2023)
N: An unfortunate and overwhelming paint thinner note leads off, cereal grain, green rye, ethanol, mint/menthol, something bitter or sour smelling, but then the ethanol numbs my nose and nothing...
P: Sweet and simple, vanilla, caramel, corn, mild pot still spice layered over anonymous fruit notes, earthy, maybe a dash of anonymous wood. With time, deep in the background some tropical fruits make themselves known, the kind you'd associate with single pot still.
F: Menthol, rye, drying, tannic, slightly bitter, caramel, earth, very light heat.
I usually like Irish whiskey and I usually like bourbon, so I was curious at the concept here. Also, I still identify as Minnesotan, so had to give this a shot. The idea is good, but the execution is lacking. Keeper's Heart says this a blend of Irish pot still whiskey, Irish grain whiskey, and bourbon. But I haven't seen any ratios or source distilleries, both of which would have immense impacts on final product. Hard to guess at what this really is then, but it feels like it leans heavily to the Irish grain, likely the cheapest of the bunch. (To their credit, they claim even that grain whiskey is at least 4 years old - so it really could be even cheaper.) There are some Irish single pot still notes in there, but far in the background and not enough to impress. Has to be a very small amount in the blend. Beyond that, the cross of bourbon flavors and Irish flavors just feels muddled. Both are there, but not in a way that elevates either. The bourbon parts are surprisingly demure, given that bourbon - and especially cheap bourbon - is usually pretty assertive. Without knowing what the actual parts are, it still seems to fall short of the sum of its parts. Long story short, it's may be a good idea, but a mediocre juice in the bottle. Just take a good bourbon and a good Irish single pot still and pour them together in your glass - likely better than this.
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