cascode
Yellow Spot 12 Year Single Pot Still
Single Pot Still — Ireland
Reviewed
November 10, 2018 (edited June 15, 2021)
Nose: Buttery and grassy-cereal with orange peel, peach, apricot, nectarine, banana and plum against a subtle oak background. As it rests in the glass and opens, a lovely soft vanilla aroma emerges tinged with a hint of sherried-coconut.
Palate: A full and clean, crisp arrival with cereal sweetness. It develops into a warming, faintly spicy palate which has some sour green apple and walnut flavours on the side and a flash of black pepper. It pulls a fast one on you because just when you think it has moved into the finish it surges again with very rounded dark fruity flavours and a touch of sweet fortified wine. The texture is excellent.
Finish: Long. The rich winey cask presence lingers along with the fruity flavours. The aftertaste is sweet gristy cereal.
This is a well balanced whiskey that leans just a little towards the sweet side of things. It is best neat, where its balance and complexity can be fully appreciated. A dash of water softens the profile and makes it more approachable but a little of its character is lost in the process. However if you prefer a softer profile then don't hold back because it does take water well.
Yellow Spot is a more mature and complex whiskey than Green Spot, the more intricate sherry casking regime and several more years of age (almost twice as much) producing an easily superior result. Not that Green Spot is inferior as such, it's just that Yellow Spot is very, very good.
Highly recommended. It's not cheap but it is worth the money and if you are looking to move up from the less expensive Irish blends to experience a premium Irish pot still whisky then you could not ask for a more ideal choice than this.
"Very Good" : 87/100 (4.25 stars)
150.0
AUD
per
Bottle
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@PBMichiganWolverine 😆 priorities!
@1901 $130 for a15 yr...damn. That’s the market nowadays. One week of groceries for a family of 4 (the damn kids need to give up sports...maybe take up knitting or chess, that’ll bring that grocery bill down), or a bottle of Irish whiskey? Irish whiskey it is!
@PBMichiganWolverine you're right - it is 15yo. The snippet isn't clear but it means 5yrs in bourbon casks before moving to the wine casks.
@1901 oh it’s a 5 yr old? I thought it was 15.
@Scott_E will do. I saw too that they are likely to resurrect the 7yo blue spot at some stage in the future.
@PBMichiganWolverine Yep it's out. This from a press release this week "Five-year-old Bourbon cask-matured single pot still Irish whiskey was put into the Marsala wine casks from Italy in 2004. This liquid was then blended with ex-Bourbon cask and ex-Sherry cask whiskeys. Red Spot is bottled at 46% abv and has an RRP of €115 (US$130). The whiskey is available in Ireland from this month and will roll out to the US, UK, France and global travel retail from January 2019"
@cascode @1901 @Scott_E Redspot is out? That’s a 15 yr finished in sherry or wine I think. Based on price points for other 15 yr single pot, I’m guessing $100-120
@1901 Let is know if you do get a chance to taste Red Spot. Very interested. Also curious about the price point.
@Scott_E it is a good bit cheaper. I hope to taste their Red Spot 15yo at Whiskey Live Dublin next week. They've reintroduced it to the range after a 50yr hiatus.
@1901 I am with you. Green over Yellow (though both are good). And Green is about 2/3 the cost of Yellow.
@cascode good review. I found Yellow Spot a bit too sweet and over-banana-ed, and preferred Green Spot overall.
The first bottle I had of this blew me away. Subsequent bottles have been great but not as brilliant as the first. I'm looking forward to blue and red spots coming out.. whenever that is.