Irish whiskey tasting, The Oak Barrel, Sydney, 7 Feb 2019. Whisky #2 Nose: Soft and mildly floral with some light spice aromas (cinnamon?). A warm cereal and malty presence with caramel and oak hints. Very pleasant. Palate: Thin and slightly hard entry. Mild spices develop but overall it seemed anaemic. This is a column distillate of corn mash and I couldn’t help but feel that the stills had been pushed too hard and much of the light character of the wash had been stripped out. The texture, often a strong point of single grain whisky, lacked the requisite silken presence to make it noteworthy. Finish: Short. Very little finish or aftertaste. The nose on this was very enjoyable and had a strangely evocative and nostalgic quality. Very soothing in a country-cottage sort of way, and a touch like bourbon. The palate, however, completely failed to live up to the promise of the nose and was thin and devoid of character, both in terms of flavour profile and texture. Very easy to drink, but lacking any sort of presence. There's nothing actively unpleasant about it but it's just not a very impressive whiskey, and at the price point I'd expect a lot more. The standard Compass Box Hedonism is cheaper than this and completely demolishes it. “Inferior” : 68/100 (1.75 stars)