dmoyer
Jameson Caskmates Stout Edition
Blended — Ireland
Reviewed
March 17, 2019 (edited June 2, 2019)
So I picked this up for St. Paddy’s Day because it’s about the only time of the year I go Irish - in whiskey anyway. Lots of positive talk/reviews of this one in some of the whiskey groups I frequent so I figured what the hell. Let’s give it a go shall we?
This version of Jameson is matured in “craft beer barrels” according to the label. Notice it doesn’t actually say “Stout” beer barrels, the name not withstanding. It’s bottled at the typical 40% ABV and is a nice medium gold in the glass. I expect it’s both colored and filtered. It leaves thin watery legs and not a few water droplets on the glass when you give it a swirl.
The nose is pleasant enough with weak mild fruits, honey, and weak malty biscuits. Notice the word “weak”; it’s gonna come up a few more times before this review is over.
The palate has light honey, butter, weak fruits, and no trace of Stout that I could discern. Definitely none of the coffee or chocolate notes that are typical in Stout. There is an odd flavor I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Not bad, just something I really couldn’t identify. Maybe that’s the influence of the beer barrels? Hops maybe?
The finish is short and the flavor I couldn’t identify carries through to the finish. Again, it’s not unpleasant, just different. Overall this isn’t a bad dram for $30. Its definitely drinkable if not memorable. 3/5. Sláinte!
30.0
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Bottle
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IPA for me over the stout.
@BDanner Nope, no change after a Guinness. Still decent, just no Stout/coffee/chocolate notes.
@dmoyer today would be an appropriate day for that type of experiment ☘️
@BDanner Hmm, I don’t think I’d say it’s cough syrup, although it does have a slight sharpness to it. I’m currently working on a Guinness after which I will try the Jameson again to see what that does. You know, for science! 😉
@dmoyer , Funny that you mention an odd note that you couldn't place. My review mentions a note like prescription cough syrup that creeps in at the finish. Could be the same?
@dmoyer ...The first batches had a predominantly white label (like the one pictured here on Distillr). I just wanted to try it, so I bought a 200ml bottle and it had the older white label. All the full size bottles had the black label. I didn't think anything about it until I sat down to review it and saw the label discrepancy noted. I recall at least one reviewer claim that there was a difference in taste between the two. I can't say that for sure since I've only had the white label.
@BDanner I will keep that in mind. Just to confirm, this is a black label bottle. I didn’t realize there was a different labeling.
@dmoyer I went back and re-read my review and I used words like "bold" 'heavy" "chocolate" "mocha" "coffee". I also noted that mine was the old white label. If you see a 50ml or 200ml with that label, give it a try.
@BDanner That may be. I have seen some older reviews of this that talk about Stout/coffee/chocolate tones in great abundance. I didn’t get any of that. Just an odd note that I still can’t put my finger on (and it’s driving me nuts!). All of the flavors in this dram were weak imo. Maybe not weak for Irish, but weak as opposed to bourbon and Scotch.
@Generously_Paul I'm the same. I don't care for IPA's, but liked the IPA version much better than the Stout. However, I didn't find my bottle of Stout "weak" at all. There is some thought that the latter batches aren't as good as the first batches which sported a white label instead of the newer mostly black label.
@Generously_Paul That’s a little surprising since most of the comments/reviews I’ve seen pick this one over the IPA. As for beer, I prefer IPAs over stouts, mostly because stouts are just so damn heavy! When I drink beer I generally want more than one but two stouts and I’m ready to take a nap!
@Generously_Paul Thanks. That’s what I assumed.
@Scott_E looking at my notes, the Kelso and the regular IPA are nearly identical.
@Generously_Paul I haven’t tried the IPA version but the KelSo. How do those two compare? Similar (for a finished Jameson)?
When it comes to beer I’ll take a stout any day of the week over an IPA, but between these two Jameson varieties, I’ll take the IPA Caskmates