How do you follow up a review of Highland Park 18? Well, you don’t. You don’t even try. So I am swimming down the Straits of Moyle, across the Irish Sea, and pulling myself out onto the shores of County Louth, Ireland. That’s where this oddity starts - an Irish whiskey that’s imported to the US and bottled in Princeton, Minnesota.... Hell-Cat Maggie Irish Whiskey. Of course, you don’t pick a name like Hell-Cat Maggie out of thin air. This fearsome historical female was a legendary member of the Irish-American street gang, “The Dead Rabbits”, who roamed the Five Points district in Manhattan during the 1840s. She reportedly earned her violent pseudonym by filing her teeth to points and wearing brass claws into battle with other New York street gangs, most notably the anti-immigrant Bowery Boys. She died at the ripe old age of 25. So how does the whiskey branded after her namesake fare? I suppose similarly if you consider that not much is known about it - it’s apparently a blend of unmalted whiskies and malted pot still whiskies aged for at least 3 years and first hit shelves in March 2015.* Even the folks at Distiller haven’t dared to review this dram yet. What am I getting myself into? Nose: Young grain and malt. Check this spirit’s birth certificate, I’m not convinced its turned 3 yet. Green apple caramel candies poke through bitter wood notes and sweet ethanol. If something can smell bright, this is sharply bright. Palate: Metallic green apples. Some bitter astringency and more wood than I was expecting given its youth. Subsequent tastings bring out more sweetness and bread. Thin and light-bodied. Definitely some grainy funk going on. Finish: Short and fiery. Not unlike our leading lady. Bready malt. The heat and bitter solvent notes overstay their welcome a bit. Good thing it’s only bottled at 40% ABV. Thoughts? I made it out of my tangle with Hell-Cat Maggie alive. I will need to try this on the rocks and/or experiment with some ginger beer (Irish Mule) or vermouth (Emerald) to use up the rest. I can’t really recommend this neat with the exception of experiencing it for the marketing appeal. Still fun to try though (and hats off to the producers for featuring a female on the label). 2.5 ~ 71 ~ Below Average *Distiller should probably update this to a blend as opposed to the single pot still it’s currently described as...?