Color: Chesnut Oloroso Sherry (1.2), long faint legs on the twirl - somewhat oily
Nose: Warm cinnamon apples, stewed red fruit, and bubblegum on the first few whiffs. Caramel, vanilla, brown sugar and oak round out the sherry filled nose - reminding me of the cinnamon apple tea I used to drink during the winter as a kid.
Palate: An overall soft and watery mouthfeel with an initial sour note, followed by toffee, nougat and spiced nuts. The cinnamon apples from the nose appear along with shortbread (or pie crust) and chestnuts. Instead of the tea from the nose, I’m now picturing a cinnamon apple pie.
Finish: Starts off spicy and sweet, before fading to a dry nutty note that lingers.
Overall: This was my first adventure into Irish Whiskey, and I have to say I’m a fan. The whiskey is soft and sweet, with enough spice to balance it out.
The creamy bread notes and silky smooth texture imparted by the single pot process are wonderful. I’ve gotten cinnamon apple spice from bourbons before, but never quite like this - those were more candied apples, while this is warm apple pie.
The low ABV leaves something to be desired, and surely holds back some of the distillery’s deeper flavors - but that’s only more of an incentive to invest in a bottle of the Cask Strength. Until then I’ll happily sip this, cheers!
6/24/20
60.0
USD
per
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Looking forward to that review!
@Whiskey_Hound thank you! Ordered Green spot a week ago, excited to try it!
Great review! Agree on all points. The CS is definitely worth a go. Green Spot is great, as well as anything from Knappogue Castle. Irish whiskey often goes overlooked, but there are some real gems in the category
@RLDN106 Cardhu [sic], no, I meant Tamdhu! :)
@DigitalCork that’s very interesting, thanks for the info. Makes sense that only CS I’ve heard raves about is an Islay: Laphroaig 10 CS.
@RLDN106 In my modest experience, I'd say that cask strength scotches that aren't peated or from Islay are disappointing. The sherry wood spice together with ethanol hits the palate in a way that emphasizes the alcohol punch, contrasting the boldness that you might discern in an Ardbeg, for example. (I've read good things about Cardhu, however, so I may be over-generalizing here.) I got diminishing returns as I added water only to find that there wasn't a sweet spot I was happy with. And finally, when I watered the proof down enough, the dram had lost much of its body and turned out quite watery. Hope that helps a bit.
@DigitalCork what’re your thoughts on the A’bunadh? It’s on my list.
@WhiskeyLonghorn thanks for the heads up! Would rather save the $20 if it’s not worth it.
@RLDN106 I've never tried the cask strength version. (I've had the Aberlour A'bunadh at a similar proof point - we're talking 1% to 2% difference - and I could barely take a shot without water. The spice and ethanol combine to really pack a punch.) Then you have the Lustau Edition, proofed at 92, and is quite like the 12 in terms of palate profile. In the case of the former, I picked up further notes of candied orange peel, and a bit more lively spice. And it offers a deeper mouthfeel.
I like this one more than the CS version for what it’s worth. The CS was too hot and I ended up diluting it a bunch.