Several weeks ago, I attended an online Redbreast tasting put on by the MIT Alumni Association. I did not attend MIT, which demonstrates it’s good to know smart people. The tasting utilized Redbreast’s sample pack - consisting of the 12, 15 and Lustau - with participants responsible for obtaining the whiskey on their own. I had a bit of trouble finding the sample pack in stock, but located it at The Whisky Shop USA in San Francisco. For reasons unknown, the package started it’s cross-country journey, stopped for several days in Kansas, and then was returned to San Francisco. The Whisky Shop offered to resend it, but alas, it was too late for the tasting. There would be no Redbreast for me. But I still wanted to attend the tasting, and I didn’t want to sadly sit in front of my laptop empty handed. Fortunately, I had the perfect Irish stand-in - a sample of Waterford Ratheadon, courtesy of @PBMichiganWolverine. If you haven’t read @PBMichiganWolverine’s review yet, do yourself a favor and scroll down the page. This is the ultimate in local sourcing and transparency. I love it. Did I love the whiskey? On both the nose and palate, it’s unmistakably Irish - fruitiness, mostly white grape and some lemon, cereal malt and caramel. The unusual part is the mineral note that has been noted in every Waterford review I’ve read so far. That’s no coincidence, because it’s unmistakable and it really stands out against the otherwise classic Irish profile. I had mixed feelings - it’s unique, but while it’s definitely maritime in nature, I found it trended slightly towards fishiness. As a pescatarian, I’m not shy about the taste of fish, but I found it to be a bit incongruent here. The ethanol is prominent, which was not terribly surprising for a young whiskey at 50% ABV, and overall, it runs a bit hot. I added some water, which the Ratheadon accepted beautifully. At an ABV somewhere in the low 40s, the heat is gone, the fruits and the minerality are toned down, and the maltiness takes a more prominent role. In the end, I liked the Ratheadon, but I am enamored with Waterford. I’ll be keeping an eye out for future releases, and I hope to see other craft distilleries emulate Waterford’s model. I’ll get to the Redbreasts eventually, but for now, I was thrilled to try the Ratheadon. Thanks @PBMichiganWolverine!