ContemplativeFox
Powers Gold Label
Blended — Ireland
Reviewed
September 14, 2020 (edited December 4, 2020)
Rating: 6/23
I've been curious about this one for a while and now I'm even more curious seeing that it has an ABV of precisely 43.2%.
N: It smells like close to nothing. I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, it probably isn't awful. On the other, there's no way it can be particularly good. Also, this being an Irish whiskey, it probably wouldn't have the sulfur problem that plagues most cheap scotch. Still, it could have smelled tremendously like alcohol, but fortunately it doesn't. It does smell oily, which reminds me a bit of Glen Logie due to its oiliness that is separate from essentially anything else going on. I do get a waft of ethanol and grain, and maybe fruit as well, but there really is not much going on in here. Despite being minimal, Glen Logie's nose is more substantial. Not necessarily better, but definitely more substantial.
P: It's a minimal palate with minimal flavor present. It does a good job of balancing the bitter and sweet though with the oil lending it authenticity, but not taking over. I get a faint hint of caramel that might or might not be artificial. There's some kind of generic grain in here, but it isn't that tart, harsh single grain flavor. This palate is fairly harsh though. Not extremely harsh, but it definitely burns a bit. There's a faint nectar quality to this whole dram that I want to compare to honey, but it's so so light and not bitter. There aren't really any bad flavors here, but there just aren't many flavors period.
F: Light oiliness with just kind of the rest of the profile present here, but reduced and looking lost.
You know, I don't totally hate this. If I imagine it to be an interesting vodka, I actually appreciate it better. It's lacking the alcohol flavor and in-your-face youth plague Kilbeggan, but it's also lacking any particular personality and remains harsh. I really can't think of another whiskey that is more boring.
As a harshness comparison benchmark, I tried this alongside Beluga Noble vodka and the Beluga was substantially harsher, though this was still definitely harsh. This is a bit richer and more flavorful, but not by much. Considering that, this could be a good substitute for vodka in some situations.
Which puts me in a weird situation trying to rate this. It's quite solid as a vodka, but a bit more questionable as a whiskey. This has less personality than Pure Scot and frankly I don't like its flavor as much. Both are fairly harsh, but I think that this might even be a little bit harsher. Which is unfortunate because otherwise this could be a solid boring whiskey. I can deal with harshness if it's caused by high proof or if the flavor is great, but for a mellow dram like this, it really isn't appropriate. This strikes me as about Kilbeggan Single Grain quality because of its harshness. The Kilbeggan's flavor is rougher around the edges, but it also actually has more flavor. Both are pretty harsh. The qualities seem about equivalent. It's possible that I underrated Pure Scot with a 7 since I'm considering a 7 for this to put it above Kilbeggan Single Grain slightly, but this could just be a 6. Sadly, Pure Scot is better than this in every way. I think I'm going to stick with a 6 on this because it's kind of harsh and boring, despite having a pretty clean flavor.
26.0
USD
per
Bottle
Create Account
or
Sign in
to comment on this review
I'm in the Hard No camp. It comes across as hard like a Latin exam. Yes, I did one many years ago.
That's a bummer. I've always liked this one
@Ctrexman Thanks for the comparison :)
Have had BB and its a good solid dram. I prefer Tears to it though
@Ctrexman Yeah, you're right on Redbreast as the benchmark there. I think Bushmill's Black is decent too and was pleasntly surprised by Tyrconnell. Have you tried either of them to compare?
Well it depends I guess if you like Redbreast which I consider the standard for reasonably priced high quality Irish. Writers Tears is not as good but its much less cost wise while maintaining the positives of pot still flavor
@Ctrexman TBH I find very few Irish whiskies that I like. I've been wanting to try writer's tears, but usually seeing it for more like $40, which seems a hair steep.
Im at the point I only buy Irish if it has all or some pot still. Writers Tears for low 30's kicks ass
@BeppeCovfefe I wanted to compare this with Jameson in my tasting because of how bland it is, but it's been so long since I've had Jameson that I wasn't confident in my ability to recall it. You're right that Jameson Black Barrel is a different - and altogether better - creature though :) I'll have to give Paddy's a try at some point to compare that one.
@WhiskeyLonghorn @1901 I personally prefer Bushmill's White to this by a little bit, but I agree that I'd just buy Bushmill's Black instead of Powers and save a little money. I definitely see how aside from the harshness this one is an easy sipper and super versatile for mixing, so I won't begrudge anyone who wants to keep it stocked :)
@cascode @CKarmios @BeppeCovfefe I didn't actually mean the vodka thing to be quite that damning. Flavorwise, this is light (lighter than Pure Scot), but it isn't actually bad. What killed this for me was the surprising harshness, though looking back I might have marked this down more than I should have for that.
@WhiskeyLonghorn +1 on that
" minimal palate with minimal flavor " so then it's just like Jameson eh? truthfully being compared to vodka is about as big and insult as you could lay on a whiskey, my first thought is just save 10 dollars and go for Paddy's, or shell out for the cask finishes, either way plain jane Irish whiskey (like original Jameson) is pretty much a dead entity these days, if you don't agree ask yourself why Jameson Bushmills etc are all coming out with the colored label variants, they're already seen the writing on the walls.
@cascodei quite liked this one. I found it an easy sipper and a versatile mixer. As budget Irish blends go, I found it better than Jameson and Bushmills white and red. My only gripe is that for a few dollars more you can get Bushmills Black which is a step or two above all those.
@cascode I was thinking the same; how do you say this whiskey sucks, hand-in-glove? And to add insult to injury, this one's at the same price level as Jameson Black Barrel
Wow. Not as good as Pure Scot. This was on my to-do list, but not any more. "quite solid as a vodka, but a bit more questionable as a whiskey" LOL 😀 that sentiment is all too familiar.