Favorite Irish?

[emagination]

Haven't seen alot of talk about Irish whiskies and wondered what some of your favorites were.

I haven't had many but would like to try more.

I really like Knappogue Castle alot. Though that's really the only single malt Irish I've had. I actually blindly bought a bottle simply because my uncle raved about it. I'm glad I did. I've long finished it and am feeling the need for another soon.

As far as blends go I've also had Black Bush and, of course, Jameson.

What are some other good Irish single malts?

[Deactivated Member]

I don't have a vast experience of Irish whiskey, but I enjoy a few, including Connemara.

My favourite so far is Redbreast 15y.
MT

[Aidan]

Of the easily available ones, I think I'm leaning towards the Jameson 18 now. I usually drink Powers in the pub, and it's still one of my favourites.

Others that I really enjoy are

Jameson 12
Redbreast 12
Powers 12
Midleton VR


Not as easy to get

Cadenhead's Cooley 13 and 14 yrs
Redbreast 15
Jameson 15
Bushmills Millennium 1975

And then the very hard to get ones...

Cadenhead Bow Street 1963
Cadenhead Daly Distillery (several vintages)

[WestVanDave]

Thanks for your post e... you prompted a trip to the Irish section of my collection and a pour of Green Spot. Very enjoyable, not timid, some grassy notes on the nose - there's a lot going on here... (would love to try this at full strength - rather than the 40% ABV).

The other Irish that come to mind are other colourful whiskies:

Redbreast 15
Jameson Gold (and even standard Jameson's)
Bushmill's Black Bush

[killerwhale]

haven't had many though Connemara is really good as is Jameson 12, Black Bush and Redbreast 12....
I'd like to try Jameson 18 & Redbreast 15 someday (not availiable here though) along with a few others

[bond]

Jamesons 12 yo is my favourite. Bushmills is too metallic for my liking. I like Black Bush too. Just that the rave reviews had set my expectations too high. I would put it at par with regular Bushmills.

Cheers

[Frodo]

Haven't seen alot of talk about Irish whiskies and wondered what some of your favorites were.

******************************************************

What are some other good Irish single malts?

OK - two questions here. I'm going to focus on Irish whiskies in general because I like all kinds of whiskies not just malts. Also with Irish whiskies, the malts aren't nessisarily "better" than the blends.

Irish whiskies I'd buy with my own $$
- Redbrest 12 (or the 15 if I could get it)
- Jameson 12
- Knappogue Castle
- Tyrconnell
- Connemara (NAS or 12yr)
- Magilligan (I like the special reserve at $120 cdn, don't like the 8yr old @ $65 cdn).

Basic Blends
- Powers NAS (haven't tried the 12yr)
- Killbegan

Whiskies I liked alot but wouldn't pay for myself...
- Middleton VR
- Bushmills Single Cask Bottles (still thinking about these, and if one was to go on sale at the LCBO I'd snap it up. Just not $120-$150 to me).
- Jameson 18
- Green Spot
- Black Bush

[Feldrin]

Only had two Irish ones.

Tullamore Dew which has a finish that makes me want to keep the whisky in my mouth forever, though that gets boring fast enough as well.

And the other one is the Redbreast 12y whose taste and character I really like. Sadly I'm in one of the countries that can't get a Redbreast 15y as well. Though I I'd hop over to Germany I could probably score a bottle.

Edit: If everything goes according to plan I will have a bottle of Black Bush in house tomorrow though.

[Ize]

Earlier Redbreast 12yo was my favourite Irish one, but now it got beaten badly by Redbreast 15yo.

15yo is just fantastic, it is most complex whisky I have ever tasted. With the first dramming it felt like every sip would taste different .. again and again I could find new nuances. First I got quite intense alcohol attack which very quickly lamed down then starts the roller coaster of tastes. Something resinous, citrus, lether and maybe little rubber but not in bad sense. Palate and "after taste" was more into tradiotional Irish ones which are to me honey and vanilla. Next time I'm pretty sure I can find again new tastes from it. :b

[pmullin]

Cooley's Connemara and Tyrconnell single malts are very good. Bushmills 16 is the dram that got me seriously started with whiskey, Irish at first, and then single malts and Bourbon.

Redbreast 12 and Tullamore Dew are nice sipping whiskeys. On the higher end of the blends, Jameson's Gold combines the ultra-smoothness of Irish Whiskey with a very interesting taste profile.

[irishwhiskeychaser]

AS you can see some names keep comming up & up again. I'll highlight my personal favourites.

Unfortunately Irish whiskey does not have the diversity of scotch but there are some great ones to be had....

Bushmills

From Bushmills I'd always go for the Blackbush before the 10yo or 16yo. Just my preference but this is a truely great irish blend, super value and can match most single malts in the same catagory. However if you go for a Sherry Single Cask offering you probably would not be dissappointed if your willing to shell out the extra. Wonderful stuff and well worth the few quid more than the 16yo I think. I was not a major fan of their Rum single Casks and thought the Bourbon Single Casks were good but not earth shattering.

Cooley

Peated

Any Connemara is good but if you can get an IB cooley peated well worth going for instead as there is usually more punch in them but all are worth a try. I'd go for the Connemara Nas or Cask strength. The 12yo is a bit over priced (well in Ireland any way).

I have a Cadenhead Cooley 13yo open at the moment and it is a wonderfully powerful dram

Lockes 8yo is a nice lightly peated dram good for sipping if you are trying to get into peated whiskies.

Non Peated.

Kilbeggan is much praised and who am I to argue but not for me. I find Cooley's non-peated offerings sometimes a bit light. The Tyrconnell is a nice malt but you can really see the potential in this malt in the older offerings, as the stocks develope this may yet prove to be a great malt (time will tell). But the older bottlings are hard to come by as they mostly only limited editions so far. There will be a Ltd Edt sherry finish which I hope they will eventually do as a long term bottling as it is great but we will have to wait and see if the powers that be can arrange that.


Midleton

The power house of Irish Whiskey but unfortunately they seem unwilling to diversify. I suppose they are sticking to what they know and want to do that well....

Jameson NAS is the biggest selling Irish Whiskey in the world but is becomming too much of a noose around it's own neck because of this growth and I think we are seeing the dumbing down of this whiskey over the years. However Powers is really what the Irish whiskey drinker buys as it is probably the best regular blend from Midleton.

Jameson 12yo is a great second level bottling and by far probably has the best value to quality ratio of the whole Jameson range. The Gold(third level) is interesting and a much drier woodier affair to me. The J 18 is another great whiskey but here in Ireland it is nearly 3 times the price of the 12yo where as in other countries it may only be twice the price. I'd probably buy it at twice the price but not worth 100Euros to me. And I have the same issue with Midleton Nas (super smooth and drinkable).

Then you have Pot Still

All superb in their own way but the 15yo is one of the best whiskies I've tasted that I still can get and a cracker if you can get your hands on.

Greenspot (Very Limited availiblity)
Redbreast 12yo
Redbreast 15yo (Limited availiblity in Europe)

[barrm2]

Jameson Gold - stunning stuff

[Reggaeblues]

IWC: "I'd always go for the Blackbush before the 10yo or 16yo."

Me too...hugely enjoyable, and prefer it to Jameson's.

But the odd dram I've been given by generous friends of Midleton really stick in the memory.

...an Connemara peated malt, in a whisky pub called th Nobody inn in devon was an eye-opener.

A true Ire-lay malt!

[irishwhiskeychaser]

A true Ire-lay malt!

Excellent RB that is a great description I've always stated that Cannemara is a good starting point for Islay ... I'm surprised nobody came up with the term before

[jruddy]

Redbreast 12
Redbreast 12
and if I can find it...
Redbreast 12

Should I try Jameson's 18 next?

[Quaichuser]

Redbreast 12 for me too.
Also Bushmills--single malt
and the ever popular Conamara

Glad to see no one chose a Clontarf. I had the single malt 3 or 4 years ago and enjoyed it, so I bought another bottle last fall and it was all I could do to choke it down.
It tasted and smelled of wet hay or wet dog.
Being too cheap to pour it down the drain, I resorted to liberal doses of ice.

[Mr Fjeld]

I'm not a fan of Clontarf either, they do not make good whiskies. The Jameson 12 however is an excellent blend and also better than many scottish single malts - and for the money they ask for it I'd say it's fantastic! The Redbreast 12 is up there within my top 5 of the best whiskies I've had.
I even rate it just ahead of its older brother the 15 which is very good but lacks the ultimate finesse and balance of the 12. Huge on sherry and spice though - and of course also very very good.
I'm also impressed by the Connemara whiskies, the 12 and Cask Strenght in particular.

The Redbreasts are fantastic though - and proof that people who only drink scottish single malt will miss out on some of the truly great whiskies of the world.

[The Dazzler]

I have not tried so many Irish whiskies and don't tend to have any on my shelf, something I need to change in the near future, (since I currently have some Indian, Dutch and even Tazmanian whiskies its a bit rude having no irish). I found Lockes 8yo single malt to be pretty decent though. I also enjoy Red Breast 12yo. Has anyone any experience with the Greenore Grain, I am partial to wee Scotch grain from time to time and am tempted to try this one, any guidance would be appreciated!!!!!!

Slainte

[Mustardhead]

Has anyone any experience with the Greenore Grain, I am partial to wee Scotch grain from time to time and am tempted to try this one, any guidance would be appreciated!!!!!!

Greenore 8yo Grain is the best Irish whiskey I have tried so far. The run of the mill Black Bush, Jamesons and Bushmills fare is dull, the Clontarf stuff tastes like bubblegum and I've never been able to remember the others

However, the Greenore is a delightful smooth whisky, like warm vanilla ice cream. My bottle is in my empty pile now and I will buy another when I see one.

[BigMac]

Definately the Knappogue Castle-series 92', 93' and 94'

92' from Cooleys is my favorite!
93' and 94 is both from Bushmills and excellent representatives, but the 92' is just at tad more complex, I think...or maybe I'm just too used to the trademark bushmill-taste

Other than that, the Redbreast 12 and Green Spot are truly great whiskeys!

Dram on!

/B'mac

[JPYank]

Picked up a bottle of Tyrconnell a couple of weeks ago, and somehow managed to nearly finish if off with my father-in-law while watching the Japan-Saudia Arabia Asia Cup game. Startlingly drinkable and enjoyable -- we didn't even notice how much we had imbibed until the game was over. And no hangover the next day! Remarkable, subtle stuff.

[BubbaC]

JD Powers is a very good whiskey, doubly so if you factor in price. Black Bush is a fantastic one, and I have a soft spot for the Bushmill's 10 because that got me drinking single malts in the first place. The best one I've had in a while though is the Bushmill's Single cask Sherry. Amazing whiskey. If you can find it, definitely buy a bottle.

[jcasazza]

Michael Collins

[Ganga]

To date, I have only tried a half dozen Irish whiskies. The only one I have a true fondness for is the Redbreast 15 brought back from Ireland. But my favorite Irish is still Maureen O'Hara.

[IainB]

Without a doubt Redbreast 15 is my favourite. So much so that it's interfering with my enjoyment of the rest. I'm going through about a bottle a month. It's getting hard to find. Am getting worried. Where will I get my fix? Somebody please help me!

Failing that, the regulars, depending on mood would be:

Black Bush
Bushmill 21 YO
Redbreat 12
Jameson 12, 12yo Distillery reserve or 18yo
Powers 12yo
Connemara 13yo
Tyrconell Madeira Finish.

But really , I need to track down more Redbreast 15yo!!

[Cam]

I don't recall drinking any other Irish other than Jameson. Usually the 12 yo but have just got onto their '1780'. Really like this one.

Cam

[BruceCrichton]

Had a couple of brilliant ones at the Whisky Fringe.

Greenore 8 - grain whisky is superbly light and fresh and Connemara CS is breathtakingly smooth for the high ABV and has a light sweetness and smokiness reminsicent of a light Islay.

[IainB]

Yep the Greenore 8 is pretty good. I've heard they're plannning on bringing out an older version in time which should be interesting!

In the meantime, I've been trying to mix small quantities of Greenore with a sherry or madeira unpeated Cooley malt to try and make a Cooley Black Bush equivalent. Not much success so far. Guess I'll never be a blender!