This West Cork blended Irish whiskey is ultra affordable at just $30 per bottle.
West Cork Irish Whiskey
The Nose
The nose is subtle. It hints at vanilla and spice but it is underwhelming. It is subtle and not at all “in your face”.
The Palate
That subtleness continues from the nose into the palate. This whiskey is smooth and goes down easy, but its also very light and simple. The flavor profile is relatively flat. It has a note of sweet that is easily overpowered with even a splash of water or a few ice cubes.
I enjoyed this bottle of West Cork and put it in my Everyday Whiskey category. If you enjoy Irish Whiskey and want to keep an affordable bottle on hand to enjoy with friends, this should be on your list.
The Score – West Cork Irish Whiskey
Overall it scored a 77/100, making it Sip Worthy. It’s positive and negatives are closely linked. It’s smooth, but simple, making it an easy sipper, especially if you are new to whiskey, but that simplicity also means it might leave you wanting more depth and complexity.
Glendalough Double Barrel Irish Whiskey has a lot of credentials. It won a Double Gold Medal at the 2015 San Francisco Spirits Competition, another Gold Model in 2017, and wasin the Wine Enthusiasts Top 100 Spirits in 2019.
Glendalough Double Barrel Irish Whiskey
This Glendalough was first aged in American oak barrels, then finished in Spanish oak Oloroso Sherry barrels.
With all those credentials I was excited to crack the bottle open.
The Nose
I poured a dram into a Glencairn Whisky Glass and swirled it for a moment before taking a whiff. The nose is burnt oak mellowed by sweet vanilla. It was hard to pick which one hit me first. Each time I breathed in this Glendalough I picked up different notes.
The Palate
The mouth feel was smooth and creamy that coats the back of your throat in spice as you swallow. Just like the nose, I found that each sip brought out a different aspect of this whiskey. At times the spice was almost overwhelming, with the oak and spice turning to black liquorice on the swallow.
Glendalough Double Barrel is stilled using a column still. From what I can find, they use a Coffey Still, which was on of the first commercially available continuous stills.
Why does that matter? This Glendalough Double Barrel is shooting for pot distilled flavors and notes, but you just can’t get there without using a pot still, which retain more flavors. Column stills tent to produce higher alcohol content, lighter flavored alcohols. Which is where this Glendalough Double Barrel comes in. It is trying to be a budget pot still in flavor, and actually does a decent job of getting there, but not all the way.
There are hints of deeper flavors from the time spent in the sherry casks, but the oak notes burn across a lot of the more subtle flavors.
The Score – Glendalough Double Barrel Irish Whiskey
For me this Glendalough Double Barrel Irish Whiskey scored a 74/100.
I will absolutely order a dram of this if I’m out and about, and it is clearly in the Sip Worthy category, but for me it didn’t make it into my Whiskey Safe which means I won’t be keeping an unopened bottle on hand to enjoy after the Zombie Apocalypse has started.
Color
Deep golden yellow.
Proof
42.0% ABV | 84 Proof
Pros:
The nose has depth and complexity.
Strong oak and toasted wood. If you like your whiskey on the stronger side of the flavor profiles, this might be for you.
Subtle sweetness that vies with the oak and sherry to be tasted.
Cons:
Never quite achieves the butter cookie notes I love in other Irish Whiskeys.
The toasted/burnt oak can really overpower the other tastes.
One of my older boys brought this Glenmorangie The Original 10 Year for us to drink on Thanksgiving and while I’m more of an Irish Whiskey, American Bourbon guy, this was on my list of bottles to try, so I was happy and excited to open it and take a sip.
Glenmorangie The Original 10 Year
The Nose
The first thing you will appreciate bout this Glenmorangie The Original 10 Year is its well balanced nose. The nose is floral and sweet but mixed with malt, It’s a really intoxicating scent.
The Palate
The first sip was a pleasure to drink, which really surprised me. I’m not a huge fan of most Scotch, but this Glenmorangie The Original 10 Year is a treat. The flavor opens with sweet and malt that slowly transition into a touch of smoke that blends with sweet fruit and maltiness for a smooth ending.
The Score – Glenmorangie The Original 10 Year
This bottle is one of those rare bottles of Scotch that I enjoy. I’m not a fan of smoke. Glenmorangie The Original 10 Year scores a very respectable 82/100.
Color
Light yellow and straw.
Proof
43.0% ABV | 86 Proof
Pros:
Intoxicating nose. I could breathe in this floral, slightly sweet dram all day long.
Smooth and well rounded sip that ends with malt, sweet, and just a hint of smoke.
Cons:
If you love oily, smoky Scotch, you will find this too light for your taste.
This single malt Knappognue Castle 12 Year is finished in bourbon barrels. It was first produced in 1998, at the Cooley Distillery. In 2011, Beam Inc. purchased Cooley for $95,000,000, so someone walked away with just short of 100 million dollars. In my area, this Knappognue Castle 12 Year costs approximately $50, but prices vary every time I shop, so there could be big differences between my price and what you see at your local whiskey/bourbon reseller.
Knappogue Castle 12 Year – Empty Bottle
The Nose
The nose is pleasantly filled with sweet vanilla and butter cookies. I really enjoyed swirling this whiskey in a Glencairn Glass and just breathing in its lovely scent.
The Palate
The palate is sweet vanilla and spice that ends with a bit of pepper from the time the whiskey spent in the bourbon barrels.
The Score – Knappognue Castle Irish Whiskey 12 Year
I can’t help but compare this to Tyrconnel’s Single Malt. Tyrconnel doesn’t have an age statement, but they are within $5 of each other, and I honestly found the Tyrconnel and this Knappognue Castle 12 Years to be quite similar. I think I need to buy another bottle of each and do a blind tasting, because my memory is blurring the two together. Which means that this and Tyrconnel’s Single Malt are tied with an 87/100.
I may go back and update both the Tyrconnel’s Single Malt and this score, because I think a head to head is worth it for a tie breaker in the future.
Color
Light golden rays of sunshine.
Proof
40.0% ABV | 80 Proof
Pros:
Intoxicating vanilla and spice.
I love the buttery cookies this brings out on the tongue.
Cons:
The time spent in the bourbon barrels seems to have left a bit of pepper on the aftertaste that takes away from the rest of the experience.
Slane Irish Whiskey is blended from three casks. Those include virgin oak casks, seasoned Tennessee/Bourbon casks, and Oloroso Sherry casks.
Slane Irish Whiskey
The Nose
The nose is sweet and malty that changes to caramel as it fades. I can imagine the faint hints of sherry as well, but I’m not sure if that is real or the power of suggestion because I know its in there. Having a Glencairn Whisky Glass is a must to appreciate those more subtle notes.
The Palate
The palate is malt and butter cookies that is sweet and creamy as it hits the mid tongue. The finish is all dry sherry. I’ve had a few other Irish Whiskeys finished in Oloroso Sherry casks, but I have to be honest that this is the first one that I really liked. They did a great job blending the malty goodness of the base Irish Whiskey with the dryness of the sherry.
The Score – Slane Irish Whiskey
I really enjoyed this bottle of Slane and plan on putting a bottle in my Whiskey Safe. This is a great bottle for new drinkers who are now getting just a bit more into what makes a good nose and wonderful palate. Slane earned very point of its 74/100, making it Sip Worthy.
Color
Light golden brown.
Proof
40.0% ABV
Pros:
Pleasant malty sweetness on the nose.
Perfect balance between the opening malt and the closing sherry notes.
Whoever blended this whiskey serves a medal.
Great whiskey to transition a new drinker from more basic flavors to something with a little more complexity.
Great value for the price.
Cons:
If you aren’t a fan of Oloroso Sherry, you may not like the finish on this whiskey.
Jameson 18 is a blended whiskey that is created from two pot-still whiskeys mixed with a portion of single grain whiskey. It’s initially aged in ex-bourbon and ex-Oloroso sherry casks, then moved to first-fill bourbon barrels before bottling.
Let’s start by saying that the last few weeks of my life have been completely nuts. There was a layoff, then a job offer, then a much better job. So a happy ending, but a crazy week.
How did I mourn friends and colleagues I will no longer get to work with and celebrate a new beginning at the same time? I went out and bought a bottle of this Jameson 18 Year.
The Nose
The nose on this Jameson 18 Year is surprising. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this. There is a pronounced ethanol/alcohol on the first sniff. It’s not quite a burn, and it doesn’t smack you in the face, but it is there, and it does overpower some of the other more nuanced notes. Those nuanced notes are wood and spice and just a touch of malt and sherry. Overall I was quite surprised with how mellow the nose was. I was expecting more complexity, but it just wasn’t there. After about 15 minutes, the alcohol notes fell off and I did get a mix of honey with the malt.
The Palate
The front of my tongue was honey, but the mid tongue and finish were all wood char and spice. I was honestly expecting a bit more smoothness and some butter cookies, which is what I associate with good Irish Whiskey, but the 18 Years spent in barrels clearly infused this with a lot of oak, char, and sherry. To me that finishes just a little rough.
I enjoyed this Jameson 18, but at the same time I have to take into account the price of this whiskey compared to its overall taste. I will drink this Jameson 18 every time you offer it to me – but it’s not making its way into my Whiskey Safe and I’m honestly not likely to buy another bottle.
Why?
The packaging is really cool. The wooden box and bottle packaging is top notch – but whenever there is this much quality on the packaging side I worry about what I’m really paying for. I’m guessing a decent part of the $140 I paid for this Jameson 18 went into the packaging. That means that this whiskey doesn’t quite stand up against some cheaper offerings.
Jameson Distiller’s Safe scored a 95/100 and is in the $70 range. Redbreast 12 is in a similar price point and scored a 96/100. Both are roughly half the price.
The Score – Jameson 18 Year Irish Whiskey
That price to value makes it hard to score Jameson 18 with a high score. To be honest, regular Jameson is only $25 at the “super store” across state lines and while its not super complex, it is smooth and easy to sip. How do you compare a $25 whiskey and a $140 whiskey? For me, the taste to value has to be a part of that, and that is where Jameson 18 falls apart. Both these whiskeys score an 80/100, and that means that I’m going to choose the cheaper option here every time.
Is Jameson 18 more complex then regular Jameson? Yes, 100 percent. But not $115 worth, and that is the crush of the issue. I enjoyed sipping this Jameson 18, but I can’t see myself buying another bottle at $140. The cost to value just isn’t there.
Color
Sweet golden amber.
Proof
40.0% ABV
Pros:
Does Jameson put out any bad products?
If this is a gift or someone else is buying your drams, who’s going to turn this down?
I had this whiskey on my bucket list, and now I can check it off.
Cons:
At $140 this is just too much as there are offerings at half the price that beat this hands down.
I recently found Redbreast 12 at $70 and at half the price I’d take that every time.
I had this whiskey on my bucket list, and now I can check it off – does that mean I’m one step closer to dying?
This Dubliner Bourbon Cask Finished Irish Whiskey is a blend of single malt and grain whiskies. It then spends three years in bourbon casks.
Dubliner Bourbon Cask Finished Irish Whiskey
The Nose
The nose on this whiskey is a wonderful blend of malt and honey that ends with a pleasant apple and floral note. I sat and sniffed at this whiskey in my Glencairn Whiskey Glass between each sip, trying to decide which I liked more.
The Palate
The mouth feel is clean and the front of my tongue is hit by malt that transitions to sweet honey and just a touch of butter cookies. The finish has a pleasant sweetness mixed with the charred oak from the bourbon barrels which imparts a bit of spice, and just a little bit of roughness.
The Score – Dubliner Bourbon Cask Finished Irish Whiskey
This Dubliner Bourbon Cask Finish is a wonderful blended whiskey that really captures the best of a single malt pot still while optimized for this specific price point, which it does really well. Dubliner Bourbon Cask Finish scored a well deserved 80/100, making it Sip Worthy.
Color
Light Straw.
Proof
40.0% ABV
Pros:
At around $40 a bottle, this is a great buy.
A wonderful blended whiskey. The distiller struck gold with this recipe.
One of my sons (who is an adult) gave me this wonderful bottle of Tullamore D.E.W. 14 Year Old for fathers day. I drank half that night and saved the other half to enjoy in a more relaxed manner. This is my fourth Tullamore offering, all of which I’ve enjoyed. Plus, who is going to turn down a well aged Single Malt that has been aged in Sherry Casks, Bourbon Casks, Madeira Casks, and Port Casks?
Tullamore D.E.W. 14 Year
I have to say this is one of those rare whiskies where I can actually appreciate all those finishes.
As you can see, I demolished this bottle in just two sittings…
Tullamore D.E.W. 14 Year
The Nose
The nose on this Tullamore D.E.W 14 is a swirling complexity to delight your olfactory senses. The first thing that hit my nose was the wonderful maltiness of the Single Malt, a bit of alcohol, and then it quickly shifts as the multiple finishes vie for your attention. The time spent in the Port, Sherry and Madeira casks give the nose a wonderful fruitiness which is nicely balanced by the sharper vanilla from the bourbon casks.
I sat here with a snifter for a good ten minutes appreciating this Tullamore D.E.W 14’s nose. It is worth picking up a bottle just to sample all those well balanced finishes.
The Palate
The mouth feel is crisp and clean. The front of my tongue is hit by the malt that turns to a touch of vanilla as I start to swallow. The finish is all dry Sherry, Port, and Madeira which also gives this whiskey a nice fruity finish. It is well done, but this is the one area there might be just a bit of a clash of flavors as the different finishes vie for first place.
The Score – Tullamore D.E.W. 14 Year
Overall, this is an excellent Irish Whiskey which scored an 81/100, making it Sip Worthy. Thank you Ty!!!!
Color
Deep amber and honey that captures the light perfectly.
Proof
46.0% ABV
Pros:
This was an amazing, awesome gift.
Masterfully blended finishes. This is a perfect masterclass for those who want something with a bit more complexity.
Easier to find than some other bottles at this quality and price point.
Cons:
Has some complexity that may not be for the beginner.
In my area, this is the same price as Redbreast 12, and for that money, unless I am thirsty for the complex finishes this Tullamore D.E.W 14 gives, I’d most likely end up buying the Redbreast 12.
John L Sullivan Irish Whiskey is a perfect dram when you are on a budget. Especially if you are looking for something to break it up a little in the Budget Whiskey category. The top three players in this segment are:
The marketing team went all out for John L Sullivan, making this boxer inspired bottle “The Sporting Man’s Whiskey”. Now let’s see how it holds up.
Sporting Man’s Whiskey
The Nose
As usual, I poured a dram into a Glencairn Glass and gently swirled it. The nose on John L. Sullivan Irish Whiskey hints at malt but its subtle and is mixed with a bit of ethanol. That alcohol can make it a bit harder to appreciate the things we all love about Irish Whiskey.
The Palate
The first sip has a few rough edges, but it also has a nice muted malt on the mid tongue that turns to Granny Smith apples and vanilla oak that slides into its finish.
The Score – John L. Sullivan Irish Whiskey
There are rough edges, and the nose and flavors are relatively basic. On the other hand this is a dirt cheap bottle and it sips easy. That is giving this points on the value side, offsetting some of the rough edges, which is why John L. Sullivan Irish Whiskey earned a 72/100 and I will grab another bottle next time I see it. It’s not going in my Whiskey Safe, but for those times when I’m watching a bad movie and eating pizza, this is a great Budget Whiskey.
Color
Light straw with a hint of gold.
Proof
40.0% ABV
Pros:
Dirt cheap.
Sips easy.
Great value for the dollar.
Cons:
There are a few rough edges, but at this price what do you expect?
I’ve had this bottle of The Dubliner 10 Year in the back corner of my Whiskey Shelf for a few months but it finally cycled to the top of the list, and I am very happy it did.
The Dubliner is a Single Malt, traditional copper pot still Irish Whiskey that is aged in Bourbon Casks for 10 Years. I am super excited to try this Single Malt after thoroughly enjoying its blended brother The Dubliner.
The Dubliner 10 Year
The Nose
The nose on this 10 Year Old Irish Whiskey is a treat. It is full of malt, vanilla, and honey that has notes of fruit and spice all around its edges. It is lovely, complex, and swirling.
The Palate
The mouth feel is clean and crisp. This is a very Sip Worthy, smooth whiskey. When I reviewed The Dubliner blended version I was impressed. That version scored an 80/100 at a very affordable price point of around $30 bucks.. The Dubliner 10 Year takes the goodness from the blended version and adds several layers of lovely complexity. The front of the tongue sings with honey and malt that rapidly turns to woody vanilla on the mid tongue that just as quickly turns to dark fruits and dry oak that comes from all those years in the Bourbon Casks.
The Score – The Dubliner Irish Whiskey
The Dubliner Single Malt earned every point of its 89/100 points.
Color
Light and rich amber.
Proof
42.0% ABV
Pros:
Lovely, swirling, complex nose.
Deep, clean, rich flavors that highlight the time spend in those Bourbon Casks.
Cons:
I haven’t seen another bottle in my local stores, and now I have to add it to my “must buy” if I see it list.
New Irish Whiskey drinkers will really enjoy this, but maybe start them on the blended The Dubliner version and build up to this more matured version.
I know prices vary widely from state to state, and even from store to store, but if this comes close to a bottle of Redbreast 12, well, I have to go with the Redbreast 12.
