According to the Powers website, this Irish whiskey received its name from the Powers family coachmen. To keep warm in the harsh Irish winters, the three coachmen would each take a swallow from their hip flask. Thus was born Powers Three Swallow Whiskey.
Powers Three Swallow Irish Whiskey
Thank you coachmen, I’m sure you enjoyed the whiskey as much as I did. Poor a dram in a Glencairn Glass and enjoy!
This Whiskey has just about everything you want, and honestly can have at this price point. Like everything else in life, there is a diminishing return. Sure, you can spend more, but at $38 at my local mega liquor mart, your not going to find a better value. This Powers Three Swallow has the sweet honey I love in Irish Pot Still Whiskey that finishes with just a bit of spice.
Scoring – Powers Three Swallow Irish Whiskey
If you want a great Irish Whiskey, that is affordable, approachable, and deserves to be in every whiskey drinkers cabinet, you can’t go wrong with Powers Three Swallow, which is why this has earned a very respectable 87/100.
I love my Redbreast 12 Years but the prices vary so much. Sometimes I can find it for $70, but I’ve also seen it as high as $100. For $100 bucks I’d rather get two bottles of this Powers!
Redbreast 12 Year is one of my all time favorite Whiskeys. After I discovered it I drank two bottles in three weeks with a little bit of help. I have unashamedly fallen in love with Redbreast so I was super excited to try the Redbreast Lustau Edition.
Let’s first break down what it takes to make a bottle of Redbreast Lustau Edition. The whiskey itself is aged for between 9 to 12 years in a combination of Bourbon and Oloroso Sherry casks. The bottle doesn’t carry an actual age statement but I’m going to trust the rumors and my taste buds on this one.
Redbreast Lustau Edition
The Nose
Redbreast Lustau has the base attributes of Redbreast 12 on the nose but then adds in a bit more fruit. It’s not overpowering, but there is a bit more honey and apple on the nose.
The Palate
The mouth feel is clean and crisp. The first touch on my tongue is malt and a touch of dryness that rapidly turns to honey and sweetness on the mid tongue. That sweetness changes to a delicious dryness that really highlights the time spent in the Bodegas Lustau Sherry Casks. There are times I just crave the way this bottle lingers on the finish.
The Score
There are times when I just crave a dram of this Redbreast Lustau. That opening malt and sweetness combined with the dry finish that lingers just the right amount of time earns this Redbreast Lustau a score of 92/100.
Color
Golden Amber
Proof
46.0% ABV
Pros
The nose hints at Redbreast’s underlying richness while benefitting from the fruitiness from the Sherry.
Reminds me of Redbreast.
Obviously, it has Redbreast’s deepness as it first washes over your tongue.
Cons
If you don’t like Sherry you may not find this bottle to your taste.
The pricing is so strange. At some stores this is more than Redbreast 12, and at others its less. It drives me mad because when I’m craving it it seems like they want $100 bucks for this, but then I’ll see it a week later for $55.
I’ve been on an Irish Whiskey journey over the last few weeks, and Redbreast was the next logical step. At the end of the day Friday I had done a little bit of damage to the bottle, and Saturday I spent the day binge watching television with my wife and drinking all afternoon. The end result, by the time I poured a sip to finalize my review today was a bottle that was almost empty.
Redbreast 12 Bottle Progress
I don’t drink beer or wine anymore, but when I did, I usually drank light beer. My dad and brother loved darker beers, but it took me years to try a Golden Monkey by Victory. I remember being shocked at how much flavor the Golden Monkey had compared to regular light beer – and I fell in love. That is the best way to describe Redbreast for me. I just found Jameson The Distiller’s Safe and thought it would take me another year to find something better. So I was both shocked and surprised that I found this Redbreast, and how much fuller it is than The Distiller’s Safe.
Yes, I know that Jameson and Redbreast are both owned by the same French drinks conglomerate Pernod Ricard, which owns Irish Distillers, which in turn produces ten or so other brands of spirits, and I can taste the Jameson heritage in Redbreast. Bottom line though, Redbreast 12 Year is just a fuller, more complex offering.
Since The Distiller’s Safe is a blend, it is very likely I am indeed tasting a bit of it in Redbreast, or maybe it should really be the other way around? Redbreast is a single pot still Irish whiskey, while Jameson is a blend of of both pot-distilled malt whiskey and column-distilled grain whiskey, meaning that Jameson is blending some of what Redbreast is with cheaper column distilled grain whiskey, which also explains the slightly higher price of Redbreast.
You can already guess that I thoroughly enjoyed my first bottle of Redbreast by the damage I did the bottle over just three days, but how did it it rank? It is an award winner after all. Does it hold up?
The nose is rich and nutty with well balanced hints of ginger mixed with a subtle sweetness. The nose hints at greatness to come, and that first sip only fulfills every promise the nose is making. Redbreast is smooth and rich and lingers on the palate in a very enjoyable way. It is both smooth and complex and rich, which is no easy feat, earning Redbreast the highest score so far with a 96/100.
Redbreast 12 Irish Whiskey
Color
Copper and amber.
Proof
40.0% ABV
Pros
Clean nose full of nutty richness and sweet cakes.
The palate is complex and every time I think I’ve tasted every dimension something else opens up.
Blends spice and toffee perfectly.
The sherry casks complete the finish of every sip with a subtle sweetness that makes every touch of the lips to the glass seem like the finest dessert.
Cons
It makes less expensive offerings taste sub par.
I bought the only bottle my local store had.
A bit pricey at $80, and worse yet, it is worth every penny. So now I want more!!!
