Irish Whiskey
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I always looked for a fine liquor that I could enjoy drinking neat. I never had a taste for bourbon or other American whiskey, even Gentleman Jack or Single Barrel. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind a Jack and coke, but the taste of bourbon straight just doesn't appeal to me. I made the next logical step and went with Scotch. Now, I haven't tried a great many Scotches, but I never found one that I really enjoyed straight up. I do love mixing Johnny Walker Black; Johnny Black and coke is tied for my favorite mixed drink. Tried Johnny Red (what a horrid liquor that is), Black, Green, and Gold. Tried Chivas 12 year and 18 year. Tried Ardbeg. Tried a few other Scotches that I can't remember the name of. I never tried anything really high end like Macallan 25 Year, but I just didn't find the flavor profile of any Scotches that I did imbibe to be appealing, at least not sans mixer.
I moved into vodkas. And while Chopin, Belvedere, and Grey Goose are undoubtably smooth and easy to shoot, they are not something I would enjoy slowly sipping over ice. From there I tried out several rums. After a few different bottles, I found Captain Morgan Private Stock. Finally! A liquor I can just pour into a glass and enjoy with a cigar, and a not very expensive one at that. On a side note, it also makes an excellent additive to cola, it is tied with Johnny Black and Coke as my favorite mixed drink. Also of note here, I have yet to try Zaya, but I have heard it is a great straight-up rum.
As much as I do enjoy the Captain's Private Stock, it has a very sweet, distinct taste that I find I am not always in the mood for. I felt a little disappointed, and thought that perhaps I was just destined to never have that special booze that just did it for me. I never even gave Irish whiskey a second thought because in my mind I only really thought of Jameson. A fine shooter, but hardly something you would pour into a rocks glass and savor.
Well, while I was in Korea, I discovered Bushmills. A bar my friend dragged me to had no Jameson in stock, and it was frikkin Saint Patrick's Day! The shame! The blasphemy! They did, however, have Bushmills. I found that it was an even smoother shooter than Jamesons, and it quickly became my preferred liquor to consume in quantity at an accelerated speed. Fast forward about a year. I went to a golf course with my friends. At the bar, I immediately asked for a shot of Bushmill's and a Johnny Black and Coke. They informed me, much to my dismay, that they do not carry Bushmills. Fine, give me a shot of Jameson. That, also, was not stocked in this particular bar. As a matter of fact, they had no Irish whiskey in stock at all. As I berated them for their poor selection of fine alcohols, a friendly bar patron took notice of my interest in Irish whiskey. He asked if I had ever tried Tullamore Dew, to which I replied that I had not. He insisted it was one of the finest alcohols one could purchase for under $60 and that it, in fact, was closer to the $20 mark. Of course I had to try it, so after leaving the golf course, we stopped at the local spirits dispensary and acquired a bottle of what I was soon to find out was liquid gold.
Oh holy day! I finally found it! My golden fleece, my holy grail, my much-searched for glass of sunshine! I finally found that liquor that I can pour into a glass and truly savor. This revelation has set me down a path of discovery. I tried Greenore before I left to come here, and didn't really care for it. Come to find out, Greenore is roughly the equivalent of Irish bourbon, so it stands to reason that I wouldn't find it appealing. Since I have been here, I have been looking into reviews and internet meanderings, and have decided that I would very much like to try Midleton's Very Rare and Redbreast 12 Year. I recently ordered a bottle of Very Rare and a limited release Tullamore Dew, Tullamore Dew Phoenix. I plan on picking up a bottle of Redbreast when I get home, as well.
So, is there anyone else here who have found themselves enamored of Irish whiskey? Any other brand recommendations? I recall seeing a few suggestions to try the other Bushmills varients, and I do plan to at some point. I'm also open to trying other rums, as I said I haven't tried Zaya yet.
I moved into vodkas. And while Chopin, Belvedere, and Grey Goose are undoubtably smooth and easy to shoot, they are not something I would enjoy slowly sipping over ice. From there I tried out several rums. After a few different bottles, I found Captain Morgan Private Stock. Finally! A liquor I can just pour into a glass and enjoy with a cigar, and a not very expensive one at that. On a side note, it also makes an excellent additive to cola, it is tied with Johnny Black and Coke as my favorite mixed drink. Also of note here, I have yet to try Zaya, but I have heard it is a great straight-up rum.
As much as I do enjoy the Captain's Private Stock, it has a very sweet, distinct taste that I find I am not always in the mood for. I felt a little disappointed, and thought that perhaps I was just destined to never have that special booze that just did it for me. I never even gave Irish whiskey a second thought because in my mind I only really thought of Jameson. A fine shooter, but hardly something you would pour into a rocks glass and savor.
Well, while I was in Korea, I discovered Bushmills. A bar my friend dragged me to had no Jameson in stock, and it was frikkin Saint Patrick's Day! The shame! The blasphemy! They did, however, have Bushmills. I found that it was an even smoother shooter than Jamesons, and it quickly became my preferred liquor to consume in quantity at an accelerated speed. Fast forward about a year. I went to a golf course with my friends. At the bar, I immediately asked for a shot of Bushmill's and a Johnny Black and Coke. They informed me, much to my dismay, that they do not carry Bushmills. Fine, give me a shot of Jameson. That, also, was not stocked in this particular bar. As a matter of fact, they had no Irish whiskey in stock at all. As I berated them for their poor selection of fine alcohols, a friendly bar patron took notice of my interest in Irish whiskey. He asked if I had ever tried Tullamore Dew, to which I replied that I had not. He insisted it was one of the finest alcohols one could purchase for under $60 and that it, in fact, was closer to the $20 mark. Of course I had to try it, so after leaving the golf course, we stopped at the local spirits dispensary and acquired a bottle of what I was soon to find out was liquid gold.
Oh holy day! I finally found it! My golden fleece, my holy grail, my much-searched for glass of sunshine! I finally found that liquor that I can pour into a glass and truly savor. This revelation has set me down a path of discovery. I tried Greenore before I left to come here, and didn't really care for it. Come to find out, Greenore is roughly the equivalent of Irish bourbon, so it stands to reason that I wouldn't find it appealing. Since I have been here, I have been looking into reviews and internet meanderings, and have decided that I would very much like to try Midleton's Very Rare and Redbreast 12 Year. I recently ordered a bottle of Very Rare and a limited release Tullamore Dew, Tullamore Dew Phoenix. I plan on picking up a bottle of Redbreast when I get home, as well.
So, is there anyone else here who have found themselves enamored of Irish whiskey? Any other brand recommendations? I recall seeing a few suggestions to try the other Bushmills varients, and I do plan to at some point. I'm also open to trying other rums, as I said I haven't tried Zaya yet.
Comments
Now I am not a hard to find / special reserve kind of guy. Some of the small batch is phenomenonal.
While there, I discovered two things, number one: you CAN put Bailey's on cornflakes in the morning and number two: Tullamore Dew. Now that is sipping stuff! At the time, you could not get it in the U.S., so I bought a couple of bottles at the Duty Free shop to bring back.
Now you can buy it here and I think you can even buy the crock, which looks cool on a bar or in glass liquor cabinet. It is indeed good stuff!
Yeah, the first bottle I bought was the crock, wicked cool little bottle. Fantastic stuff too, I can't wait to try the Phoenix.
I will definitely try the Ron Zacapa. I have heard Pyrat is good, too. Is it a good neat drink, or is it more of a mixer?
Use to serve it to to scotch drinkers and they all thought it was such a good smooth scotch.
Had a bunch of 3 swallow bar paraphernalia from a bar in the old country but its all gone. sigh....
As far as rum goes you may want to try
Zaya
Zacapa
Montecristo 12
Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva
Added.....
...and added.
Thanks for all the recommendations guys, I appreciate it!
Gonna have to try that for the next family gathering! Brilliant!!
That being said, I'll second Knappogue Castle as a wonderful Irish Whiskey and has often been called "the Scotch drinker's Irish Whiskey." I also have been impressed by RedBreast and Powers offerings and have heard great things about Tyrconnell.
As for Rum, I'll back Ron Zacapa 23 Centenario, Ron Zacapa XO for a more complex, yet drier sipping Rum, Plantation 20th, Zaya, El Dorado 15, again for a slightly drier, more grassy profile, El Dorado 12 for a sweeter, more typical Rum profile, Ron Abuelo 30 for an amazing sipping experience that might rival Zacapa XO and if you can find it, Dos Maderas 5+5 is absolutely stellar and drinks very much like an old Sherry.
Actually, Jack Daniels meets all the requirements for being classified as a bourbon, they just choose to call it Tennessee Whiskey instead. It is a bourbon, they just don't want it to be labeled as a bourbon for some reason.
I don't know if I would go for Knappogue, since I'm not a Scotch drinker, lol. I already want to try Redbreast and I will definitely give Powers a shot. I'll see if I can find Tyrconnell. El Dorado sounds like it might be up my alley, I definitely prefer sweet to dry.
After all the recommendations for the different Bushmill's varients, I'm definitely putting them on my short list.
Then definatley Bushmills Black Bush or the 16 and jameson 1780. Redbreast is kind of spicy so it balances it out and from what i remember Knappouge was kind of light. I havent had it in a looong time though. Last time i had it was 2007 ish...from the bottle while doing evals lol!
Nice, lol. I will definitely give Black Bush a shot, my buddy from NY (his father is Irish) has been telling me about it; apparently its his go-to.