What Wee Dram are you enjoying now?

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Originally Posted by ggilbertva

Decided to do a non-bourbon line up tonight so got together with a couple other like minded whiskey dudes and enjoyed the following:

Bushmills 16 year
Bushmills 1608
Bushmills Millennium
Tyrconnell 10 year, Madeira, Sherry and Port finish
Tomatin 12 year
Amrut Fusion (a great Indian whiskey)
Paddy Old Irish
Cardhu 12 year HSM
Aberlour a'bunadh cask strength (120pf)

That last one was superb...loaded with honey, toffee and very bourbon like.

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Could you give us just a brief rundown on your thoughts about each of the five Irish whiskies?

Irish tonight. Black Bush.

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Originally Posted by edo

Could you give us just a brief rundown on your thoughts about each of the five Irish whiskies?

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We actually had 6....my thoughts as follows:

Bushmills 16 year. Sherried, up front flavor on the palate. Mild malt and a finish that was moderate. A little (mild) rough edges mid palate.

Bushmills 1608 - Mild sherry, sweeter than the 16 year and smoother. I expect that this whiskey is younger but presented itself in a more mature manner. Nice finish that was moderate to long. Very good whiskey.

Bushmills Millennium - This whiskey aged in oak only unlike the previous two and it definitely had a different effect as this one, while 25 years old was very light in color; sweet honey on the nose that was present on entry. Lots of honey malt and summer fruits. Mid palate to finish was silky smooth, very high class....delicious.

Tyrconnell Sherry 10 year - Great example of a young(er) Irish with sherry up front on the nose and palate. Good finish

Tyrconnell Madiera 10 year - Nose was less complex than the sherry but exhibited more fruit, mild citrus, moderate finish that was very pleasant

Tyrconnel Port 10 year - More balanced nose where the port (unlike some port finish whiskey's) didn't dominate but complimented. Great mid palate with a burst of sweet flavors, malt, toffee like qualities. Finish was the longest and most pleasant of the Tyrconnell three.

Edo - I hope this answers your question.

Imperial 1994 from Gordon & MacPhail.

Rene

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Originally Posted by ggilbertva

We actually had 6....my thoughts as follows:

Bushmills 16 year. Sherried, up front flavor on the palate. Mild malt and a finish that was moderate. A little (mild) rough edges mid palate.

Bushmills 1608 - Mild sherry, sweeter than the 16 year and smoother. I expect that this whiskey is younger but presented itself in a more mature manner. Nice finish that was moderate to long. Very good whiskey.

Bushmills Millennium - This whiskey aged in oak only unlike the previous two and it definitely had a different effect as this one, while 25 years old was very light in color; sweet honey on the nose that was present on entry. Lots of honey malt and summer fruits. Mid palate to finish was silky smooth, very high class....delicious.

Tyrconnell Sherry 10 year - Great example of a young(er) Irish with sherry up front on the nose and palate. Good finish

Tyrconnell Madiera 10 year - Nose was less complex than the sherry but exhibited more fruit, mild citrus, moderate finish that was very pleasant

Tyrconnel Port 10 year - More balanced nose where the port (unlike some port finish whiskey's) didn't dominate but complimented. Great mid palate with a burst of sweet flavors, malt, toffee like qualities. Finish was the longest and most pleasant of the Tyrconnell three.

Edo - I hope this answers your question.

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Thanks, Greg. That did a great job answering my question. I replied to you here last night while I was having a Bushmills 10 y.o. SM (this stuff is so nice), but my post seems to have disappeared. (Maybe I hit 'preview' instead of 'submit' - duh!). I've only got a little experience with the Irish, but after a rough start with Jameson, I find I really like what I've had so far and want to branch out a bit. Comparing price and your excellent descriptions, I think my next port of call will be Tyrconnell Port 10 year.

I'm enjoying a nice glass of Lagavulin 16.

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Originally Posted by edo

Thanks, Greg. That did a great job answering my question. I replied to you here last night while I was having a Bushmills 10 y.o. SM (this stuff is so nice), but my post seems to have disappeared. (Maybe I hit 'preview' instead of 'submit' - duh!). I've only got a little experience with the Irish, but after a rough start with Jameson, I find I really like what I've had so far and want to branch out a bit. Comparing price and your excellent descriptions, I think my next port of call will be Tyrconnell Port 10 year.

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Edo - you can't go wrong with the Tyrconnell. Another one I would recommend is Redbreast 12 year, it's a very nice Irish from the Midleton Distillery. If you can find the 15 year, that one is considered even better than the 12. I haven't had that one but have a lead on a couple bottles in Ireland and hope to have those in hand mid summer.

Enjoying a dram of Springbank 10/100. Haven't had this one in a while, almost forgot how good it is!

Balblair 24 Limited Edition #2542 of 3150 from 2003.

There are classic tastes of toffee and oak mixed in with a grapefruit like citrus. Quite unlike the vast majority of malts. The finish keeps the citrus feel for quite some time when toffee comes out near the end.

Was up in Canada all last week house-hunting and bought a bottle of Gibson's 12 yr (Canadian Whiskey) to see how I might survive up there without many favorites. The first sip was all alcohol. Tasted like rubbing alcohol with a faint sweetness. After a few minutes left to breath the rubbing alcohol flavor subsided slightly and what remained was very unimpressive whisky that had a lot of burn for 80 proof. All in all, not a good first purchase over there.

Back home now and enjoying some JW Black and Lagavulin 16.