Don't forget about the new Yellow Spot. A friend was kind enough to send me a sample earlier this year. Here are my formal thoughts:
Yellow Spot 12yr, 46%
Color: Straw yellow.
Nose: Vanilla icing and cake batter. A lovely whipped cream note with a whiff of powdered sugar. Very sweet. A floral undertone of wild flowers and orchids. An exquisite nose!
Taste: A wonderful, sweet, sugary entry that is very front palate. White icing, vanilla bean, and simple syrup. The sweet notes are all very forward. Mid-palate introduces some softer floral notes including jasmine and white peony tea. Warm honey notes play throughout.
Finish: Very soft with lingering sweetness. A touch of honeydew melon.
Rating: What a wonderful. fantastic dram. Lovely sweetness with delicious floral undertones. Delicate, well rounded and incredibly refined, this is one of the best Irish whiskies I've ever had. An absolute delight! I'm scoring this one a 94.
Josh
"The last time I turned down a whiskey, I didn’t understand the question."
http://www.drinkspirits.com/whiskey/...ended-whiskey/
Kilbeggan a Better Irish Blended Whiskey
Interesting that this whiskey is a blend of Greenore an Tyrconnel. I have not tried it but see it on the shelf as it appears
readily available.
Pity about the rapid price increase though on the Redbreast 12. It wasn't long ago that I was consistently buying the stuff in the upper $30's. Now it's $50+ pretty much everywhere I go around here. That's just enough of an increase to have me looking elsewhere on the shelf, though I still do fork out the dough for the occasional bottle.
"I distrust a man who says 'when.' He's got to be careful not to drink too much, because he's not to be trusted when he does." Sydney Greenstreet
In Minnesota we have 4 Irish Pubs that were owned by an Irishman and one of them, "The Local" in downtown Minneapolis near our ball stadiums sold more Jameson than any other bar in the world. They developed a simple drink called the "Big Ginger" with ginger ale, Jameson, and a little lemon and lime. It sold like crazy. Kieren, the owner than decided to get an independant distiller in Ireland to produce him a whisky. It came out two years ago and he uses it in his pubs (which he had to "sell" due to rules about owning a liquor brand and bars) The whisky is called 2 Gingers and is a decent 4 year old that can run with regular Jameson. It is only distributed in Minnesota and is bottled by the Phillips company in Princeton, MN
Wherever I've traveled around one of the things I keep an eye out for are Irish Pubs. You fellows are fortunate.
Have seen Powers Johns Lane Irish starting to show up for sale online!
Thomas
Beam just bought the brand. According to http://www.startribune.com/business/...1.html?refer=y this article, they'd like it position it to compete with Jameson. They may have a long way to go. I remember thinking when Beam bought Cooley, and said that they were going to quit selling bulk whisky there, what would become of 2 Gingers, which was sourced from Cooley. But I guess it all worked out.
I guess "give 'em the bird" isn't just a marketing slogan, it's a brand management strategy, too.
In the process of being worked out in a law suit.