Older Powers Bottle ???

[Enoch]

Found a bunch of these today. It appears to be a 90s bottle of Powers imported by Austin Nichols. The label is different from the current Gold Label. Does anyone know is the whiskey is about the same or different. Thanks, They were about $20 each.

[tanstaafl2]

Found a bunch of these today. It appears to be a 90s bottle of Powers imported by Austin Nichols. The label is different from the current Gold Label. Does anyone know is the whiskey is about the same or different. Thanks, They were about $20 each.

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I doubt there is much difference in the blend from then until now (reportedly 70% single pot still/30% grain) but Irish whiskey went through a glut much like other whiskies in that period and it may have older whiskey in the bottle as a result. Probably no way to know for sure. Really old bottles would have been all single pot still whiskey much like the newer Powers John's Lane or Redbreast made today but that was well before this bottle was made.

[VT Mike]

Powers has revamped their lineup over the last few years. I covered the details of it in this post

http://thewhiskeyroom.blogspot.com/2014/01/powers-gold-label.html

At the end of 2013 the Gold Label went from 40% abv to 43.2% and they stopped chill filtering it. I'm not sure if there were any major changes from the 90's to 2013 though.

[tanstaafl2]

Powers has revamped their lineup over the last few years. I covered the details of it in this post

http://thewhiskeyroom.blogspot.com/2014/01/powers-gold-label.html

At the end of 2013 the Gold Label went from 40% abv to 43.2% and they stopped chill filtering it. I'm not sure if there were any major changes from the 90's to 2013 though.

I noticied in your post that you said:

Going back just a year, the Powers lineup consisted of two bottlings: The standard Gold Label priced at $20 and the Gold Label Special Reserve 12 Year priced at $40. Both were blends bottled at 40% abv. Then, in the spring of 2013, Powers introduced their new John’s Lane Release. This bottling is a single pot still whiskey with a 12 year age statement, at 46% abv, non-chill filtered and priced at $70. Around the same time Powers Gold Label Special Reserve 12 Year was discontinued.

I wasn't aware that the Powers Gold Label 12yo Special Reserve had gone away. I had heard it might be phased out except in Ireland. I do still see it on The Whisky Exchange. So is it now gone or is it just the US?

Edited March 9, 2015 by tanstaafl2

[VT Mike]

I wasn't aware that the Powers Gold Label 12yo Special Reserve had gone away. I had heard it might be phased out except in Ireland. I do still see it on The Whisky Exchange. So is it now gone or is it just the US?

I'm pretty sure that what I wrote (it was over a year ago) was based on the fact that Powers Gold Label became unavailable here in Vermont somewhere around the spring of 2013, and the Powers' website made no mention of that product when I wrote that post at the beginning of 2014.

[tanstaafl2]

I'm pretty sure that what I wrote (it was over a year ago) was based on the fact that Powers Gold Label became unavailable here in Vermont somewhere around the spring of 2013, and the Powers' website made no mention of that product when I wrote that post at the beginning of 2014.

OK, doesn't appear to be available in the US but still available in Ireland and apparently the UK. Not that it is something I would particularly look to get when John's Lane and Signature are readily available. I certainly prefer the Single Pot Still to the blend and both are higher proof.

http://www.powerswhiskey.ie/powers-12-year-special-reserve.html

http://www.celticwhiskeyshop.com/irish-whiskey-home-page/irish-whiskey-distilleries/midleton-irish-whiskey-distillery/Powers-Irish-Whiskey

[VT Mike]

OK, doesn't appear to be available in the US but still available in Ireland and apparently the UK. Not that it is something I would particularly look to get when John's Lane and Signature are readily available. I certainly prefer the Single Pot Still to the blend and both are higher proof.

http://www.powerswhiskey.ie/powers-12-year-special-reserve.html

http://www.celticwhiskeyshop.com/irish-whiskey-home-page/irish-whiskey-distilleries/midleton-irish-whiskey-distillery/Powers-Irish-Whiskey

Huh, that's interesting. Thanks for the additional info. The Celtic Whisky Shop has all four bottlings (plus a limited edition bottling), but if you log into the Powers website and pick the UK as your location they show the lineup as Gold Label, 12 year Special Reserve and John's Lane, with no mention of the Signature bottling.