Michael Collins Single Malt Irish Whiskey

[Gillman]

This is a new release, the companion to Michael Collins Irish Whiskey - A Blend. The blend is good but not outstanding. It reminds me of the regular Jameson's Irish, perhaps a touch sweeter.

The Michael Collins Single Malt is a different story and in fact is absolutely superb, a drink that stands out from the crowd by far.

I had it today in Stout, an Irish-themed bar in Manhattan, before taking a cab to the airport to come home. (This bar is a stout specialty house and well-worth visiting for those who like draught and bottle stout of which they have a large range including, usually, a cask-conditioned stout).

Michael Jackson gave the single malt a very high rating recently and once again the master proves his worth.

The Single Malt is very rich in taste, frankly sweet and yet with overtones of buttercup and other wildflowers (not the roses type of flowers, the buttercup type). It tastes like an all-malt whiskey (i.e., this is not a pure pot still Irish in my view and I doubt any sherry cask entered its composition). I believe it comes from Cooley but am not sure. It is a new product of the Sidney Frank company, the people who created Grey Goose. This whiskey deserves the success of Grey Goose and in fact more so because its inherent quality is very high and different from anything out there whereas Grey Goose is certainly very good but is still GNS as is all vodka.

This was a eureka moment for me and I don't get that too often.

I can't imagine that anyone who is not a true whiskey fan would not rate this at the very top of the percentile.

I don't know how the distillery got such sweetness and fine flavour from the oak but they did. If it can keep this consistent this is bound to be a major seller and maybe a phenomenon.

Gary

[brockagh]

Gary

Yes, this is from Cooley. It's a major coup for them, because they sold a lot of whiskey for the brand.

I have a bottle of each at home, but have not tasted it yet.

[voigtman]

I bought a bottle of the Michael Collins single malt back in May and found it to be excellent! Cooley's Connemara (40%, nas) is a favorite of mine, but this Michael Collins single malt is really superb. In fact, the bottle vanished away far too quickly. In a blind taste test, I don't think I could tell it wasn't a top quality Speyside single malt, and I mean that as a compliment to both the Collins and speysiders of the non-peated, non-sherried variety. I'll be picking up another bottle of the Collins single malt before too long. One little quibble, though: the bottle is not very appealing to me. Fortunately, there is a simple solution: I am re-using Glenrothes bottles as decanters. They work great for this and are my all-time favorite whisk(e)y bottle, so I finally have a use for the ones I have saved. Cheere, Ed V.