An Irish Blend and an Irish Single Malt Tasting
We continue with our Irish Whiskey tasting month and tonight The Whisky Boys will be tasting a Single Malt and a Blend from the Cooley stable.
Kilbeggan Irish Whiskey and the Old Kilbeggan Distillery are part of Cooley Distillery plc, the only independent Irish-owned Whiskey Distillery. Cooley was established in 1987, the first Irish Whiskey Distillery to be setup in over 100 years.
Locke’s Old Kilbeggan Distillery,
Kilbeggan
Co. Westmeath
telephone +353 (0)57 933 2134
E-mail: info@lockesdistillerymuseum.ie
Web. www.kilbegganwhiskey.com
Owners – Cooley Distillery
website www.cooleywhiskey.com
It is around 7.30 pm on Monday the 24th October 2011 and we have set out our tasting table and are looking forward to our wee drams of the evening. First up tonight is the Irish Blend:-
Kilbeggan Blended Irish Whiskey – 40% Alc/vol 70cl
Colour…Rich golden amber
Nicola’s tasting
Nose…Oak and plenty of earthy notes.
Taste…Woody, moss with grassy and citrus flavours, not too complex.
Finish…Short but quite a delight.
Score…3 Corks
Jim’s tasting
Nose…Oak and malty with the slightest hint of sherry.
Taste…A touch of spice with a little honey and vanilla, quite elegant.
Finish…Medium finish leaving a drying effect and the oak is still very evident, nice, nice wee dram.
Score…3.5 corks
Jim and Nicola enjoyed this wee dram and it goes to show that if you have a look around and want to be a little adventurous, then you can pick up a little gem like this Kilbeggan Blend and add it to your cabinet, but don’t leave it in there too long, pour yourself a large one.
You may have to go to your specialist Whisky shop or indeed visit an on-line supplier to obtain your bottle.
Our next bottle is an Irish Single Malt and it is:-
Connemara 12 Year Old Peated Irish Single Malt Irish Whiskey – 40% Alc/vol 70cl
This is a re-visit as we first tasted it way back in September 2009, lets taste again.
website www.connemarawhiskey.com
Colour…Pale lemony gold
Nicola’s tasting
Nose..Earthy with a definite peat/smoke aroma.
Taste…Some honey and the smoke is quite gentle, some flower whiff, not too sure about the smokiness.
Finish…Cant get away from the smoke.
Score…2.5 Corks
Jim’s tasting
Nose…A touch of sea salt and the mild peat/smoke is a delight.
Taste…Sweet fruit in this full bodied complex dram. I love the soothing peat/smoke.
Finish…A touch of dark chocolate came from out of the blue, this long finish is full of honey and peat, I loved it.
Score…4 Corks
Again, Nicola was not too sure about the peat/smoke but Jim loved the peat/smoke content, a bottle of this is now in our new tasting cabin. You can definitely get a bottle of this grand dram at your specialist Whisky shop and on-line by using the shop window below.
Still got a couple of bottles of Irish Whisky to taste. look out for them coming soon.
