Irish Archives - First Pour Cocktails

Teeling Small Batch Irish Whiskey

Posted on March 15, 2023March 13, 2023 by Nick

Teeling’s history ultimately ends up with it being the first new distillery built in Dublin in nearly 125 years. To get to this point, you have to start back in 1782 when Walter Teeling starts his Teeling distillery. According to From Barley to Blarney*, it went for over a century before being bought by Jameson and then all be disappears. In 1989, John Teeling (a distant relative), opens the Cooley Distillery in County Louth, reviving brands Tyrconnell and Kilbeggan before being acquired by Beam Suntory in 2011. As part of the sale, 16,000 casks are negotiated, becoming the foundation stock for Teeling. With an established brand, the new distiller was opened with 3 pot stills in 2015, and Teeling Small Batch Irish Whiskey is just one of the products to come out of this distillery.

Teeling Small Batch Irish Whiskey

Mash Bill: 3:1 Grain to Malt
Aging: Ex-Bourbon Casks
Finishing: Up to 12 Months in Central American Rum Casks
Filtration: Non-Chill Filtered
Proof: 92 (46% A.B.V.)

Sight: Old Gold to Amber

Smell: The nose is soft with a nice amount of grain and subtle oak notes. Apple, pear, lemon, and marzipan all jump in. There’s a subtle vanilla here with a little bit of pineapple or tropical fruit. A subtle pastry and spice exists in the background with a bit of wet slate. There’s a heat that comes and goes here.

Sip: The palate is smooth and has this amazing cinnamon, vanilla, brown sugar, and raisin that wraps around the tongue from the word go. The spice has a bit of gum drop / banana and dried stone fruit. The slight yeasty notes are still here and a little candied nutty flavor is there. There’s a nice dessert like cinnamon spice sweetness here that runs through out.

Savor: The ending gets a briefly peppery hit but then is smooth again, with a toned down version of the spice, a good vanillin like character, and subtle woody note with a hint of fruit.

Teeling Small Batch Irish Whiskey is a little hard to read on the nose, but really shows out on the palate. The spicy, sweet flavors are fun, deep enough to savor, and easy going. The subtle bready elements really work well here to add some dimension. The ending is a little pedestrian, but the fact that it doesn’t beg for attention might also be beneficial depending on what you’re doing.

In Cocktails

In a Cameron’s Kick Teeling Small Batch Irish Whiskey really stands up to the orgeat, scotch, and lemon. The dark brown sugar notes and hints of spice play well against the nuttiness of the orgeat. The vanilla and the stone fruit push up against the brightness of lemon. There are some underlying tropical fruit notes here, like banana and pineapple. The result is a complex and layered Cameron’s Kick that plays well throughout.

In Review – Teeling Small Batch Irish Whiskey

Teeling Small Batch Irish Whiskey is a really solid and amped up Irish Whiskey with a rum finish. While the flavors are very consistent for Irish Whiskey, they do get that extra little darkness of flavor from the rum. This might sound gimmicky, but thanks to the underlying whiskey being well made it feels robust and well crafted. While it isn’t the smoothest or complex whiskey, it is relatively good value at under $40.

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Redbreast 15 Year Old Irish Whiskey

Posted on March 10, 2023February 20, 2023 by Nick

We started at the entry level with Redbreast 12, before slightly escalating things to their Lustau edition. While three more years are only a quarter of the age of Redbreast 12, they represent a near 100% increase in price when going from the 12 to the Redbreast 15 Year Old Irish Whiskey. Made from exclusively pot still distillate and aged in a mix of first fill and refill casks, can it justify this huge price increase?

Redbreast 15 Year Old Irish Whiskey

Sight: Burnished

Smell: The nose is somewhat subdued, with laces with spices and slight heat. The oak meets pressed apples, with tangy candied notes, and vintage leather. Nuttiness joins in with grapes, preach, touches of floral, and candied plums. The nose has a complex spicing and creaminess to it that under pins things.

Sip: The sip is soft, smooth, and almost lanolin in it’s thickness and character. A soft, ripe apple comes out with plenty of citrus oils. Stone fruits and vintage leather join in. Plum skin and toasted oak come out as well, and the whole thing wraps up with a creamy richness.

Savor: The ending has a beautiful creaminess and light tannic nature. The nuttiness and spice are the primary drivers with plum and peach skins over floral notes.

Redbreast 15 Year Old Irish Whiskey is complex and creamy. The flavors are varied, a bit hard to pin down, but all delicious. As a result, some sips feel malleable and there’s a slight feeling of inconsistency with the variety of fruits, spices, and floral elements. For all these reasons, it’s a thoroughly enjoyable sipper.

In Cocktails

In a Cameron’s Kick the bright apple and plum skin come forward off the bat, and are followed with a nice round citrus mid-palate with an almost fresh nectarine pop. The nuttiness and leather come in toward the backend. There are also good grape notes and touches of floral. It’s well rounded, but doesn’t quite get anywhere near the neat presentation of Redbreast 15 Year Old Irish Whiskey. Basically, don’t put this in a cocktail.

In Review – Redbreast 15 Year Old Irish Whiskey

Redbreast 15 Year Old Irish Whiskey is tasty on it’s own, and does fine in a cocktail. The flavors are on point, rich, and weighty. The question is if they’re twice is good? The answer is unfortunately not quite. At $130 a bottle, Redbreast 15 is more complex than the 12, but doesn’t seem to add enough power to the equation to show where that value is. That said, you might still find a reason if your really going to enjoy each dram neat. For those that want to enjoy a dram, and not over think it, I recommend sticking with the 12 for just past half the price.

Redbreast Lustau Edition

Posted on March 3, 2023February 20, 2023 by Nick

Redbreast 12 led us off, and to follow it up, we’re heading to their Redbreast Lustau Edition. Similar to their Redbreast 12, it starts life being made using a mash of malted and unmalted barley that is triple distilled in copper pot stills. It’s then matured in bourbon seasoned American Oak and Oloroso Sherry seasoned Spanish oak butts for 9-11 years. At that point, the whiskey is aged in used Lustau sherry bottles from Jerez, Spain. The result is a finished Irish whiskey with one of the most prominent producers for sherry for only $10 more than Redbreast 12.

Redbreast Lustau Edition

Sight: Chestnut Oloroso Sherry

Smell: The nose has some heat at the front, but gives way to deep caramel, red apples (both fresh and baked), and plenty of nutty notes. Deep vinous sherry notes come through, and a tangy agrodolce caramel comes out. A toasted sugar and oak mingle with hints of white grape.

Sip: Dark leather, roasted almond, walnut, and slightly burnt creme brulee top comes through. A bitter cocoa powder slides in, before deep white floral notes edge in. The fruits are toned down here, with more dried expressions of stone fruit and plum skin.

Savor: The ending carries forward the vinous sherry notes forward, but gives way to heavy doses of white flowers and floral notes. Almonds and walnuts with some prune join in as well.

Redbreast Lustau Edition is heavily sherried and tastes like it. If you love nutty, floral notes, then there’s things to love in spades here. The nuttiness and creaminess of the body give a lot of depth. The fruit expressions are more preserved and fermented here, but the underlying character maintains the original Redbreast notes. A wonderful little sipper, if heavily sherried.

In Cocktails

In a Cameron’s Kick the nuttiness really elevates – grabbing onto the orgeat right off the bat and adding sweet almond and marzipan notes. The fruitiness sort of pops with the lime, but there’s a bit of bruleed sugar and floral notes. The finish has some floral notes and sweetness toward the end, but the nuttiness lingers.

In Review – Redbreast Lustau Edition

Redbreast Lustau Edition is a nutty Irish whiskey that balanced with a nice amount of complex floral elements. The result is something that nicely balanced, creamy, and with decent depth. If you find you’re not a fan of nuttiness in your whiskey, or sherry finishes, than this one might not be your starting point. However, if you like what Redbreast 12 has to offer, you might find the $10 price difference is worth paying.

Redbreast 12 Year Old Irish Whiskey

Posted on February 24, 2023February 13, 2023 by Nick

Welcome to the start of our Irish Whiskey Month! It’s no secret that the last whiskeys I’ve written about here have been less than thrilling to try, and so this year, we’re going up market starting with Redbreast 12 Year Old Irish Whiskey. Distilled by Middleton, Redbreast 12 is made using a mash of malted and unmalted barley that is triple distilled in copper pot stills. It’s then matured in bourbon seasoned American Oak and Oloroso Sherry seasoned Spanish oak butts. The result is a whiskey that retails for over double our previous bottles, so is it worth it?

Redbreast 12 Year Old Irish Whiskey

Sight: Deep Copper

Smell: Caramel, fresh green apples, marzipan, and red licorice come cascading out in droves. The nose is fruity, with candied raspberry coming forth, and then gets complimented with nuttiness, hints of spice, toasty oak, and a slight hint of alcohol.

Sip: Bright, explosive apple, peach, and creamy candies jump out. Plum, cinnamon, and bursts of spices aren’t far behind. The mouth feel is light, laced with vanilla, and loaded with nuanced creamy, fruity notes.

Savor: The ending has more baked apple, spice, and oak elements. A leather and apple skin note lingers.

Redbreast 12 Year Old Irish Whiskey is frankly nothing short of explosively lovely. The bursts of fruity flavors are clean, clear, and pop brightly. The creaminess of the underlying nectar is just as pleasant, making it smooth and enticing. While the finish isn’t the most complex, what it does, it does particularly clearly and with a robust character. Sipping it is simply a pleasure.

In Cocktails

In A Cameron’s Kick Redbreast 12 Year Old Irish Whiskey delivers the same creamy candy and apple notes. The bright lemon laces with vanilla and subtle peach and stone fruit notes. There’s a beautiful cinnamon and deep red plum skin element that runs over the finish. The subtle nuttiness compliments this all the way through, and there’s a light charred pineapple touch. Overall, it’s a delicious and robust Cameron’s Kick.

In Review – Redbreast 12 Year Old Irish Whiskey

Redbreast 12 Year Old Irish Whiskey is delightfully simple, yet thoroughly detailed in it’s approach. The result is an Irish whiskey that delivers a great neat experience while also simultaneously working well in a cocktail. That brings us to the price. Approaching $70 in some places, Redbreast 12 isn’t cheap, and it may cause you to think twice. That said, compared to all the of the more entry level Irish Whiskey’s I’ve tasted, there is more than double the value here. For that reason, if you have the means, I encourage you try to a bottle of Redbreast (especially at closer to $60 where it can show up from time to time).

If you want to try it without committing, consider trying their Family Collection pack, where you can get 3 50ml bottles representing the Redbreast 12, the Lustau Edition, and Redbreast 15.

Knappogue Castle 12 Year Irish Whiskey

Posted on March 4, 2022February 13, 2023 by Nick

Our track record with Irish Whiskey has felt like a long and winding road. We started with Jameson, which was fine. Moved on the Dubliner, which felt like an improvement, before going to the Busker, which seemed debatably better. That said, none of them ever quite hit wow. So when the opportunity to try Knappogue Castle 12 Year Irish Whiskey came up, I was excited. Not only does it have a good reputation, but it was one of the original bottles in Death & Co’s book. So does it live up to the hype?

Knappogue Castle 12 Year Irish Whiskey

Knappogue Castle 12 Year Irish Whiskey is triple distilled using copper pot stills and aged 12 years in ex-bourbon casks. Unlike the other Irish whiskeys we’ve covered so far, it is a single malt instead of a blend.

Sight: 14k Gold to Hay.

Smell: The nose has a bit of heat to it, but pulls in vanilla, cream, touches of bourbon casks, and pears. The nose evolves into spice, apple blossoms, heather, and other floral notes. Caramel and cereal notes begin to crawl out with a bit of powdered sugar or cotton candy.

Sip: The palate starts off light and becomes slightly creamy. It opens up into apples, pears, banana, caramel, powdered sugar, butterscotch, and hints of oak with spice. The butterscotch leans toward caramel, and works well with some of the heather characteristics that hide in the background. There is also a hint of charred sugar as well (as though roasted over a campfire)

Savor: The ending instantly perks up into crisp green apples and cereal notes. Things shift into some of the oak spices and grain notes with a linger of charred marshmallow.

Knappogue Castle 12 is easy going and more fruity than it seems. The notes of green apples and pears really live throughout this whiskey, and provide it with a stable core to build butterscotch and sugar flavors over. Despite that it isn’t sweet, and it doesn’t try to overwhelm the imbiber. The biggest ding against it the slightly aggressive alcohol forward nose, but overall it’s a wonderfully simple and easy going Irish whiskey.

In Cocktails

Knappogue Castle 12 Year Irish Whiskey is gentle and add it’s delicate cereal notes, hints of heather, and apple elements to the background of Cameron’s Kick. The gentle character adds an underlying elegance that isn’t front and center, but steps in when it needs to. The middling alcohol content (A.B.V. 43%) allows it to also add some good weight and texture without adding heat. It almost adds that creaminess which is lovely.

In Review – Knappogue Castle 12 Year Irish Whiskey

Knappogue Castle 12 Year Irish Whiskey is heading into a higher echelon of whiskey at $40, but provides a good amount of character for the price. The character of the creaminess is part of the standout nature of this whiskey. The fruitiness gives it a lot of flavor that doesn’t get overwhelmed by the bourbon aging either. Overall, there’s a lot to like here, and it currently represents our favorite Irish whiskey as of writing this.

The Busker Triple Cask Triple Smooth Irish Whiskey

Posted on March 7, 2021March 7, 2021 by Nick

The Busker Triple Cask Triple Smooth has an incredibly long name for an entry level bottle. The first Irish Whiskey brought in from Royal Oaks Distillery in Ireland, this blend features grain whiskey finished in Bourbon, Sherry, and Marsala casks. Disaronno is helping to bring it over stateside. So should it earn a place on your bar?

The Busker Triple Cask Triple Smooth

Sight: A beautiful gold leaning into shades of copper.

Smell: It takes a bit of time to open up, but the forefront of the nose perfumes outward with caramel, nuttiness, and touches floral and fruity elements. The caramel and nuttiness almost leans into coconut with a hint of almost tropical banana. There’s also a grainy dust note hanging out as well giving it a distinctly malty nature.

Sip: The mouthfeel is surprisingly round and rich. There’s a subtle unripe pear that starts things off, it moves into an interesting caramelized poaching liquid with hints of caramel and spices. There’s a bit of a honeyed character there as well. Touches of toasted wood oak and nuts round out the edges. There is also a bit of heat.

Savor: The ending is again laced with pome fruit, nuttiness, and hints of caramelized sugars. It lingers dryly on the tongue, lounging and coating the palate.

While The Busker Triple Cask Triple Smooth isn’t the most mature or complex product, it also doesn’t feel as small as it’s ABV would lead you to believe. The round, rich texture makes it feel as though it’s bigger than it is. The gentle, yet firm character of the grain and fruit notes against the woodiness and caramelized flavors creates a nice well balanced whiskey. For those looking for another Irish option, it’s certainly a welcome contender at the price point.

In Cocktails

In an Irish Blackthorn, The Busker Triple Cask Triple Smooth manages to add a softer character to the background – giving hints of grain and caramel. The main thing it adds though is a beautiful mouthfeel. While it still works harmoniously, it’s still doesn’t end up particularly forward thanks to the absinthe and the bitters. That said, it does add, and it doesn’t loose it’s character. Given the small number of Irish Cocktails, this is an encouraging sign – especially given it’s neat character.

The Busker Triple Cask Overall

The Busker Triple Cask Triple Smooth offers a compelling value proposition thanks to it’s relatively large mouthfeel and straightforward flavors. The whiskey is by no means perfect, or wow worthy, but it is very good value in the mid to high $20 price point. As an every day Irish whiskey, it’s certainly worth picking up to explore if you’re a fan of the style.

Want to consider some other options? Check out our other Irish Whiskey Reviews!

The Dubliner Irish Whiskey

Posted on March 5, 2021March 1, 2021 by Nick

St. Patrick’s Day is almost upon us again, and to celebrate a bottle of Irish Whiskey seemed in order. As I mentioned in last years discussion of Jameson, Irish Whiskey doesn’t receive a lot of love on our shelf. In fact, other than this time of year, we don’t reach for it, and have a nary a (completed) cocktail that calls for it. A search of the cocktail books at home, there are only a handful Irish Cocktails. Perhaps though, Dubliner Irish Whiskey can change my mind.

The Dubliner Irish Whiskey

Sight: A light, bright, pale gold with hints of yellow.

Smell: The nose is softer, leaning into pome fruits (apples, pears, etc), floral touches, and honey, before picking up a vanilla, rye spice, and hints of ethanol.

Sip: The beginning is like a strange cross between a honey liqueur scotch and a mellow bourbon. There’s a light body here that leans toward some floral notes before shifting full into a semi transparent bourbon / rye flavor.

Savor: The ending is lightly spiced with touches of honey, a hint of vanilla, and a bit of an anesthetizing tendency.

The Dubliner Irish Whiskey is a lighter alternative compared to some other Irish whiskey on the market. The softer notes of honey and spice with touches of vanilla make it inviting, and less brash than Jameson. Some of the spice elements lean into a lighter interpretation of scotch or a faded bourbon. It doesn’t scream anything particular, but it is gentle, soft spoken, and inviting.

The Dubliner Irish Whiskey Overall

Normally I would explain how well The Dubliner works in cocktails, but outside of a Black Thorn (Irish) and Irish Coffee, there’s not a whole lot of immediately notable testing cocktails to go on. That aside, between this and Jameson, I highly recommend trying The Dubliner Irish Whiskey. It’s new, gentler, refined approach might just surprise you.

P.S. Again, I appeal to those Irish Whiskey loving readers – please leave us a recommendation for your favorite Irish Whiskey in the comments.

Jameson Irish Whiskey

Posted on March 16, 2020 by Nick

Back when I lived in Kentucky, I had fond memories of Jameson during Saint Patrick’s day celebrations. It was smooth, caramel like, and viscous – almost oily. Jameson played some interesting roles in my life at that point, being shots for both celebrating getting a date with a girl I fancied, and also as book ends when I relocated my shoulder myself. So as we looked to stock our home bar, I couldn’t help wondering, is Jameson Irish Whiskey as good as I remember?

Jameson Irish Whiskey

Jameson Irish Whiskey is triple distilled of malt and grain using a pot still. It’s then aged in oak for a minimum of 4 years.

Sight: A moderate deep orange like gold.

Smell: A hint of ethanol laces with a touch of salinity and lightly caramelized sugar. Green apple skin and grain notes run through the background.

Sip: The palate is light to medium, but gets somewhat oily. There’s more burn that might be expected. There are notes of wood and salted caramel, mixing with touches of baked apple, vanilla, and acetate. There’s a touch of astringency to it.

Savor: The ending maintains a bit of astringency and light salinity. There are again bitter alcohol, caramelized sugar, and woodsy notes on the finish.

Jameson is merely acceptable, and I don’t think it’s worth going out of the way to look for. Perhaps it’s the nostalgia of the flavor of victory, but time and an evolving palate have led me to question the endearing love of Jameson shared by so many. Is it bad? No, certainly not, the flavor is a touch unrefined, but thankfully cheap.

Next year, I’ll buy a different Irish whiskey. Until then, please my Irish whiskey drinking friends, chime in with your favorite Irish whiskey.

For more ideas on Jameson: